About us

Principal Investigator

Dr. Anastaia Stellato

I joined the Department of Animal and Food Sciences in Spring 2021. I use epidemiological methods to study applied animal behavior and welfare. My research evaluates companion animal welfare, the human-animal bond, and mental wellness of humans to improve the human-animal relationship within various applied environments. For further information please see my departmental homepage.

Graduate Students

Emily Webberson - MS Student

Emily is a master's student in Animal Science from Richmond, Virginia. She received her bachelor's in Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience at the University of Mary Washington. For the last two years she has studied the abuse-related behavioral effects of abused drugs including inhalant chemicals on rodents at Virginia Commonwealth University. She wishes to pursue a PhD in Animal Behavior after gaining her Master's. For her master's she is going to be researching a novel method for improving student veteran and shelter dog well-being. Emily hopes to make an impact in the way that animals are cared for and handled in a variety of settings. In her free time, she enjoys playing board games, making DIY crafts, and reading.

Alissa Cisneros - MS Student

Alissa is a master's student in Animal Science. She was born and raised in Lubbock, Texas and completed her Bachelor of Science in Animal Science with concentrations in Pre-Vet and Companion Animal Science at Texas Tech University in December 2021. During her undergraduate career, she was active in various labs on campus exploring animal behavior and the human-animal relationship, with projects exploring owner perceptions of dog handling in veterinary clinic as well as owner demographic, management, and cat demographic impacts on unwanted scratching. Alissa is excited to continue at Texas Tech as a master's student and plans to explore the impact of common handling and restraint methods on dogs during routine exams. She hopes to continue researching ways to improve welfare for companion animals in applied settings, such as shelters and veterinary clinics. She has two dogs, Daphne and Azula, a cat, Ellie, and five chickens. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cross-stitching, and playing piano.

Lindsay Nakonechny - PhD Student

Lindsay is a doctoral student in Animal Science from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She received her Bachelor in Animal Health with a major in Companion Animals from the University of Alberta. Lindsay also completed a Master of Science in Animal Behaviour and Welfare from the University of Guelph, where her major project focused on the perceptions of horse welfare issues by industry participants in Canada. Following her studies, Lindsay served as an Animal Welfare Advisor at the Edmonton Humane Society while instructing an online equine behaviour course through the University of Guelph. Lindsay also worked as a Coordinator for Equestrian Canada, developing the Equine Animal Care Assessment Program. Lindsay returned to academia to study companion animal welfare in human-animal interactions. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, golf, running, and spending time with her horse, Herbie, and her dog, Finn! Lindsay hopes to use a “one welfare” lens to develop research that informs impactful and positive changes for both companion animals and their guardians.

Rituparna Sonowal - PhD Student

Rituparna is a Ph.D. student in the Animal and Food Science Department. Before arriving at Texas Tech University, she completed an integrated bachelor-master degree in India, where she worked with free-ranging dogs for three years. In addition, she worked as a project assistant in India to gain more experience in different cognitive-related experiments on dogs. The motivation and love for understanding dog behavioral research established higher goals for her to continue in the Animal Behavior and Welfare field and better understand the aspects necessary for animal welfare via research. Besides this, she loves spending time with dogs as well as loving and caring for them. In her free time, she likes to draw, paint, sing, and dance.

Emma Pasiuk - PhD Student

Emma is beginning her third year of her Ph.D. in Animal Science with a focus on equine-assisted services. She completed her Bachelor's degree in psychology at a small state college in northern Minnesota in 2017 and continued on to attain a master's degree in counseling psychology in 2020 at the University of Saint Thomas, MN. Her professional goals include contributing to the research in the field of mental health interventions that incorporate equines as well as opening her own counseling practice that supports a variety of clients by incorporating horses into therapeutic sessions. Her hobbies include hiking, painting, and caring for her two cats, Louie and Juniper.
 

 

Lab Alumni

Abbey Bing

Abbey is a junior Animal Science major from Katy, Texas and is also a student in the Honors College. She is dedicated to her studies and plans to attend medical school in the future. Abbey is passionate about furthering the well-being of animals in all settings - whether it be in a clinic, a shelter, or a home - and hopes to bring about positive change in the veterinary community. In her free time, she enjoys watching sports, being active, and enjoying the outdoors.

Amber Carroll

Amber graduated with Companion Animal Science major with a minor in biology as well as a student in the Honors College. She is from Leander, Texas, where she spent several years working for a nonprofit organization as an assistant service dog trainer and a summer camp instructor. She is currently working as a private dog trainer in Lubbock and is completing her MSc Clinical Animal Behaviour at the University of Edinburgh. In her free time, Amber enjoys researching her family history, drawing, painting, and doing agility classes with her dog, Molly. 

Hannah Porter 

She graduated with a major in Animal Science and a minor in Chemistry at Texas Tech University. In addition to working in the Human-Animal Interaction Lab, Hannah also enjoyed being involved in Texas Tech's Pre-Vet Society. She hopes to attend the Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine in the future and become a large animal veterinarian in Texas. Hannah is eager to continue helping and learning more about the research on improving human interactions with companion animals.