The section has expertise in behavior and welfare of domestic animals (production and pet animals, on land and in water) and domestic animal environment

About the section

We have broad expertise in ethology and livestock environment and in most species of livestock, as well as dogs, cats and horses.

The research is mainly related to animal welfare and the creation of knowledge to understand the behavior of farm animals in relation to the physical and social environment, as well as in relation to humans.

Within dogs, cats and horses, there are onging work on interactions between animals and people, training methods, heritability of behavior and behavior testing for specific purposes. The specialist group provides continuing education courses for behavior consultants on dogs, cats and horses.

News from the ethologists

• Teaching

  The section members contribute to teaching in livestock biology and livestock production, and are involved in several general interdisciplinary and more focused courses, not only at NMBU, but also at other colleges and universities.

  The specialist group also has continuing education courses (on dogs, cats, horses, animal-assisted interventions) for external participants

• Collaboration partners

  Our projects receive support from the Research Council of Norway, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Fisheries and Aquaculture Industry's research funding and the Animal Protection Alliance (Dyrevernalliansen.)

  We work closely with the industry (e.g. Animalia, Aninova, Norsvin, Tine) and other research institutes (e.g. Veterinærinstituttet, SINTEF, Akvaplan NIVA), to contribute high-quality research and applicable innovations to society.
• Members

  Leader:

  Members of the section

Research projects

Both projects we lead and those we are involved in: