Hrefna Sigurjónsdóttir

Hrefna Sigurjónsdóttir (born 24 October 1950) is a biologist and a professor at the University of Iceland.

Professional career Hrefna completed the national standard lower secondary school examination from Kvennaskólinn í Reykjavík (Reykjavik Women's Gymnasium) in 1966 and a matriculation examination from the Mathematics Department of Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík (Reykjavik Junior College) in the spring of 1970. She graduated from the University of Iceland (UI) with a BS (90e) in biology in the spring of 1973. Her final project was on the ecology of insects. A year later, she finished a graduate program from the same department (BS 120e), emphasising insects and other land arthropods. She investigated their abundance and distribution on the south side and top of Mt. Esja. She pursued studies in ecology at University College of North Wales, Bangor, (1975-1976) and completed a master's there. She was the first woman in Iceland to complete a doctorate in animal ethology. After returning home, she completed teacher certification at the University of Iceland (1982). (Icelandic and French) in master's studies in ethology, in addition to many teacher education students in their final projects for B.Ed. and M.Ed. degrees. She has also taught a course on the ethology of horses at Hólar University College, Iceland (2011-2013). For example, she has worked on the reproductive behaviour of dung flies and arctic char. Since 1996, she has worked with many experts and students on the (social) behaviour of the Icelandic horse, focusing on dominance orders, what determines an individual horse's positioning, and friendship patterns, how their behaviour (aggression, mutual grooming) is affected by group composition in pastures, their behaviour and time budget in the wintertime and with French colleagues on the natural weaning of foals. Her research has received support from the Icelandic Centre for Research, UI's Research Fund and other parties. In addition, the research has been presented at many conferences and meetings in many parts of the world and published in peer reviewed journals. written articles and chapters in books on educational theory on biology and environmental education, written course materials for elementary schools in zoology and made a film on the reproductive behaviour of arctic char in Lake Thingvallavatn, along with Karl Gunnarsson. At KHI, for example, she was a department chair, a member of the School Council, semester manager, member of the Continuing Education's Faculty Council, and chair of the selection committee. After merger of the Universities, she was a member of the Faculty Council of the Faculty of Teachers. She was on the selection committee of the Agricultural University of Iceland in Hvanneyri and was appointed to the selection committee for the Knowledge Centre in the Faroe Islands. She has been a member of the professional group of natural and environmental sciences for The Icelandic Centre for Research. She sat on the Professional Council of Hagþenkir, Association of Non-fiction Writers, for several years, and on the Allocation Committee of the Board of Directors of the Association of Self-employed Scholars. She was a member of the Board of Directors of KHI's Teachers Association and a confidante for six years and on the Board of Directors of the Professors Association in Iceland and its representative to a consultants group for a wages committee for many years. She was on the Board of Directors of the Southwest Iceland Nature Conservation Association (4 years). She chaired the Board of Directors of Reykjanesfólkvangur (outdoor recreational area) and is now a member of NHA's Board of Directors for the second time.

Childhood and personal life Hrefna grew up in Reykjavik but always spent her summers in the countryside as a child and youth. Parents: Sigurjón Sigurðsson, banker (b. 1920, d. 2013), and Björg Ólafsdóttir (b. 1921). Her husband is Sigurður Sveinn Snorrason, professor in biology at the University of Iceland. They have two children, Björg and Snorri.

Main written works Articles Sigurjónsdóttir, H and G.A. Parker. 1981. Dung fly struggles: evidence for assessment strategy. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 8: 219–230. Sigurjónsdóttir, H. and Gunnarsson, K. 1989. Alternative mating tactics of arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus, in Thingvallavatn, Iceland. Environmental Biology of Fishes 26: 159–176. Hrefna Sigurjónsdóttir, M. van Dierendonck, Anna G. Þórhallsdóttir and Sigurður Snorrason. 2003. Social relationships in a group of horses without a mature stallion. Behaviour, 140: 783–804. Hrefna Sigurjónsdóttir and Hans Haraldsson. (2019). Significance of Group Composition for the Welfare of Pastured Horses. Animals, 9, 14. Hrefna Sigurjónsdóttir og Sandra M. Granquist. (2019). Hátterni hesta í haga - Rannsóknir á félagshegðun. Náttúrufræðingurinn 89 (3-4) bl. 78–97, 2019. Henry, S.; Sigurjónsdóttir, H.; Klapper, A.; Joubert, J.; Montier, G.; Hausberger, M. Domestic Foal Weaning: Need for Re-Thinking Breeding Practices? Animals 2020, 10, 361.

Books Agnar Ingólfsson, Eggert Pétursson, Hrefna Sigurjónsdóttir og Karl Gunnarsson. 1986. Fjörulíf. Fræðslurit Ferðafélags Íslands nr.2, 116 bls. Ferðafélag Íslands. Reykjavík.

Curriculum material Komdu að skoða hvað dýrin gera. Co-author: Sólrún Harðardóttir. Greiningarlyklar fyrir smádýr. Co-author: Snorri Sigurðsson. Æxlunarhegðun bleikju í Þingvallavatni – educational film. Co-author: Karl Gunnarsson. Æxlunarhegðun bleikju í Þingvallavatni – teaching instructions with a video.