Currently a Global Animal Welfare Advisor with World Animal Protection, supporting the delivery of effective global campaigns using technical and animal welfare expertise, and expert academic and industry contacts to drive meaningful change for animals. This involves representing World Animal Protection on expert groups (including the technical working group for the business benchmark for farm animal welfare and the pig subgroup of the EU Animal Welfare Platform), training and supporting country office staff to use the latest evidence and welfare monitoring techniques to improve animal welfare in the country-specific context, and provide technical guidance to develop guidelinesfor industry to make widespread improvements to farm animal welfare (e.g. guidelines for financial institutions).
Previously a post-doctoral research associate at Michigan State University (MSU), working alongside Dr Janice Siegford and others on a USDA and National Pork Board-funded project using behaviour and genomic tools to identify pigs suited to group living, and with the MSU Pork Extension Team. My role in the project is to survey farmer attitudes and perceptions on the use of behaviour in the day-to-day management of pigs, and to report finding of this and other aspects of the project back to pork producers.
My Ph.D. was a BBSRC-Zoetis CASE studentship (BB/J500549/1: ‘Addressing pain at parturition in pigs’) at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) and the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies (R(D)SVS) at the University of Edinburgh. Prior to starting a Ph.D, I spent five years as a research assistant at SRUC, working on projects with cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. During this time I contributed to experimental work with pigs on post-mixing aggression, prenatal stress, transport in hot climates and alternative farrowing environments. For further information on my current and previous research experience, please click on the research tab. Additionally, I have provided lectures to undergraduate and postgraduate students at MSU, SRUC, the University of Edinburgh during and prior to my PhD.