Dr. Raffaela Lesch started her scientific career at the University of Vienna as an undergraduate student in a biology program with a focus on zoology, the study of animals. Lesch continued on this path during her Master of Science studies in Behavioral, Neuro- and Cognitive Biology. During her Ph.D., Lesch deepened her focus on animals and began research on acoustic communication in domesticated animals.
After receiving her Ph.D. from the University of Vienna, she began work as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Animal Welfare at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. Here at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, her lab, the Urban Domestication Lab, works on research questions related to animal domestication. They are currently establishing both field and laboratory research as well as citizen science projects.