Benjamin Lecorps

Benjamin (Ben) Lecorps

Lecturer at Bristol Veterinary School

b.lecorps@bristol.ac.uk
ResearchGate Orcid Google Scholar

What got you interested in the field of animal welfare?

I was initially interested in animal emotions, which quickly led me to focus on animal welfare research. The animal welfare field brings together two topics I am passionate about: better understanding animal minds and improving their quality of life.

How has your research/work helped to improve animal welfare?

My work focuses on affective states (emotional), which are challenging to assess in animals. My work has contributed to a better understanding of what dairy cattle experience when they are disbudded, feed-restricted, regrouped and separated from their calves. This knowledge can contribute to refining farm management procedures by ensuring that the animals’ perspectives are considered and that their negative emotions are mitigated.

What do you hope to do moving forward?

I am now pursuing my work in research and education on animal welfare at the Bristol Veterinary School in the UK, where I work as a lecturer. I am currently investigating the negative effects of feed restrictions on dairy calves with a first-year PhD student. My future research will also integrate perspectives on ethics and sustainability. For instance, the dairy industry is being pressured to adopt more sustainable practices, but this is a complex problem that must be researched further. Diverse aspects of sustainability must be considered, particularly animal welfare. Most mitigation solutions to date (e.g. sustainable intensification) do not consider animal welfare or may even harm animals by fixating on increasing the intensity of production. I am especially interested in developing win-win strategies for environmental sustainability and animal welfare in the dairy industry. If you’d like to learn more about this, feel free to reach out!

Education

BSc in Biology (University of Caen Normandie, France)
MSc in Animal Behaviour (University Sorbonne Paris Nord, France)
PhD in Applied Animal Biology (UBC, Canada)

Elizabeth R Howland Fellowship