Charlotte Burn

Charlotte Burn is an Associate Professor in Animal Welfare and Behaviour Science at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), leading the BSc in 'Animal Biology, Behaviour, Welfare and Ethics' and serving as Deputy Head of the Animal Welfare Science and Ethics group. She holds a BA in Biological Sciences from the University of Oxford (1999) and an MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare from the University of Edinburgh (2001). Her D.Phil. from Oxford (2006), supervised by Prof. Georgia Mason, focused on laboratory rat welfare. Her research explores animal sentience, emotional experiences (e.g., boredom, happiness), and practical welfare improvements for animals in diverse contexts, including laboratory, companion, farm, and wild animals.

Her professional roles include trustee of the BVA’s Animal Welfare Foundation and Local Network Lead for the UK Reproducibility Network. She teaches on veterinary and bioveterinary programs, emphasizing evidence-based welfare practices. Key research projects address welfare challenges in rabbits (e.g., ear and dental issues linked to conformation), dogs (separation-related behaviors), and invertebrates (e.g., cephalopods and crustaceans). She has supervised studies on animal boredom, laboratory animal husbandry, and welfare assessments for dairy cows and horses.

Her work has been recognized with the UFAW Early Career Prize (2012) and the Marjorie Whittingham Journal Article Prize (2014). She collaborates broadly, addressing ethical dilemmas in human-animal interactions and advancing welfare science through multidisciplinary methods, including behavioral analysis, epidemiology, and sensor technology.

• Research Groups: Animal Welfare Science and Ethics, Brain Health and Behaviour, CPCS Research Programme
• Clinical Groups: Small Animal Behaviour, Farm Animal Health
• Research Centres: RVC Animal Welfare Science and Ethics

Her publications span topics from rodent husbandry to equine behavior, with recent focus on invertebrate sentience and welfare risks in commercial practices. She advocates for rigorous, reproducible science and practical welfare solutions grounded in empirical evidence.