Shelly Volsche

Dr. Shelly Volsche

https://www.boisestate.edu/anthropology/

Clinical Assistant Professor| Boise State University, Department of Anthropology

Primary Field

Combination

https://www.boisestate.edu/anthropology/

Clinical Assistant Professor, Boise State University, Department of Anthropology

Interest/Specialty Areas

human-animal interactions, evolutionary/comparative cognition, social and behavioral endocrinology, social contagion, and One Health approach.

Shelly Volsche received her Ph.D. from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with a focus on reproductive choices and the human-animal bond. Using an evolutionary lens, she studies our ever-changing relationships with non-human animals, as well as applying the One Health approach to behavioral health and cross-species relationships. Her current projects investigate the increasing importance of pets as family members, including the application of human parenting strategies with companion animals. This involves consideration of coevolutionary processes, cross-cultural comparisons of pet keeping, interspecific attachment, and the connection between reduced fertility and increased pet parenting. Relatedly, she is interested in how an appreciation of the emotional and cognitive abilities of other species shapes human perceptions of who is food, foe, or family, and the welfare implications of our influence and uses of other animals.

Phone	(208) 426-3023
Email	anthropology@boisestate.edu

The 2023-2024 AnthroGuide is the last print version. Edits for graduate programs are due July 31, 2023.

Dr. Shelly Volsche