Harnessing Social Network Analysis to Benefit Animal Welfare Science
Date: 13/12/2021
Online
December 13th, 9am to 4.30pm GMT – Online
About the Workshop
Social network analysis (SNA) is a powerful tool to quantify direct social interactions between individuals and indirect connections through third parties, and to quantify overall network structure. Many aspects of animal welfare depend on social interactions, and so SNA is an ideal tool for researchers and practitioners to use to bring welfare benefits. However, the use of SNA is in its infancy in the fields of applied ethology and welfare science.
The goals of the workshop are (1) to introduce animal welfare researchers to the concepts, methods, pitfalls, and potential of SNA; (2) to provide case studies from diverse areas of animal welfare science to illustrate the current state-of-the-art in application of SNA; and (3) to collaboratively identify animal welfare issues and research questions that SNA is best suited to advance.
The workshop is aimed at anyone interested in the application of social network analysis to answer questions in the field of animal welfare science, whether an accomplished user of SNA or curious to see what its all about.
The workshop will be broken down into four sessions:
Session 1 – plenary talks introducing the concepts and methods of SNA and the state-of-the-art in its application to welfare science.
Session 2 – short talks highlighting the diverse ways in which SNA has recently been applied to benefit animal welfare, from bats to sheep and much else in between.
Session 3 – discussion to identify priority areas where SNA could be applied to improve animal welfare
Session 4 – discussion around ways to promote use of SNA and overcome barriers to its use
The full programme will be announced soon.
Registration
Registration is free and will close on the 8th December or when all the places have been booked. You can register now using the link below.
The organising committee (Simon Turner (SRUC, Edinburgh), Lesley Smith (SRUC Edinburgh), David Fisher (University of Aberdeen), Lucy Oldham (SRUC, Edinburgh), Simone Foister (Innovent Technology Ltd.) hope that you will join them for an interesting day.
