PRESS ROOM

ROYAL OAK, Mich., 

The Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) is pleased to announce Dr. Grace Fuller as the organization’s new director of animal welfare and the leader of the DZS’s Center for Zoo and Aquarium Animal Welfare and Ethics (CZAAWE).

“I feel fortunate to embark on this next phase of my career with an organization that recognizes animal welfare to be the beating heart of the modern zoo,” said Dr. Fuller. “I look forward to continuing CZAAWE’s strong welfare monitoring and research programs, while exploring innovative ways to assess and understand animal welfare.”

Dr. Fuller earned a Ph.D. in biology at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio and has more than a decade of experience in applied animal welfare science. Her dissertation work examined the hormonal and behavioral implications of design on the welfare of nocturnal primates in zoos. She went on to complete a post-doc with Oxford Brookes University in the United Kingdom.

Grace joined the Detroit Zoological Society in 2014 as the manager of applied animal welfare science at CZAAWE, which was established in 2009. CZAAWE is a resource center for captive animal welfare knowledge; a convener and forum for exotic animal welfare science, practice and policy discussions; and a center conducting research and training, and recognizing advances in exotic animal welfare.

Dr. Fuller led the development of the CZAAWE endocrinology lab and program, which uses non-invasive measures of hormones and other physiological indicators of welfare to help understand how animals at the Detroit Zoo are faring. The team measures hormones using molted penguin feathers, Japanese giant salamander skin sheds, giraffe saliva, and fecal samples from many different species. The CZAAWE lab has pioneered new methods that provide insights into different facets of animal welfare, including positive welfare states.

“With Dr. Fuller in this pivotal position, the Detroit Zoological Society continues to bring scientific rigor and compassion to conservation and animal welfare,” said Ron Kagan, executive director and CEO for the Detroit Zoological Society.