Dr Rachael Miller (Harrison)

Comparative Psychology | Developmental Psychology |

Behavioural Ecology | Conservation Behaviour

I am currently a Senior Lecturer in Biology at the School of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University,

and a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Psychology,

University of Cambridge, with extensive knowledge & skills in: research (41 publications; h-index: 19; i10-index = 28; citations: 1257) primarily with birds, non-human primates and children; university-level teaching in Biology, Psychology & Zoology; academic supervision & mentoring, funding acquisition, national and international collaborations, project management & administration, with expertise in comparative cognition, child development, animal behaviour, welfare & conservation.

 

I use comparative, ecological and developmental approaches to investigate the evolution of cognition, conducting fundamental and applied research, both within and between species/taxa. My research programme includes PI and/or lead roles in three connected, overarching research areas: 1) Comparative & Developmental Psychology, 2) Big-Team Open Science, including Co-Founder of the "ManyBirds" Project (www.themanybirds.com)  and 3)  Applications for Education, Conservation and Welfare.

​

In my previous Leverhulme Trust funded Research Associate role, in Dr Lucy Cheke's CAMB Lab at Cambridge University, I tested the effects of COVID-19 on cognition in adults and children, using online experiments. In my two previous European Research Council funded Research Associate roles, in Prof Nicky Clayton's CCL Lab at Cambridge University, I tested cognition in humans and corvids (crow family), with a particular focus on self-control, behavioural flexibility, social learning and causal reasoning. Key aspects of my Vienna Science and Technology funded PhD in Cognitive Biology, in Prof Thomas Bugnyar's Corvid Lab at Vienna University, involved highlighting the critical role of individual differences, social context and development on cognition in wild and captive crows and ravens.

 

Alongside my research, since 2016, I am responsible for university teaching (lectures, practicals, tutorials, assessments/exams, field-trips in psychology, biology and zoology university courses), with a PG Cert in Learning & Teaching, and supervision/ mentoring of university students/ junior researchers, as well as project/ lab management and administration. I advocate Open Science practices, including publishing all data-sets associated with my papers, pre-registering (from Nov 2018) and pre-printing my work.