[1] Widowski earned her bachelor’s degree in Ecology, Ethology and Evolution from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1983, a master’s degree in animal science from University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1984, and a doctoral degree in animal science from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1988.
[2][3][4] As an animal welfare scientist, Widowski has taught courses in applied ethology, animal welfare science and environmental physiology at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.
[4] From 2007 to 2020, Widowski was Director of the Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare at the University of Guelph.|url=https://ccsaw.uoguelph.ca/mrs-mona-campbell/%7C Widowski is the author and co-author of more than 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers and book chapters and over 200 abstracts and proceedings.
Her most influential publications include work on how piglets are impacted by early weaning, the potential role of pleasure in the control of avian dust-bathing, methods for euthansia of piglets and poultry for stockpeople to use, and the effects of early rearing conditions on laying hen behaviour, health and welfare.
[9] She won a Distinguished Professor Award from the University of Guelph’s Faculty Association in 2005.