human-animal interaction

What’s The Science Behind Human-Animal Interaction?

Friday, March 11th, 2022

Associate professor Megan Mueller spoke with Plaid Horse magazine about her research into the human-animal bond and her career path

Megan Mueller, associate professor at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, poses for a photo amidst teaching a child development class focused on human-animal interaction in the spring of 2013. In the background, a trained facility dog demonstrates commands with his handler.

Research on the pet-human bond has boomed in the pandemic. Here’s what studies found

Friday, March 4th, 2022

Associate Professor Megan Mueller is quoted throughout a CNN.com story looking at how the pandemic impacted the human-animal bond

A golden retriever is asleep on the family bed

You and Your Neighbors Are Probably Happier with a Pet

Thursday, March 3rd, 2022

Research shows that walking your pup isn’t just exercise for you and Fido, it also helps create social bonds in communities

A man sitting a sidewalk curb with his dog

How the presence of pets builds trust among people

Thursday, February 24th, 2022

Associate Professor Megan Mueller writes for the Conversation on whether the presence of pets builds trust among people.

man sitting on a bench outdoors with his dog leaning up to lick his face

A year into the pandemic, Nat Geo photographers turn their lenses on pets

Monday, March 1st, 2021

Clinical associate professor Emily McCobb spoke with National Geographic on the pandemic’s impact on human-animal relationships and pets’ roles in families

Young woman with brown hair, sitting on her sofa with a medical mask as a precaution against the spread of virus, along with her dog of breed Beagle, coronavirus, COVID-19, selective focus

Study Finds Therapy Dogs Have No Effect on Anxiety in Teens

Monday, February 22nd, 2021

Psychology Today featured research led by assistant professor Megan Mueller examining the effectiveness of therapy dog interaction with adolescents

goldendoodle therapy dog sitting in a library trained to listen to children read

Researchers Across Tufts Pivot to Fight COVID-19

Thursday, June 18th, 2020

Scientists collaborate to understand the coronavirus, from how it is transmitted to the disparity of its harm. https://now.tufts.edu/articles/researchers-across-tufts-pivot-fight-covid-19

Does Fido have coronavirus? Tufts researchers are testing hundreds of animals to find out

Thursday, June 4th, 2020

A feature in The Boston Globe highlights the CoVERS study being led by Professor Jonathan Runstadler, which seeks to understand the potential for transfer of the novel coronavirus between humans and animals