Sarah Adcock

Sarah Adcock is an Assistant Professor in Animal Welfare in the Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, contributing to the Agricultural and Veterinary Science faculty. She joined the faculty in July 2020 following her PhD in Animal Behavior from the University of California, Davis in 2020, where her doctoral research in the Tucker Lab examined calf experiences during healing after hot-iron disbudding, revealing that pain persists for weeks and underscoring the need to refine or avoid such procedures. Adcock previously earned an MSc in Cognitive and Behavioral Ecology from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2014, characterizing relationships between stress, cognition, sex, and personality in miniature pigs, and a BSc in Biology from McGill University in 2012. Her academic journey reflects a longstanding interest in animal behavior and welfare, sparked during undergraduate work on environmental ethics.

Adcock's research bridges animal welfare science with sustainability goals and emerging U.S. food systems, such as dairy sheep and insect farming. Core focuses encompass mitigating pain and disease in livestock, evaluating farm practices' impacts on animal behavior, physiology, and productivity, and integrating welfare into socially responsible production aligned with environmental and societal priorities. She employs methods like choice tests to assess animal preferences for resources and psychological states, informing humane husbandry practices. In recognition of her early-career contributions, Adcock received the 2024 New Investigator Award from the International Society for Applied Ethology. Key publications include 'Early Life Painful Procedures: Long-Term Consequences and Implications for Farm Animal Welfare' (Frontiers in Animal Science, 2021), 'Animal welfare science: an integral piece of sustainable insect farming' (Journal of Insects as Food and Feed, 2023), and 'Etiology, persistence, and risk factors of subclinical mastitis in sheep' (2024). Her work supports Wisconsin's agricultural community through evidence-based strategies for sustainable animal agriculture.

Professional Email: sarah.adcock@wisc.edu