Meet our conference speakers
WAWC is delighted to welcome 19 eminent speakers to present at our online conference Putting wildlife welfare into practice: wildlife management in the 21st century Thursday 16 May. Please see below for more information about panellists and chairs.
Register here for the conference https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/824141576073290587
Welcome and Introduction 09:10 - 09:30 hrs
Pete Goddard (WAWC Chair, UK) Welcome and Introduction. Why should we care about wild animal welfare? Do we need a systematic change of thinking?
Dr Pete Goddard is a veterinary surgeon with a particular interest in animal welfare focusing on welfare in ruminants under extensive systems of management, and the health and welfare of wild and semi-managed animals. Pete worked at the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen where he headed the Institute’s Ecological Sciences Group and is now an Emeritus Fellow at the Institute. He has published more than 70 scientific papers and has authored 9 book chapters, including contributions to Veterinary Ethics: Navigating Tough Cases, edited by Siobhan Mullan and Anne Fawcett. For many years he was a member of the Editorial Board of Applied Animal Behaviour Science. He is a Diplomate of the European College of Animal Welfare and Behavioural Medicine (Welfare Science, Ethics and Law). For two years he was chair of the Animal Welfare Science Ethics and Law Veterinary Association (AWSELVA) and for 6 years he was a trustee of the Animal Welfare Foundation and remains on their funding committee. For the past three years he has been a member of the project advisory group of UNISECO, a major European project investigating agroecological farming systems. Pete is the Chair of the Wild Animal Welfare Committee and in February 2020, he was appointed to the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission.
Session 1: Wildlife welfare – making the case for a better engagement with wild animals
Chair: Angus Nurse
Professor Angus Nurse researches animal, environmental, and human rights law, green criminology and critical criminal justice at Anglia Ruskin University. He was previously Head of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Nottingham Trent University (2021 to 2023) and prior to that was Associate Professor, Environmental Justice and Director of Policing Programmes in the Department of Criminology and Sociology at Middlesex University School of Law. Angus is a member of the Wild Animal Welfare Committee (WAWC), and previously worked for an environmental NGO, and as an Investigator for the Local Government Ombudsman.
Angus’ books include Policing Wildlife (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), Miscarriages of Justice: Causes, consequences and remedies (Policy Press, 2018) co-authored with Sam Poyser and Rebecca Milne, Wildlife Criminology (Bristol University Press, 2020) co-authored with Tanya Wyatt and Reparations (Bristol University Press, 2021). His work has appeared in several peer-reviewed academic journals including: Crime, Law and Social Change; Journal of Environmental Law; Men and Masculinities; the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology; the European Energy and Environmental Law Review and Contemporary Justice Review.
Danielle Celermajer (University of Sydney, Australia) Including wild animals in political decision making: A multispecies justice approach to wild animal welfare
Danielle Celermajer is Professor of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Sydney, Acting Director of the Sydney Environment Institute and leads the Multispecies Justice project. With a background in human rights advocacy and scholarship, her current research focuses on reconceptualizing justice for all Earth beings, climate change imaginaries, and institutional transformation in the context of the polycrisis. Her books include Sins of the Nation and the Ritual of Apology (Cambridge University Press 2008), The Prevention of Torture, A Cultural History of Law in the Modern Age, The Subject of Human Rights, and Institutional Transformations. Through the experience of living through the black summer bushfires with a multispecies community, she began writing about a new crime of our age, Omnicide. Her latest book, Summertime (Penguin Random House, 2021) was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards for non-fiction.
Mark Jones (Born Free Foundation, UK) Integrating welfare into conservation policy and practice: challenges implementing Compassionate Conservation
Dr Mark Jones trained as a vet at Liverpool University and worked for many years in fish health and disease control, before spending five years travelling extensively and working on rescue and rehabilitation projects for primates, bears, birds, and reptiles in South America and Asia. Mark has Masters’ degrees in both aquatic and wild animal health, and several years’ experience in the non-government animal protection sector. He joined the UK-based international wildlife charity Born Free in 2014 where he is currently Head of Policy, managing a team focussed on promoting the adoption of progressive legislation and policy concerning wildlife conservation, management and trade, and the welfare of both free living and captive wild animals, at international, national and local levels.
Heather Browning (University of Southampton, UK) Positive aspects of wild animal welfare; what does a good life feel like for free-living wild animals?
Dr Heather Browning is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Southampton. She specialises in animal welfare, sentience, and ethics. Prior to her current position, she worked as a researcher in animal sentience and welfare at the London School of Economics, as part of the Foundations of Animal Sentience project. Alongside her academic career, Heather has also worked as a zookeeper and animal welfare officer.
Session 2: Transitioning from knowledge to action: possibilities and hurdles 11:15 - 12:45 hrs
Chair: Glen Cousquer
Dr Glen Cousquer is a Lecturer and MSc Programme Co-ordinator in Conservation Medicine and One Health at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh. He is a writer, photographer, international mountain leader and veterinary surgeon who actively uses narrative and photography to help individuals, communities and organisations understand, explore and reimagine their relationship(s) with animals and the environment. His work is about connection, systems thinking, holism and empathy. Glen's interests cover a number of subject areas including human-animal relations, veterinary medicine, wild animal medicine, wildlife, birds. mountains and mountaineering, travel and tourism.
Jordan Hampton (University of Melbourne, Australia) Practical animal welfare science: the case study of wildlife shooting
Jordan Hampton is an Australian researcher with an interest in the fields of animal welfare, wildlife health and bioethics. He is a veterinarian with a PhD in wildlife management. Jordan is currently a Senior Lecturer in the School of Veterinary Medicine at Murdoch University. He is also President of the Australasian Wildlife Management Society (AWMS). Jordan has previously worked for zoos, government agencies, and in private consultancy. His career has involved work in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. His research outputs span over 85 peer-reviewed papers, and three textbooks. He has particular research interests in quantifying harmful effects of anthropogenic effects on wildlife and applied studies aimed at refinement of techniques to mitigate these effects.
Madeleine Campbell (University of Nottingham, UK) Finding common ground amongst those with different views – are there shared goals that can be built on? Philosophy as it relates to animal welfare.
Professor Madeleine Campbell is a RCVS and European EBVS Specialist in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law. She is Professor of Veterinary Ethics at Nottingham University School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, currently Chairs the independent Animal Welfare Committee which advises Defra and the Scottish and Welsh governments, and through a number of appointments provides advice to various organisations including the Greyhound Board of Great Britain, the British Equestrian Federation and the British Horseracing Authority. Madeleine's clinical background is in veterinary reproduction, and her research interests include the ethical issues surrounding the use of assisted reproductive technologies in non-human animals, and the use of non-human animals in competitive sport.
Full biography to follow
Philip Riordan (Marwell Zoo, UK) Conservation management and what to do to protect animal welfare when problems arise
Professor Philip Riordan is the Director of Conservation at Marwell Wildlife. He is also currently Visiting Professor in University of Southampton, Visiting Professor at Beijing Forestry University, UN Expert with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS); the UNEP Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Full biography to follow.
Mike Daniels (John Muir Trust, UK) The actions taken by eNGOs on the basis of welfare evidence – John Muir Trust case study
Mike has worked for the John Muir Trust for 16 years in a variety of roles. Before that he worked for the Deer Commission, Scottish Agricultural College, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Macaulay Institute. He did a PhD on the Biology and Conservation of the Scottish Wildcat, radio tracking cats in the Angus glens and a postdoc studying wombats in Australia. This is his last day with the John Muir Trust, as he is leaving to join the Centre for Mountain Studies at the University of the Highlands and Islands in June.
Session 3: Examples of how animal welfare assessments have impacted wildlife management: how is experience used? 14:00 - 15:50 hrs
Chair: Alick Simmons
Alick Simmons is a veterinarian, naturalist and photographer. After a period in private practice, he followed a 35-year career as a Government veterinarian, latterly as the UK Government's Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer. Alick has had much involvement in public health and disease control policy and extensive practical experience of epidemic livestock disease gained in the UK and overseas. Alick's lifelong passion is wildlife and, since leaving government service in 2015, he has sought to expand this interest. He is volunteering for the RPSB in Somerset, has become chair of the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, a trustee of Dorset Wildlife Trust, a member of the RSPB’s Ethics Advisory Committee and a member of the National Trust’s Wildlife Management Advisory Group. A particular interest is the ethics of wild animal management and welfare. He is devoting more time to photography and is keen to publish more of his photos.
Adam Grogan (UC Davis, USA) Advances in approaches to wildlife management nine years on from the international consensus principles. Can changes happen in a short timeframe?
Adam Grogan’s current role is as coordinator for the Global Oiled Wildlife Response System (GOWRS) Ltd, that works to coordinate and promote the work of a network of ten oiled wildlife response organisations based around the world.
Prior to this, Adam worked for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in the UK, initially as their Wildlife Rehabilitation Co-ordinator and then, from 2015, as the Head of Wildlife. In this role, he advised on policy regarding the welfare of wild animals, including wild animal management and casualty wildlife.
He has worked to improve consideration for animal welfare in the management of wild animals through many collaborations, including the workshop he will be discussing today, where a number of international experts produced a report and paper on the international consensus principles for ethical wildlife control.
He also facilitated research into methods of rehabilitating wild animals, including oiled birds, and tracking their survival after release, in order to learn more about the survival of these casualties and has promoted the welfare of casualty wildlife via chapters in the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council’s (IWRC) Wildlife Rehabilitation, A Comprehensive Approach and the National Wildlife Rehabilitation Association’s (NWRA) and IWRC’s Standards For Wildlife Rehabilitation. He has served on the board of the IWRC, including as President, and has also served on the Executive Committee of the British Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (BWRC)
Adam has a strong research background and has undertaken projects covering a range of species, mostly on mammals. Adam has served as Vice Chair and Honorary Secretary for The Mammal Society for Britain and Ireland.
Nick Collinson (National Trust, UK) National Trust approach of turning principle into practice
Nick is the National Manager for Wildlife Management at the National Trust. In his role he works across the Trust providing national leadership, support and advice on wildlife management. His team also covers game shooting, badgers and bTB, avian influenza, hunting and wildlife crime. Over the recent past the Trust has worked hard to develop comprehensive systems and processes to ensure best practice & support to this area of its work. Nick has previously worked as the Trust’s General Manager for the Suffolk & Essex Coast portfolio, including properties such as Orford Ness and Sutton Hoo. Outside work, Nick Chairs the Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape (AONB) Partnership. In previous roles, Nick has worked as Head of Natural & Historic Environment at Suffolk County Council, Head of Conservation Policy at The Woodland Trust, and Deputy Director at Suffolk Wildlife Trust. In all roles wildlife management has featured. Nick qualified from Oxford Brookes University with a 1st class honours BSc in Environmental & Population Biology (a long time ago) and was subsequently awarded a PGDip. Distinction in Conservation Management from the University of East Anglia. Nick is married (to a Veterinary Surgeon) and has two daughters.
Julie Lane (Animal and Plant Health Agency, UK) Welfare aspects of lethal and non-lethal methods of wildlife population control
Dr Julie Lane started her research career as a clinical physiologist completing a PhD in drug therapies for high blood pressure at University of Sheffield and then gaining a post-doctoral position at University Cambridge studying how stress affects the brain. Julie then moved into animal welfare under several different Defra agencies for over two decades specialising in measuring stress in animals in non-invasive ways.
Julie joined the National Wildlife Management Centre in the UK Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) 12 years ago and became Head of the Centre in 2018. The NWMC has just over 100 staff and the remit is to carry out research and provide advice to combat human-wildlife conflicts developing and using novel techniques that are ecologically and welfare friendly. Julie also set up the only UK Home Office approved course for training in mammal and bird research which has now been running for 15 years attracting delegates from across the UK and for which she won the UFAW Wild Animal welfare Award.
James Yeates (World Federation for Animals, UK) The ethics of the killing of wildlife in a wild animal welfare context
James is a qualified vet, with a degree in medical ethics, a PhD in animal welfare and a MBA. He was Chief Veterinary Officer of RSPCA, and now CEO of the World Federation for Animals. He is author of Animal Welfare and Veterinary Practice; Veterinary Science: A very short introduction; and An Introduction to Veterinary Ethics.
Chris Cagienard (British Pest Control Association, UK) How pest professionals strive for good animal welfare whilst protecting public health
Chris Cagienard
Chris is a Field Biologist and BPCA Master Technician with 25 years of industry experience in the UK professional pest control industry. He is the owner and Managing Director of Pest Solutions, an award-winning, innovative and fast-growing business based in Glasgow, covering Scotland and the north of England.
He also serves as the President of the British Pest Control Association (BPCA), the trade association for the professional pest control industry in the UK.
His focus is on delivering customer service excellence, driving professionalism, protecting public health, championing humane practices, and reducing the impact on the environment.
Chris is proud to lead a team of highly trained, professional, conscientious pest professionals who understand the responsibility associated with protecting public health while striving for the best possible animal welfare outcomes.
https://www.pestsolutions.co.uk
Jeremy Wilson (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, UK) Integrating wildlife welfare into conservation management
Jeremy Wilson is Director of Science at the RSPB and an Honorary Professor at the University of Stirling.
Jeremy has spent over 30 years as a conservation scientist, studying the relationships between land-use change and biodiversity, and focusing mainly on the conservation of bird populations in agricultural systems, from lowland England to the Scottish uplands and the machair of the Western Isles. He joined the RSPB’s Conservation Science team in 1996 and led the science team in Scotland for almost 20 years from 2001-2020, before becoming Director of Science in September 2020. He now leads a team of over 60 scientists who deliver the natural and social science to inform all of RSPB’s conservation work in the UK and internationally. Much of this work is delivered in collaboration with statutory conservation agencies, universities, research institutes and Birdlife International partners.
The scientific work informs policy and advisory colleagues on the development of land management schemes, identifies measures that will improve the management of RSPB’s nature reserves, and helps to diagnose the causes of decline of the most threatened species.
Jeremy’s first postdoctoral research was at Edinburgh University in 1990-1991 studying the dispersal dynamics of dippers, followed by spells at the British Trust for Ornithology and Oxford University’s Edward Grey Institute. He led some of the early studies of the impacts of agricultural intensification of farmland bird populations, including one of the first major studies of the biodiversity outcomes of conversion of farmland to organic farming systems. Jeremy remains keen to support others to launch their own scientific and conservation careers by putting bird conservation challenges at the heart of postgraduate studentship projects.
Session 4: Looking forward and making a difference 16:20 - 18:00 hrs
Chair: María Díez León
María is a Senior Lecturer in Animal Welfare at the Royal Veterinary College, and a zoologist specialising in animal behaviour and welfare. Her research focuses on understanding how the physical and social features of early environments affect behavioural and cognitive skills, as well as stress physiology, and how these track welfare states. She graduated in Biology at the University of Navarra, pursued an MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare at the University of Edinburgh, and then a PhD on the same subject at the University of Guelph. Since arriving at the RVC, she has been primarily working on investigating how constraints of captivity and management affect the success of conservation translocations through their impacts on animal welfare, as well as improving welfare assessment in wild animals.
Peter Sandøe and Clare Palmer (University of Copenhagen, Denmark; Texas A & M University, USA) The elephant in the room – to what extent do we have an obligation to prevent or alleviate the suffering of wild animals?
Peter Sandøe is originally trained as a philosopher at the University of Copenhagen and at Oxford University. He has been professor of bioethics at the University of Copenhagen since 1997, presently with his chair divided between the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences and the Department of Food and Resource Economics. Since 2020 he has been director of the Centre for Companion Animal Welfare. He is committed to interdisciplinary work combining perspectives from natural science, social science and philosophy. For more information about his research in the field of animal ethics, animal welfare, human-animal relations, and veterinary ethics, see www.animalethics.net. Peter is also an active participant in public outreach and debates, both nationally and internationally. Of special relevance to wild animal welfare can be mentioned the book Wildlife Ethics, co-authored with Clare Palmer, Bob Fischer, Christian Gamborg, and Jordan Hampton, and published Wiley Blackwell in 2023.
Clare Palmer is George T. and Gladys H. Abell Professor in Liberal Arts and Professor of Philosophy at Texas A&M University in the USA. Her research interests focus on environmental and animal ethics, and the ethics of emerging technologies. She is author or co-author of five books, including most recently Wildlife Ethics: The Ethics of Wildlife Management and Conservation (Wiley Blackwell 2023), and she’s currently co-PI on the National Endowment for the Humanities project The Ethics of Conservation Biotechnology: a conceptual engineering approach.
Grace Carroll (Queen’s University Belfast, UK) The science of behaviour change: Why we need to understand human behaviour in order to improve animal welfare
Dr Grace Carroll is a lecturer in the School of Psychology at Queen’s University, Belfast, where her research is focused on animal welfare and human-animal interactions. Her research interests include farm animal welfare, including pigs, beef and dairy cattle, and broiler chickens. Current interests also include human behaviour change for improving animal welfare and understanding the evolutionary mechanisms underlying infant features in companion animals.
Full biography to follow.
Allen Rutberg (Tufts University, USA) Welfare aspects of contraceptive applications to wildlife
Dr. Allen Rutberg is Director of the Center for Animals and Public Policy and associate research professor in the Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Trained as a behavioral ecologist, he earned his Ph.D. in zoology at the University of Washington, Seattle, in 1984, carrying out field studies on the behavior of American bison, and later work focusing on free-roaming horses. After a stint teaching undergraduate biology at Vassar College and elsewhere, Dr. Rutberg joined The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) as senior scientist for wildlife and habitat protection, where he served from 1991 to 2000. At HSUS, he initiated field studies of immunocontraceptive vaccines for the control of deer and wild horse populations, which he has continued since joining the Cummings School faculty in 2000. At Cummings School, he directs the M.S. program in Animals in Public Policy, teaches classes in wildlife policy, wildlife in captivity, and policy communication, and mentors graduate and veterinary student research and internships.
Stefano Canessa (Universität Bern, Switzerland) Integrating animal welfare in rational decision-making for species conservation
Dr. Stefano Canessa is a senior post-doc at the Universität Bern in Switzerland where he researches methods for smart decision-making in biodiversity conservation, aiming to bridge the implementation gap between research and practice. His main role is to support and advise planning for conservation programs worldwide, particularly conservation reintroductions and translocations.
Full biography to follow.
Alice Bacon (Royal Zoological Society Scotland, UK) The welfare of reintroduced Scottish wildcats; mitigating human-wildlife conflict through local stakeholder engagement
Dr Alice Bacon is the Saving Wildcats project’s veterinary surgeon in the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), providing veterinary expertise for both the ex-situ breeding centre and the in-situ field work. She is based at Highland Wildlife Park, where she is part of the RZSS veterinary team, responsible for the health and welfare of all the animals at the park.
Full biography to follow.