Professor Samantha Ward's Inaugural Lecture

In this inaugural lecture, Professor Samantha Ward, from the School of Animal, Rural & Environmental Sciences, explores what science can tell us about how animals experience their lives. Drawing on research with farm and zoo animals, she reveals how behaviour can provide valuable insights into animal emotions, welfare and wellbeing. Join her as she shares how scientists are learning to give animals a voice and improve the lives of animals in our care.

What if the goat that got you through your teenage years, the giraffe that stole visitors’ attention, and the tiger that changed your life could all tell you how they felt?

In this lecture, Professor Samantha Ward takes audiences on a journey from childhood adventures in rural Staffordshire, where days were spent exploring local woods and canals with a pet goat called Fudge, to a career spent caring for and studying animals around the world. Along the way, she shares stories from her time as a zoo keeper, working hands-on with everything from mischievous giraffes and charismatic rhinoceroses to some of the most endangered species on the planet.

These experiences revealed both the joy and heartbreak of working with animals and inspired a lifelong quest to answer a deceptively simple question: how do we know what animals are experiencing when they cannot tell us?

Drawing on decades of research in animal behaviour and welfare, Professor Ward explores how scientists are learning to interpret the clues animals leave behind through their behaviour, relationships and responses to the world around them. From farms to zoos, she shows how modern welfare science is helping us better understand animal emotions, improve animal care and, ultimately, give animals a stronger voice in decisions that affect their lives.

Blending personal stories, unforgettable animal encounters and cutting-edge science, this lecture invites audiences to see the world through animals’ eyes and imagine what they might say if they really could talk.

Biography

Professor Samantha Ward is Professor of Zoo Animal Welfare and Legislation. With a career spanning zookeeping, zoo management, research, teaching and policy development, she is internationally recognised for advancing evidence-based approaches to animal welfare and helping organisations better understand the experiences of animals in their care.

Inspired by a childhood spent caring for animals in rural Staffordshire, Samantha studied Applied Zoology, Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare before working as a zoo keeper and later as a Conservation and Research Manager. Her practical experiences working with a wide range of species continue to shape her research, teaching and public engagement.

Her research focuses on animal behaviour, welfare assessment and human-animal interactions, with a particular interest in understanding how animals experience their lives. She has published extensively, secured prestigious research funding, including a Leverhulme Research Project Grant, and leads the development of ZooMood, an innovative welfare monitoring tool designed to improve welfare assessment in zoos worldwide.

Beyond academia, Samantha serves as the animal welfare expert on DEFRA's Zoo Experts Committee and has contributed to the development of zoo legislation and welfare standards in both the UK and internationally. She is also the author of The Zoo Review: A Field Guide for Good Progressive Zoos, which combines science, professional experience and personal reflection to explore the role of modern zoos and the future of animal welfare.

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