Giulia Ferroni, MSc.
Passionate about animal welfare, my journey began with a bachelor's degree in “Animal Welfare and Protection” from the University of Teramo, Italy. During my undergraduate studies, I conducted a questionnaire survey among Italian dairy cattle farms, which ignited my commitment to improving farming systems with a focus on improving animal welfare. Eager to deepen my knowledge, I pursued a master's degree in “Sustainable Animal Production Sciences” at the same university. For my master's thesis, I joined the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, contributing to a project investigating lateralisation and motivational tendencies in pigs. This experience led me to a position as a Research Assistant at BOKU University in Vienna, where I was involved in a project dedicated to explore boredom-like state in pigs. Within this project, I primarily investigated how pigs respond to environmental changes through Qualitative Behaviour Assessment and examined inactivity patterns in pigs. This role further reinforced my dedication to enhancing farm animal welfare.
Currently, as a PhD student here at BOKU University under the supervision of Sara Hintze and Christoph Winckler, I am investigating flow-like states in farmed pigs. The objective of this study is to explore the experience of flow-like states in farmed pigs by developing tasks that measure their behavioural and cognitive responses. The main steps and aims are: 1) Designing tasks that engage pigs in activities likely to induce a flow-like state. 2) Identifying and measuring behavioural indicators that may indicate flow in pigs, such as ears position, tail postures, gaze direction, and other relevant behavioural markers. 3) Assessing cognitive responses through competence tasks to determine whether the flow experience enhances cognitive performance of the pigs. This will help to assess the welfare consequences of flow-like states in pigs.
I firmly believe in the importance of scientific research in advancing animal welfare and aspire to witness substantial advancements in this field within our lifetime. My goals include increasing awareness of farmed animal welfare issues, fostering collaboration among researchers in animal welfare and cognition, and educating the public on the importance of animal welfare.