Learn more about our guest speaker!
Alexandra (Sasha) Protopopova, PhD CAAB (she/her/hers) is an assistant professor in the Animal Welfare Program at the University of British Columbia and the NSERC/BC SPCA Industrial Research Chair in Animal Welfare. We are very pleased Dr. Protopopova will be sharing her knowledge and research with us!
Dr. Protopopova's research aims are to learn more about dogs, improve animal shelter practices, improve companion animal welfare in shelters, pet homes, and in assistance roles—all within a One Welfare framework.
Recently, she has been shifting her research focus on connecting climate change and other societal issues to companion animal welfare.
Dr. Protopopova earned an MSc and a PhD in Behavior Analysis from the University of Florida with Drs. Clive Wynne and Brian Iwata. She spends her days conducting research, teaching university classes in animal learning and animal sheltering, going on hiking trails, and cuddling dogs.
Education
PhD in Behavior Analysis, University of Florida
MS in Behavior Analysis, University of Florida
BS in Pre-Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst
BS in Neuroscience, University of Massachusetts Amherst
CAAB, Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist, Animal Behavior Society
Published Research
Dr. Protopopova's selected research studies on Google Scholar
Read and see more about Dr. Protopopova!
CBC Radio's North by Northwest Sunday, October 9 episode (46:52 mark) on their research in the Human Animal Interaction Lab at UBC.
Global BC interviewed Dr. Protopopova about the Dog Cognition Study, studying dogs to better learn what drives their behaviours and personalities. She talks about what they’re aiming to learn, and how dog guardians can apply it.
BC SPCA's bi-annual Science and Policy newsletter outlines several animal welfare projects as well as two exciting new UBC courses: Principles of Animal Sheltering and Companion
Animal Support Services and Experimental Analysis of Animal Behaviour. You can sign up to receive the newsletter on the BC SPCA's website.
The Academic Dog website: Sasha Protopopova PhD CAAB and Benjamin Bonhomme MSc CBATI LLA provide dog behaviour consulting and education services in Vancouver.
Dr. Protopopova joined us October 30 for What is a Happy Dog? Improving Welfare of Dogs in Homes and Shelter Environments, via Zoom. We're looking forward to having her back, so for upcoming events, watch our our Events page.
Through ticket sales and donations, we are raising money to support UBC graduate students in financial hardship within the Animal Welfare Program. You can also donate directly or learn more about the fundraiser on their Crowdfunding page.
Learn more about the UBC Animal Welfare Program on their website and You Tube Channel.