Course Lecturers

PROFESSOR DONALD BROOM

Colleen Macleod Professor of Animal Welfare at Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge
Professor Donald Broom is Colleen Macleod Professor of Animal Welfare (Emeritus) in the Centre for Animal Welfare and Anthrozoology within the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Cambridge. His recent research also concerns cognitive ability and sentience of domestic animals as well as sustainability of agricultural systems.
He graduated in Natural Sciences (Zoology) from Cambridge in 1964. He completed his Ph.D. there on behaviour development and responses of domestic chicks to startling stimuli in 1967, and later gained Cambridge’s Sc.D. degree. From 1967 to 1986 he was Lecturer then Reader in the University of Reading, where he worked on behaviour and welfare of calves and dry sows in relation to housing; grazing behaviour of cattle and sheep; the role of behaviour in relation to the transmission of fish parasites, summer mastitis and bovine tuberculosis; olfactory and auditory communication in rodents and deer; salmonid behaviour; motivational mechanisms and the description of activity rhythms.
Professor Broom was a visiting professor, lecturer, researcher for three month periods in the University of California Berkeley 1969, the University of the West Indies Trinidad 1972 and CSIRO Perth in 1983. In 1986 Professor Broom was appointed the first Professor of Animal Welfare in the world in the Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge. He set up a research group, the Centre for Animal Welfare and Anthrozoology.

DOCTOR JONATHAN COOPER

Director of the Doctoral School, Principal Lecturer and Programme Leader, University of Lincoln
As a subject specialist in Animal Behaviour and Welfare, Jonathan is programme leader for BSc Animal Management and Welfare at University of Lincoln, UK. Currently teaching Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare to undergraduate students in years 1, 2 and 3, he delivers sessions in assessing welfare and control of behaviour as part of taught MSc in Clinical Animal Behaviour.
As Principle Investigator on Defra funded project into use of e-collars in dog training, he was awarded RSPCA funding to investigate space requirements of pet rabbits prior to being awarded further funds from UFAW (Universities Federation for Animal Welfare) and Waltham Foundation for rabbit welfare work.
Jonathan is also Chair of College of Science Faculty Research Degrees Board, Chair of College of Science Research Ethics Committee and a member of ASAB (The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour) and ISAE (The International Society for Applied Ethology).

DOCTOR MURRAY CORKE

Clinical Teacher, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge
Murray Corke graduated as a veterinary surgeon from the Royal Veterinary College. He worked in mixed and equine practice for 6 years before joining Cambridge University Veterinary School as a farm animal and equine clinician. He currently teaches cattle and sheep medicine, consultation skills, and animal welfare. He completed a PhD with Professor Donald Broom in 2000 on the welfare of sheep with sheep scab (Psoroptes ovis infestation).
He is a member of the Cambridge vet school Animal Welfare Indicators (AWIN) team, working on pain associated with acute and chronic disease in sheep. Other research interests include passive transfer of immunity to neonatal ruminants, and farm animal fluid therapy.

DOCTOR KEVIN ELLIKER

University of Cambridge
Kevin is an applied ethologist whose main interests include the welfare and behaviour of farm and companion animals, with a focus on how a better understanding of animal learning and cognitive abilities can be used to improve welfare. Following a degree in Zoology, Kevin completed a PhD on the learning abilities and welfare of sheep at the Centre for Animal Welfare and Zoology (CAWA), University of Cambridge. Kevin later conducted research at CAWA on whether dogs can be trained to detect odours associated with human prostate cancer, in collaboration with dog trainers and the University of Nottingham. Kevin also has a strong interest in companion animal welfare and has worked for an animal charity to improve the welfare of a wide range of farmed species.

DOCTOR TROY GIBSON

Associate Professor in Animal Welfare Science, Royal Veterinary College
Troy graduated from Lincoln University (New Zealand) with a BSc in physiology in 2001. After spending two years working for a pharmaceutical company he returned to higher education and completed a PGDipSci with Distinction in animal physiology from Massey University (New Zealand). In 2009 he obtained a PhD titled “Electroencephalographic responses of calves to the noxious sensory input of slaughter by ventral neck incision and its modulation with non-penetrative captive bolt stunning” from Massey University.
In 2008 Troy joined the Royal Veterinary College as a Research Associate in Animal Welfare Physiology and in 2012 became a Lecturer in Animal Welfare Science. Troy’s areas of research include welfare of livestock during routine husbandry procedures, welfare during slaughter and wildlife management.

DOCTOR SONYA HILL

Lecturer, Programme Leader for Animal Behaviour & Welfare, University of Chester
Sonya P. Hill is an animal behaviour and welfare scientist with particular expertise in exotic wildlife. Sonya began her academic life as a biological anthropologist, and went on to gain valuable field experience with the Jane Goodall Institute in Tanzania, as well as husbandry and research experience in several UK zoos. Following an MPhil at Durham, she gained a PhD from the Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, for work on behavioural and physiological investigations of welfare in gorillas. This involved working within a range of zoos in the UK, Germany and Portugal, as well as the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria. 
Sonya joined Chester’s Department of Biological Sciences full-time in 2014, following a decade spent working as a scientist at Chester Zoo.
Sonya has a broad interest in evolutionary approaches to animal behaviour and welfare science, and specialises in evidence-based management of captive exotic wildlife. She is the research advisor to the European Endangered Species Programme for gorillas, and a member of the Research Committee of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Captive Care Working Party of the Primate Society of Great Britain, and a Trustee of the Jane Goodall Institute UK. She also holds professional memberships of the International Society for Applied Ethology, the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour, and the Association of British Wild Animal Keepers. Sonya is an Associate Editor of the “Animal Behavior and Welfare” Specialty Section of the academic journal, Frontiers in Veterinary Science. Outside of work, she is a cellist with the Chester Philharmonic Orchestra.

ROBERT HUBRECHT OBE

Former Chief Executive and Scientific Director, Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) and the Humane Slaughter Association (HSA)
Dr Robert Hubrecht is an ethologist with interests in animal welfare. His research has included studies of the welfare, behaviour, physiology and natural history of farm animals, New World primates, and kennelled dogs.
Robert has served on numerous advisory committees, including the national UK Animal Procedures Committee during which chaired the Housing and Husbandry Sub-Committee, and the US National Research Council Distress Committee, and also on expert groups providing advice on the development of UK and European legislation.
He co-edited the 8th edition of The UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory and Other Research Animals and, in 2014, completed a book entitled The Welfare of Animals Used in Research: Practice and Ethics, which gives a complete and balanced overview of the issues surrounding the use of animals in scientific research.

DOCTOR SEBASTIAN MCBRIDE

Lecturer in Bioscience, Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University
Dr Sebastian McBride is a Liverpool (BSc.) and Edinburgh (PhD.) graduate who first took up a lectureship position at Aberystwyth in 1996 in what was the Institute of Rural Sciences. He left the Institute in 2005 to extend his research interests in cognitive robotics in the Department of Computer Science (Aberystwyth) and then cognitive neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. He has returned to Aberystwyth University in 2016 to take up an appointment as lecturer in Biosciences.
Dr McBride is involved in a number of research projects based around cognition and the neurophysiological control of behaviour. In particular, he is currently working on: animal cognition markers of human neurodegenerative disease, neurophysiological mechanisms underpinning repetitive behavioural disorders and cognitive enrichment in farm and captive animal species

PROFESSOR DAVID MORTON

Professor Emeritus, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham
David Morton is Professor Emeritus of Biomedical Science and Ethics at the University of Birmingham, UK. He is a veterinary surgeon whose research interests concern the recognition, assessment and alleviation of pain and distress in animals. He was (retired July 2012) a member of the EU’s (EFSA (FDA equivalent)) scientific panel on animal health and animal welfare. The panel conducts risk assessment analyses for the European Commission as part of the EU’s risk management process for legislation. He was also a government adviser for the UK’s legislation controlling the use of animals in research (Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
Professor Morton has sat on working groups at the Nuffield Institute in the UK, and at the Hastings Centre and the Kennedy Institute in the USA, reporting on animal experimentation. He was the prime author of the OECD’s Guidance Document on the Recognition, Assessment, and Use of Clinical Signs as Humane Endpoints for Experimental Animals Used in Safety Evaluation. He sat on several human and animal research ethics committees and runs workshops for ethics committees on animal research and project evaluation. He chaired the UK’s Joint Working Group on Refinement, and is a scientific and ethics reviewer for EU funding applications and various peer reviewed international journals, and is the author of over 200 scientific papers. He received the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) on Animal Welfare.

DOCTOR GARETH PEARCE

University of Cambridge Senior Lecturer in Farm Animal Health and Production; Fellow & Director of Studies in Pre-clinical and Clinical Veterinary Medicine
Gareth graduated in Agricultural Sciences from the University of Nottingham and then completed a PhD in Animal Behaviour and Reproduction at the University of Leeds before undertaking Research Fellowships at the Universities of Western Australia and Melbourne. He then qualified as a Veterinary Surgeon at the Universities of Melbourne and Bristol before working in mixed and specialist pig practice in the UK and New Zealand. 
He returned to the UK in 2001 to work as a Veterinary Officer in MAFF / Defra during the FMD outbreak in Cumbria and beyond. He has previously held Senior Lectureships at Sydney, Massey and Harper Adams Universities and also taught at the Universities of Aberdeen and Liverpool. He moved to the Department of Veterinary Medicine at Cambridge in 2004 where he undertakes teaching and research in Animal Health and Welfare.
Gareth’s research has been primarily concerned with the influence of behaviour, environment and management on animal disease, welfare and productivity. Studies involving a range of domestic species have investigated a wide range of health and welfare measures including physical changes and physiological changes occurring in response to the animal’s environment, health status and management. Particular current interests also include investigating the ecology of antibiotic resistance in the aquatic environment using NGS, metagenomics and transcriptomics, the use of laterality to assess emotional state and the influence of individual animal temperament on social network dynamics and welfare assessment in cattle and bottlenose dolphins.

DOCTOR ANTHONY PODBERSCEK

University of Sydney and CAWSEL organizer
Read Dr Podberscek’s biography HERE

MIKE RADFORD OBE

Reader in Law, University of Aberdeen
Mike joined the School of Law at the University of Aberdeen in September 2000 from the University of East Anglia. His interests focus on law and the exercise of power in two distinct areas: government and public administration; and the treatment of animals. In 1992 he established the first course in animal welfare law to be offered by a law school in the UK (and possibly Europe) and he has subsequently established an international reputation in this field. Mike has extensive experience of working with politicians, officials, NGOs, animal welfare scientists and veterinary surgeons in the development of policy and law.
He has previously served as a trustee of the PDSA, a member of the RCVS Animal Welfare Science, Ethics, and Law Committee, the Companion Animal Welfare Council, the Dog Advisory Council, and was a founder member of the Animal Science, Ethics and Law Veterinary Association. Mike is presently a trustee of Dogs Trust, the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, the Humane Slaughter Association, and the UK Centre for Animal Law. Mike was appointed OBE in 2008 for services to animal welfare law.

DOCTOR IRENE ROCHLITZ

University of Cambridge
Irene is a veterinarian and associated with the Centre for Animal Welfare and Anthrozoology at the University of Cambridge. She has a Master’s degree in Veterinary Oncology and a PhD in Feline Welfare. She has experience of working in veterinary practice as well as teaching and research on issues affecting companion animals, in particular domestic cats.
Her interests include companion animal behaviour, the assessment of quality of life in companion animals, animal ethics and shelter medicine. She is the editor and co-author of the book “The Welfare of Cats”, published by Springer (2005). In April 2005 the British Small Animal Veterinary Association presented her with the J.A.Wight Memorial award, for contributions to companion animal welfare.

DOCTOR DAVID L WILLIAMS

Associate lecturer in Veterinary Ophthalmology, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge; Fellow and Director of Studies, Veterinary Medicine and Pathology, St John’s College, Cambridge
David Williams teaches at Cambridge Vet School, running the ophthalmology clinic and also dealing with exotic species there. He also has a particularly interest in animal welfare and ethics and is a diplomate of the European College of Animal Welfare and Behaviour Medicine.
He is currently undertaking a doctorate in the Faculty of Education in Cambridge on how best to teach ethics to veterinary students. He has a particular interest in the welfare of zoo animals and exotic species and the impact his Christian faith should have on the ethics of the veterinary medicine he practices.

DOCTOR JAMES YEATES

CEO, Cats Protection
James’ interests include dog, cat, rabbit and horse welfare, veterinary ethics and the engagement of companion animal guardians in animal welfare issues.
James qualified with a Bachelors of Veterinary Science in 2004, and has a Bachelors in bioethics, a certificate and diploma in animal welfare science, ethics and law and a PhD in veterinary ethics. In 2011 James was made a de facto Diplomate of the European College of Animal Welfare and Behavioural Medicine. He has worked as a vet in a RSPCA branch and two private practices.
James is currently Honorary Lecturer at the University of Bristol and previously Chair of the BVA Ethics and Welfare Group. He is also on the Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law Veterinary Association Committee and the BSAVA Scientific Committee. James edits the AWSELVA Journal of Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law.
Published work includes papers on treatment choices, quality-of-life assessment, euthanasia, animal welfare values, positive animal welfare, stem cells, overtreatment and medical authority and responsibility and has written a book for the UFAW animal welfare series on Achieving Animal Welfare in Veterinary Practice.
Courses on Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law care of Dr Anthony Podberscek, University of Sydney