Julie Hecht is an animal behavior researcher, science writer, and public speaker. The New York Times observed that Julie “finds her bliss in canine urine.”

Julie wants to understand dogs on their terms and she hopes you will join her on the journey. She has conducted research on dog behavior, cognition, welfare, and common anthropomorphisms with Alexandra Horowitz’s Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College in NYC and with the Family Dog Project at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest.

For six years, she maintained the Dog Spies blog on Scientific American, and she and fellow researcher Mia Cobb promote companion animal behavior and welfare at Do You Believe in Dog?. Julie’s writing has appeared at The Bark magazine, and she holds lectures for student groups of all ages and dog enthusiasts.

Julie is currently a PhD candidate in Animal Behavior and Comparative Psychology at the Graduate Center, CUNY, working with Diana Reiss, and her research focuses on cat-human interactions. She has been an adjunct at Hunter College and taught undergraduate Animal Behavior as well as courses for the Animal Behavior and Conservation Masters Program. Previously, she taught Applied Animal Behavior for Canisius College’s Anthrozoology Masters Program. 

Julie received a Masters with distinction in Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare from the University of Edinburgh Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. Her interest in ethology (animal behavior) began at The University of Wisconsin-Madison in Patricia McConnell’s Zoology class. She is very happy she took that class.

She would like to meet your dog.