Dr Orla Shortall

I am an inter-disciplinary social scientist with an interest in agricultural systems and farmer decision making. My work draws on agricultural sociology, science and technology studies and agricultural bioethics. My main research interest could be described as the philosophy of agriculture: what agriculture is for, why we value it and how we can understand change within agriculture. I’m particularly interested in dairy farming as this is a diverse and dynamic sector within the UK. I’ve used qualitative and quantitative methods to explore these research interests in the past.

I carry out research on farmer and stakeholder views of bovine viral diarrhoea eradication to explore how the Scottish scheme interacts with farmers’ values and practices, and how governance of schemes across the UK and Ireland is organised. I carry out research on stakeholder and producer views of risk in relation to avian influenza in the poultry sector.

Publications

Dairy farmer practices and attitudes relating to pasture-based and indoor production systems in Scotland. Orla K. Shortall and Altea Lorenzo-Arribas

Novel industry-government governance mechanisms for the eradication of bovine viral diarrhoea in the UK and Ireland. Orla Shortall Adam Calo

Enacting and resisting biosecurity citizenship: More-than-human geographies of enrolment in a disease eradication scheme in Scotland. Orla Shortall and Katrina Brown 

Cows eat grass, don't they? Contrasting sociotechnical imaginaries of the role of grazing in the UK and Irish dairy sectors. Orla Shortall

Application of multiple behaviour change models to identify determinants of farmers’ biosecurity attitudes and behaviours. IF Richens, J Houdmont, W Wapenaar, O Shortall, H O'Connor, ML Brennan

True Cowmen and Commercial Farmers: Exploring Vets’ and Dairy Farmers’ Contrasting Views of ‘Good Farming’ in Relation to Biosecurity. O Shortall, L Sutherland, A Ruston, J Kaler

Exploring expert opinion on the practicality and effectiveness of biosecurity measures on dairy farms in the United Kingdom using choice modeling. O Shortall, M Green, M Brennan, W Wapenaar, J Kaler

Broken biosecurity? Veterinarians’ framing of biosecurity on dairy farms in England. O Shortall, A Ruston, M Green, M Brennan, W Wapenaar, J Kaler

Challenges facing the farm animal veterinary profession in England: A qualitative study of veterinarians’ perceptions and responses. A Ruston, O Shortall, M Green, M Brennan, W Wapenaar, J Kaler