Dr Euan Bennet
- Lecturer in Research and Numerical Skills (Veterinary Science & Education )
telephone:
01413303851
email:
Euan.Bennet@glasgow.ac.uk
Biography
I am Lecturer in Research and Numerical Skills in the School of Biodiversity, One Health, and Veterinary Medicine.
My original background is theoretical astrophysics, qualifying from the University of Glasgow with an MSci in Astronomy and Physics (2008) before graduating with a PhD on plasma physics in the early Universe (2012). Following that I worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Astronomy and Astrophysics research group in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Glasgow (2013-2015).
I was recruited to the University of Glasgow Vet School from 2015-2020 as a postdoc, initially to work on a research project involving a large data set from equestrian endurance. At the time I just about knew how many legs a horse has, luckily it was my maths and problem-solving knowledge that was most useful. I continued my research career at the University of Bristol Vet School from 2020-2022.
I returned to Glasgow Vet School in July 2022 to take up the newly created post of Lecturer in Research and Numerical Skills. Since then, I’ve continued my research while expanding my teaching portfolio across various undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the School.
Since my career change in 2015, I have worked directly with equine sports industry governing bodies at national and international level. I have provided scientific evidence supporting policy and protocol that has improved horse welfare at all levels of competition, including at the Olympics and World Equestrian Games.
Within the School of Biodiversity, One Health, and Veterinary Medicine, I am on the Diversity and Inclusion Committee as the School Neurodiversity Champion.
I am also interested in data ethics, which increasingly involves critiquing the development and implementation of large language models and other forms of generative AI, but also involves building a multi-disciplinary coalition to demonstrate best practice and minimise so-called ‘data hazards’ in any data-related endeavours.
Research interests
I am now established as the ‘go-to’ person internationally for risk factor analysis in equine sports. I work with several governing bodies at national and international level in horse racing and equestrian sports, including the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI – the world governing body for equestrian sports), the US Jockey Club, Hong Kong Jockey Club, British Eventing, and Equestrian Australia. Each organisation has collected various kinds of large-scale data about the horses competing in their sports, and each is interested in understanding risks associated with different outcomes. For example, the US Jockey Club is focussed on identifying and mitigating risks of catastrophic injury, while Hong Kong Jockey Club is focussed on risks of lameness and what they call ‘unacceptable performance’ of racehorses. British Eventing and the FEI are concerned with horse falls during the cross-country phase of equestrian eventing, which can be fatal for both horse and rider.
My primary area of expertise is in conducting thorough epidemiological analyses of data sets that combine multiple different sources – for example in horse racing, competition data with veterinary inspection data. This research niche has led to other projects including work with Guide Dogs UK and the Donkey Sanctuary, and in 2022 I was recruited to the steering group for the Bristol Cats longitudinal study - an owner-led project following 2,500+ cats through their entire lifetimes, that began in 2010.
More recently I have begun exploring the close relationship between horse performance in sports, risk of injury or fatality, and welfare status. Integrating scholarship on welfare, ethics, and social licence to operate is a key part of a holistic approach to risk management in equine sports.
Research groups
Supervision
Future projects or proposals:
- FEI Eventing: developing a 'risk ranking' of cross-country courses.
- US racing: A retrospective longitudinal study of racehorse careers for early identification of high-risk horses.
- US racing: An investigation of potential effects of inbreeding on risk of catastrophic injury.
- Hong Kong racing: integrating biometric data into risk factor analysis.
- Any/all equine sports: exploring the link between performance, risk, welfare, and social licence to operate.
- Any/all equine sports: understanding how the ethics of risk management apply to equine sports.
- Any/all equine sports: investigating perspectives of risk to horses as held by stakeholders who have different levels of personal proximity to risk.
- Bristol cats: Long-term study of cat health and well-being, across the entire study period of the Bristol Cats project.
- Eventing: identifying risk factors associated with lameness (MSc Animal Welfare Science, Ethics, and Law programme).
- Racing: understanding perspectives of risk to racehorses as held by senior stakeholders in the sport (MSc Animal Welfare Science, Ethics, and Law programme).
Teaching
Undergraduate teaching:
- BSc Vet Biosciences level 2 - Statistics course (Research Skills 2 module) and data analysis tutorials (Conservation module)
- BSc Vet Biosciences level 3 - Applied data skills tutorials (various modules)
- BSc Vet Biosciences level 4 - Quantitative Skills course (Professional Skills 4 module) and project support (Project module)
- BVMS1 - Epidemiology/Diagnostic tests/Biostatistics lectures (Modules 1, 2, and 6)
- BVMS programme - tutorials/support for continuous assessment tasks (Modules 5, 11, 16, and 23)
Taught postgraduate courses:
- MSc Animal Nutrition - Research Methods for Animal Sciences module
- MSc Applied Practice in Veterinary Nursing - Research Design and Dissemination module
Course leadership:
- BSc Vet Biosciences level 2 - Deputy Course Leader for the Research Skills 2 module
- MSc Animal Nutrition - Course Leader for the Research Methods for Animal Sciences module
Study design, data analysis, statistics support:
- Staff and students across the Vet School - email me if you require assistance for a project, the earlier the better.
Professional activities & recognition
Prizes, awards & distinctions
- 2023: Medal - most commendable paper in an international veterinary journal (Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists)
Grant committees & research advisory boards
- 2022: University of Bristol, Bristol Cats Project Steering Group
Editorial boards
- 2022: Equine Veterinary Journal study design and data analysis editorial board
Selected international presentations
- 2024: International Workshop on racing surfaces (Kentucky, USA)
- 2023: US Thoroughbred Safety Committee (New York, USA)
- 2023: FEI Eventing Risk Management Seminar (Lausanne, Switzerland)
Supplementary
- Grant reviewer: - Hong Kong Jockey Club Equine Welfare Research Foundation - Horserace Betting Levy Board Peer reviewer: - Equine Veterinary Journal - Animals - Safety - Heliyon