Join us next week (March 11) as @viveknityananda.bsky.social examines frameworks for investigating insect welfare, including key debates around insect emotions and pain.
The session will be followed by a Q&Aβa great opportunity to bring your questions on insect sentience!
bit.ly/4bFAITn
Fruit flies can estimate, remember, and reproduce time intervals of several seconds β using a "population clock" in their mushroom bodies.
Learn more in this new study published in @currentbiology.bsky.social:
The @asab.org animal behavior ethics guidelines now reference our work on humane husbandry and ethical study design for insects and decapods! See the full guidelines:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
β° Only 2 weeks left to apply! This is a rare funding opportunity specifically for amateur entomologists and biological recorders β up to $2,000 to support your work refining recording methods with 3Rs approaches. Deadline: February 28! π¦
bit.ly/4pluUC8
This open access paper in Biological Reviews offers an up-to-date synthesis of the scientific evidence on cephalopod sentience ππ¦
It considers 120+ studies using an 8-criterion framework:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
@zoophilosophy.bsky.social @birchlse.bsky.social
The NYU Center for Mind, Ethics, and Policy and the NYU Center for Environmental and Animal Protection are both hiring full-time researchers!
If you have strong research skills and an interest in animal and AI welfare (for CMEP) or food and wildlife science and policy (for CEAP), please apply!
Apply to be a researcher and project manager at the NYU Center for Mind, Ethics, and Policy: apply.interfolio.com/181285
In this episode of the "Get the Bug" podcast, @beebytes.bsky.social discusses a wide range of insect welfare topics, from insects in poultry feed to emerging data on public perceptions of insect welfare.
What does the evidence actually tell us about insect sentience?
Join us on March 11 as @viveknityananda.bsky.social examines frameworks for investigating insect welfare, including key debates around insect emotions and pain.
bit.ly/4bFAITn
So excited to see this recommendation coming from the Animal Sentience Committee, really hoping it leads to some real change in decapod protection
www.gov.uk/government/p...
This new review in J Agric & Environ Ethics argues that black soldier fly farming's ethical framework hasn't kept pace with its commercial scale. Read to learn about practical welfare concerns, from handling to environmental stressors, and gaps for future research:
Great opportunity for anyone interested in a PhD at the intersection of philosophy, animal welfare, public policy, and sentience research π
The IWRS is hiring! Help us build the infrastructure for invertebrate welfare researchβfrom husbandry databases to educational resources. ππ
Remote Research Scientist position, $55-60K. We will begin reviewing applications on March 15.
Learn more and apply here:
This important review proposes 2-step euthanasia methods in invertebrates, examining procedures across taxa. Drawing on lessons from vertebrate welfare history, the authors also argue that current research gaps about pain should prompt precautionary standards, not justify lower ones: bit.ly/4sPoJIO
Don't miss our seminar tomorrow! Prof. Edward Waddell will discuss a key issue for farmed insect welfare: dietary preferences in adult black soldier flies.
A new paper by @marcinurbaniak.bsky.social provides a useful synthesis of neurological and behavioral evidence for pain perception in crabs, crayfish, and prawns.
Full paper available here:
Need funding for your arthropod welfare research? Check out this opportunityβonly one week left to apply! π¦ππ
Join us Jan 20 as Prof. Edward Waddell explores dietary preferences in black soldier flies. His research shows adults live an average of 4-6 days longer and mate more frequently when given their preferred dietβrevealing practical pathways to improve welfare for trillions farmed annually.
Register:
Stingless bees from the Amazon granted legal rights in world first
Happy New Year! Our first newsletter of 2026 celebrates jumping spider cognition, UK legislation banning the live boiling of lobsters, and a new paper on research directions in insect welfare.
Want to know the latest in the field? Make sure to join our listserv!
www.insectwelfare.com/join
In a new paper, @jeffsebo.bsky.social and Toni Sims argue that insect research needs ethical oversight. Their article covers moral reasoning behind their argument and initial steps forwardβincluding developing policies and methods for assessing welfare risks.
Full paper here:
This fascinating video from @scishow.bsky.social explores how jumping spiders in the genus Portia can plan ahead, learn through trial and error, and even lie!
Explore the latest on spider cognition here: youtu.be/lwPryksCmIo
π
Deadline reminder: Jan 15, 2026
Calling shrimp & aquaculture researchers! We're seeking proposals to address welfare challenges for Pacific white shrimps & giant tiger prawns in commercial aquaculture. π¦
Just a few weeks left to apply!
Up to $10Kβ$50K available
Apply: bit.ly/3KVCwMR
We've extended our Biological Recorder 3Rs Innovation Award deadline to February 28!
Amateur entomologists and invertebrate recorders with 2+ years experience can receive up to $2,000 to test and refine biological recording methods using 3Rs approaches. π¦
Apply here: bit.ly/4pluUC8
How do we measure consciousness in insects? Colin Klein (Australian National University) and Andrew Barron (Macquarie University) propose a neural model that focuses on the core computations simple brains perform.
Learn more via @us.theconversation.com:
Do you have burning questions about insect sentience and welfare?
Check out this Q&A with Prof. Bob Fischer, published by Rethink Priorities. He tackles questions like: Is consciousness all-or-nothing? Should we prioritize welfare research over sentience research?
Read more: bit.ly/48i6SSL
How do beekeeping practices affect bees, beekeepers, and the environment simultaneously?
Check out this interesting new study, exploring 295 Honey Bee Welfare Practices (HBWPs) through a One Welfare framework.
New work from Animal Ethics is drawing attention to the growing body of evidence on aquatic animal sentience. Seantience, a short documentary directed by Xiana Castro, brings together recent findings on the capacity to feel in both vertebrates and invertebrates.
Fascinating exploration of how to make evidence-based decisions about allocating time and resources to invertebrate welfare
@jeffsebo.bsky.social
ICYMI: Dr. David Fisher (University of Aberdeen) presented his research on cockroach sentience in our latest IWRS seminar, including the first evidence of juvenile motivational trade-offs in insects. He also discussed implications for research practices and pest control.
Watch: bit.ly/3LJQYb4
