People
Centre Director & Principal Investigator
Professor Jonathan Birch
As inaugural Director of The Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience, Professor Jonathan Birch leads this interdisciplinary research unit.
Prior to the establishment of the Centre, Jonathan was Principal Investigator for the Foundations of Animal Sentience (ASENT) project, which explores the debate over the nature of sentience and the criteria for attributing it to non-human animals.
In 2021, Jonathan led the "Review of the Evidence of Sentience in Cephalopod Molluscs and Decapod Crustaceans", a report that informed the inclusion of species such as octopuses, crabs, and lobsters under the UK Government’s Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022.
Jonathan has published widely on animal sentience, including award-winning book: The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI (Oxford University Press, 2024); presenting a precautionary framework for making ethically sound, evidence-based decisions despite uncertainty.
