Phoenix Advisory Board

One Welfare Phoenix Advisory Board

Joe Bailey, Humanimal Trust
(Project Chair)

Rebeca García Pinillos, One Welfare CIC
(Project founder)

Joe is CEO of Humanimal Trust. Her passion for welfare and wellbeing commenced in early childhood on the family dairy farm, where she experienced the triumphs, and the traumas, of livestock farming on both the animals and those responsible for them. She realised that her driving purpose in life was to improve the lives of all animals, and to impart knowledge, empathy and compassion to those who care for them, and, as a consequence improving their lives also!
Her career began with the RSPCA as an Inspector in 1994, and since then she has worked as a Trading Standards Animal Health and Welfare Inspector, a Livestock Technical and welfare Manager for NSF, and returned to the RSPCA family as Head of farming for RSPCA Assured where she helped improve standards not only in the UK but globally.
After receiving a Nuffield Farming Scholarship in 2012, looking at the correlation between welfare and wellbeing, and being awarded the CharityComms inspiring communicator award in 2017, she became even more determined and dedicated to exploring the links between animal, human and environmental neglect and abuse, and will stop at nothing to spread the word, and gain support for initiatives that improve Animal Welfare and Human Wellbeing.

Rebeca García Pinillos qualified as a vet at the University of Zaragoza, Spain and completed a PhD at the University of Reading, England. Rebeca is a diplomate of the European College of Animal Welfare and Behavioural Medicine and a certified specialist by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) in animal welfare, ethics and law. She has worked in general veterinary practice and veterinary government work since 2001, joining Defra as Veterinary Adviser in 2008. Rebeca has also volunteered with exotic animals and is an internationally recognised animal welfare lecturer and speaker on animal welfare, teaching and speaking across Europe, Asia, Central and South America.
In 2023 Rebeca worked as a consultant for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and developed the scoping study of the AWESDE (animal welfare, environment and sustainable development) Nexus. .
Rebeca is a Past-President of the Association of Government Vets and founder of the non-profit social enterprise One Welfare Community Interest Company, which started as a voluntary project, launching a global consultation to define and create a One Welfare framework as a complement to One Health and creating social media platforms and a web presence to help expand and disseminate the concept and related work. Initiatives launched to date supporting these objectives are the publication of two One Welfare Framework books and a number of projects including One Welfare Learning and One Welfare Phoenix.

Kirsi Swan, University of Helsinki

Paula Boyden, The Links Group
(Project co-founder)

Kirsi Swan (DVM, PhD, dip ECAWBM-AWSEL) works as a clinical teacher at the University of Helsinki. She has completed the European Specialist Degree in Animal Welfare Science, Law and Ethics for Veterinary Surgeons. Through her degree, she has gained extensive knowledge of animal welfare science and related research. Kirsi has solid practical experience in animal welfare assessment from her previous work as a supervisory veterinarian in Helsinki city, the capital of Finland. She has participated in several Finnish and international animal health and welfare research projects, such as: Future Free Farrowing in Finland (TuVa, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland, 2021), Sustainable Pig Production System (SusPigSys, ERA-NET SusAn 2018) and Increasing well-being in pork production (INWEPP, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland, 2009).

Paula Boyden graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, University of London in 1992. She spent 11 years in general practice before moving into a technical role in industry in 2003. It is here that Paula developed her interest in the ‘link’. Paula joined Dogs Trust in 2010, where she is now Veterinary Director. In addition to veterinary matters, her responsibilities include Dogs Trust’s outreach work, campaigns and public affairs. Paula has a particular interest in the link between violence to animals and violence to people; she is current Chair of the Links Group and is regularly involved in undergraduate training on Non-Accidental Injury (NAI) within the UK veterinary schools.

Paula is a founder member and past treasurer of the Association of Charity Vets and board member of the Blue Dog Trust. She chairs the Pet Advertising Advisory Group (PAAG), is vice chair of the Canine and Feline Sector group, sits on the RSPCA’s prosecutions oversight panel and is a member of the Wales Animal Health and Welfare Framework Group. In 2017 she received BSAVA’s J A Wight Memorial Award for her contribution to the welfare of companion animals.

Nuria Querol Viñas, Viopet
(Project co-founder)

Marisa Erasmus, Purdue University
(Academia)

Dr. Núria Querol Viñas is a Biologist & Medical Doctor specialized in Family Medicine, Mental Health and Family Violence. She has also followed training in criminology and criminal profiling (including training with the FBI, The New Scotland Yard and the NSA) with special interest in animal abuse, psychopathy and interpersonal violence. She took part in the first research projects in Spain in animal abuse and psychopathy and animal abuse and family violence. She is a researcher and Prof. at Profiling & Crime Behaviour Analysis Group, Law School, Univ. Barcelona where she also co-directs the 1st university course on “Violence against Animals” at the Psychology School. National Sheriffs’ Association, NLECAA Advisory Board Member, USA. NSA’s DV and Crime Victim Services Member, USA. NSA’s Animal Cruelty Committee. Representative of the Council of Medical Societies at the National Comission Against Domestic Violence, Government of Catalonia. Representative of the Council of Medical Societies at the Working Group on Sexual Violence & Stalking of the National Comission Against Domestic Violence, Government of Catalonia. Member of WONCA Special Interest Group on DV. USA Delegate of CISEG (Global Intelligence & Security Community). Director of Observatorio de Violencia Hacia los Animales and International VioPet Director.

Marisa Erasmus is an assistant professor and extension specialist in the Department of Animal Sciences at Purdue University. She received her BS and MS degrees from the University of Guelph in Canada and her PhD from Michigan State University. Before starting her career at Purdue University, Marisa worked on a commercial turkey farm and for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Since then, Marisa’s applied research has focused on developing animal-based measures of welfare for laying hens, turkeys and ducks and examining the effects of environmental and management factors on poultry welfare. In addition to her involvement with the commercial poultry industry, her extension and outreach activities are aimed at educating the public about animal welfare.

Andrew Morrison, Government of Nova Scotia (Government)

Gilly Mendes-Ferreira, SSPCA
(Social Work)

Andrew Morrison is a Canadian mixed-practice veterinarian with fifteen years of clinical experience. He moved into the Canadian public service in 2019, and currently works as the Farm Animal Welfare Program Veterinarian with the Province of Nova Scotia. This role supports both field investigations and development of programs and policy, and is embedded in the One Welfare framework, as the welfare of farm animals often deteriorates as the wellbeing of their caretakers decreases. Lack of care for farm animals often goes hand-in-hand with a lack of care for the environment.
Throughout his career, Andrew has worked with several SPCAs and animal rescue groups, and has training in emergency management and all-hazards response. He has been an educator, both formally and informally. He has been a member of the Canadian Army Reserve since 1990.

After completing a BSc Honours Zoology degree and MSc by Research degree I joined the Scottish SPCA and since 2005 have progressed to the post of Head of Education and Policy. My core activities involve managing our ‘Prevention through Education’ strategy. This includes our Animal Guardians programme where children are referred as a result of them exhibiting behaviour towards animals that are a cause of concern. We focus on increasing knowledge and nurturing that empathetic and compassionate behaviour towards animals and in turn people. We want to ensure we are able to teach animal welfare education to anyone of any age in an engaging and fun way, for example making use of robotics and developing bespoke gaming initiatives. I also coordinate collaborative research projects with amazing Universities that focus on the impact of animal welfare education, the links between animal and human abuse and neglect and also the enrichment of animals in the Scottish SPCA’s care. By combining what we learn through our education and research work gives us opportunities to make a positive difference at an operational level and enables us to respond effectively to any proposed legislative changes helping ensure current animal welfare legislation meets modern day issues.

Rodrigo Nova, University of Nottingham (Academia)

Mohamed Nader, Zoo Tree Project
(Independent)

Rodrigo is a veterinarian who graduated from the University of Concepcion in Chile. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and the Royal Society of Public Health. He is currently a resident of the European College of Veterinary Public Health. He holds a PhD in Food Microbiology (University of Nottingham) and postgraduate qualifications in Higher Education (University of Nottingham) and Veterinary Public Health (University of Ulster). He has worked as a veterinary consultant for the meat and dairy sector in Chile. More recently, he was appointed as a training manager for the European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (EuFMD), a commission of the United Nations food and Agriculture Organisation (UN FAO).
Rodrigo is currently an Assistant Professor in Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety at the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham. He is an advocate of innovation in teaching, learning and assessment and was instrumental in developing the veterinary public health curriculum at Nottingham. He leads the “Veterinary Public Health” module and the “One Health-One Welfare” clinical rotation. His research interests are zoonotic and transboundary animal diseases and their impact on animal and human health and welfare.

Dr Nader is an Egyptian veterinary specialist in Animal Welfare and Wildlife conservation. He has a Master’s Degree in wildlife conservation from Universidad Internacional de Andalucía, Spain, and a Bachelor of Veterinary Science Degree from Alexandria University, Egypt. He was an official veterinarian at Sharjah Municipality, UAE, from 2001-2008, after which, he joined as a Senior Veterinarian at Al Ain Municipality, UAE, from 2009 to the present.
In addition, he has volunteered as a wildlife conservationist expert with NGOs to deliver workshops and training in the Middle East on animal welfare, CITES, wildlife conservation, and wildlife trade regulations.
Nader was a keynote speaker in the UAE National Conference on Animal Welfare in Dubai in 2018.
He is also a wildlife conservationist Ambassador in One Zoo Tree Project which aims to change the world by educating a generation on career preparation and conservation.

Evelyn Segredo, ASSE Salud
(Medical)

Neil Leach, Project Support
(Policy)

Evelyn is a Family and Community Health Resident Doctor currently working in the public health system in Uruguay, training on global health problems, and undergoing several social and community projects in suburbs where poverty, human and animal violence are frequent issues.
She is also a veterinary student, enrolled in the University of the Republic of Uruguay, and has recently ended her Masters degree on Animal Welfare, graduating from the Veterinary Faculty, Buenos Aires University (UBA), Argentina. Her main line of research is how dog population management and dog bites impact on Public health issues.
As a member of an Antrozoology research group in Uruguay, she has recently extended her work with the University of Flores, Argentina, creating new approaches on Human - Animal interaction in the region.
In reference to public policies and project designing, her past work includes assessing the national government of Uruguay, through dog population management consultancies, and recently working as an independent consultant for World Animal Protection on rabies management in Latin - America.
Evelyn is also a member of the One Health – One Welfare Latin - American (OHLA) network, collaborative and research group, assessing on different human, animal and environmental issues in the region.

Neil retired from his job in the UK Civil Service where he was a DEFRA Policy Advisor on Animal Health and Welfare and is now a part- time consultant on Animal by-products (ABP) including to the Petfood industry.
Neil’s career included leading on Animal by-products and BSE policy from 2003 to 2020, including latterly the impact of Brexit. In 2003 Neil set up and became the Government Non-Executive Director of the National Fallen Stock Company which collects and disposes of animals which die on farm . During this period Neil developed extensive experience in Brussels and the EU, negotiating and lecturing on all aspects of EU ABP and BSE legislation and regulation including rules on trade in ABPs. In his spare time Neil volunteers for One Welfare CIC, the Sussex Wildlife Trust and walks with his dog Milo along the South Coast and South Downs.

Advisory Board Meetings Minutes

Meeting facilities courtesy of World Veterinary Association