/r/EAAnimalAdvocacy

Photograph via snooOG

Effective Animal Advocates (EAAs) are members of the Effective Altruism movement. They use reason and evidence to identify the most effective ways to help nonhuman animals.

The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?

— Jeremy Bentham

Effective Animal Advocates (EAAs) are members of the Effective Altruism movement. They use reason and evidence to identify the most effective ways to help nonhuman animals.

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/r/EAAnimalAdvocacy

1,196 Subscribers

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Listening to the new 80,000 Hours Podcast Episode with Bob Fischer

1 Comment
2024/03/17
15:19 UTC

3

Why Conservation reduces wild animal suffering (self blog post)

0 Comments
2024/03/02
07:53 UTC

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New Paper Explores How Animal Advocacy Organizations Use Data To Help Animals

The nonprofit sector, including the animal advocacy movement, often uses data and research to improve their tactics to create positive change in the world. Now, Faunalytics has published a research paper that investigates exactly how research is used by animal advocacy organizations. In particular, the report discovers the research needs of advocates, like more accessible material, summaries, and reports on how to effect change. These findings will be of interest to animal advocates, researchers, and those interested in the science of effecting change.

“Advocates are clear about what they need: clear, understandable, and reliable data,” says project supervisor Dr. Jo Anderson, “As this project demonstrates, advocates are the experts on the needs of their organizations, and researchers must work closely with them to create impactful studies that meet those needs.” She adds that she is excited about the five uses of research, as detailed in an accompanying visual explainer, which will help organizations more mindfully plan projects to benefit the advocates themselves.

Key Findings:

  1. Research and evidence in animal advocacy can be categorized in terms of five purposes: external legitimacy, internal decision-making, building partnerships, catalyzing action, and identifying problems and solutions.
  2. Most organizations and audiences see peer-reviewed publications and the research behind them as the gold standard for rigor. Government and industry research is often seen as biased, but also the basis for the dominant systems and narratives and thus cannot be ignored.
  3. Organizations need evidence syntheses that provide a ‘state of the state’ on specific topics, including agreement on key facts and figures when possible, as well as detailed annotated bibliographies, exhaustive literature reviews, or similar extensive summaries of the current state of the knowledge on general topics.
  4. The most foundational gaps in the evidence base are related to how to effect change, especially regarding under-researched species and geographies. More social science research and knowledge translation is needed on the impact and efficacy of behavioral nudges on one hand and social movement tactics on the other.
  5. Challenges to using existing research include having the time and expertise to translate complexity and ambiguity in research findings into actionable information. More evidence is needed from evaluation and internal data collection about tactics that work AND tactics that do not work to achieve intended outcomes.

As a result of the findings, Faunalytics has decided to enact a few program-wide changes. In 2024, the organization will improve its research strategy by working on agenda-setting in collaboration with other researchers. The organization will accelerate their content by increasing how many external papers it summarizes and publishes and will launch new series to explain the science behind advocacy tactics and how peer-review works in academia. And finally, Faunalytics will expand its reach and accessibility by creating more short-form, visual content with each study to improve its reach.

This report is the latest addition to Faunalytics’ original research collection, which serves to benefit the animal advocacy movement and improve its tactics. A list of upcoming and previous original studies can be found here.

0 Comments
2024/02/28
16:44 UTC

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Something sort of different this time (my latest blogpost) this time exploring different alternative models of humans societies interactions with animals

0 Comments
2024/02/13
05:02 UTC

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My newest blogpost ( on the current state and trends of horses and donkeys used for labor)

1 Comment
2024/02/07
03:49 UTC

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Job Posting: People & Operations Director

Faunalytics is now accepting applications for our People & Operations Director!

This newly created position will play an integral role in supporting our organization behind the scenes by overseeing our human resources and general operations, ultimately increasing our impact for animals. If you’re detail-oriented with a passion for animal protection, people management, and nonprofit operations, this is the career you’ve been waiting for. Full time and remote.

Applications are due March 1st:
https://faunalytics.org/job-posting-people-operations-director

0 Comments
2024/02/01
18:34 UTC

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My first blogpost! ( Subject matter: lethal persecution of starlings by the US federal government)

3 Comments
2024/01/31
19:28 UTC

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Job Posting: Projects Manager at Faunalytics

Faunalytics is now accepting applications for a new Projects Manager role!

This individual will work closely with the Research team to bring our original research projects to fruition, ultimately increasing our impact for animals. If you have a passion for animal advocacy, experience in project management, and familiarity with research, this is the career you’ve been waiting for - applications are due January 31st.

https://faunalytics.org/job-posting-projects-manager/

0 Comments
2024/01/08
23:07 UTC

3

Sentience Institute 2023 End-of-Year Summary

Our 2022 End of Year Summary was published just five days before the launch of ChatGPT. This event surprised many in the field, and the global spotlight has illustrated how important it is to understand human-AI interaction. Our priority continues to be researching the rise of digital minds: AIs that have or are perceived as having mental faculties, such as reasoning, agency, experience, and sentience. Some of our other work this year includes:

Full summary: https://www.sentienceinstitute.org/blog/eoy2023

0 Comments
2023/11/28
23:30 UTC

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Hi! We're researchers from Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE). We just released our 2023 charity recommendations. Ask us anything!

0 Comments
2023/11/14
16:35 UTC

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