Temple Grandin is Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. She is a designer of animal handling systems for cattle, pigs, and sheep. Other important work she has done is development of practical scoring systems for assessing animal welfare on farms and in slaughter plants. In her talk, Temple will discuss simple practical ways to improve animal welfare. Some of the books she has authored are Improving Animal Welfare: A Practical Approach, The Slaughter of Farm Animals: Practical Ways of Enhancing Animal Welfare and Genetics and The Behavior of Domestic Animals.

David Fraser is a Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia's Animal Welfare Program in Vancouver, Canada. His long career has focused on the behaviour and welfare of farm, companion and wild animals ranging from mice to moose. He has served as a scientific advisor on animal welfare science and policy to many organisations including the World Organisation for Animal Health (Paris), the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (Rome), and the Food Marketing Institute (Washington). Prof. Fraser is an enthusiastic teacher who mentors many graduate students. He is the author of many publications including the popular introductory book Understanding Animal Welfare: The Science in its Cultural Context. In 2005 he was appointed Member of the Order of Canada for his work as “a pioneer in the field of animal welfare science”.

Zhang Pei graduated from Shenyang Agricultural University in 2016 with a Master's degree in animal nutrition and feed science. As someone who cares deeply for animals, she served as the president of the university’s Small Animal Appreciation Association (小动物爱好者协会). After graduation, Pearl joined the International Cooperation Committee on Animal Welfare (ICCAW of China Association for the Promotion of International Agricultural Cooperation), where she is currently the Deputy Secretary. Pearl Zhang has rich experience in promoting farm animal welfare promotion through collaborations with food companies, academia, government, and NGOs. She helped organise many conferences and training courses related to international and domestic farm animal welfare and has been involved in the creation of nine Chinese animal welfare standards.

Dr Zhongchao Sun, DVM, PhD was the recipient of the first animal welfare professional doctorate degree issued in China. He is currently serving as the Executive Vice Secretary-General for the China Animal Health and Food Safety Alliance (CAFA).

He has been working in the field of animal welfare for 10 years maintaining close contact with China’s Ministry of Agriculture, the administrative department for veterinary medicine, agriculture universities, research institutes, the livestock and food industry and NGOs.

Dr. Sun supervised the publication of Introduction to Animal Welfare, the first professional animal welfare textbook in China. It is a key text in the country’s undergraduate veterinary education curriculum, required reading for 15,000 veterinary undergraduates each year. Dr Sun has also played a leading role in drafting the China Animal Welfare Assessment Guideline.

PhD in Food Science, Hefei University of Technology

Head of the Asia Pacific Representative Office, IFS（International Featured Standard)

Head of China, HFAC (Humane Farm Animal Care)

Adjunct Professor of Hefei University

Food safety training expert, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Lu Boxun Food Safety Center

Dr Xiong was previously the General Manager of Star Farm, Metro AG. He was responsible for the audit, training, traceability and sustainability project consulting of food and agricultural products suppliers.

He is familiar with the standards related to food quality and food safety within the supply chain, as well as animal welfare standards. He has organized many national animal welfare conferences and helped implement animal welfare certification in the Chinese market.

Irene previously worked at Animals Asia Foundation for over ten years. She has driven a remarkable and successful Cat and Dog Welfare Programme from its original creation to the comprehensive nationwide programme it has become today. During the period, Irene led the team to actively expand cooperation with all sectors of society, including government departments in more than 50 cities, over 100 local animal protection organisations in more than half of the country, hundreds of schools, as well as experts and scholars from all walks of life, media, celebrities, etc. The team carried out work in various aspects such as policy advice, public awareness and education, and capacity building of non-governmental organisations, with which we have seen significant welfare improvements for countless companion animals in China and the extensive development of the industry in cat and dog welfare.

Irene holds a Master Degree in Economics, a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, and a diploma in Advertising Art and Design. Her diverse professional background and many years of practical project experience make her very good at thinking about problems from multiple dimensions and seeking innovative solutions. She is good at carrying out industry promotion support and event planning and management and is familiar with animal welfare in China.

Irene joined the International Farm Animal Welfare Fellowship (IFAWF) in 2021 as Programme Manager. She hopes to continue to use her skills and experience in this new project to help empower and grow aspiring talents and ultimately effectively improve the farm welfare in China.

Dan Weary is a Professor at The University of British Columbia. Dan did his BSc and MSc at McGill and DPhil at Oxford before co-founding UBC’s Animal Welfare Program where he now co-directs this active research group. Dan's research focuses on developing measures for the assessment of animal welfare and developing practical methods of improving the lives of animals. Dan’s animal research has helped lead to the changes in management practices (including the adoption of higher milk rations for calves and pain management for disbudding) and housing methods (including the adoption of pair and small group rearing for pre-weaned calves). Dan has also led research on attitudes regarding animal care practices, with the aim of identifying areas of shared concern as well as barriers to adopting practices that can improve the lives of animals.

Dr. Michelle Sinclair is an International Animal Welfare Program Director, an academic and an author from Australia. She is currently based in the USA where she is affiliated with the Animal Law & Policy Program at Harvard Law School and Stanford Medical School Mathur Lab. Aiming to better understand the stakeholders capable of making impactful change for animals around the world, such as livestock leaders in Asia, she conducts collaborative research to identify barriers, opportunities, mutual benefits and solutions with the goal of engaging traditionally adversarial parties into strategic collaboration to improve animal welfare. She continues to publish her research to support improvement in international development and consults with NGOs to build their international programs. Her full profile is here, and you can see a list of her work here.
 

Guo Lei (MSc) is a member of the Communist Party of China and a veterinarian. He is Executive Assistant at Ningxia Xiaoming Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Co., Ltd. He is mainly engaged in the research of comprehensive prevention and control of poultry epidemic diseases and clinical diagnosis technology, animal health and welfare. He has led 2 provincial-level science and technology projects, participated in more than 10 provincial-level and municipal-level science and technology projects, published more than 20 academic papers, obtained 2 national invention patents, participated in the editing of 2 books, and was selected into Ningxia Young scientific and technological talents support project, academic technology leader in Yinchuan City.

Maria is a Research Technician at the University of British Columbia's Animal Welfare Program. She uses qualitative research to understand stakeholders impacting farm animal welfare in China. She previously studied how employee management and worker welfare shaped animal care on dairy farms in China. She is currently researching the sales and marketing of cage-free eggs in China.

She is also the co-founder of the International Farm Animal Welfare Fellowship (IFAWF). She hopes that through this program, passionate individuals can connect and become inspired to work collaboratively to create a better world for farmed animals.