Rate My Professor Natasha O'Docherty

Natasha O'Docherty is a Technician in the Department of Psychology at the University of Otago. She belongs to the technical staff and supports research activities through animal care services. Her role involves assisting with the maintenance and welfare of research animals used in behavioral and neuroscience experiments conducted within the department.

Natasha O'Docherty is acknowledged in the acknowledgments sections of multiple publications for her animal care contributions. These include the 2006 article 'Discriminability and Sensitivity to Reinforcer Magnitude in a Pigeon Delayed Conditioning Procedure' by B. Alsop and M. Porritt, where she cared for the pigeons; the 2018 document 'Fear, Anxiety and Motivational Systems in an Ancient Structure' by C.E.B. Silva, thanking her and other technicians for animal care; a thesis on 'FOOD, LEPTIN, AND THE HIPPOCAMPUS'; and 2025 papers by K.J. Scott such as those published in Behavioural Brain Research on sex-dependent effects of rat maternal immune activation on ultrasonic vocalizations, maternal immune activation altering bout structure of rat 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations, and individually ventilated cages attenuating inter-litter interactions in Sprague Dawley rats. Her consistent support facilitates ethical animal handling in psychological research at the University of Otago.