Priority areas

Our team includes psychological and behavioural sciences experts, who are investigating how humans think, feel and act towards other animals.

We aim to identify which types of information have the power to shift public attitudes and choices. For example, can animal sentience narratives lead to more pet owners choosing to buy plant-based or lab-grown pet foods? This research will help us identify effective behavioural nudges towards more ethically-informed choices in everyday decisions affecting animals.

Our aim is to help to move the public from indifference to more informed decision-making, making the world a better place for all sentient beings.

Our research builds upon earlier work led by Professor Jonathan Birch and his teams, examining the debate over the nature of sentience and criterion for its attribution to non-human animals. This includes the Foundations of Animal Sentience (ASENT) project, funded by the European Research Council (ERC), and Birch’s Open Access book, The Edge of Sentience, which makes a case for extending welfare protections to a wide range of invertebrates – such as insects and crustaceans - on a precautionary basis.

This work has already informed policy change. Commissioned and funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the team produced a Review of the Evidence of Sentience in Cephalopod Molluscs and Decapod Crustaceans, which helped to shape the UK’s Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022, recognising octopuses, crabs, lobsters and shrimps as sentient beings.

In addition, we are collaborating with insect expert Professor Lars Chittka at Queen Mary, University of London, who is assessing whether complex behaviours seen in bees also appear in widely farmed insects such as black soldier flies. These findings will help inform policy, regulation and industry standards in insect farming.

As the use of artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly expands, we strive to ensure that nonhuman animals are not forgotten in discussions of AI governance, ethics and safety.

Our Centre Director, Professor Birch, is already leading the conversation, having published an article highlighting the dangers of automated AI in farming operations, along with a set of guiding principles for regulation. Our ongoing work seeks to expand upon this, clarifying the ethical basis of the principles and broadening the range of animals considered, including wild, companion and farmed animals.

Key to developing meaningful guidance will be systematic consultations with a wide range of stakeholders including policymakers, tech developers, animal advocates and industry representatives. We aim to understand which principles these groups would endorse and develop a code of practice that reflects a shared commitment to the responsible use of AI in relation to animals.

Our goal is to translate this research into practical resources, including accessible guidance for regulators, industries and advocates.

Supported by the Global School of Sustainability (GSoS) at LSE and Open Philanthropy, this priority area focuses on veterinary associations and their policies on farmed animal welfare and sustainable agriculture.

This work examines how these organisations address — or fail to address — quantified meat‑reduction targets, such as those outlined in the National Food Strategy.

We aim to identify barriers, build coalitions, and support positive changes in policy positions and organisational practice relating to meat reduction and farmed animal welfare.