Terri Bright '08GS
MSPCA Training Coordinator
Terri Bright, a member of the 2008 Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, is doing something most applied behavioral analysis students don’t typically do. She uses behavioral research techniques that are normally used with humans, on fearful, anxious, and aggressive dogs. Bright said she has always had a passion for dogs, so she took those behavioral techniques to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Angell Animal Medical Center (MSPCA-Angell) to prove that applied behavior analysis could help our four-legged friends, too.
"The work that Terri has done with these animals is really unique," said Michael Cameron, chair of the Department of Behavior Analysis. "Terri uses a scientific approach and goes to the canines with the understanding of the basic principles of behavior analysis."
As the first Simmons student to receive an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) degree with an animal specialty, Bright works with many aggressive dogs in her private practice and has changed her own bull terriers from inattentive and rambunctious to American Kennel Club award winners in agility.
"I wanted to work with the dogs in the animal shelter, particularly those that were extremely anxious, fearful, and aggressive. Using the skills I learned from the Simmons ABA program, I wanted to see if these dogs would calm down if I exhibited certain signals to them, as is stated in some popular dog books," said Bright.
Bright started interning at the MSPCA-Angell in 2006 and was hired as the training coordinator after five months. She teaches, supervises, and develops new programs for volunteers and dogs as she pursues her doctorate at Simmons.
"I’m going to class at Simmons and then taking what I’ve learned four miles down the road to the MSPCA-Angell," she said.
In 2008, Bright received the Marian Breland Bailey Award for Student Research and Scholarship from the Association for Behavior Analysis International after presenting at its annual convention in Chicago. She was chosen for her research topic, design, methodology, and presentation in the applied animal behavioral field.
Bright said she is going to keep the award on her resume forever and hopes to win it again this year.
