Background

Qualifications

BSc (Hons) Biology

MRes Animal behaviour

PhD Laboratory animal welfare

Research

I currently work as a postdoctoral research associate in the Asher Behaviour Lab where my research involves a combination of behavioural assessment, with statistical and agent-based modelling to investigate smothering behaviour in laying hens. More broadly, my interests lie in both the mechanisms of animal behaviour and in exploring ways in which behaviour can be measured and used as an indicator of welfare. I have previously worked with rhesus macaques, rats and pigs.

Publications

• Articles

  • Armstrong D, Asher L, Rayner A, Ngidda H, Sharma B, Gray H. The effect of piling behavior on the production and mortality of free-range laying hens. Poultry Science 2023, 102(10), 102989.
  • Gray H, Friel M, Goold C, Smith RP, Williamson SM, Collins LM. Modelling the links between farm characteristics, respiratory health and pig production traits. Scientific Reports 2021, 11(1), 13789.
  • Gray H, Davies R, Bright A, Rayner A, Asher L. Why Do Hens Pile? Hypothesizing the Causes and Consequences. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 2020, 7, 616836.
  • Lee H, Perkins C, Gray H, Hajat S, Friel M, Smith RP, Williamson S, Edwards P, Collins LM. Influence of temperature on prevalence of health and welfare conditions in pigs: Time-series analysis of pig abattoir inspection data in England and Wales. Epidemiology & Infection 2020, 148, 1-8.
  • Zhang L, Gray H, Ye X, Collins L, Allinson N. Automatic individual pig detection and tracking in pig farms. Sensors 2019, 19(5), 1188.
  • Bushby EV, Friel M, Goold C, Gray H, Smith L, Collins LM. Factors influencing individual variation in farm animal cognition and how to account for these statistically. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 2018, 5, 193.
  • Simcock NK, Gray H, Bouchebti S, Wright GA. Appetitive olfactory learning and memory in the honeybee depend on sugar reward identity. Journal of Insect Physiology 2018, 106(Part 1), 71-77.
  • Gray H, Pearce B, Thiele A, Rowe C. The use of preferred social stimuli as rewards for rhesus macaques in behavioural neuroscience. PLoS ONE 2017, 12(5), e0178048.
  • Gray H, Bertrand H, Mindus C, Flecknell P, Rowe C, Thiele A. Physiological, behavioral, and scientific impact of different fluid control protocols in the rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta). eNeuro 2016, 3(4), 1-15.
  • Simcock NK, Gray HE, Wright GA. Single amino acids in sucrose rewards modulate feeding and associative learning in the honeybee. Journal of Insect Physiology 2014, 69, 41-48.

• Review

  • Soulsbury CD, Gray HE, Smith LM, Braithwaite V, Cotter SC, Elwood RW, Wilkinson A, Collins LM. The welfare and ethics of research involving wild animals: A primer. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 2020, 11(10), 1164-1181.