Dr. Amelia McRae is fascinated by animals and has been privileged to have worked with a wide range of domestic and exotic species including horses, whooping cranes, and several species of pinniped and cetacean. She completed a MSc in the Animal Welfare Program in 2009 in which she examined ways to improve the health and survival of harbour seal pups in rehabilitation. After many years of working as a marine mammal rehabilitator, Dr. McRae was struck by the lack of existing research on pinniped pain. She then returned to the Animal Welfare Program and recently completed her PhD (2018). Dr. McRae's PhD research focuses on changes in facial expression, vocalizations and eye-temperature as potential, non-invasive indicators of pain in harbour seals.