Conferences
As a budding academic, I spend a fair amount of time at conferences. In this section, you will find short reflections on recent conferences I have attended that I have found to be particularly inspiring. For a full list of my public presentations, please refer to my CV.
Alliance for Contraception in Cats & Dogs: 5th International Symposium. Portland, Oregon, June 23-26, 2013
ACC&D is a non-profit organization focused on expediting the successful introduction of non-surgical sterilization methods for dogs and cats, in order to humanely control dog and cat populations worldwide. The organization supports universities, animal welfare organizations, foundations, companies, and government agencies in the development and implementation of non surgical sterilization methods.
Much of the work supported by ACC&D involves laboratory and field based research, a large part of this research includes animals, as well as vulnerable human communities. The organization believes that ethical concerns related to this research should not be taken lightly. My presentation, "Different Strokes for Different Folks: Navigating Ethical Questions and Cultural Differences Partnering Technologies, Test Sites, and Target Audiences", addressed some of these concerns by giving an overview of ethical frameworks and ethical issues in research, followed by a panel discussion with animal welfare experts from two animal welfare organizations, which focused on ethical issues commonly encountered in community based animal welfare projects.
I particularly enjoyed preparing and delivering this presentation because it made me reflect on my transition from veterinary medicine to philosophy, which, I realize, is not an intuitive path to follow. I trained and worked as a veterinarian, and I am still very much a veterinarian at heart, but at one point in my career, I became increasingly troubled by difficult questions that seemed to have no obvious answer within my knowledge base. These are precisely the questions that keep me going, and that, as I see it, prompt the most interesting discussions and projects, across disciplines and geographies.
As a budding academic, I spend a fair amount of time at conferences. In this section, you will find short reflections on recent conferences I have attended that I have found to be particularly inspiring. For a full list of my public presentations, please refer to my CV.
Alliance for Contraception in Cats & Dogs: 5th International Symposium. Portland, Oregon, June 23-26, 2013
ACC&D is a non-profit organization focused on expediting the successful introduction of non-surgical sterilization methods for dogs and cats, in order to humanely control dog and cat populations worldwide. The organization supports universities, animal welfare organizations, foundations, companies, and government agencies in the development and implementation of non surgical sterilization methods.
Much of the work supported by ACC&D involves laboratory and field based research, a large part of this research includes animals, as well as vulnerable human communities. The organization believes that ethical concerns related to this research should not be taken lightly. My presentation, "Different Strokes for Different Folks: Navigating Ethical Questions and Cultural Differences Partnering Technologies, Test Sites, and Target Audiences", addressed some of these concerns by giving an overview of ethical frameworks and ethical issues in research, followed by a panel discussion with animal welfare experts from two animal welfare organizations, which focused on ethical issues commonly encountered in community based animal welfare projects.
I particularly enjoyed preparing and delivering this presentation because it made me reflect on my transition from veterinary medicine to philosophy, which, I realize, is not an intuitive path to follow. I trained and worked as a veterinarian, and I am still very much a veterinarian at heart, but at one point in my career, I became increasingly troubled by difficult questions that seemed to have no obvious answer within my knowledge base. These are precisely the questions that keep me going, and that, as I see it, prompt the most interesting discussions and projects, across disciplines and geographies.