Animal behaviour and welfare award for professor
Professor Alistair Lawrence, chair of animal behaviour and welfare at the University of Edinburgh and Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), has been awarded the title of honorary fellow at the annual congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology (ISAE) in Denmark.
This title is awarded by the ISAE to eminent personnel working in fields that fall within the aims of the Society. In this respect, the ISAE provides a forum for the discussion of advances in applied animal behaviour science and education, and covers aspects relevant to human-animal interactions, such as farming, wildlife management, the keeping of companion and laboratory animals, and the control of pests.
The Society has an international federal structure as well as regional representatives around the world.
Professor Lawrence gained a PhD on sheep social behaviour, after which he built a research team focusing on the application of animal behaviour to interpret and improve animal welfare in a range of farm species. He is currently working on understanding the wider effects of positive animal psychology on health and welfare, with a focus on play behaviour and environmental enrichment.
Accepting the award, Professor Lawrence said: “It is a very great honour to be given this award. ISAE is the international society that represents the application of animal behaviour science to better understand how to improve how humans interact with animals.
“This award recognises my contribution to applied animal behaviour science and also that of the many colleagues I have worked with at the Easter Bush Campus. Edinburgh is a fantastic place to study animal behaviour and welfare with so much potential to find cross-disciplinary solutions to complex animal welfare issues.”
Eligible members of BEVA will be able to vote for their Council team until Monday, 17 August 2026. Members will have received an election email on 17 July.
