Jah Ying Chung, The Good Growth Co.

Jah Ying Chung is a user and market researcher and the co-founder of The Good Growth Co. She has collaborated with Faunalytics on several projects and is a co-leader of the RECAP (Research to End Consumption of Animal Products) group. Her work focuses largely on qualitative and mixed methods research for the animal welfare and alternative protein industry in China. Previously, Jah Ying founded and sold a sponsorship platform serving students across the Asia Pacific, and ran climate change campaigns in China.

Maneesha Deckha, LLM

Maneesha Deckha is Professor and Lansdowne Chair in Law at the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia. She has published in the areas of feminist animal studies, animal law and legalities, law and culture, and bioethics and reproductive law. She is a recipient of multiple national grants and has held the Fulbright Visiting Chair in Law and Society at New York University. She is the author of Animals as Legal Beings: Contesting Anthropocentric Legal Orders (University of Toronto Press, 2021) and directs the Animal Studies Research Initiative at the University of Victoria. She is a graduate of McGill University, the University of Toronto, and Columbia University.​

Marina Milyavskaya, PhD, Carleton University

Marina Milyavskaya is an associate professor of psychology at Carleton University and collaborates with Faunalytics on our research about the strategies new veg*ns use to maintain their diets. She conducts research on goal pursuit, motivation, and self-regulation, and is excited to apply her skills and passion to research on dietary change and other animal-friendly behaviors. More details about her research can be found on her lab page.

Jamie Parry, MSc, independent

Jamie Parry is an independent researcher who collaborated with Faunalytics on the project Relative Effectiveness of Different Approaches to Advocacy. He previously worked as a consumer research scientist at The Good Food Institute, conducting research on perceptions of the plant-based food category, and also has experience conducting market research for food and beverage companies. He earned his BA from the University of Sussex and his MSc from the University of Glasgow.

Steven Shepherd, PhD, Oklahoma State University (Spears School of Business)

Steven Shepherd is an Assistant Professor of Marketing and International Business at Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business. He researches how various beliefs and ideologies (e.g., political ideology) and social issues (e.g. related to gender, race, and socioeconomic status) relate to issues in marketing and management. He has a PhD is social psychology (University of Waterloo) and completed a post-doctoral research position in marketing at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Gregg Sparkman, PhD, Princeton University

Gregg Sparkman is a postdoctoral research associate in the Andlinger Center at Princeton University. His research is focused on understanding social change, including the causes and consequences of norms shifting over time on behavior and policy attitudes. He completed his PhD at Stanford University in social psychology, where he investigated how people are influenced by witnessing social change (dynamic norms) and how this can be incorporated into interventions in social, environmental, and political domains, including how to reduce meat consumption. Gregg collaborated with Faunalytics on our “Reduce” Or “Go Veg” study.

Laura Thomas-Walters, PhD candidate, University of Kent

Laura Thomas-Walters is a PhD researcher at the University of Kent. She working to improve the design and evaluation of interventions to reduce demand for wildlife products, drawing together research from multiple fields such as public health and international development. She has used both quantitative and qualitative research methods to measure the success of demand reduction campaigns, and has developed a theoretical framework of motivations for wildlife use. She is also exploring how local cultural values can be used to create more effective messages.

Advisors

Kellie Heckman

Kellie Heckman combines her experience as a nonprofit executive and scientist to improve the lives of all animals in need. Kellie developed an appreciation for the unique ability of farm sanctuaries to promote compassion while serving as Executive Director of the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. She currently serves on the Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary and Avian Welfare Coalition Board of Directors, and optimizes operations and maximizes fundraising opportunities for charities as the COO of Insurgent Campaigns. Kellie spends her free time being crafty in vegan-friendly St. Louis with her significant other and two cats rescued from animal experimentation.

Pulin Modi

Pulin Modi has been organizing around social justice issues for 25 years including professional roles with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Change.org, MoveOn, and ParentsTogether. He has been the lead on digital campaigns signed by millions of people, supported passionate individuals and dedicated nonprofits as they gained massive media coverage, and strategized on (and won) campaigns against some of the biggest brands in the world. He believes organizing should be creative, enjoyable, and equitable.

Andrew Rowan, PhD

Andrew Rowan is the former director of the Tufts University Center for Animals and Public Policy. He also chaired the Department of Environmental Studies at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. Andrew was the founding editor of the International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems, founding editor of Anthrozoos, and scientific administrator for the Fund for the Replacement for Animals in Medical Experiments. Andrew currently serves as president of WellBeing International, a new NGO that focuses on projects that deliver solutions for people, animals, and the environment.

Claire Sterling

Claire’s background includes over 25 years of experience across the fields of nonprofit management, philanthropy, communications, and animal protection. She is currently Chief Operating Officer at HEART, a New York-based nonprofit offering PreK-12 humane education programs and teaching resources uniquely designed for a combined focus on social justice, animal protection, and environmental preservation. She previously served as Director, Grant Strategies at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). While at the ASPCA, Claire was Board President of the national funder affinity group Animal Grantmakers, which she led through a period of major programmatic and financial growth, and she also established the first national funding collaborative dedicated to assisting animals impacted by natural disasters. Prior to her tenure at the ASPCA, Claire worked in the fields of fundraising and web design at the Foundation Center (now Candid), the world’s leading source of information on institutional philanthropy.

Mandy Weeks-Green

Mandy Weeks is an attorney presently working with health care reform and regulation of insurance providers for the state of Washington. She has also served as a legal aid attorney, proving free legal services to low-income individuals and families and as a public defender. Mandy has volunteered for grassroots and national animal advocacy groups as well as providing direct care to animals through a wildlife rehabilitation center and to her companion cat, Ain. Mandy has a BA in political science and a JD.