Rate My Professor Meredith Bashaw

As an animal welfare scientist, Bashaw employs behavior and hormone analyses to enhance the lives of animals in human care, collaborating with scientists, caretakers, and F&M undergraduates worldwide. Her lab studies diverse species including giraffes, lizards, snakes, rodents, big cats, red pandas, primates, with some on campus and others at partner zoos and rehab centers. Current initiatives focus on animal-centered management and human-animal interactions, including reframing glucocorticoid interpretations of stress, developing non-invasive health and reproduction metrics, improving behavioral monitoring, refining preference tests, and evaluating positive reinforcement training. Bashaw has authored or co-authored more than 35 peer-reviewed articles and co-edited Scientific Foundations of Zoos and Aquariums (Cambridge University Press). Key publications include “Non-invasive assessment of adrenocortical activity as a predictor of health in captive wild felids” (2016, Veterinary Research), “Spatial Design of Guest Feeding Programs and Their Effects on Giraffe Behavior” (2022, Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science), and “A survey assessment of variables related to stereotypy in giraffe and okapi” (2001). She has secured grants from the Zoo and Aquarium Association Australasia and others. Her contributions earned the Christian R. and Mary E. Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching (2025), Susan D. Chan Author of the Year Award, and Keeper Appreciation Award. Bashaw’s work significantly impacts animal management practices in zoos and aquariums globally.