About

Dr. Rachel Morrison received her B.S. in Biology with a concentration in animal biology and a minor in Psychology from Grand Valley State University (Allendale, MI). She received her M.A. in Psychology with a certification in Animal Behavior and Conservation from Hunter College of CUNY and her Ph.D. in Psychology with a concentration in Biopsychology from The Graduate Center of CUNY (New York, NY). Dr. Morrison’s research interests include animal behavior, animal cognition, animal welfare, and human-animal relationships. She has conducted research with diverse species in multiple locations and contexts including field research, lab studies, and studies of animals housed in zoological (e.g., whisper-like behavior in cotton-top tamarin monkeys) and aquarium (e.g., the development of mirror self-recognition in bottlenose dolphins) settings. In a recent publication in the journal Anthrozoös entitled “Friend, Foe, or Food: What Influences Students’ Attitudes Toward Animals?” (2021), Dr. Morrison and her colleagues discuss their research findings regarding factors that influence college students’ attitudes towards animal use and the relationship between pro-welfare attitudes and perceptions of animal thinking. Dr. Morrison has conducted several research projects with undergraduate research assistants. Her current projects involve exploring the use of social media (i.e., Facebook) by local animal shelters to promote adoptable animals and investigating the impact of an animal assisted intervention on college student mood and optimism. Her future research goals include examining the impact of enrichment programs on the stress and behavior of dogs and cats housed at animal shelters.

Dr. Morrison joined UNCP in Fall 2014 and she is an Associate Professor in the Psychology Department. She currently teaches Introductory Psychology, Research Methodology, Animal Cognition and Behavior, and Biopsychology.