Australasian Animal Studies Association

Yerbury, Dr Rachel

Psychology Lecturer- Master of Professional Psychology

Latrobe University, Department of Psychology, Counselling and Therapy, Bundoora, Australia
Research interests / activities

Dr Rachel Yerbury (Phd) is a registered psychologist as well as a lecturer and researcher in the School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University Australia. Additionally, she has volunteered as a marine mammal rescuer for many years.

Her research area focusses on the connection between humans with Nature / animate worlds and how this impacts mutual well-being. In particular, Rachel's focus is how human-animal relationships can contribute to reciprocal understandings within a kincentric perspective for multispecies flourishing. As a proponent of ecopsychology in research and counselling spaces, Rachel is interested in how earth-based Indigenous wisdom can help to reconfigure the way that humans inhabit the earth. She has been a counselling psychologist, as well as an environmental advocate, for more than 20 years. Rachel has thirteen peer-reviewed publications with ten first-author papers. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rachel-Yerbury/research

Outputs

Yerbury RM (2023) Zoos and aquaria: dark tourism or light fun? A post-humanist perspective. Front. Sustain. Tour. 2:1191656. doi: 10.3389/frsut.2023.1191656

Howell, T., et al. (2022). "Defining Terms Used for Animals Working in Support Roles for People with Support Needs." Animals (Basel) 4;12(15):1975. https://doi: 10.3390/ani12151975.

Yerbury, J.J., Yerbury, R. M. (2021) “Disabled in academia: To be or not to be, that is the question”. Trends in Neurosciences.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2021.04.004

Yerbury, R.M. (2021) “Lets be Still”: A School Psychologist delivered Stillness mediation program for wellbeing.Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schoolshttps://doi.org/10.1017/jgc.2021.12

Yerbury, R. M., Lukey, S. (2021) Human-animal interactions: Expressions of wellbeing through a “nature language”.Animals11(4):950 https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11040950

Yerbury, R. M., Boyd, W. E., & Weiler, B. (2021) Encounters with wild, ecotour and captive marine mammals: what do they tell us about human wellbeing and environmental behaviour? Tourism in Marine Environments. 16(1)

Yerbury, R. M., Weiler, B., & Boyd, W. E. (2020). Marine wildlife experiences, beliefs and reciprocal healing. Ecopsychology. 12(3)

Yerbury, R. M., & Weiler, B. (2020). From Human wellbeing to an ecocentric perspective: How nature-connectedness can extend the benefits of marine wildlife experiences. Anthrozoös. 33(3)

Yerbury, R. M., & Boyd, W. E. (2019). Dolphins and human flourishing: A novel application of the PERMA Model. Ecopsychology.

Yerbury, R. M., & Boyd, W. E. (2018). Human–dolphin interactions: relationships, connections, and the reinforcement of an ongoing nature relationship. Anthrozoös: A multidisciplinary journal of the interactions of people and animals, 31(4), 443-458. doi:10.1080/08927936.2018.1482116

Yerbury, R. & Boyd, W. (2018). Wild dolphins, nature and leisure: Whose wellbeing? Pp. 149-164 in Carr, N. & Young, J. (ed.) Wild Animals and Leisure: Rights and Wellbeing, 1st Edition. Routledge, Abingdon & Bookshelf Online

Yerbury, R. M., Boyd, W. E., Lloyd, D., & Brooks, A. (2017). Right to leisure? Refocusing on the dolphin. Annals of Leisure Research, 1-18.

Tower, J., McGrath, R., Sibson, R., Adair, D., Bevan, N., Brown, G., Foley., Fullagar,S., Gray, L., Hawkins, C., Jeanes, R., Kerr, R., Martin, K., Maxwell, H.,McDonald, K., Peel, N., Reis, A., Xing, T., Yerbury, R. M., Zimmerman, J.(2018) State of leisure studies in Australia and New Zealand, World Leisure Journal, 60:1, 58-66, DOI: 10.1080/16078055.2017.1343326.