Our projects range from domestic animals (e.g. chickens, donkeys, cattle, dogs, cats) to wild animals (e.g. African wild dogs, coyotes, elephants, lions, monkeys, road-killed animals) across diverse locales, such as homesteads, urban centres, rural villages, agricultural fields, industrial factories, national parks and animal sanctuaries. We explore animal-human relations around the world, primarily in Botswana, Canada, and Costa Rica. Projects highlight the circumstances and experiences of animals, as well as the broader structures and dynamics that shape their daily lives.
African Wild Dogs
African Wild Dogs (Lycaon pictus) are highly endangered in Botswana because of habitat encroachment from human population pressure and land-use practices, and e ...
Cattle
Cattle (Bos primigenius) have long been the most privileged animal in Botswana. They constitute a major form of Tswana social status, economic wealth and politi ...
Chickens
My PhD research focused on gendered commercial (peri)urban agriculture in Gaborone, Botswana. The majority of agricultural enterprises featured chickens, prompt ...
Community-Based Conservation
Oluatosin Animashaun (Tosin) joined our research team as a Masters student in September 2017. With a background in Zoology, he is passionate about wildlife biod ...
Conservation Canines
Renée D'Souza joined our research team in September 2016. Renée received her Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Biology and Conservation, University of Guelph in 2 ...
Cows
Carley MacKay join the research team in September 2019 as a PhD student at the Department of Geography, York University. Her research explores cow welfare in On ...
Coyotes
Lauren Van Patter's doctoral research pairs ethnographic and ecological data to explore the more-than-human city through a case study of urban coyotes in Ontari ...
Domestic Dogs
Domestic dogs (Canis Africanis) are ubiquitous in rural, peri-urban and urban areas throughout Southern Africa. They are predominately ‘smooth-coated, lightly b ...
Donkeys
Donkeys (Equus africanus asinus) are an integral and important part of daily life for many people in Botswana. Donkeys provide an affordable and accessible mean ...
Elephants
Elephants (Loxodonta africana) are an iconic feature of the Botswana landscape. They benefit greatly from conservation efforts touting their vulnerable status a ...
Feral Cats
Lauren Van Patter joined the research group as a Masters student in 2013 to investigate the lives of feral cats. Lauren’s project explores ferality and the natu ...
Lions
Problem animals emerge in human-dominated landscapes or in nature-culture borderlands where humans and animals struggle to co-exist. African lions (Panthera leo ...
Monkeys
Wildlife tourism accounts for 20-40% of global tourism and 10% of global GDP. While a lucrative industry, scholarly studies increasing reveal that many animals ...
Road-Killed Animals
Jean Jamieson Hanes’ diverse background includes fine arts (painting and drawing) and veterinary studies. Moved by an interest in human/non-human animal relatio ...
