Dr Krista Mclennan
Head of School
Biography
Dr Krista McLennan is the Head of the School of Natural Sciences. Prior to this, Dr McLennan was the Head of Department for Biological Sciences. Dr McLennan first joined the University of Chester as a lecturer in Animal Behaviour in 2015 after completing her post-doctoral studies at University of Cambridge. Dr McLennan worked on the Animal Welfare Indicators (AWIN) project, a large EU funded project involving more than 10 other countries. As Head of School, Dr McLennan works within a diverse team of experts in biology, chemistry, and physics, allowing for a cross-disciplinary approach to research, teaching and innovation across the School. The integration of key sciences helps to prepare students to become future scientists and leaders. The role includes a range of responsibilities, including guiding and delivering the vision of the School; to be a nationally and internationally recognised School for its excellence in innovative & inclusive teaching, and research. Dr McLennan has a drive to share her passion for animal welfare and for facilitating the learning of others. As Head of School, Dr McLennan sits on the Academic Leadership Group, Faculty Management Group, and other University and Faculty level sub-committees, to ensure that the Schools priorities align with the Universities Citizen Student Strategy. Dr McLennan's inspirational leadership helps to ensure the development, growth, and financial sustainability of the Schools portfolio. Dr McLennan also ensures that the School has a successful, innovative and inclusive teaching and research environment for both staff and students.
Teaching and Supervision
Dr McLennan’s main areas of teaching expertise include the behaviour, health and husbandry of production animals and applying this to welfare assessments. Dr McLennan also has interests in how disease and an animals physiology play a key role in their behaviour and how technology can help improve welfare in a variety of settings. Dr McLennan's teaching philosophy revolves around the student being an active learner and an equal partner in the process of teaching and learning. Teaching is about passing on knowledge and passion for animal behaviour and welfare onto the next generation of carers, scientists and academics. Dr McLennan wants her learners to find themselves, and to foster critical thinking so that they are able to be creative when solving real-life problems. Learners should not only be well rounded citizens, but also well rounded scientists that can make reasoned, objective judgements when assessing animal welfare. As a teacher, Dr McLennan believes her role is to facilitate student learning, and to give students the skills to learn. Learning is about finding, reviewing and critically evaluating information, whilst keeping an open mind on what is being presented. Learners need to explore the information that is available to them and be encouraged as they find their answers. To enable this to happen Dr McLennan uses a number of different techniques in the classroom such as images, videos, scenarios and role play. By presenting them with the information in a different manner to the written form, learners are encouraged to engage with the information through questioning, general discussion, and creativity. The interactive nature of the information allows learners to offer their opinion on what they are seeing and discuss the information with their peers under the facilitation of the teacher. Learning and teaching does not just happen in the classroom. Dr McLennan belioves that her role as a teacher continues outside of this context, wanting her students to feel they are a collague and not just a student. Dr McLennan wants her students to feel that they are able to seek support and guidance when it is needed and to feel comfortable in their learning. Part of creating a safe learning environment is to be supportive and enthusiastic about them as individuals. Dr McLennan aims to provide her learners with the ability to develop transferable skills and to be enthusiastic about their learning, both inside and outside of the classroom, to give them the skills to be a lifelong learner by becoming independent and autonomous that can think for themselves and be reflective in their own learning.
Research and Knowledge Exchange
Dr Krista McLennan is an animal welfare and behaviour scientist. Dr McLennan's research focuses on the behavioural indicators of pain, and the relationship between disease, behaviour, and welfare. Dr McLennan's most recent research has focused on the use of facial expression to understand pain and distress in sheep and brachycephalic dogs suffering from BOAS. Dr McLennan has also worked with horses, donkeys, and dairy cattle, to understand the effect of their social environment, housing and management on their welfare. Dr McLennan has working collaborations with Dr Marwa Mahmoud from the University of Glasgow School of Computing and Dr Jane Ladlow from University of Cambridge and the Cambridge BOAS Research Group. Current projects include developing an automated system for facial expression and lameness detection, and developing a facial expression scale to assess the welfare of Brachycephalic dogs.