Michelle Lavery

Program Associate, Farm Animal Welfare

Michelle joined Open Philanthropy in September 2022 as the Farm Animal Welfare team’s first science-focused Program Associate. She has a PhD from the University of Guelph’s Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare, during which she focused her dissertation research on fish behaviour and welfare. She has also previously worked with Rethink Priorities on their Moral Weight Project as a farmed fish welfare consultant, and has contributed to Canada’s National Farm Animal Care Council’s Farmed Salmonid Code of Practice as a fish welfare scientist. Aside from her doctorate, Michelle also has an MSc (Biology: focused on salmonid ecology) from the University of New Brunswick’s Canadian Rivers Institute, and a BScH (Specialization in Biology) from Queen’s University.