JMICAWE Director at American Association for the Advancement of Science

Attending the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington DC

JMICAWE Director Cathy Dwyer recently presented at the largest science meeting in the world, the 2019 AAAS, in Washington DC. Cathy was part of a delegation funded by the EU to present some of the work and approaches being used in EU projects, particularly the concept of a multi-actors approach to achieving science impact

These projects involve scientists, policy makers, end-users and other stake-holders throughout the world with the aim of sharing knowledge and experience, and ensuring a greater uptake of scientific outcomes than can sometimes be the case.

Cathy shared the platform with Jean-Marc Gautier, a researcher and extension specialist from Institut de l’elevage (IDELE) in France and the coordinator of an EU funded project ‘SheepNet’, and Huw Davies, a sheep farmer and former member of the Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC) from Wales. A good discussion around the difficulties of achieving human behaviour change and uptake of innovations then followed the presentations.

A highlight of the visit was also attending a talk by US neuro-endocrinologist, Robert Sapolsky, from Stanford University who gave a wonderful seminar on the complexities for human behaviour. Cathy says:

‘it was a great treat to be able to hear Professor Sapolsky describing the underlying neurobiology affecting stress and human behaviour, his passion and ability to make a complex story clear and understandable were inspiring. Since then I have been pondering on the linkages to animal welfare, and how we might be able to bring about behavioural changes to improve welfare.’