Find Heather’s first Sentientism Conversation with me here on Youtube or here on the Sentientism podcast. Find her second Sentientism conversation, along with her partner, philosopher Walter Veit, on the Sentientism YouTube here and here on the Sentientism podcast.
Heather is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Southampton. Her primary research interests are animal welfare, ethics, and consciousness. Heather’s latest book is What Are Zoos For? coauthored with Walter Veit. She previously worked as a researcher in animal sentience and welfare at the London School of Economics, as part of the Foundations of Animal Sentience project. There Heather was part of the research team who produced a report for DEFRA reviewing the evidence of sentience in cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans, leading to an amendment of the UK’s Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act to include their protection. Heather worked for many years as a zookeeper and zoo animal welfare officer, interested in the practical application of animal welfare measurement.
Heather has a naturalistic worldview. She is vegan and has a sentiocentric moral scope.