Blair Downey

Email: [email protected]

Education
​Ph.D., Animal Behavior, University of California, Davis, California, 2022​.
B.S., Neuroscience and Behavior, Minors: Psychology, Dairy Management; University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, 2016.

Research
Dairy calves are often raised in environments that limit important natural behaviors, like chewing and ruminating. My doctoral research focused on how access to forage in the milk-fed period affected behavioral expression across both short and long timescales. I found that calves reared in standard farm conditions perform a wide array of seemingly abnormal behaviors, and early access to hay can only reduce some of these. 

I am interested in generating research to help inform science-based decisions about animal welfare, and translating research to a broad audience. In the course of my PhD, I assisted in developing a comprehensive nationwide dairy welfare auditor training program run by the Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization.

I am now an Assistant Professor in Animal Behavior and Welfare in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
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