From 2027, the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science will be titled The Science for Animal Welfare Medal.
2026 Award Winner
Professor Marina von Keyserlingk
The UFAW Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science recognises the exceptional achievements of an individual scientist who has made fundamental contributions to the advancement of animal welfare over a number of years. The award is open to individuals anywhere in the world, whose research, teaching, service and advocacy has significantly benefited the welfare of animals.
The 2026 winner of the UFAW Medal is Professor Marina von Keyserlingk of the University of British Columbia, Canada, where she serves as Professor of Animal Welfare and co-directs UBC’s internationally renowned Animal Welfare Program.
Over the course of her career, Professor von Keyserlingk has made major research contributions to many areas of farm animal welfare, including behaviour, housing and management. She is also one of the first to integrate social science methodologies into animal welfare research to help provide insights into the human dimension of animal welfare. Her research has directly improved the care of dairy cattle on farms worldwide, as well as advancing welfare standards for companion and laboratory animals. Together with her students, post-doctoral fellows and colleagues she has published over 350 peer reviewed scientific papers and is a frequent and enthusiastic speaker for academic and professional audiences around the world.
Her scientific leadership has been widely recognised, most recently through her appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada by the Governor General of Canada. The Order of Canada is one of Canada’s highest honours, recognizing people from all sectors of society who have made extraordinary and sustained contributions to Canada. She also serves on several national and international animal welfare advisory councils.
Professor von Keyserlingk is also deeply committed to training future scientists, supervising and mentoring students and supporting emerging researchers through international initiatives and undergraduate research opportunities. This commitment was recognised in 2024 when she received the Dr. Suning Wang Award for Outstanding Graduate Mentorship, Canada’s highest honour for the mentorship of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.
In response to receiving the award, Professor von Keyserlingk said:
“I am truly honoured to receive the UFAW Medal, and deeply grateful to the organisation for this recognition. Animal welfare science has been at the heart of everything I do – from my time growing up on a beef cattle ranch in British Columbia, Canada, to research on farm animal behaviour and housing, to working alongside the next generation of scientists who I know will drive meaningful change in how we care for animals. This award belongs as much to my students, post-doctoral fellows and colleagues as it does to me; none of this work happens in isolation. I hope it also reflects the growing importance of animal welfare science as a field, and the real difference it can make to the lives of animals around the world.”
Commenting on Professor Keyserlingk’s award, Dr Huw Golledge, UFAW Chief Executive and Scientific Director, said:
“It is a genuine pleasure to award the 2026 UFAW Medal to Professor von Keyserlingk. Her contributions to animal welfare science over more than two decades have been truly exceptional, helping to shape welfare standards that are now applied internationally. What makes Nina’s work so significant is that it translates into real, meaningful change on farms and in policy. She is also a remarkable mentor who has invested deeply in the next generation of welfare scientists, and that legacy will extend her impact for years to come. UFAW is proud to recognise her with this medal, and we hope it highlights the vital role that rigorous, applied animal welfare science plays in shaping a more humane world.”
2025 Award Winner
Professor Ngaio Beausoleil
The UFAW Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science recognises the exceptional achievements of an individual scientist who has made fundamental contributions to the advancement of animal welfare over a number of years. The award is open to individuals anywhere in the world, whose research, teaching, service and advocacy has significantly benefited the welfare of animals.
The 2025 winner of the UFAW Medal is Professor Ngaio Beausoleil of Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University, where she serves as Professor of Animal Welfare Science and Co-Director of the Animal Welfare Science and Bioethics Centre in the School of Veterinary Science – Tāwharau Ora.
Professor Beausoleil’s research employs behavioural and physiological methods to investigate various aspects of animal welfare, and she has authored more than 100 publications. A key focus in her work has been her systematic, science-based approach to evaluating welfare impacts and she has been closely involved in the evolution of the Five Domains Model for more than a decade. While she continues to explore various aspects of domestic animal behaviour and welfare, she has a strong interest in wild animal welfare and its evaluation. Her work at the interface of welfare and conservation sciences includes evaluation of the impacts of ‘pest’ control, captive management, and identification marking for research.
Professor Beausoleil has also provided significant scientific support, policy advice, and research to governments, animal industries, and veterinary professional bodies both in New Zealand and internationally. Her numerous accolades include the Massey University Team Research Medal, the Wiley-Blackwell Prize, and the Massey College of Sciences Research Award.
In response to receiving the award, Professor Beausoleil said:
“I’m thrilled to receive this award from the leading animal welfare science organisation in the world. And I’m grateful to the previous winners of this award and so many other excellent colleagues for fostering a discipline in which I can merge my two passions: science and genuinely improving the lives of animals. What a privilege!”
Commenting on Professor Beausoleil’s award, Dr Huw Golledge, UFAW Chief Executive and Scientific Director, said:
“The breadth and depth of Ngaio’s work is impressive, demonstrating her unwavering commitment to animal welfare science. Her work alongside colleagues has led to the Five Domains model becoming a cornerstone of 21st Century animal welfare. Ngaio’s approach to animal welfare is rigorous and always based on the evidence, an approach which aligns closely with UFAW’s. Also in common with UFAW, Ngaio does not shy away from tackling difficult subjects where there is huge potential to make real-world improvements in animal welfare. Alongside her research, her commitment to supporting students and others in the field is helping to ensure that animal welfare continues to develop as a rigorous scientific discipline which truly benefits millions of animals. I can’t think of a more worthy winner for this year’s award.”
2024 Award Winner
Professor Emeritus Robert Elwood
The 2024 winner of the Medal was Professor Emeritus Robert Elwood of Queen’s University Belfast.
Professor Elwood was nominated for the award in recognition of his pioneering work on the experience of pain in decapod crustaceans. His ground-breaking research has not only expanded our knowledge about invertebrate welfare but has been instrumental in influencing policy, resulting in decapod crustaceans being included in the UK’s Animal Sentience Act.
The impact of his work, and benefit to the welfare of animals, extends internationally, with his research informing legislation and policy in both Switzerland and Australia. Professor Elwood’s work was also pivotal in the establishment of Crustacean Compassion, an animal welfare organisation dedicated to the humane treatment of decapod crustaceans. It has also influenced concern for decapod welfare by UFAW as well as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), the British Veterinary Association, the Humane Slaughter Association, the Australian RSPCA and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Prof Elwood has authored an extensive list of over 200 publications including a chapter on the welfare of decapods used in research in the newly published 9th edition of UFAW’s Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory and Other Research Animals. His contributions to the area of animal welfare also include supervising 39 PhD students to completion and establishing an MSc in Animal Behaviour and Welfare at Queen’s University Belfast. He has also been active in running major international societies including the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
In response to receiving the award, Professor Elwood said:
“I have been astounded by the attention given to my work on possible pain in decapod crustaceans and how that has impacted the welfare concerns for these animals. This award from UFAW will encourage policy makers to ensure that these animals are treated humanely. Thank you.”
Commenting on Professor Elwood’s award, Dr Huw Golledge, UFAW Chief Executive and Scientific Director, said:
“Professor Elwood has made an exceptional contribution to animal welfare science. More specifically, his research on pain in decapod crustaceans has greatly enhanced our understanding of this important topic and has been pivotal in enshrining their welfare in law. His career and achievements epitomise science in the service of animal welfare, making him a truly worthy recipient of this award.”
2023 Award Winner
Professor Per Jensen
The 2023 winner of the UFAW Medal was Professor Per Jensen, Professor of Ethology at Linköping University, Sweden.
Professor Jensen was nominated for the award to celebrate his outstanding lifelong service to the field of animal welfare science. Per’s work in domestication, epigenetics and stress has been ground-breaking. His lab’s hatchery is one of the few in the world that keeps a breeding population of red junglefowl, making direct comparison between commercial hens and their wild ancestors possible. This unique and important work allows genetic effects to be experimentally disentangled from experiential ones, providing unique insight into the effect of domestication on behaviour.
Throughout his career, Per has played an influential role in supporting applied ethology and welfare science worldwide through research, education and shaping policy. He has published more than 200 peer reviewed papers, trained and mentored over 60 junior scientists and served the European Commission, European Research Council and other animal welfare bodies. He is also passionate about sharing his research findings with pet owners and farmers, and has authored ten books for a lay audience, covering dog behaviour, chickens, agriculture and animal behaviour and emotions.
Commenting on Professor Jensen’s award, Dr Huw Golledge, UFAW Chief Executive and Scientific Director, said:
“Professor Jensen is highly deserving of the UFAW Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science. Throughout his career, he has consistently produced some of the highest quality, most innovative research in the field of animal welfare science. Furthermore, he has ensured wide dissemination of his work through the publication of peer reviewed papers and books, and through delivering presentations to both scientific and lay audiences. We are delighted to be able to recognise Per’s service in the science of animal welfare.”
2022 Award Winner
Professor Jane Hurst
The 2022 winner of the UFAW Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science was Professor Jane Hurst.
Professor Hurst is the joint Head of Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour at the Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool. Her research interests include animal scent communication, laboratory animal welfare, humane rodent control, and the interactions between behaviour and disease.
Professor Hurst was nominated for the award to acknowledge her fundamental contribution to understanding rodent behaviour and ecology, particularly that of mice. Through her work, Professor Hurst demonstrated that the traditional method of handling laboratory mice – picking them up by the tail – was stressful, and that two alternative methods (tube and cup handling) were much less stressful. Jane publicised her work in such a way that her handling methods are now in widespread use around the world, transforming the welfare of millions of animals globally.
Furthermore, Jane’s work on scent communication and the social structure of mice offers promise in the development of more humane pest control methods, which could offer a high-welfare alternative to commonly employed inhumane rodent control methods.
Commenting on Professor Hurst’s award Dr Huw Golledge, UFAW’s Chief Executive and Scientific Director said:
“Jane’s approach to understanding the basic biology and behaviour of rodents and then applying this knowledge to meet their welfare needs in captivity demonstrates the huge improvements we can make to animal welfare if we use science to understand what animals need and how to provide it. I am delighted that UFAW is recognising Jane’s achievements which are now benefitting the welfare of millions of rodents every year”.
2021 Award Winner
Professor Joy Mench
“A life of science and service…” Professor Michael C. Appleby OBE
The winner of the 2021 UFAW Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science was Professor Emeritus Joy Mench for her exemplary service to animal welfare over 40 years.
Joy Mench graduated from San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California, in 1976 with a Degree in Biology and then from the University of Sussex in 1983 with a Doctorate in Ethology and Neurobiology, followed by postdoctoral research at Cornell University.
Her research has been centred around the study of animal behaviour in the context of improving the welfare of animals kept on farms, as companions and in research laboratories and zoos.
Professor Mench’s work is widely cited and she has over 165 peer-reviewed publications to her name. She has contributed to, edited or co-edited multiple books, including Poultry Behaviour and Welfare, The Biology of Animal Stress, Animal Welfare 2nd edition, and a new series including Advances in Poultry Welfare and Advances in Agricultural Animal Welfare: Science and Practice.
On the global stage, Professor Mench has also played a leading role in standards development – she is a sought-after leader in bringing about substantial science-based change on farms, in zoos and in laboratories. She has served on two World Animal Health Organisation (OIE) animal welfare standards committees (broilers and general principles), as well as on the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation committee for Capacity Building for Animal Welfare. She is a former president of the International Society for Applied Ethology (ISAE) and has also been a member of the Council on Accreditation for the Association and Assessment of Laboratory Animal Care, which involved conducting animal welfare certification visits to research institutions worldwide (as well as serving as Chair of UC Davis’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee).
However, it is in applying animal welfare science to real life practical problems that Professor Mench is most remarkable and has been able to effect real change for animals. She has been a member or chair of the animal welfare scientific advisory committees of various organisations, including commodity and trade groups (United Egg Producers, National Chicken Council, Food Marketing Institute, National Council of Chain Restaurants), poultry producers (Butterball, Foster Farms, Tyson, Maple Leaf Farms), and food retailers/distributors (McDonald’s, Sysco, ALDI, Safeway). She contributed to animal care guidelines and auditing programmes for United Egg Producers, National Chicken Council, Humane Heartland, Certified Humane, Federation of Animal Sciences Societies and the National Research Council. These animal welfare assessment and audit programmes affect billions of animals. Indeed, in the US, because food animal welfare is addressed through market-driven schemes instead of legislation, Professor Mench’s recommendations on care for poultry were taken from the boardroom and onto farms.
Her service has also helped those producers and consumers who wish to see more advanced welfare standards: she was one of the founding scientists for several welfare food labelling programs, for example helping draft the first standards for the American Humane certification programme. This was the first farm animal welfare certification effort in the United States and is now the largest such programme. It was for this work that she was awarded an American Humane “Humane Hero” Award in 2018.
Professor Cassandra Tucker, Director of the Center for Animal Welfare, UC Davis, California, who nominated Professor Mench for the Medal said:
“Professor Mench has had widespread influence, in part, because she lives a life of service. She is brilliant at translating science into practice for day-to-day care of animals. Her brilliance is characterised by her quick wit, her compassion and her ability to include and address many perspectives… She has made fundamental contributions to the advancement of animal welfare through her research, service, teaching and diplomatic advocacy. Captive animals live better lives because of Joy Mench.”
Professor Georgia Mason who supported Professor Mench’s nomination added:
“Professor Joy Mench is far more than a phenomenal scientist: she’s been an incredible diplomat and leader, able to effect real, evidence-based policy change on the ground to benefit animals. I admire her beyond words.”
Since 1995 Professor Mench has been based at University of California, Davis, making considerable contributions to both undergraduate and graduate teaching and to university life, including as Department Vice Chair. She has also mentored a cohort of scientists that follow her example, fostering creativity and excellence in her mentees as well as creating opportunities for her students and supporting them with thoughtful and measured advice. Her graduates or mentees are faculty members at research or teaching institutes, including UC Davis, Stanford University, and the University of Wisconsin. Others are working in government agencies or in the non-profit sector, including at the ASPCA.
She was given the UC Davis Distinguished Public Scholarly Service Award in 2007 and made Professor Emeritus on her retirement in 2016. She continues to be active as a consultant on animal welfare issues and an author of scholarly books and articles.
Publications
A list of Professor Mench’s publications can be found on her ResearchGate site: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joy_Mench/contributions
2020 Award Winner
Professor Daniel Weary
Dan Weary is a Professor at The University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada. He did his undergraduate degree in Biology at McGill University, and his doctorate in Zoology at Oxford University and was a post-doctoral fellow at Queen’s and Concordia Universities. Before joining UBC he worked as a Research Scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Ottawa. In 1997 Dan co-founded UBC’s Animal Welfare Program and co-directs this active group of visiting researchers, post-doctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduate researchers.
In his graduate and postdoctoral work Dan focused on acoustic communication and vocal behaviour in wild birds and mammals, and he continues to use behaviour to better understand how animals see the world, now with a special focus on animal well-being. His research focuses on developing behavioural measures for the assessment of animal welfare and developing practical methods of improving the welfare of animals. Dan’s work on cattle has helped lead to changes in feeding practices (including the adoption of higher milk rations for milk-fed calves), housing methods (including the adoption of pair and small group rearing for pre-weaned calves), pain control (including more effective ways of reducing the pain caused by common practices like disbudding and castration), and disease detection (with a special focus on cow lameness). Dan’s work on laboratory animals has focused on the development of more humane methods of euthanasia, and improvements in housing for mice and rats. In recent research Dan has also focused on attitudes of humans, including those responsible for animal care, to better understand barriers and opportunities to improve practices on farms and in the laboratory.
Dan is an enthusiastic teacher and mentor, working with students and colleagues in the Animal Welfare Program and around the world to find ways of the lives of animals and those who care for them. He is also a frequent speaker on animal welfare to audiences around the world.
He has published hundreds of articles and is one of the most highly cited authors in animal welfare science. A full list of his publications can be found at: See Google Scholar for a complete list of publications.
In addition to the UFAW Medal, Dan has won a number of accolades and awards, including:
NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Dairy Cattle Welfare, 1997-2024
Zinpro Award for Excellence in Dairy Science, 2020
World Association for Buiatrics’ Ruminant Well-being Award, 2016
UBC Killam Research Prize, 2015
Charles River Laboratories’ Excellence in Refinement Award, 2014
Canadian Association of Bovine Veterinarians’ Welfare Award, 2013
UBC Killam Teaching Prize, 2013
2019 Award Winner
Professor Paul Hemsworth
Paul Hemsworth was born on the 29th September, 1950 in Melbourne Australia. From an early age, he had a keen interest in wildlife, agriculture and biology.
He graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Honours) in 1973 and following a brief period as a scientist with the Department of Agriculture, Werribee, Victoria, he completed his PhD in 1978 at the University of Melbourne. After completing a post-doctoral fellowship at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands, studying human-animal relationships in commercial pig farms, he returned to Department of Agriculture, Werribee, Victoria as a research scientist and then principal scientist until 1997.
For almost four decades Professor Hemsworth pioneered and led internationally acclaimed research on the role of human-animal interactions on the welfare and productivity of farm livestock. His research (over 500 publications and 200 peer reviewed papers) has elucidated how human characteristics, such as attitudes and behaviour towards farm animals, affect their fear and acute and chronic stress responses, seriously limiting both farm animal welfare and productivity.
His research programme was multi-faceted, evolving from studies in laboratories and farms, then extended to psychological investigation of both the impact of stockperson attitudes on farm livestock and motivational modification of stockpersons – resulting in welfare and productivity improvement.
Most recently, he has extended his work to human-animal interactions in zoos and domestic settings. By understanding the influence of human attitudes and behaviour on animal fear, stress, productivity and welfare, this research underpinned the development and application of purpose-designed training programmes in the dairy, pig and poultry industries. These programmes successfully modified key human characteristics and resulted in improvements in farm animal productivity and welfare. As a result, Professor Hemsworth’s team has developed commercial training programmes for stockpersons in Australia, New Zealand and the USA in the dairy and pork industries. The team has also acted as a major partner in the European Union’s 6th Framework Welfare Quality programme, resulting in the “Quality Handling” stockperson training packages for the pig, dairy, beef and egg industries. For two decades he and his group were the only major proponents of this line of inquiry.
In 1997, Professor Hemsworth jointly established the Animal Welfare Science Centre (AWSC) with the University of Melbourne, Monash University and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (Victoria). As Director (until 2017) he led it to become the pre-eminent such Centre in Australia and it has developed an international reputation as a major innovative contributor to animal welfare science developments involving the key disciplines of animal behaviour, psychology, stress physiology and veterinary medicine.
Throughout his career Paul has encouraged and supported his colleagues. Under Professor Hemsworth’s leadership and supervision 45 postgraduate students have successfully completed PhD, Masters and Honours degrees helping to develop the next generation of researchers. Paul continues to play a leading role in the practical development of animal welfare standards and practices in Australia and elsewhere and in 2019 was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Queen’s Birthday 2019 Honours List for significant service to agricultural science and animal welfare.
2018 Award Winner
Professor Paul Flecknell
A commemorative medal and award were presented to Professor Paul Flecknell at UFAW’s one day conference on measuring animal welfare at the Centre for Life, Newcastle on the 28th of June.
The UFAW Medal recognises exceptional achievements of individual scientists who have made fundamental contributions to the advancement of animal welfare over a number of years. The award is open to individuals, anywhere in the world, whose research, teaching, service and advocacy has significantly benefited the welfare of animals. UFAW was very pleased this year to recognise Paul’s remarkable achievements over a 30 year career which has successfully focused on improving the welfare of laboratory animals in the UK and internationally through a diverse range of activities.
Professor Paul Flecknell, Professor of Laboratory Animal Science & Director of Comparative Biology Centre at Newcastle University, is widely recognised as the leading authority in the field of veterinary anaesthesia and pain recognition, particularly in relation to research animal welfare. His work has helped scientists around the world understand and recognize the pain and distress which may be caused to animals by their research procedures, and how this can be very effectively managed without reducing the value of their science.
He was a pioneer in the field; in 1981, Professor Flecknell’s Churchill Fellowship alerted him to the poor standards of anaesthesia and analgesia (pain relief) then being practised around the world and as Director of Comparative Biology at Newcastle University he set about addressing the problem.
The Newcastle group which Prof Flecknell has nurtured over the years is justifiably seen as a world leader in developing innovative methods for assessing pain and welfare in lab animals, and for evaluating the effects of new techniques aimed at ameliorating pain that may be caused by experimental or management procedures.
He has published an impressive list of over 180 books, chapters, and peer reviewed papers, all with a strong record of citations which reflects their impact on the scientific community. His publications and stimulating presentations have influenced attitudes internationally, teaching research scientists, veterinarians and technicians in many countries.
Prof Flecknell has also played a hugely influential role on many committees, societies, funding bodies and journals concerned with veterinary and laboratory animal welfare science and practice, including holding presidencies of the British Laboratory Animal Veterinary Association and the Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists, and being Vice Chair and Acting Chair of NC3Rs.
Furthermore, he has been a trail-blazer in the development of innovative web-based training resources that have been viewed by many people around the world. His book Laboratory Animal Anaesthesia is a standard text in the field, as is his edited volume Pain Management in Animals in which he contributed to nearly half of the chapters.
He has mentored many PhD students and post-docs allowing them to draw on his ideas and expertise so that they may go on to form the next generation of leading researchers in the field.
Professor Flecknell was nominated for this award by Dr Matt Leach, a lecturer at the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences at Newcastle University who said:
“Paul is recognised as a world leading expert in both laboratory animal science and welfare… Outside of his veterinary and research activities he has undertaken a variety of roles in over 14 national and international committees and boards that promote laboratory animal welfare… I cannot think of a more deserving candidate for the UFAW medal for outstanding contributions to animal welfare than Professor Flecknell.”
UFAW’s Chief Executive Dr Robert Hubrecht, who presented the award, said:
“Professor Flecknell’s exceptional contributions have been at many levels – scientific, practical, translational, educational, and in academic leadership. He is an outstanding winner of the 2018 UFAW medal.”
2017 Award Winner
Professor Sandra Edwards and Professor Jeff Rushen
A commemorative medal and award were presented to Professors Sandra Edwards and Jeff Rushen at UFAW’s International Symposium on measuring animal welfare at Royal Holloway, University of London on 28th June.
The UFAW Medal recognises exceptional achievements of individual scientists who have made fundamental contributions to the advancement of animal welfare over a number of years. The award is open to individuals, anywhere in the world, whose research, teaching, service and advocacy has significantly benefited the welfare of animals. UFAW was very pleased this year to recognise the remarkable achievements of both Sandra and Jeff.
Professor Sandra Edwards of the School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, at Newcastle University is a world-wide respected expert on pig welfare. Her research has focused on the major welfare issues facing the pig industry worldwide, seeking to better understand these problems at a scientific level and using this knowledge to develop approaches to enhance pig welfare that are feasible for the industry to readily adopt. Many of the welfare projects that Sandra has led involve collaborations between government, academia, NGOs and industry seeking to work together for the benefit of animals.
In addition she has given her services to provide expertise on farm animal welfare for influential policy/advisory committees such as Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the industry, and welfare assurance schemes.
Sandra has published more than 200 papers and book chapters and serves on the editorial board for a range of journals. She has inspired young animal scientists and agriculturalists through her teaching animal welfare, how to measure and promote it.
Sandra was nominated for this award by Dr Catherine Douglas, a fellow lecturer at the School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development at Newcastle University who said: “with a global push towards sustainable intensification in animal production, it is reassuring that Sandra turned down retirement to continue championing the animals’ welfare.”
UFAW’s second medal winner, Professor Jeff Rushen of the Dairy Education & Research Centre, University of British Columbia, has an extraordinary lifetime record in the field of animal welfare science. He has co-authored the most important books to date on both the welfare of cattle, and stereotypic animal behaviour.
Over the course of his career, Jeff has published over 300 papers that provide a model of clear-thinking and research excellence. Amongst his work has been a series of very high impact papers on how people can become an important source of fear for animals, and how this fear can be mitigated to improve human-animal relationships.
Jeff also has an impressive record of service and leadership within the field. He led Canada’s National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC) process ensuring that the welfare standards are science-based, and also served as science expert to the Council. He was a member of the European Food Safety Authority working group reviewing dairy cow welfare and is currently a member of the US Farmed Animal Well- being Commission for Beef.
Dr Derek Haley from the University of Guelph, Canada was one of Jeff’s sponsors for the award. He said:
“A key contribution has been Jeff’s work assisting animal agriculture in understanding and addressing animal welfare issues … In particular his service in helping develop the species Codes of Practice for the Care and Handling of Farm Animals in Canada has been exceptional. His knowledge of the issues and the science around those issues, together with his level-headed approach to making real change, have made him highly sought after when it comes to compiling the requirements animal agriculture must follow to ensure the welfare of their animals.”
UFAW’s Chief Executive Dr Robert Hubrecht, who presented the awards, said:
“Professors Jeff Rushen and Sandra Edwards are both world-leading experts in their fields, who have made substantial contributions to our understanding of farm-animal needs and husbandry. They are very worthy winners of the 2017 UFAW medal”
2016 Award Winner
Professor Donald Broom and Professor Christopher Wathes
The UFAW Medal and award for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare was presented to Professor Donald Broom and posthumously awarded to Professor Christopher Wathes, who sadly passed away in May, at the Federation’s Conference ‘Recent Advances in Animal Welfare Science V’ which was held in York on the 23rd June.
The UFAW Medal recognises exceptional achievements of individual scientists who have made fundamental contributions to the advancement of animal welfare over a number of years. The award is open to individuals, anywhere in the world, whose research, teaching, service and advocacy has significantly benefited the welfare of animals. UFAW was very pleased this year to recognise the remarkable achievements of both Don and Christopher.
Appointed in the mid-1980s as the first professor of animal welfare in the world, Professor Donald Broom has had an exceptional and sustained influence on animal welfare science thinking in the United Kingdom, Europe and many other countries. The breadth of his contributions to the discipline, the seminal nature of his evolving thinking at the moving frontiers of its development during the past 30-35 years, and his unfailing encouragement and support for others who have participated in and made their own distinct contributions to this science are exceptional. With well over 350 peer-reviewed publications, books and textbooks to his name it is not possible to read learned treatises or other commentaries on animal welfare science without frequent reference to Professor Broom’s thinking.
Not only did Professor Broom contribute to developing the frontiers of the science at a fundamental level, but he also applied that understanding to the practical care and protection of farm, companion, working and wild animals, both terrestrial and aquatic, on an impressively wide front. This experience has underpinned his sustained, insightful and influential contributions to UK national, European and wider international standard setting bodies and advisory agencies, often in recognised leadership positions as chairman or vice chairman of those groups, including as Chair of the E.U. Scientific Veterinary Committee, Animal Welfare Section for seven years and Vice-Chair of subsequent E.U. committees, including the EFSA Panel on Animal Health and Welfare, for twelve years.
Accordingly, he has greatly influenced the science-based development of UK and international animal welfare laws, regulations, directives and advisory documents. Professor Broom has also collaborated actively with many scientists and others who possess complementary expertise, who he simultaneously encouraged to refresh the science by developing their own areas of thinking in animal welfare science. Many of them, distributed widely on a global scale, are now well-recognised figures in their own right. He has a wide network of contacts with opinion formers in other countries. He still regularly lectures overseas and continues to be very supportive of young scientists.
Professor Christopher Wathes was a leading light in the field of animal welfare and his work is his legacy to animal welfare. As a scientist, manager and chairman his work has had a deep and lasting impact, leading to substantial pragmatic and sustainable improvements in animal welfare. Animal welfare is primarily about how animals feel, and Christopher was an early pioneer developing techniques to ask animals what they want.
Christopher has been described as a scientist of the highest calibre and throughout his career engaged with industry so that his research could be translated into practical solutions. Examples include improvements to the design of cages and housing for laying hens and broiler chickens, animal transporters and methods of stunning. He played an early and continuing role in the development of Precision Livestock Farming, believing that the use of real time monitoring of an animals’ performance can be put to good use in early detection of any problems affecting their health and wellbeing.
Christopher helped to train many PhD and MSc students and junior scientists, a large proportion of whom have gone on to develop their own careers in promoting animal welfare through careers in universities, industry and welfare organisations. He also contributed to the education of the general public through lectures, advice and by seeking to engage school children in having an accurate understanding of the provenance of their food and the implications for welfare which this may have.
A major contribution came through Christopher’s 8 years as Chairman of the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC). He brought together people with different backgrounds and viewpoints and got them all working together towards pragmatic and sustainable solutions which would improve welfare. Through his work at FAWC he developed the concepts of the ‘Good Life’ and ‘Life worth Living’ which took the ‘Five Freedoms’ to the next stage. His widow, Claire, will accept the award on his behalf at the conference.
Professor Claire Wathes, who accepted the award on behalf of her late husband Christopher said:
“He would dearly like to thank you for this award. He did hear about it before he died and it was a big thrill to him…. Another of his great enthusiasms was the training and mentoring of junior staff and PhD students and it’s wonderful that a number of those who benefitted from his often unorthodox training approaches are here with us today. He left behind him a special wish that we should set up a travel fund for junior scientists in his memory and the money which comes with this award will now go towards this.”
2015 Award Winner
Professor David Mellor and Professor Georgia Mason
The 2015 winners of the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science were presented with their awards at the UFAW international symposium ‘Animal Populations – World Resources and Animal Welfare Science’, held recently in Zagreb, Croatia. Professor David Mellor of the Animal Welfare Science & Bioethics Centre, Massey University, New Zealand and Professor Georgia Mason of the Department of Animal and Poultry Science, University of Guelph, Canada each received the UFAW commemorative medal and £3,000 in recognition of their exceptional achievements in the advancement of animal welfare over many years.
Professor Mellor has made a significant contribution to the development and recognition of animal welfare science and has played a major role in the application of science to animal ethical analysis and humane animal management. At the Moredun Research Institute in Edinburgh David established the foundations for later major contributions to animal welfare science made after he moved to New Zealand 27 years ago. Previously recognised internationally as a contributor to foetal and neonatal physiology, more recently he has become a leading authority on foetal consciousness in utero and during parturition, and his conclusions have been important for informing both new legislation and animal husbandry. Likewise, he extended his prior Moredun studies of pain and stress associated with castration and tail docking in lambs to castration and dehorning of cattle, and his conclusions underpinned sound practical advice to farmers and veterinarians, as well as codes of welfare for painful husbandry procedures.
David has also advanced animal welfare assessment and ethical decision-making through the use of the extended Five Domains Model, which he first introduced in 1994. At an international level, he has had a pivotal role in the establishment of the New Zealand and Australian OIE Collaborating Centre for Animal Welfare Science and Bioethical Analysis. He has vigorously promoted animal welfare scholarship, and animal welfare science-based policy development and practice, both domestically and internationally.
Professor Mason is highly regarded for her groundbreaking work on stereotypies in a variety of species, and is now widely recognized as the world authority on stereotypic behaviour. Georgia was also the first to use a multi-species comparative approach to address questions relating to animal welfare. She studied mink motivation in her early research, and has continued to work with mink farmers on practical ways to improve mink welfare, resulting in environmental enrichment now being a requirement for farmed mink in Canada. Georgia has brought a critical quantitative approach to the subject of animal welfare that has drawn admiration from a wide variety of scientists, and is an excellent role model for the next generation of animal welfare scientists.
2014 Award Winner
Professor Mike Mendl and Professor David Fraser
The 2014 winners of the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science were announced at the UFAW conference ‘Recent Advances in Animal Welfare Science’ held in York on 26th June. Professor Mike Mendl of the University of Bristol School of Veterinary Sciences and Professor David Fraser of the University of British Columbia Animal Welfare Program, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, each received the UFAW commemorative medal and £3,000 in recognition of their exceptional achievements in the advancement of animal welfare over many years.
Professor Mendl is a leading animal welfare researcher and has worked on a wide range of species including companion, farm and laboratory animals, publishing over 100 peer-reviewed papers and 15 book chapters in both fundamental and applied research. Mike has been a pioneer in the study of ‘cognitive bias’, investigating the links between cognition, consciousness and emotion in animals with co-researchers Liz Paul, Emma Harding, Oliver Burman and others. His first work on this subject, published in Nature, was highlighted by the Faculty of 1000 research panel as a ‘must read’ and has since inspired close to 50 published studies by other researchers. Mike’s applied work, for example on factors affecting aggression and tail-biting in pigs, has also yielded knowledge of practical benefit to improving welfare.
Professor Fraser’s work has greatly influenced the quality and direction of research in applied ethology and animal welfare science for more than 40 years. He conducted some of the earliest research on the welfare problems of pigs, including individual housing of sows and early weaning of piglets. He also did pioneering work on the use of vocalizations to identify emotional states in animals, and studies of wildlife including the causes and prevention of highway collisions. David has written several highly cited theoretical papers on the scientific study of animal welfare, summarized in his book Understanding Animal Welfare: The Science in its Cultural Context, published in the UFAW Wiley-Blackwell book series. Together with colleagues Dan Weary and Marina von Keyserlingk, he has built a program of animal welfare science at the University of British Columbia that is internationally recognised as one of the best of its kind. David also plays a leading role in the development of global policy on animal welfare through his work with the World Organisation of Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. His work is highly respected across disciplines including animal management, animal ethics and veterinary science.
2013 Award Winner
Professor John Webster and Professor Peter Sandøe
The 2013 winners of the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science were presented with their awards in Barcelona at the Federation’s International Symposium ‘Science in the Service of Animal Welfare: Priorities around the world’. A commemorative medal and £3,000 was presented to Professor John Webster and to Professor Peter Sandøe who both have been very influential in the development of animal welfare science internationally.
John Webster is Professor Emeritus at the University of Bristol School of Veterinary Science. Soon after his appointment to the Chair of Animal Husbandry at Bristol in 1977, he established a unit for the study of behaviour and welfare. This has grown into what is today a major international centre of expertise – the Animal Behaviour and Welfare Science Group. As a founder member of the Farm Animal Welfare Council, it was John who first propounded the 5 Freedoms – a concept that has had a worldwide influence on standards for, and approaches to the assessment of, the welfare of domesticated animals. He has published many papers on aspects of animal welfare science and the subjects to which he has made important contributions include cattle lameness and welfare assessment methods. He has published several books in the field including two in the UFAW/ Wiley Blackwell series: ‘Animal Welfare: limping towards Eden’ and ‘Management and Welfare of Farm Animals’. Among other responsibilities he has been President of the Nutrition Society and President of the British Society for Animal Science.
Peter Sandøe is Professor of Bioethics in the Department of Large Animal Sciences and Department of Food and Resource Economics at the University of Copenhagen. He is also Director of the Danish Centre for Bioethics and Risk Assessment. Over the past two decades he has established himself in a unique position in the academic study, university teaching and public discussion of animal welfare and animal ethics. In his interdisciplinary work with animal welfare researchers, veterinarians and animal scientists, he has used his expertise in philosophy to ensure that critical questions of ethical relevance are asked and appropriately analysed. He has published many influential papers, many textbook chapters and web-based teaching materials, and his expertise, clarity of thought and wisdom is widely sought.
His main contribution to research falls within the following four areas: understanding the interface between animal ethics and animal welfare science; analysing the special ethical issues raised by animal biotechnology; the effects of farm animal breeding on animal welfare; and assessment of animal welfare at farm and group level.
2012 Award Winner
Professor John Webster and Professor Peter Sandøe
The 2012 winners of the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science were announced at the Federation’s Conference ‘Recent Advances in Animal Welfare Science’ held in York on the 21st June. A commemorative medal and £3,000 was presented to Professor Marian Stamp Dawkins of Oxford University, and to Professor Christine Nicol of the University of Bristol.
Marian Dawkins is Professor of Animal Behaviour at Oxford, and Fellow and Tutor in Biological Sciences at Somerville College. Marian was one of the small group of scientists who saw how the science of ethology could be used to inform decisions and legislation regarding how animals should be kept. She was particularly concerned about whether kept animals might suffer through being deprived of certain resources or the opportunity to perform natural behaviour. Marian pioneered the use of preference tests to seek the hens’ own views about aspects of their environments and has continued to pursue innovative, illuminating and important research in animal behaviour relevant to welfare. She has published many seminal papers in the field. In addition, Marian is a successful popular science writer, explaining in the most clear, lucid and interesting way, the challenges and fascination of animal welfare. In both these aspects of her work she is a great and very influential leader in the field and champion of the importance of science.
Christine Nicol is Professor of Animal Welfare at the University of Bristol Veterinary School. She undertook her PhD research into behavioural needs of battery hens under the supervision of Marian Dawkins in Oxford and has continued to work on aspects of hen welfare, among other subjects, since. Her work formed an important part of the evidence that was used by EU veterinary and scientific committees to bring about a ban on conventional ‘battery’ cages for laying hens (from 2012), and to develop viable and humane alternative housing systems such as the furnished cage, which have been embraced by British industry. Whilst maintaining a prolific output of very high quality papers in animal behaviour and animal welfare science, she has played a leading role in developing the world-renowned animal welfare science group at Bristol Vet School (currently 65-70 people) and is tireless in encouraging and training young scientists in this field.
The UFAW Conference was the third in its popular series of one-day conferences providing a forum for both experienced and new animal welfare scientists, veterinarians and others to discuss recent developments in animal welfare science.
2011 Award Winner
Professor Ian Duncan
The winner of the inaugural UFAW Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science was announced at the UFAW International Symposium ‘Making animal welfare improvements: Economic and other incentives and constraints’ held in Portsmouth UK, 28th and 29th June 2011. A commemorative medal and £3,000 was presented by Professor John Webster of Bristol University, UK, on behalf of UFAW, to Professor Ian Duncan of the University of Guelph, Canada.
“Ian Duncan is one of the pioneers of the new direction in animal welfare science that began around 40 years ago with investigation of the animal’s own perspective of its world,”
said James Kirkwood, UFAW’s Chief Executive and Scientific Director.
“He has had a highly productive career and his work has been very influential. He is well known for promoting the idea that welfare is about animals’ feelings, which has come to be widely accepted. Work by Ian revolutionised the study of poultry behaviour, inspiring scientists and others around the world, and ultimately helped lead to the European Union ban on battery cages. We were delighted to award the first UFAW Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science to Professor Duncan.”