UFAW announces 2023 award winners
The awards will be presented at the UFAW Online Animal Welfare Conference.
The Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) has announced the winners of its annual awards for scientists who have made important contributions to the advancement of animal welfare.
Professor Per Jensen has been awarded the UFAW Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science, which recognises the achievement of an individual scientist who has made important contributions to animal welfare over a number of years.
Professor of Ethology at Linköping University, Sweden, Professor Jensen researches domestication and animal welfare, with a focus on the genetic and epigenetic aspects of the behaviour of chickens and dogs.
Over the course of his career, he has published more than 200 peer reviewed papers and trained and mentored more than 60 junior scientists.
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.”
This year’s winners of the UFAW Early Career Animal Welfare Researcher of the Year Award were also announced, with the award going jointly to Dr Sara Hintze and Dr Jordan Hampton.
An assistant professor in animal welfare science at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria, Dr Hintze researches the affective states of animals, with a current focus on animal boredom in farmed pigs.
Dr Hampton is currently studying the impact of lead from ammunition on wildlife, people and the environment. He is a McKenzie Research Fellow in the Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne, and an Adjunct Lecturer at the Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Australia.
Commenting on the two winners of the early career award, Dr Golledge said: “We are delighted to be able to recognise the significant impact that both Dr Hintze and Dr Hampton have made to the field of animal welfare science during their relatively short careers. As well as producing scientifically robust research, both Sara and Jordan champion dissemination to ensure that animal welfare can be improved on a large scale.”
The awards will be presented at the UFAW Online Animal Welfare Conference on 20-21 June 2023.
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