Sarah Oxley Heaney
Ph.D. Candidate
University of Exeter, UK
Sarah is a fourth-year (PT) Anthrozoology PhD candidate at the University of Exeter. Her doctoral project ‘Kissing Sharks’, is based upon examining unique, intimate shark-human relationships through posthuman and symbolic interactionist lenses. The founder of a volunteer street-living animal charity in Saudi Arabia, Sarah, through her anthrozoology master’s research, studied the reasons for, and factors affecting, abandoned cats in Saudi Arabia. As an active co-director of the charity, she continues her activist-researcher approach to study feline lives in Saudi Arabia. Her research for sharks and cats can be followed at www.kissingsharks.com.
For Sarah, Anthrozoology is more than an academic pursuit. Her aim is to engage her anthrozoological knowledge and ethos in the world, to join the effort in creating a paradigm shift through which morethanhuman-animals are viewed. Her work is guided by the principles of the University of Exeter’s EASE Working Group, which views morethanhuman-animals as ethically significant beings. By co-founding The Anthrozoology Podcast and Anthrozoology Speaks https://anthrozopod.wixsite.com/mysite Sarah and her colleagues Dr Kris Hill and Dr Michelle Szydlowski, both Anthrozoology PhD graduates, have come together to create Anthrozoology podcasts. They seek to both bring Anthrozoological issues into the lives of varied audiences who may not otherwise be informed of morethanhuman animal - human issues and come together approximately once a month to discuss a common subject and invite early-career anthrozoologists to participate.This effort continues by annually co-organising the Anthrozoology as International Practise Conference https://anthrozoologyconference.com/aip-working-group/. The conference encourages early-career anthrozoologists of any age and geographical location to engage in presenting and supporting early career anthrozoologists.
Sarah’s online presence can be viewed here: https://www.kissingsharks.com/onlinepresence
Her peer reviewed publications and conference presentations here: https://www.kissingsharks.com/publications
Her work is guided by the principles of the University of Exeter’s EASE Working Group, which views morethanhuman-animals as ethically significant beings" https://sociology.exeter.ac.uk/research/ease/about/