Hi! I’m Janire Castellano Bueno and I’m from Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. I completed a BSc in Biology at the University of the Basque Country and an MRes in Animal Behaviour at Newcastle University, where I specialised in animal welfare.
I then completed my PhD at Newcastle University, where I studied behavioural and physiological markers of welfare in primates. I currently work as a Researcher and Lead of Academic Engagement at Wild Animal Initiative, a non-profit dedicated to understanding and improving the lives of wild animals. I also continue to work as a Research Associate at Newcastle University.
My research now focuses on wild animal welfare: how to validate measures of welfare and affective states, and how to apply them to animals living in the wild. I am involved in several research projects in this area and am a member of the COST Action AFFECT-EVO on affective states across species. I also run workshops and give lectures to help establish wild animal welfare as an academic field. In addition, I contribute to several initiatives that aim to increase diversity in academia and reduce the barriers that still exist, both language barriers and those faced by under-represented groups, including women in science.
