FACULTY AND STAFF
FACULTY
David Fraser, Professor, B.A. (U. of T.), Ph.D. (Glasgow)
Marina (Nina) von Keyserlingk, Professor, B.Sc. (Agr.) Honours (UBC), M.Sc. (Alberta), Ph.D. (UBC)
Dan Weary, Professor, NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Animal Welfare, B.Sc., M.Sc. (McGill), Ph.D. (Oxford)
ADJUNCT PROFESSORS
Karen Beauchemin, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge, Alberta.
Anne Marie de Passillé, Research Scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
Jeff Rushen, Research Scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
Doug Veira, Research Scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
VISITING PROFESSORS
Cathy Schuppli, Visiting Scientist, B.Sc. (Guelph), M.Sc. (Alberta), Ph.D. (UBC)
STAFF
Chris McGill, Research Coordinator, B.A. (Trent), M.A. (SFU)
DAVID FRASER
Professor, NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Animal Welfare, C.M., B.A. (U. of T.), Ph.D. (Glasgow)
From his childhood on a farm in southern Ontario, David Fraser has maintained
a fascination with animals throughout his 35-year research career. With a degree in psychology (Toronto) and a PhD in zoology (Glasgow), Prof Fraser did research
on the welfare of farm animals (Edinburgh School of Agriculture, 1971-1975) and on the behaviour and management of moose (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, 1975-1981)
before developing a research team on farm animal welfare and behaviour at the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa (1981-1997). He joined UBC in 1997 and is currently
cross-appointed between the Faculty of Land and Food Systems and the W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics.
Prof. Fraser is an enthusiastic teacher who mentors many graduate students and takes the leading role in the award-winning course," Animal Welfare and the Ethics of Animal Use". He is in high demand as a lecturer off-campus, logging 100,000 km per year in lecture trips. Recent and up-coming speaking engagements include:
- National Farm Animal Care Conference, Oct 5-6 2011, Ottawa
- Western Canadian Association of Swine Veterinarians, Oct 20-21 2011, Saskatoon
- 8th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences, Aug 21-25 2011, Montreal
- Canadian Veterinary Medical Association Convention, July 9 2011, Halifax
- College de France, June 24 2011, Paris
- International Society for Animal Hygiene, July 6 2011, Vienna
- International Conference on Animal Welfare, Oct 18-19 2010, Seoul
- Compassionate Conservation: Animal Welfare in Conservation Practice, Sept 1-3 2010, Oxford
- International Pig Veterinary Society, July 19 2010, Vancouver
- 12th International Conference on Human-Animal Interactions, 1-4 July 2010, Stockholm
- Annual Canadian Studies Lecture, Leeds University, June 17 2010, Leeds
Prof. Fraser also works with many organizations to find practical ways to improve the lives of animals. He serves on animal welfare advisory boards for many organizations including the Burger King Corporation (Miami), the Food Marketing Institute and National Council of Chain Restaurants (Washington), the World Organization for Animal Health (Paris), and within Canada on the Board of Trustees of the Animal Welfare Foundation of Canada and the Animal Welfare Committee of the Vancouver Foundation. In 2004-2005 he served as Visiting Expert on animal welfare at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome.
For more information see Dr. Fraser's faculty page
Contact:
183 Macmillan-2357 Main Mall
Faculty of Land and Food Systems
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6T 1Z4
Tel: 604.822.2040
david.fraser@ubc.ca
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MARINA (NINA) VON KEYSERLINGK
Professor, NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Dairy Cattle Welfare, B.Sc. (Agr.) Honours (UBC), M.Sc. (Alberta), Ph.D. (UBC)
Nina's love of animals began at a very young age while growing up on a beef cattle ranch in British Columbia. During her child hood she was an avid rider and was an active participant in her local 4-H club. She went onto complete her undergraduate in Agricultural Sciences in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at UBC, and her M.Sc. in Animal Science at the University of Alberta. She then returned to Vancouver to complete her Ph.D. in Animal Sciences at the University of British Columbia. Nina joined the Animal Welfare Program in 2002 as the group's third faculty member. Today, with her colleagues, she leads a strong group of students, post-doctoral fellows, visiting researchers and adjunct professors that now make up one of the world's foremost research groups working in the area of animal welfare research.
Nina's interests include understanding the links between behaviour and nutrition, particularly in welfare related issues. Some of her current work in this area includes the use of feeding behaviour to predict animal health and productivity, specifically at the time of transition (when dairy cows are particularly susceptible to illness). She is also interested in understanding how knowledge of natural behaviour can help provide practical solutions to current problems in the housing and management of food production animals.
Together with colleague David Fraser, Nina offers a second year undergraduate course "Animals and Society". Nina is an enthusiastic mentor and is actively involved in graduate student mentoring. She also encourages undergraduates to engage in research and provides many opportunities for training in animal welfare science at the undergraduate level. Together with her students she publishes the majority of her work in Applied Animal Behaviour Science and the Journal of Dairy Science. Additionally, she regularly provides extension articles to producer magazines such as Progressive Dairyman and Western Dairy Digest. Beyond lecturing at UBC she gives over 25 invited presentations and seminars a year to audiences around the globe. Recent talks have taken her to many parts of Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia.
Nina also serves on advisory and expert committees for the cattle industry and more broadly for the agriculture and food industries. These include the Production Executive Scientific Advisory Committee for the Dairy farmers of Canada and the Canadian Council on Animal Care.
For more information see Dr. von Keyserlingk's faculty page
Contact:
181 MacMillan - 2357 Main Mall
Faculty of Land and Food Systems
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6T 1Z4
Phone: 604-822.4898
nina@interchange.ubc.ca
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DAN WEARY
Professor, NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Dairy Cattle Welfare, B.Sc., M.Sc. (McGill), Ph.D. (Oxford)
Dan spent his childhood in Quebec, the West Indies, Africa and the Middle East, and studied at McGill (B.Sc. & M.Sc.) and Oxford (D.Phil). After working for Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada for five years, Dan moved to UBC in 1997 to co-found the University's Animal Welfare Program.
Dan's research interests have always focused on animal behaviour and how animals perceive their environment. Much of his work involves applying this knowledge to create practical improvements in how we care for animals. One special research focus of is on the use of vocalizations and other behaviours as objective indicators of different aspects of animal well-being. He is a pioneer in working to unlock the wealth of information animals can communicate to us about their physical and emotional states and their environments.
Prof. Weary works closely with graduate students and other researchers in the Animal Welfare Program, especially those with an interest in farm and laboratory animals.
For more information see Dr. Weary's faculty page
Contact:
189 MacMillan- 2357 Main Mall
Faculty of Land and Food Systems
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6T 1Z4
Phone: 604-822.3954
danweary@interchange.ubc.ca
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KAREN A. BEAUCHEMIN
Adjunct Professor, B.Sc. (Agr.) Honours (McGill), M.Sc. (Laval), Ph.D. Distinction (Guelph)
Karen is a Senior Scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at the Lethbridge Research Centre and an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia. She has several on-going collaborative research projects with members of the UBC animal welfare program.
Karen's research focuses on nutritional aspects of dairy and beef production. She is recognized internationally for her expertise in the areas of improving rumen function and preventing acidosis, enhancing fiber digestion using feed enzyme technology, and formulating diets to decrease the environmental impact of cattle. Her research is helping to improve the understanding of feed digestion and the rumen ecosystem which allows producers to maintain healthy and productive animals.
Karen has co-supervised numerous graduate students and postdoctoral fellows despite not being located at UBC. Students get an opportunity to get hands-on laboratory experience in her lab through co-operative training programs.
Selected publications:
- Use of sodium bicarbonate, offered free choice or blended into the ration, to reduce the risk of ruminal acidosis in cattle.
2007 Canadian Journal of Animal Science 86: 429-437 - Severity of Ruminal Acidosis in Primiparous Holstein Cows During the Periparturient Period 2007.
J. Dairy Sci. 89:217-228 - Use of Exogenous Fibrolytic Enzymes to Enhance In Vitro Fermentation of Alfalfa Hay and Corn Silage.
2007. J. Dairy Sci. 90:1440-1451 - Effects of Physically Effective Fiber on Chewing Activity and Ruminal pH of Dairy Cows Fed Diets Based on Barley Silage. 2006. J. Dairy Sci. 89:217-22
- An Evaluation of the Accuracy and Precision of a Stand-Alone Submersible Continuous Ruminal pH Measurement System 2006. J. Dairy Sci. 89:2132-2140
- Physically Effective Fiber: Method of Determination and Effects on Chewing, Ruminal Acidosis, and Digestion by Dairy Cow. 2006. J. Dairy Sci. 89:2618-2633
Contact:
Research Scientist, Ruminant Nutrition
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Research Centre
5403 1st Avenue South
Lethbridge, Alberta T1J 4B1
Telephone: 1-403-317-2235
Fax: 403-317-2182
beauchemin@agr.gc.ca
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ANNE MARIE DE PASSILLÉ
Research Scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Adjunct Professor (UBC), B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. (McGill)
Anne Marie has worked on: Cow comfort; Lameness: Animal's fear of humans; Stress physiology; Pain in animals; Animal learning; Identification of stress factors; Calf feeding management and Sucking motivation; Cow and calf behaviour. Her research is aimed at developing measures of cow comfort to help design environments to eliminate long term stress and improve health and welfare of dairy cattle, in tie stalls, loose housing and in automated milking systems. Her research is also aimed at developing behavioural indicators and other measures predicting calf and heifer illness to help design environments and handling and management techniques to improve illness detection and comfort and well-being in calves and heifers.
Current projects include a calf automatic feeder project in Lennoxville, looking at the effects of ad libitum feeding on feeding, health and behaviour of the calves. A long-term study on cow lameness looking at the relationships between hoof trimming and locomotion score as well as resting time is also underway. New projects on cow comfort and calf feeding management are being planned. Anne Marie has also mentored and co-supervised undergraduate and graduate students during their research projects.
Contact:
Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
P.O. Box 1000 6947 #7 Highway
Agassiz, BC V0M1A0
Telephone: 1-604-796-1733
Fax: (604) 796-0359
depassilleam@agr.gc.ca
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JEFFREY P. RUSHEN
Research Scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Adjunct Professor (UBC), B.Sc., Ph.D. (Queensland)
Jeff's research interests focus on the welfare and behaviour of dairy cattle, including cow comfort, animal's fear of people, physiological responses to stress, indicators of pain and fear, and sucking motivation of calves. His research is aimed at developing measures of cow comfort to help design environments to eliminate long-term stress and improve health and welfare of dairy cattle.
Current projects include improved methods (including automated methods) of detecting lameness in dairy cows, behavioural changes associated with illness in calves, methods of calf rearing used by Canadian producers, effects of flooring on cattle locomotion and welfare implications of automated milking systems.
Jeff has previously worked on the welfare and behaviour of swine and poultry and maintains an interest in animal welfare standards for these species.
Contact:
Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
P.O. Box 1000 6947 #7 Highway
Agassiz BC V0M1A0
Telephone: 1-604-796-1723
Fax: (604) 796-0359
RushenJ@agr.gc.ca
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DOUG VEIRA
Research Scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; M.Sc. (Aberdeen), Ph.D. (Guelph)
Doug Veira grew up surrounded by cattle on a farm in Jamaica and subsequently graduated with degrees in animal science and ruminant nutrition from the Universities of Guelph and Aberdeen. He joined Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) as a research scientist in 1978 working at the Animal Research Centre in Ottawa. He was seconded to the University of Manitoba for three years and subsequently moved to the AAFC Kamloops in 1998. In June 2004, Doug was transferred to the AAFC Research Centre in Agassiz. At Agassiz, Doug's interests are in health and welfare problems of the neonatal calf and lactating cow.
Contact:
Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre
P.O. Box 1000
Agassiz, B.C., Canada V0M 1A0
Phone: (604) 796-2221, Ext. 261
veirad@agr.gc.ca
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CATHERINE (CATHY) SCHUPPLI
Visiting Scientist, B.Sc. (Guelph), M.Sc. (Alberta), Ph.D. (UBC)
Cathy’s personal and professional life has always been intertwined with animals, whether as a teenager living in Tanzania visiting the Serengeti for holidays, or at the stable caring for her dressage horse, or as a social scientist interviewing beef ranchers in Alberta. Combined with her compassion for animals and desire to safeguard their welfare, Cathy has been drawn towards research that explores the relationship of humans with animals.
Cathy is an interdisciplinary scholar bridging the social and natural sciences. She began her career as a wildlife biologist with a BSc (Guelph) and MSc (Alberta) in zoology. Over that time, her focus shifted towards the study of humans and their role in influencing the way in which animals are used, treated, protected, and managed. Her past research includes developing an ethical framework for evaluating the suitability of keeping ‘exotic’ pets, understanding how Canadian institutions make decisions about the ethical use of animals in science (PhD research in the Animal Welfare Program), and exploring overlapping governance issues related to the protection of animals and humans in research.
In 2009 she became an Assistant Professor in the Animal Welfare Program at UBC. Currently Cathy has returned to school to study veterinary medicine at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine but she continues her research at UBC as a visiting scientist. Cathy's current research focuses on understanding attitudes towards animals and animal welfare, how our views are shaped, and how this influences the way in which animals are used in our society. Ultimately her goal is to apply research findings to improve policy and practice and resolve conflict related to animal welfare.
Contact:
191 MacMillan- 2357 Main Mall
Faculty of Land and Food Systems
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6T 1Z4
Phone: 604-827-5527
cathy.schuppli@ubc.ca
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