GoKawiilWhen clinical scientist Grace Hallinan relocated from Ireland to the United States in 2018 for a postdoctoral position, she immediately felt that something was missing.
“I moved to the US, and the apartment was just lonely and sad,” recounts Hallinan, who worked at Indiana University in Indianapolis. She had always been surrounded by pets, and had left her family dog back in Dublin. “Within a week of living there, I went to the shelter and got a cat, Franklin, and it was the best thing ever.”
She went on to adopt two more cats — a tabby named Rosie and a Russian blue called Vicenzo — to keep Franklin (a Siamese cat with lynx point patterning) company. But they were her companions just as much as they were Franklin’s, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. “During COVID, it was so good for my mental health,” she says. “Otherwise, it would have just been me rattling around in an apartment, talking to myself, instead of having my little buddies with me.”
She’s not alone. Some research suggests that dogs and other pets can improve their owners’ well-being and reduce anxiety1. This can be especially helpful for people with stressful academic careers. But pets, too, have psychological, physical and emotional needs that have to be fulfilled. Combining the many commitments that come with working in academia — such as teaching, attending conferences and conducting research — with caring for a pet can be a tricky balancing act. For Hallinan and many others, it’s well worth it.
“It’s just this furry bundle of joy that lives in your house,” Hallinan says.
The pawsitives of pets
Like Hallinan, Danielle Ulrich also grew up alongside pets and knew that she wanted a dog as soon as she could meet its needs. She and her then-boyfriend adopted Opie, a border collie cross, when she was a graduate student at Oregon State University in Corvallis. It seemed like the right time, with the right support and a schedule that would make owning a dog feasible, she says.
Plant physiologist Danielle Ulrich’s border collie cross Opie has accompanied her throughout her PhD and postgraduate research.Credit: Danielle Ulrich
“There are some set things, like teaching commitments, or classes, that kept us on campus, but oftentimes, it was easy to work from home and make sure that we could support Opie as much as possible,” says Ulrich, who is now a plant physiologist at Montana State University in Bozeman.
Opie’s companionship has been crucial throughout her career. He has accompanied her through her PhD, her postdoctoral work and now her professorship.
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