HMG (Hannah) de Waele MSc

Ever since I was a child I have been fascinated by how nature works, with a particular interest in how animals think. I love exploring what animals are capable of and discovering how intelligent they are. For that reason, all the decisions I made up to this point have in the pursuance of an academic career in behavioural ecology.

In the past, I completed my Bachelor’s degree at the University of Ghent with a thesis studying "Ovarian cycling in Bactrian camels", in the Zoo of Toronto, Canada. Parallel to my Bachelor studies, I took several courses on animal behaviour. I hold a certificate of Therapist in dog behaviour as well as Dog trainer. I also taught classes at a Dog training school and started my own company, conducting in-home assessment and re-orientation of dogs with problem behaviour. This gave me to opportunity to gain valuable experience in teaching humans, as well as practical experience in training animals.  After finishing my Bachelor’s degree, I continued my education with a Master’s degree in Animal Sciences at Wageningen University. I completed a thesis at Behavioural Ecology looking into “Dog-directed parenting and optimism bias in dogs”, and a thesis at Adaptation Physiology studying “the influence of boar pheromone spray on oestrus behaviour in female pigs”. During the last stage of my Master’s I wrote a PhD proposal for which I received the WIAS Graduate Programme Grant 2020. Shortly thereafter, in January 2021, I joined the Behavioural Ecology group at Wageningen University as a PhD student. During my PhD I will be studying the effect of predation on the cognitive landscape in Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata).