New member of staff joins the JMICAWE family

JMICAWE is delighted to welcome Miguel Somarriba Soley to the team! Miguel will be joining the MSc International Animal Welfare Ethics and Law programme team to help with programme co-ordination, and will also work with JMICAWE in its animal welfare training project in China. Miguel brings a wealth of varied expertise to the team. He is a veterinarian who qualified in his native Costa Rica, and has worked for the WSPA (now World Animal Protection) in their Animals in Disasters Programme, taking part in disaster management and recovery projects in Latin-American and the Caribbean following natural disasters. He has also worked with organizations providing free veterinary care in rural and indigenous communities in Central America.
 
Miguel moved to Edinburgh to take the MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare, and then joined the SRUC Animal Behaviour and Welfare Research team, firstly as a research assistant and then to conduct his PhD research. Miguel has many and varied interests: his PhD focused on stress in beef cattle and its effects on the microbiome, feed efficiency and methane emissions. In the past he has worked on animal welfare research in domestic species, and has been involved in service dog training, captive animal enrichment and training, animal management during natural disaster situations, behavioural medicine and veterinary private practice. Miguel is also a provisional member of the APBC, working towards full certification in clinical animal behaviour.

Miguel says: ‘I am very excited about joining JMICAWE. I feel genuinely proud to take part in the great work done by JMICAWE to improve animal welfare around the world through education, training and influencing legislation. I appreciate the opportunity, and I will strive to have a positive effect on animals’ lives through my work in JMICAWE and IAWEL.’

We are excited to have Miguel on board, and look forward to his impact on the team’s activities.