Leanne Clare Proops Portrait

Dr Leanne Proops

Associate Professor in Animal Behaviour and Welfare

Leanne.Proops@port.ac.uk

PhD Supervisor

View my research outputs
Faculty of Science and Health School of Psychology, Sport and Health Sciences Sociology Biological sciences Psychology Development studies Environmental Geography and Geosciences Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology

Summary

I'm Associate Professor in Animal Behaviour and Welfare interested in animal social cognition, communication and behaviour. I investigate the extent to which social species possess complex cognitive and communicative skills. I’m also interested in animal welfare and human-animal interactions.

Biography

I joined 91¸£ÀûÍø in 2016 having held postdoc positions at Sussex University and The University of Tokyo. I completed my PhD in Psychology at Sussex University, have an MSc (dist.) in Animal Behaviour from Exeter University and a BSc (1st) in Experimental Psychology from Sussex. I also spent several years working in an acquired brain injury unit and a community mental health project before returning to academia to pursue my interests in animal behaviour.

Research interests

I'm a member of the Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology and my current research projects include:

Comparative Social Cognition. 91¸£ÀûÍøing the function and evolution of social abilities in rats and domestic species, with a focus on comparative equid cognition (horses, donkeys and mules).

Evolutionary Thanatology. Examining death-related behaviours across animal species, with an emphasis on understanding the proximate mechanisms and evolutionary origins of these behaviours. 

One Welfare: Using a one welfare approach that acknowledges the interconnectedness of human wellbeing, animal welfare and environmental health to improve the lives of working animals and those that depend on them.

Human-Animal Interactions: Investigating cross-species communication, human attitudes to animals, and the role animals play in human wellbeing.

Teaching responsibilities

I teach on our undergraduate BSc Psychology and Forensic Psychology courses. I coordinate the Level 4 module Perspectives in Psychology and am a tutor for Level 4 & 5 students. I also supervise PhD students, Masters students and undergraduate project students. 

Research outputs

2025

Lewis, K. E., McBride, S. D., Micheletta, J., Parker, M. O., Rincon, A. V., Wathan, J., Proops, L.

28 May 2025, In: PeerJ. 13, 38p., e19309

Research output: Article

Haddy, E. C., Proops, L., Bradley, T., Bowyer, C., Sing'Oei, O.

14 Mar 2025, In: Animal Welfare. 34, 9p., e16

Research output: Article

Haddy, E. C., Burden, F., Raw, Z., Rodrigues, J., Zappi, H., Brown, J., Kaminski, J., Proops, L.

1 Jan 2025, In: Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science. 28, 1, p. 116–134

Research output: Article

2024

Crepaldi, F., Rocque, F., Dezecache, G., Proops, L., Davila-Ross, M.

6 Nov 2024, In: Scientific Reports. 14, 1, 12p., 26921

Research output: Article

Carder, G., Seck, M., Wathan, J., Randau, M., Fletcher, K., Proops, L.

18 Oct 2024, In: PLoS One. 19, 10, 17p., e0309149

Research output: Article

Bates, L. A., Proops, L.

15 Mar 2024, In: The Conversation

Research output: Article

Haddy, E., Proops, L., Burden, F., Raw, Z., Kaminski, J., Brown, J.

14 Feb 2024, In: Animal Welfare. 33, 9p., e9

Research output: Article

2023

Haddy, E., Brown, J., Burden, F., Raw, Z., Kaminski, J., Proops, L.

19 Dec 2023, In: SAGE Open. 13, 4, 12p.

Research output: Article

Barber, O. B., Somogyi, E., McBride, E. A., Proops, L.

1 May 2023, In: Computers in Human Behavior. 142, 11p., 107660

Research output: Article

2022

Lewis, K. E., Parker, M., Proops, L., McBride, S. D.

28 Sep 2022, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 289, 1983

Research output: Article