About
From his childhood on a farm in southern Ontario, David Fraser has maintained a fascination with animals throughout his 50-year research career. His career included some of the earliest research on the welfare of intensively raised pigs (Edinburgh, 1971-1975), and research on the behaviour and management of moose (Ontario, 1975-1981). He then developed a research team on farm animal welfare and behaviour at the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa (1981-1997). In 1997 he was appointed NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Animal Welfare at UBC where he developed and taught several courses in animal welfare and mentored a long list of valued graduate students.
Prof. Fraser has worked with many organizations to find practical ways to improve the lives of animals. He has served as an advisor on animal welfare to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO, Rome), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE, Paris), the Food Marketing Institute and National Council of Chain Restaurants (Washington), and several major corporations. He was one of the founding members of Canada’s National Farmed Animal Health and Welfare Council. In 2005 he was appointed Member of the Order of Canada for his role as a pioneer of animal welfare science.
For a video of Dr. David Fraser on animal welfare and the ethics of animal use, click here. For more information see Dr. Fraser’s faculty page.
Please note that Prof. Fraser stopped accepting new graduate students in 2019 and ended his undergraduate teaching in 2021.
Education
B.A. (Toronto)
Ph.D. (Glasgow)
Awards
Awards for Teaching
- Elected Honorary Class President (one of two) by 2007 graduating class, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia
- Humane Society of the United States “Animals and Society Course Award”, jointly with Dan Weary
Awards for Scholarship
- Bärle Award (for “extraordinary advancement of animal welfare”), Detroit Zoological Society, 2014.
- Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science, Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, UK, 2014
- Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, Governor General of Canada, 2012
- Distinguished Faculty Award, UBC Faculty of Land and Food Systems, 2008
- Member, Order of Canada, Governor General of Canada, 2005
- Animal Welfare Award, British Society for Animal Science and Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (UK), 2003
- Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal, Governor General of Canada, 2003
- Emeritus Research Scientist (lifelong designation), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 1999
Awards for Service
- Leadership in Animal Welfare Innovation Award, awarded to UBC Animal Welfare Program, Humane Canada (formerly Canadian Federation of Humane Societies), 2018
- Frederic A. McGrand Lifetime Leadership Award, Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, 2016
- Lifetime Achievement Award, British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 2011