Prof. Hannah Buchanan-Smith

Hannah Buchanan-Smith  is interested in animal behaviour and ecology, comparative colour vision and animal welfare. She has conducted both field research, and research on captive animals. She promotes the welfare of animals housed in captivity, for example through lecturing, courses and open-access websites (see marmosetcare.com).

She graduated from St. Andrews University, where she returned as a post-doc after completing her PhD at Reading University under the supervision of Hilary Box. She began working at Stirling University in 1989, and following a lectureship at Lancaster University took a full time position at Stirling in 1995.

Current External Positions

• Member of the Animal Procedures Committee (2009 – present), and a member of their Primates and Housing and Husbandry sub-committees.

• Member of the Living Links Executive Board and leader of the "Welfare and mixed-species living" project.

• Corresponding member of the Primate Society of Great Britain’s Captive Care Working Party (1996- present).
• Member of the Editorial Board of Neotropical Primates (Jan 2000 - present).
• Member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Primate Specialist Group: Neotropical Section (1995-present).
• Member of the BIAZA Research Group – Reporting Group (2002 – present) and the BIAZA animal welfare sub-group (2011-).
• Member of the Ethics Committee, Blair Drummond Safari Park (2005 – present).
• Core member of the Scottish Primate Research Group (1995 - present).

Previous positions include:

• External Examiner for MScs in Exeter (2007-2011) and St Andrews (2008-2011) Universities.

• Council Member of the Primate Society of Great Britain (2008 - 2011).

• Member of the Executive Committee for the XXII Congress of the International Primatological Society, Edinburgh, 2008.

• Member of the International Primatological Society’s Captive Care Committee (2002 – 2008), with shared responsibility for rewriting the “IPS International Guidelines for the acquisition, care, and breeding of nonhuman primates”.

• Member of the BVA(AWF)/FRAME/RSPCA/UFAW Joint Working Group on Refinement in primates (2003 – 2008). PDF

My research has focused on non-human primates in three inter-related scientific areas: behaviour and ecology, colour vision and welfare. Where appropriate, I advocate a combined approach of field research in natural habitats, together with hypotheses testing under controlled conditions in captivity. The colour vision research advances our understanding of the evolution and functional utility of colour vision, by relating genotype with phenotype (BBSRC funded). I also conduct a range of research on the Refinement R of the three R’s (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement – the basic principles underlying humane experimental technique). This work has direct practical and practicable application in enhancing animal welfare (funded by BBSRC EU, PHHSC (3Rs liaison group) and NC3Rs).

Collaborators

I have collaborators in the UK at the Universities of St. Andrews, Cambridge, Sussex and Anglia Ruskin, and work closely with the National Centre for 3Rs Research. I have Italian, Dutch and German collaborators, in addition to those in North and South America where my field research has been conducted (Bolivia and Peru). I have close collaborative links with the RZSS Edinburgh Zoo as well as Blair Drummond Safari Park.

In a collaboration with the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Burning Gold Productions, and Stirling University, I was involved in the production of the documentary Chimpcam (aired January 2010).

I teach a third year unit on Animal Behaviour, run final year electives on Animal Welfare and Animal Play, and contribute to the MSc on Evolution and Behaviour and Psychological Research Methods.

I also lecture on external courses, run CPD courses on Marmoset Welfare and Training Primates using Positive Reinforcement for the Institute of Animal Technology, and lecture on Environmental Enrichment for EUPRIM-net.

PhD Supervision

I am currently principal supervisor to five Ph.D. students, and second supervisor to a further two Ph.D. students. I have been the principal supervisor of ten successfully completed doctoral theses, and two M.Sc. by research students.

Current

Principal PhD supervisor to Louisa Tasker (2007-). Thesis topic "Primate welfare and quality of scientific output"

Principal PhD supervisor to Laura Hall (2010- ). Thesis topic. "Linking welfare and quality of scientific output in laboratory dogs".
Principal PhD supervisor to Hayley Ash (2011 - ). Thesis topic "Refinement of rearing practices in marmosets"
Co-principal supervisor to Becky Leonardi (2011 - ). Thesis topic "Paws for Progress: A Training Programme for Rescue Dogs".

Principal supervisor to Maria Wollnik (2012 - ) Thesis topic: “The communicative role of pelage colouration in all-body sexually dichromatic primate: The black-and-gold howler (Alouatta caraya)”

Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2012) Mixed-species exhibition of Neotropical primates: analysis of species combination success.  International Zoo Yearbook, 46,150-163. PDF

Smith, A.C., Surridge, A.K., Prescott, M.K., Osorio, D., Mundy, N.I. and Buchanan-Smith, H.M.  (2012) Effect of colour vision status on insect prey capture efficiency of captive and wild tamarins (Saguinus spp.) Animal Behaviour, 83, 479-486. PDF    Article in Nature Research Highlights

Bowler MT, Buchanan-Smith HM, Whiten A (2012) Assessing Public Engagement with Science in a University Primate Research Centre in a National Zoo. PLoS ONE

Buchanan-Smith, H.M. and Badihi, I. (2012) The psychology of control: Effects of control over supplementary light on welfare of marmosets. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 137, 166–174. PDF

Dufour, V., Sueur, C., Whiten, A. and Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2011) The Impact of Moving to a Novel Environment on Social Networks, Activity and Wellbeing in Two New World Primates. American Journal of Primatology, 73, 1-10. PDF

Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2010) Environmental Enrichment for Primates in Laboratories. Advances in Science and Research, 5, 41-56. PDF

Buchanan-Smith, H.M. and Carroll, J.B. (2010) Social Structure and Behaviour in EAZA Husbandry Guidelines for Callitrichidae (2nd Ed.) E.B.Ruivo (Ed.) Published by Beauval Zoo, France. PDF

Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2010) Marmoset and Tamarins. The Eighth edition of the UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory Animals and Other Animals Used in Scientific Procedures. Blackwell, Oxford.

Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2010) Marmoset in The Encyclopedia of Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare (D. Mills, Ed.), pp 400-401. CABI, Oxfordshire.

Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2010) Monkey in The Encyclopedia of Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare (D. Mills, Ed.), pp 417-420. CABI, Oxfordshire.

Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2010) Tamarin in The Encyclopedia of Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare (D. Mills, Ed.), pp 591-592. CABI, Oxfordshire.

Leonardi, R., Buchanan-Smith,  H.M., Dufour, V., MacDonald C. and Whiten, A. (2010)  Living Together: Behavior and welfare in single and mixed species groups of capuchin (Cebus apella) and squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus). American Journal of Primatology 72, 33-47. PDF

Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2009) Book review of Carrots and Sticks – Principles of Animal Training Paul McGreevy and Robert Boakes, Cambridge University Press ISBN: 0521686911 283pp. The Biologist, 66 (1), 62. PDF

Joint Working Group on Refinement (2009). Refinements in husbandry, care and common procedures for non-human primates: Ninth report of the BVAAWF/FRAME/RSPCA/UFAW Joint Working Group on Refinement (M Jennings & MJ Prescott, eds). Lab Anim, 43(Suppl 1): S1:1–S1:47 PDF

Smith, A.C. Knogge, C., Huck, M., Löttker, P., Buchanan-Smith, H.M. and Heymann, E.W. (2007) Long term patterns of sleeping site use in wild saddleback (Saguinus fuscicollis) and mustached tamarins (S. mystax): Effects of foraging, thermoregulation, predation and resource defense constraints. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 134, 340-53. PDF

Prescott, M. J., & Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2007) Training laboratory-housed non-human primates, part 1: A UK survey. Animal Welfare, 16, 21-36. PDF

Bassett, L. & Buchanan-Smith, H. M. (2007) Effects of predictability on the welfare of captive primates.  In: Swaisgood, RR (ed.) Animal Behaviour, Conservation and Enrichment. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 102, 223 - 245. PDF

Waitt, C and Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2006) Perceptual considerations in the use of colored artificial visual stimuli to study nonhuman primate behavior. American Journal of Primatology, 68, 1054-1067.  PDF

Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2006) Primates in laboratories: Standardisation, Harmonisation, Variation and Science. ALTEX – Alternatives to Animal Experimentation, 23, 115-119. PDF

Farmer, K. H., Buchanan-Smith, H.M. and Jamart, A. (2006) The behavioural adaptation of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) reintroduced to the Conkouati-Douli National Park, Republic of Congo: a comparative approach to wild conspecifics. International Journal of Primatology, 27, 747-765. PDF

Rennie A.E. and Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2006) Refinement of the use of Non-human Primates in Scientific Research. Part I: The influence of humans. Animal Welfare, 15, 203-213. PDF

Rennie A.E. and Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2006) Refinement of the use of Non-human Primates in Scientific Research. Part II: Housing, husbandry and acquisition. Animal Welfare, 15, 215-238. PDF

Rennie A.E. and Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2006) Refinement of the use of Non-human Primates in Scientific Research. Part III: Refinement of procedures. Animal Welfare, 15, 239-261. PDF

Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2005) Recent Advances in Color Vision Research. American Journal of Primatology, 67, 393-398. PDF

Buchanan-Smith, H. M., Rennie, A. E., Vitale, A., Pollo, S., Prescott, M. J. and Morton, D. B. (2005) Harmonising the Definition of Refinement. Animal Welfare, 14, 379-384. PDF

Prescott, M. J., Buchanan-Smith, H.M. and Rennie, A.E. (2005) Training of laboratory-housed non-human primates in the UK. Anthrozoos, 18, 288-303. PDF

Prescott, M. J., Bowell, V.A. and Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2005) Training laboratory-housed non-human primates, Part 2: Resources for developing and implementing training programmes. Animal Technology and Welfare, 4, 133-148. PDF

de Boo, M.J., Rennie, A.E., Buchanan-Smith, H.M., and Hendriksen, C.F.M. (2005) The Interplay between Replacement, Reduction and Refinement. Animal Welfare, 14, 327-332. PDF

Dalton, R. and Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2005). A Mixed-species Exhibit of Goeldi’s Monkeys and Pygmy Marmosets (Callimico goeldii and Cebuella pygmaea) at Edinburgh Zoo. International Zoo Yearbook, 39, 176-184. PDF

Greig, I., Morris, K. D., Mathiesen E., Mathieson, R. & Buchanan Smith H. M. (2006) An Improved Marmoset Restraint Device for Injections and the Collection of Samples. Laboratory Primate Newsletter, 45, 1-5. PDF

Surridge, A.K., Suárez, S.S., Buchanan-Smith, H.M., Smith, A.C. & Mundy, N. I. (2005) Distribution of colour vision phenotypes in wild tamarins (Saguinus spp.). American Journal of Primatology, 67, 463-470.

Surridge, A.K., Suárez, S.S., Buchanan-Smith, H.M. & Mundy, N.I. (2005) Non-random association of opsin alleles in wild groups of red-bellied tamarins (Saguinus labiatus) and maintenance of the colour vision polymorphism. Biology Letters. Doi:10.1098/rsbl.2005.0367 PDF

Prescott, M. J., Buchanan-Smith, H. M. and Smith, A. C. (2005). Social interaction with non-averse troop-mates modifies a learned food aversion in single- and mixed-species troops of tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis and S. labiatus). American Journal of Primatology 65, 313-326. PDF

Rennie, A. and Buchanan-Smith, H.M. Report on the Extent and Character of Primate Use in Scientific Procedures across Europe in 2001. (2005) Laboratory Primate Newsletter, 44 (2), 6-12. PDF

Smith, A.C., Buchanan-Smith, H.M., Surridge, A.K. and Mundy, N.I. (2005). Factors affecting group spread within wild mixed-species troops of saddleback and mustached tamarins. International Journal of Primatology, 26. 337-355. PDF

Osorio, D, Smith, A.C., Vorobyev, M. and Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2004) Detection of fruit and the selection of primate visual pigments for color vision. American Naturalist, 164, 696-708. PDF

Smith, A.C. Kelez, S. and Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2004) Factors affecting vigilance within wild mixed-species troops of saddleback (Saguinus fuscicollis) and moustached tamarins (S. mystax). Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, 56, 18-25. PDF

Buchanan-Smith, H.M., Prescott, M.J. and Cross, N.J. (2004) What factors should determine cage sizes for primates in the laboratory? Animal Welfare, 13, S197-S201. PDF

Prescott, M.J. and Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2004). Cage sizes for tamarins in the laboratory. Animal Welfare, 13, 151-157. PDF

Smith, A.C., Buchanan-Smith, H.M., Surridge, A.K. & Mundy, N.I. (2003) Leaders of progressions in wild mixed-Species troops of saddleback (Saguinus fuscicollis) and mustached tamarins (S. mystax), with emphasis on color vision and sex. American Journal of Primatology, 61, 145-157. PDF

Bassett, L. Buchanan-Smith, H.M., McKinley, J. and Smith T.E. (2003) Effects of training on stress-related behavior of the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) in relation to coping with routine husbandry procedures Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 6, 221-233. PDF

McKinley, J. Buchanan-Smith, H.M., Bassett, L. and Morris, K. (2003) Training common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) to co-operate during routine laboratory procedures: Ease of training and time investment. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 6, 209-220. PDF

Prescott, M.J. and Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2003) Training nonhuman primates using positive reinforcement techniques: Guest editors’ introduction. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 6, 157-161. PDF

Majolo, B., Buchanan-Smith, H.M. and Morris, K. (2003) Factors affecting the successful pairing of unfamiliar common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) females. Animal Welfare, 12, 327-337. PDF

Majolo, B., Buchanan-Smith, H.M. and Bell, J. (2003) Response to novel objects and foraging tasks by common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) female pairs. Laboratory Animal Europe, 3(3) 25-33. PDF

Smith, A.C., Buchanan-Smith, H.M., Surridge, A.K. Osorio, D. and Mundy, N.I. (2003) The effect of colour vision status on the detection and selection of fruits by tamarins (Saguinus spp.) Journal of Experimental Biology, 206: 3159-3165. PDF

Ventura, R. and Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2003). Physical environment effects on infant care and infant development in captive common marmosets Callithrix jacchus. International Journal of Primatology, 24, 399-413. PDF

Waitt, C., Buchanan-Smith, H.M. and Morris, K. (2003). The effects of caretaker-primate relationships on primates in the laboratory. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 5, 309-319. PDF

Waitt, C., Little, A.C., Wolfensohn, S., Honess, P., Brown, A.P., Buchanan-Smith, H.M. & Perrett, D.I. (2003). Evidence from rhesus macaques suggests colouration plays a role in primate mate choice. Proceedings of the Royal Society, A - Biology Letters. 10.1098/rsbl.2003.0065 PDF

Buchanan-Smith, H.M., Shand, C. and Morris, K. (2002) Cage use and feeding height preferences of captive common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) in two-tier cages. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 5, 139-149. PDF

Surridge, A. K., Smith, A. C., Buchanan-Smith, H.M. and Mundy, N.I. (2002) Single-copy nuclear DNA sequences obtained from non-invasively collected primate feces. American Journal of Primatology, 56, 185-190. PDF

Parnell, R.J. and Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2001) An unusual social display by gorillas. Nature, 412, 294 (19 July, 2001). PDF

Waitt, C. and Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2001) What time is feeding? How the timing and predictability of feeding schedules affects stump-tailed macaque behaviour. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 75, 75-85. PDF

Hardie, S.M. and Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2000) Responses of captive single- and mixed-species Saguinus groups to novel non-threatening objects. International Journal of Primatology, 21, 629-648. PDF

Buchanan-Smith, H.M, Hardie, S.M., Caceres, C. and Prescott, M.J. (2000) Distribution and forest utilisation of Saguinus and other primates of the Pando Department, Northern Bolivia. International Journal of Primatology, 21, 353-379. PDF

Heymann, E.W. and Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2000) The Behavioural Ecology of Mixed-species Troops of Callitrichine Primates. Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 75, 169-190. PDF

Edited Volumes

Lee, P.C., Honess, P., Buchanan-Smith, H. M., MacLarnon, A. & Sellers, W. (eds).(2008) XXII Congress of the International Primatological Society (IPS): Abstracts. Primate Eye 96 (Special Issue: August 2008), 342 pp.

Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2005) (Ed) Recent Advances in Color Vision Research. American Journal of Primatology, 67, 393-495. PDF

Prescott, M.J. and Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (2003) (Eds) Training nonhuman primates using positive reinforcement techniques. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 6. PDF

Box, H.O. and Buchanan-Smith, H.M. (1997) (Eds) Biology and Conservation of New World Primates. Folia Primatologica, 68, 115-320. PDF