Dr Howarth is the course leader for Animal Behaviour BSc and a lecturer in Animal Welfare Science, focusing on domestic and captive species in particular, primates and companion animals. 

During her BSc in Animal Science at Newcastle University, she completed a dissertation project on cage mate behaviour in captive rhesus macaques following biomedical procedures at the Comparative Biology Centre. Following this, she attended the University of Edinburgh to complete an MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare, where she completed a project in Qualitative Behaviour Assessment in primates. While in Edinburgh, Dr Howarth worked as a presenter at Edinburgh Zoo, where she was able to work with a range of species, including penguins, rhinos, and chimpanzees. During her PhD, she worked closely with rhesus macaques at the Medical Research Council's Centre for Macaques (https://cfm.har.mrc.ac.uk/), training them to collect cognitive data as well as urine and saliva samples.