This is my aunt’s favorite way to greet me after a long period apart. “Do I know you?” I’ll reply. “Have we met before?”
We only first met when I arrived in Sweden a couple years ago, so a lot of our time together has been spent simply getting to know one another while also catching each other up on the recent news in our day-to-day life. It feels fitting that each conversation is framed like we’re meeting someone new.
Ever since last fall, I’ve been far too busy with my thesis project to write on this blog. As I return to it now, I have a similar desire to reintroduce myself before I can get into what I’ve been up to recently. I feel like I am a very different person than the one who last posted 8 months ago!
Hi again, my name is Ruth, and I’m an early-career ethologist. I studied biology at Vassar College and graduated in 2020, taking the first steps into my professional career just as a worldwide pandemic was changing life as we know it. I have spent the past few years producing the Big Biology podcast (and in the past year, the Game Jelly podcast), writing, and completing my master’s degree in Applied Ethology and Animal Biology at Linköping University. I love all animals, but chickens hold a special place in my heart. My research and science communication projects mainly center around chicken biology and welfare.
This past year, most of my time has been devoted to my research thesis on the human-chicken relationship. It’s hard to believe that this huge project is finally finished! It has been an amazing year, not only because I had the opportunity to conduct my very own behavioral study, but also because I had the chance to briefly be a member of the Jensen lab at LiU. The atmosphere of lab meetings and journal clubs was always welcoming, and I’ve been so inspired by the group of passionate researchers that I’ve met this past year.
If you’re interested in my thesis project, check out my webpage:
In the meantime, I’m going to go get dinner with my aunt and catch up 🙂