About me

Bio

I am originally from Australia, and ever since helping launch Australia’s campaign against the live sheep trade to the Middle East in the early 1990s, I have tried to advocate on behalf of animals. For nearly a decade prior to 2012 I practiced veterinary medicine, mostly around London. In 2013 – 2014 I Directed the Clinical Skills Laboratory and taught animal ethics, welfare, veterinary practice management, and surgical and medical skills at one of the world’s largest veterinary schools in the Caribbean – Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine.

I am now a veterinary Professor of Animal Welfare, affiliated with the School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Environmental and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Western Australia, and the School of Environment and Science at Griffith University, Queensland. I’m an Adjunct Professor at both. I’m also affiliated with the University of Winchester, where I established and directed its Centre for Animal Welfare from 2015 – 2023. This grew to become one of Winchester’s largest and most active research and knowledge exchange centres. I’m also an EBVS European and RCVS Veterinary Specialist in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law, American & New Zealand Veterinary Specialist in Animal Welfare, Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, and Principal Fellow of Advance HE.

My books include The Routledge Handbook of Animal Welfare (2023), and The Costs and Benefits of Animal Experiments (2011). I have around 150 academic and 80 popular publications, and an extensive series of social media videos, on vegan companion animal diets, climate change and the livestock sector, invasive animal research, educational animal use, humane clinical and surgical skills training, and other animal welfare issues. Several have been published in leading scientific and medical journals, such as New Scientist, the British Medical Journal USA and PLoS One. I’ve delivered around 250 presentations at conferences and universities internationally, and have have organized or chaired seven conferences and seminars. I regularly work with animal welfare charities to advocate for animals, and am frequently interviewed by the media. I have been honoured with 15 awards and 22 research grants, including the Society for Veterinary Medical Ethics Shomer Award and the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association Humane Achievement Award, both in 2019. I enjoy teaching, and was delighted to receive a University Student-Led Teaching Award in 2017. Since 2019 I’ve secured over GBP 110,000/USD 122,000/EUR 125,000/AUD 192,000, of which 95% + was external funding, for my research and knowledge exchange projects.

I’m also a keen outdoor enthusiast, albeit with far more ambition than time or skill. Many of the photos on this website come from my outdoor adventures.

Further information:
– 2023 Murdoch University blog
– 2022 Vegan FTA interview