Lisa Schanz, MSc.
My interest in animal behaviour and welfare was first sparked when I was working with horses in New Zealand. This lead me to pursue a bachelor’s degree in equine management. During this time, I was fascinated by the scientific projects investigating equine behaviour and welfare and decided to investigate the influence of age, gender, breed type and body condition score on the eye wrinkle expression in horses within my thesis.
Next, I combined my thirst for knowledge with my passion for living abroad and started a master programme in the United Kingdom in Animal Welfare. Expanding the range of discussed species from horses to all kinds of farm, lab, zoo and wild animals. I gained insight into different areas such as physiology and cognition, but also the attitude of people towards animals across time and cultures. For my thesis I studied the association between physiological (heart rate variability) and behavioural indicators (ear, head and neck position as well as eye wrinkle expression) in the ridden horse.
However, my interest in other animals was kindled, and I decided to seek a doctorate position with a wider scope, which brought me to BOKU University, where I am studying sustainable mixed livestock farming. With this topic I joined the doctoral school Transitions to sustainability (T2S) and more information on my doctoral project can be found here.
Publications:
Schanz L, Krueger K, Hintze S 2019. Sex and age don't matter, but breed type does - Factors influencing eye wrinkle expression in horses. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 6:154. Manuscript
Martin G, Barth K, Benoit M, Blanc M, Brock C, Destruel M, Dumont B, Grillot M, Hübner S, Magne M, Moerman M, Mosnier C, Parsons D, Ronchi B, Schanz L, Steinmetz L, Werne, S, Winckler C, Primi R (2019). Multi-species livestock farming systems: a review. Agricultural Systems, 181:102821. Abstract
