Animal Welfare
UBC’s Animal Welfare Program (AWP) provides Canada’s dairy industry with science-based solutions to address challenges faced by dairy producers and the animals in their care. Their aim is to provide the dairy industry with knowledge-based solutions to welfare challenges by training young scientists with a passion for the industry and specific expertise on key issues of the day.
The AWP was established in 1997 under the Industrial Research Chair (IRC) Program of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). Current chair holders Dan Weary and Marina von Keyserlingk lead a large network of researchers that now comprise the world’s foremost research group in the field of dairy cattle welfare. This group has pioneered many of the science-based methods currently employed for assessing and improving the welfare of cattle in dairy systems. The IRC has been renewed every 5 years since 1997, rendering it the longest running IRC in agriculture.
Researcher Profiles
Marina (Nina) von Keyserlingk
Professor
Growing up on a British Columbia beef ranch and later completing her MSc and PhD in Animal Sciences at the University of Alberta and UBC respectively, Nina worked in several agribusiness roles before joining the Animal Welfare Program here in 2002.
A professor with a pioneering approach to engaging in research that is targeted specifically at improving the lives of animals, she has frequently been recognized for the ground breaking nature of her work and is one of the top global scholars in this field.
During her tenure as a faculty member at UBC she has been the recipient of three Killam Awards; in 2023, she was awarded the Killam Mentoring Award in the Senior Category, recognizing her outstanding mentoring of graduate students; in 2022, she was awarded the Killam Research Prize, recognizing her outstanding research and scholarly contributions in the natural sciences; and in 2008 was awarded the Killam Teaching Award, recognizing her excellence in teaching. Most recently in 2024 she was the recipient of Canada’s top award for graduate and post-doctoral mentorship, Dr. Suning Wang Award for Outstanding Graduate Mentorship. Awarded by the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies (CAGS), Ottawa, Ontario.
For her outstanding contributions to the sustainability of food of animal origins, Nina was also the 2018 recipient of the Hans Sigrist Prize, the annual award of the Hans Sigrist Foundation to an academic researcher who is viewed as an international ground-breaker in their field. In 2025 she was also the recipient of an honorary doctorate by Ghent University for her outstanding contributions to the field of animal welfare science. Her most recent accolade was being recognized by the Faculty of Land and Food Systems young alumni for her exceptional dedication to transforming the way humans think about animal welfare, and guiding Canadian animal agriculture towards meaningful change. She has also been the recipient of numerous other international awards; in 2018, the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) Extension Award recognized her outstanding achievements in extension (knowledge transfer); in 2013, she received the Excellence in Dairy Science award, the first woman to do so since the ADSA’s inception in 1917.
Nina has sat on numerous boards throughout her career including the Canadian Council on Animal Care and Animal Health Canada. She currently sits as a scientific advisory on the A&W national animal welfare council.
Dr. von Keyserlingk’s faculty page.
Dr. von Keyserlingk’s Google Scholar page
Dan Weary
Professor
After studying at McGill University (BSc and MSc) and Oxford University (DPhil), Dan worked as a Research Scientist for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada before joining UBC in 1997 to co-found the Animal Welfare Program. Dan’s research is focused on developing behavioural and other non-invasive measures to assess animal welfare, and using these measures to inform the development of improved housing and management practices on farms.
Dan’s research has informed science-based changes in practices in Canada and around the world. For example, his work has provided a basis for recommendations in Canada’s Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Dairy Cattle, including including for improved methods of pain management, housing and feeding for dairy calves. Recognition of his scholarly achievements includes being the only recipient of a ‘hat trick’ of international awards available to scientists working in his areas: the 2020 UFAW Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science by the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, the 2020 Award for Excellence in Dairy Science from the American Dairy Science Association, and the 2021 International Society of Applied Ethology (ISAE) Creativity Award.
Dan serves on Canada’s National Farm Animal Care Council, and other organizations in Canada and internationally, providing expert input on the science of animal welfare and how this can be used to inform policy and practice
