Sarah Collins

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Accepting PhD Students

Profile summary

Associate Head of School Recruitment, Marketing and Outreach

Associate Professor in Animal Behaviour & Welfare

Professional memberships

Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (member)

Supervised research degrees

Tyler Christian (2025 - current) PhD University of Plymouth. Reimagining Farmland Bird Biodiversity Surveys: Acoustic Monitoring and Citizen Science for Biodiversity Assessment

Sarah Atkinson (2019-current) PhD University of Plymouth (part-time). Factors affecting reproductive success of stone curlew

Sarah Kappel - (2018-2023) PhD University of Plymouth. Towards the Validation of Novel Cognitive and Physiological Indicators of Affective State
in Horses (Equus caballus)

Ann Fitchett - (2002 - 2006 ) PhD University Of Nottingham. Dominance and stress in mice

Deborah Benham - (2001 - 2005) PhD University of Nottingham. Tourism and Animal Welfare : Sea Otters in Monterey bay

Tabitha Luddem - (1999- 2003) PhD - University of Nottingham. Mate choice in cordon-bleu finches

Teaching interests

I teach on a number of modules across all stages of our undergraduate degrees. Mainly to students on BSc Zoology and BSc Ecology & Conservation. I also supervise Dissertation Project students and Placement students.

Modules:

Animal Behaviour (BIOL205): Module lead

Advanced Skills in Analyzing Behavior (BIOL323)

Comparative Zoology (BIOL232)

Zoology Field Trip (BIOL230)

Behaviour & Ecology Field Trip (BIOL136)

Ecology & Biodiversity (BIOL132)

Additional information

University of Plymouth

Feb 2024 - Present: Associate Head of School for Recruitment, Marketing and Outreach

Dec 2015 – Jan 2021: Associate Head of School for Recruitment, Marketing, Admissions Tutor

Sept 2010 – Present: Associate Professor in Animal Behaviour & Welfare

Aug 2006 – Sept 2010: Lecturer in Animal Behaviour & Welfare

Jan 2004 – July 2006: Research Adviser, Research & Innovation

Previous Employment

2001: Awarded Postgraduate Certificate of Academic Practice (University of Nottingham)

1998 - 2004: Lecturer in Animal Behaviour (University of Nottingham)

1995 - 1998: University of Leiden (Marie Curie Sklodowska Fellowship)

1992 - 1995: Postdoc - University of Oxford, and later Institute of Zoology, London.

Research interests:
In general I work on animal communication. Recent publications have focused on using vocalization to understand bird welfare and biodiversity; and also how environmental factors affect bird song.

Additional information

Qualifications:

1988 -1992: DPhil Zoology (University of Oxford)

1984 - 1987: BSc Psychology/Zoology 1st class (joint Hons), University of Bristol

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

SDG 1 No Poverty
SDG 4 Quality Education
SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
SDG 14 Life Below Water

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Dive into the research topics where Sarah Collins is active. These topic labels come from the works of this person. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

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38 Article
2 Chapter
1 Review article

Distress calls as social stressors affecting chicken welfare
Herborn, K. A., Wilson, B., Collins, S. A., Mitchell, M. A., McElligott, A. G. & Asher, L., 21 Jan 2026, In: Biology Letters. 22, 1, 20250534.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Open Access
File
5 Downloads (Pure)
Looking out for danger: Theoretical and empirical issues in translating human attention bias tasks to assess animal affective states
Kappel, S., Collins, S., Mendl, M. & Fureix, C., 1 Feb 2025, In: Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 169, 20 p., 105980.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Open Access
File
42 Downloads (Pure)
Do I sound anxious? Emotional arousal is linked to changes in vocalisations in domestic chicks (Gallus gallus dom.)
Collins, S. A., Herborn, K., Sufka, K. J., Asher, L. & Brilot, B., Aug 2024, In: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 277, 106359.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Open Access
File
3 Downloads (Pure)
Impacts of fire and prospects for recovery in a tropical peat forest ecosystem
Harrison, M., Deere, N., Imron, M., Nasir, D., Adul, Asti, H., Soler, J., Boyd, N., Cheyne, S., Collins, S., D'Arcy, L., Erb, W., Green, H., Healy, W., Hendri, Holly, B., Houlihan, P., Husson, S., Iwan & Jeffers, K. & 16 others, Kulu, I., Kusin, K., Marchant, N., Morrogh-Bernard, H., Page, S., Purwanto, A., Capilla, B., Ortega, O., Santiano, Spencer, K., Sugardjito, J., Supriatna, J., Thornton, S., van Veen, F., Yulintine & Struebig, M., 15 Apr 2024, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 121, 17, 10 p., e2307216121.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Open Access
Measuring affect-related attention bias to emotionally valenced visual stimuli in horses
Kappel, S., Oca, M. A. R. M. D., Collins, S., Herborn, K., Mendl, M. & Fureix, C., 29 May 2024, In: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 275, 106303.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Open Access
File
20 Downloads (Pure)

Data for: Nest material preferences in wild hazel dormice Muscardinus avellanarius: Testing predictions from optimal foraging theory
Collins, S. A. (Creator), Lane, S. M. (Creator), Ishibashi, M. (Creator), Hamston, T. (Creator) & Plymouth, U. O. (Contributor), ZENODO, 2 Mar 2023
DOI: 10.5061/dryad.rxwdbrvdc, https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.rxwdbrvdc
Dataset
Demographics and song repertoire sizes of cirl bunting populations
Collins, S. (Creator), ZENODO, 2 Jan 2024
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.8383716, https://zenodo.org/records/8383716
Dataset

Dr Sarah Collins

Overview

Profile summary

Professional memberships

Supervised research degrees

Teaching interests

Additional information

Additional information

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

Fingerprint

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

Dive into details

Distress calls as social stressors affecting chicken welfare

Looking out for danger: Theoretical and empirical issues in translating human attention bias tasks to assess animal affective states

Do I sound anxious? Emotional arousal is linked to changes in vocalisations in domestic chicks (Gallus gallus dom.)

Impacts of fire and prospects for recovery in a tropical peat forest ecosystem

Measuring affect-related attention bias to emotionally valenced visual stimuli in horses

Data for: Nest material preferences in wild hazel dormice Muscardinus avellanarius: Testing predictions from optimal foraging theory

Demographics and song repertoire sizes of cirl bunting populations

Dr Sarah Collins

Overview

Profile summary

Professional memberships

Supervised research degrees

Teaching interests

Additional information

Additional information

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

Fingerprint

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

Research output

Distress calls as social stressors affecting chicken welfare

Looking out for danger: Theoretical and empirical issues in translating human attention bias tasks to assess animal affective states

Do I sound anxious? Emotional arousal is linked to changes in vocalisations in domestic chicks (Gallus gallus dom.)

Impacts of fire and prospects for recovery in a tropical peat forest ecosystem

Measuring affect-related attention bias to emotionally valenced visual stimuli in horses

Datasets

Data for: Nest material preferences in wild hazel dormice Muscardinus avellanarius: Testing predictions from optimal foraging theory

Demographics and song repertoire sizes of cirl bunting populations