Education

Ph.D. UBC (1995)
M.Sc. (1989), Univ. of Alberta
B.Sc. (Agri) (1987), Honors, UBC

Research Interests

Animal Welfare

Nina’s love of animals began at a very young age while growing up on a beef cattle ranch in British Columbia . After leaving the ranch, she went onto complete her undergraduate in agricultural sciences at UBC, and her M.Sc. in Animal Science at the University of Alberta. She returned to Vancouver to complete her Ph.D. in Animal Sciences at the University of British Columbia. . Nina joined the animal welfare program after obtaining several years of experience as a research scientist working for the animal feed industry and was appointed as a NSERC Industrial Research Chair in 2008, and is recognized internationally for her research on care and housing for dairy cows and calves. Marina also recently co-authored the definitive scholarly text – The Welfare of Cattle - in her core area of research (Springer Verlag, 2008). Because of this work as an educator on farm animal care, the impact of her research can now be seen on farms around the world. Dr. von Keyserlingk’s studies have focused on the under-researched areas including behavior, housing and management and how these contribute to animal health and welfare of dairy cattle. For more details, please visit the Animal Welfare Program web site . 

Research Projects

See UBC Animal Welfare Program website:

• Dairy Research
• Beef Research  

Teaching

Marina von Keyserlingk and David Fraser offer a second year undergraduate course Animals and Society during the fall semester. Senior undergraduates with a strong interest in Animal Welfare are also able to participate in hands-on research in Animal Welfare by enrolling in the undergraduate thesis course and can take the Graduate Seminar in Animal Welfare. She and her colleague Dan Weary also offer a third year undergraduate course Research Methods in Applied Animal Biology. This course introduces students to research methods including research design, scientific critique, writing proposals and reports, and oral presentation.

Selected 2009 Publications

1. Proudfoot, K.L., J.M. Huzzey and M.A.G. von Keyserlingk. In press. The effect of dystocia on dry matter intake and behavior of Holstein cows. J Dairy Sci. doi:10.3168/jds.2009-2135
    
2. Goldhawk, C., N. Chapinal, D.M. Veira, D.M. Weary and M.A.G. von Keyserlingk. 2009. Prepartum feeding behavior is an early indicator of subclinical ketosis. J. Dairy Sci. doi:10.3168/jds.2009-2242.
    
3. Borderas, T. F., J. Rushen, M.A.G. von Keyserlingk, and A.M.B. de Passillé. 2009. Automated measurement of changes in feeding behavior of milk-fed calves associated with illness. J. Dairy Sci. 92: 4549-4554.
    
4. Chapinal, N., A.M. De Passillé, D. M. Weary, M.A.G von Keyserlingk and J. Rushen. 2009. Using Gait Score, Walking Speed and Lying Behavior to Detect Hoof Lesions in Dairy Cows. J. Dairy Sci. 92: 4365-4374.
    
5. von Keyserlingk, M.A.G., J. Rushen, A.M.B. de Passillé and D.M. Weary. 2009. INVITED REVIEW: The Welfare of Dairy Cattle – Key Concepts and the Role of Science. J. Dairy Sci. 92: 4101-4111.
    
6. Ito, K., D.M. Weary, M.A.G. von Keyserlingk. 2009. Lying behavior: Assessing within- and between-herd variation in free-stall housed dairy cows J. Dairy Sci. 92:4412-4420.
    
7. DeVries T. J., and M. A. G. von Keyserlingk. 2009. Competition for feed affects the feeding behavior of growing dairy heifers. J. Dairy Sci. 92:3922-3929.
    
8. Tucker, C.B., D.M. Weary, M.A.G. von Keyserlingk and K.A. Beauchemin. 2009. Cow comfort in tie-stalls: Increased depth of shavings or straw bedding increases lying time. J. Dairy Sci. 92 2684-2690.
    
9. Bernardi, F., J. Fregonosi, D.M. Veira, C. Winkler, M.A.G. von Keyserlingk, and D.M. Weary. 2009. The stall design paradox: neck rails increase lameness but improve udder and stall hygiene. J. Dairy Sci. 92:3074-3080.
    
10. Proudfoot, K. L., D. M. Veira, D. M. Weary, and M. A. G. von Keyserlingk. 2009. Competition at the Feed Bunk During Transition Changes the Feeding, Standing and Social Behavior of Holstein Dairy Cows. J. Dairy Sci. 92:3116-3123.