Hetty Boleij

Hetty Boleij is an Assistant Professor at Utrecht University's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, affiliated with the Department of Population Health Sciences and the Animals in Science and Society research group. Her work focuses on non-invasive stress measurement in laboratory animals using infrared thermography and behavioral analysis.

• Academic Affiliation: Utrecht University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
• Department: Population Health Sciences

Boleij's research explores emotional reactivity, judgment bias, and behavioral habituation in rodents. She has developed methods to assess stress responses in inbred mice and investigates welfare implications across different mouse substrains.

Recent publications highlight her expertise in stress physiology, behavioral neuroscience, and animal welfare metrics. Her work combines pharmacological studies (e.g., diazepam effects) with environmental enrichment approaches to improve laboratory animal care.

• Teaching roles: Course coordinator for BSc Veterinary Medicine and co-coordinator for MSc Veterinary Public Health
• Methodologies: Infrared thermography, judgment bias tasks, behavioral habituation studies