Rachel Walker, PhD

Full Professor, University of the Incarnate Word

Dr. Rachel Walker completed her bachelor’s degree (1999) and master’s degree in marine biology and her doctoral degree (2005) in Experimental Psychology from The University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Walker spent 10 years working at Charleston Southern University in which she was a Full Professor and the Chair of the Department of Behavioral Sciences. She made her last move to the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. Dr. Walker spent seven years conducting research on bottlenose dolphins in the wild and under professional care. She also focused on the potential impact of anthropogenic noise on sperm whales in the Gulf of Mexico in collaboration with The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), University of New Orleans (UNO), Naval Research Laboratory at Stennis Space Center (NRL-SCC), and the Naval Oceanographic office (NAVOCEANO). She has studied patterns of behavior in a variety of mammals (e.g., beluga whales, bottlenose dolphins, elephants, giraffes) under professional care. She has also conducted research in the areas of social-cognitive psychology and technology as well as scholarship of teaching and learning. Her teaching and research experience, within Biology and Psychology, has provided her with the skills to effectively share the knowledge and impact of research in the field of animal behavior.