Rate My Professor Lauren Highfill

Lauren Highfill is Professor of Psychology and Animal Studies at Eckerd College, where she has served on the faculty since 2008. She earned a B.A. in Psychology from Meredith College in 2002, followed by an M.A. and Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi. Highfill led the creation and approval of Eckerd's Animal Studies major in 2018. As director of the Eckerd College Comparative Psychology Laboratory (ECCPL), part of the Animal Studies Research Collaborative, she conducts non-invasive research on animal behavior and cognition across species including dogs, dolphins, elephants, orangutans, and pinnipeds, with active involvement of Eckerd students. Her research specializations encompass animal personality, comparative cognition, conservation psychology, social learning, environmental enrichment, and play behavior. She teaches courses such as Introduction to Psychology, Biopsychology, Animal Cognition, Statistics, and Practicum in Animal Studies.

Highfill's scholarly contributions include key publications such as "Do bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) have distinct and stable personalities?" (2007), "Rating vs. coding in animal personality research" (2010), "The importance of considering context in the assessment of personality characteristics: Evidence from ratings of dolphin personality" (2012), "Environmental Enrichment, Marine Mammals, and Animal Welfare: A Brief Review" (2018), and "Do pinnipeds have personality? Broad dimensions and contextual consistency of behavior in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) and California sea lions (Zalophus californianus)" (2017). These works, along with others on dolphin social learning, dog behavioral styles, and elephant personalities, have advanced understanding of individual differences in animals. In 2015, she received the Robert A. Staub Distinguished Teacher Award for her excellence in teaching. Highfill currently serves as President-Elect of the American Psychological Association Division 6, the Society for Behavioral Neuroscience and Comparative Psychology.