Research output per year
Research output per year
Accepting PhD Students
PhD projects
Human-wildlife interactions
Zoo animal behaviour, conservation and welfare
Nature on prescription
Research activity per year
With over 30 years working within the zoo profession, as well as holding various academic appointments, I am a passionate advocate of professional/academic collaborations to gather data which can underpin evidence based practice, to achieve great animal welfare and conservation outcomes. I believe that empowering people, with the knowledge and skills, needed to implement evidence based practice is fundamental to successfully improving animal welfare and conservation. A central theme in my research, teaching and professional activities, is a keen interest in human-animal interactions; where an understanding of both is critical to enhancing the lives of both parties and ensureing a healthy planet.
Exploring human-animal interactions, especially with wildlife.
Ensuring good animal welfare during interactions with humans.
Establishing positive stakeholder engagement in wildlife conservation.
Evaluating the value of zoos within communities; including Zoos on Prescription.
A Doyle ‘Health and welfare of captive vultures’. UWE/Hartpury University: DoS (FT initiated Jan ’24)
G Oaten ‘Human animal interactions and particular expertise in zoos and with this species.’ UWE/Hartpury University: DoS (PT initiated Jan ’22)
R Whitefield ‘How do cross-cultural stakeholder wildlife values interlink?’ UWE/Hartpury University: DoS (PT initiated Oct ’20)
E Gibson ‘Exploring the Impact of Dairy Producers and Consumers on Dairy Herd Welfare.’ UWE/Hartpury University: DoS (FT initiated Oct ’19)
P Doodson ‘Studying the impact of ‘Meet & Greet’ human-animal interactions on zoo visitors and the wider public’. UWE/Hartpury University: DoS (PT submitted Jan ‘25)
S Blake ‘Reducing the risk factors which impact dog welfare through injury in Flyball in the UK’ UWE/Hartpury University (FT completed Oct ’24)
L Dumbell ‘Profiling the competitive participant in Olympic equestrian disciplines: past, present and future.’ UWE/Hartpury University [DPhil]: DoS (PT completed ‘22)
S Chiew ‘Zoo visitor-animal interactions: effects on both the animal in display enclosures and visitors.’ University of Melbourne (PT completed Apr ’21)
G Tabor ‘The use of objective markers and outcome measures in equine physiotherapy and rehabilitation.’ UWE/Hartpury University [DPhil] (PT completed Jun ’20)
L K Acaralp-Rehnberg ‘Human-animal interaction in the modern zoo: Live animal encounter programs and associated effects on animal welfare. University of Melbourne (FT completed ‘19)
J Bishop ‘Effect of predictability in zoo husbandry routines on animal welfare’, University of Plymouth (FT completed Oct ‘12)
K Knight ‘The evolution of primate personality and its possible value as a welfare indicator’ University of Exeter (PT completed April ‘11)
J Rabineau ‘Welfare in zoo-housed Colobus guereza’, University of Exeter (PT completed Feb ‘10)
N Dorey ‘Experimental investigation of social learning in domestic animals and non-human primates’, University of Exeter (FT completed June ‘08)
Zoology, PhD, Identification & evaluation of captive environmental factors that affect the behaviour of Sulawesi crested black macaques., Trinity College, Dublin
Oct 1998 → Jul 2001
Award Date: 8 Apr 2002
Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare, MSc, A wild captive comparison of Sulawesi macaque behaviour: a multi-zoo approach, University of Edinburgh
Oct 1996 → Sept 1997
Award Date: 1 Sept 1997
Agricultural and Food Sciences: Animal Science , BSc, Female reproductive status and male social rank in a troop of zoo-housed squirrel monkeys, University of Nottingham
Oct 1992 → Jul 1995
Award Date: 1 Jul 1995
Trustee, The Welsh Mountain Zoo - National Zoological Society of Wales (NZSW)
Jan 2025 → …
JZAR | Managing Editor, European Association of Zoos and Aquaria
Jan 2017 → …
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal Article › peer-review
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
Melfi, V. (Speaker)
Activity: Talk or presentation types › Conference Keynote speech
Blake, S. (Speaker), Melfi, V. (Supervisor), Tabor, G. (Speaker) & Wills, A. (Speaker)
Activity: Talk or presentation types › Oral presentation at Conference
Melfi, V. (Speaker)
Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
Melfi, V. (Speaker)
Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
Melfi, V. (Speaker)
Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk