The Institute for Human-Animal Connection (IHAC) is advancing awareness and understanding of the interrelationships among people, other animals and the environment. Keep up with the latest news about IHAC and our work related to human-animal-environment interactions.
What's New at IHAC
November 13, 2024
Dr. Kevin Morris Featured Speaker for University of Denver's R1: Research with Impact Lecture Series
Dr. Kevin Morris, IHAC's Executive Director, has been selected as a speaker for the University of Denver's R1: Research with Impact Lecture Series, which highlights cutting-edge research being conducted at the DU campus. Join us on November 13, in-person on the University of Denver campus at 6:30 PM MT, to hear about the latest IHAC research from Dr. Morris!
Our amazing research team has a new publication out! It is titled, “The Presence of a Pet Dog Is Associated with a More Balanced Response to a Social Stressor.”
In this randomized control study, we examined whether a pet dog’s presence influenced healthy adults’ acute stress response by looking at self-reports, heart rate, and other biological factors such as plasma cortisol and salivary alpha-amylase. Our findings revealed that participants with their pet dogs had significantly lower heart rates, lower plasma cortisol responses, and higher salivary alpha-amylase responses than people without their dogs, indicating that the presence of a pet dog may support a healthy stress response. This study is the FIRST to suggest that dogs may support a balanced, intermediate stress response capacity.
Join Our Self-Paced Orientation to Human-Animal Interactions Course!
IHACPro's Orientation to Human-Animal Interactions professional development course is a great starting place for students to gain an introduction to the variety of applications and research in this field. It is completely self-paced, and contains five modules worth of content that includes examinations of how human-animal interactions can be incorporated into micro, mezzo, and macro career fields, the power of the human-animal bond, terminology, and practical applications.
All IHACPro offerings are consistently updated to feature the latest research in the field to ensure you are receiving the most updated best practices and science-backed concepts. Join us today! No application necessary.
Employing the healing power of animals to improve human health and wellbeing is a natural fit for the profession of nursing. Nurses have long been at the forefront of providing holistic, innovative, non-pharmacological interventions in health promotion and symptom alleviation, including animal-assisted interventions for patients of all ages.
The Institute for Human-Animal Connection’s Post-Master of Social Work Research Fellowship program provides individuals with robust training in social science research with a focus on the Human-Animal-Environment Interaction field. The Research Fellows are integral members of the IHAC Research team, with an emphasis on creating academic products that include funding proposals, peer-reviewed journal articles, conference abstracts, and other publications to formally communicate research findings and build the Fellow’s professional portfolio.
Pamela Wheeler is a licensed mental health practitioner who founded UBU Therapy Farms in Lincoln, Nebraska where children can learn socio-emotional skills and interact with animals in a therapeutic setting.
The Canine-Assisted Intervention Specialist (CAIS) Certificate at the Institute for Human-Animal Connection (IHAC) is one of the newest offerings in the IHACPro professional development suite of programs, and it has quickly become very popular! Professor Tedeschi spoke with us about why this program is so beneficial. “It seems to me that the biggest benefit offered to students who participate fully in the CAIS program is the ability to both understand and more accurately communicate with dogs,” stated Tedeschi.
Through our unique education opportunities students and professionals from around the world are learning ethical and effective approaches to human-animal-environment interactions. The Institute for Human-Animal Connection (IHAC) offers both graduate and professional development education certificates.
The Institute for Human-Animal Connection's research uses innovative approaches to answer seminal questions in the human-animal-environment interactions field. This year, our research team grew with the addition of three full-time staff positions. We produced several reports and publications, including: 10 peer-reviewed publications and 3 other publications, with 6 additional manuscripts submitted or under review.
At the Institute for Human-Animal Connection, we are enthusiastic about this new Ecological Justice concentration at DU as it complements our work exquisitely. We have long promoted that human health and wellbeing will only be realized through creating healthy human relationships with the natural world and with all other species.
The IHAC conferences and the Green Chimneys' conferences present the latest research, best practices, and future directions of human-animal-environment interactions, and inspires attendees to rethink human relationships with other animals.
