— College of Public Health — Departments — Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health — Faculty & Staff — Mystera Samuelson, PhD

Mystera Samuelson, PhD

Assistant Professor, UNMC Department of Environmental, Agricultural & Occupational Health
Director, Animal Behavior Core, UNMC Office for the Vice Chancellor for Research

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Phone: 402-836-9780

Mystera Samuelson, PhD, joined UNMC in 2019 and is an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental, Agricultural & Occupational Health of the UNMC College of Public Health. She also serves as director of the Animal Behavior Core of the UNMC Office for the Vice Chancellor for Research.

Previously, Dr. Samuelson was a research scientist at the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies and a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Education

2015, Experimental Psychology, The University of Southern Mississippi
2012, Natural Resources, The University of Idaho
2009, Psychology, Montana State University

Research Interests

Dr. Samuelson is an ethologist specializing in the assessment of animal behavior and cognition, animal welfare, and human-animal interactions. Her research focuses on the refinement of behavioral assessments to promote reproducibility and rigor while simultaneously improving animal welfare outcomes. Further, she is interested in leveraging this knowledge of animal behavior and cognition to improve health outcomes for those interacting with these animals in a variety of contexts.

Dr. Samuelson serves jointly as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental, Agricultural, and Occupational Health as well as the Director of the UNMC Animal Behavior Core here at UNMC.

Selected Publications

CS-CASH Bison Worker Health and Safety Annual Reports (2021-Present)
Cunningham, K. C. Smith, D. R., Villageliú, Ellis, C. M., Ramer-Tait, A., Price, J. D., Wyatt,T. A., Knoell, D. L., Samuelson, M. M., Welsh, D. A., Samuelson, D. R. (2023)., Human alcohol-microbiota mice have increased susceptibility to bacterial pneumonia. Cells, 12, 2267.
Lyn, H., Broadway, M. S., Jett, S. E., Samuelson, M. M., Christopher, J., & Chenkin, B. (2021). The effects of distance on pointing in shelter dogs. Animal Cognition, 1-11.
Lauderdale, L. K., Samuelson, M. M., & Xitco, M. J. (2021). Modern applications of operantconditioning through the training of a beaching behavior with bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research, 9(2), 81-87.
Samuelson, M. M., Ambert Millan, A., Diaz Clark, C., & Solangi, M. (2020). Description of a unique solitary feeding behavior observed in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Biloxi Mash, Louisiana. Animal Behavior and Cognition, 7(4), 505-513.

Professional Affiliations

International Society for Neuroethology
International Society of Agricultural Safety and Health (ISASH)
International Society for Applied Ethology (ISAE)
Society for Behavioral Neuroscience and Comparative Psychology
American Psychological Association (APA)
Association of Women in Science (AWIS)
Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities (ABRF)
American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS) Division 6