Rate My Professor Kirrilly Thompson

Dr Kirrilly Thompson serves as an Honorary Lecturer in the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Newcastle, where she leads a One Health research project focused on reducing the transmission of known and emerging zoonoses in the Thoroughbred industry through translating research into practice. Holding a PhD in Social Sciences (2007) and a Bachelor of Social Sciences Honours from the University of Adelaide, her doctoral work involved ethnographic research on bullfighting from horseback in southern Spain. Thompson enjoys an international reputation for her work in human-animal relations, behaviour change for animal welfare, and horse rider safety. Her applied ethnographic and mixed-methods research extends to organisational risk management, children's sleep and health, train driver fatigue, passenger railway crowding, domestic food waste, academic leadership, large animal rescue, and natural disaster preparedness, driven by principles of kindness, compassion, social justice, and sustainability.

Her career includes previous roles as Researcher at Central Queensland University’s Appleton Institute (2012–2018) and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of South Australia’s Centre for Sleep Research and Human Factors (2008–2011). Currently, she is also an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the University of South Australia and longstanding Vice Chair of the Horse Federation of South Australia. Notable awards include the Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) Fellowship in 2013, which supported research reconfiguring pet ownership from a disaster risk to a protective factor, and recognition as one of ABC Radio National’s Top 5 Scientists Under 40 for science communication in 2015. Key publications encompass the co-authored book (Un)stable Relations: Horses, Humans and Social Agency (2018), the co-edited Equestrian Cultures in Global and Local Contexts (2017), and Designing for Zero Waste (2013), alongside over 100 peer-reviewed articles, chapters, and reports, achieving an h-index of 15. Her contributions have advanced fields such as anthrozoology, equitation science, and social psychology, with involvement in significant grants like the $442,503 Climate-Smart Adaptive Resilience and Engagement for Animal Evacuation project (2022–2024).