About
A brief description of who you are and what you do.
This section will only display on your public profile if you’ve added content.
You can update this in Pure (opens in a new tab). Select ‘Edit profile’. Under the heading and then ‘Curriculum and research description’, select ‘Add profile information’. In the dropdown menu, select - ‘About’.
Write about yourself in the third person. Aim for 100 to 150 words covering the main points about who you are and what you currently do. Clear, simple language is best. You can include specialist or technical terms.
You’ll be able to add details about your research, publications, career and academic history to other sections of your staff profile.
Research
Research interests
- Philosophy of biology
- Animal ethics
- Animal welfare science
- Philosophy of mind
Current research
My research focuses on concepts and measurement of animal welfare, and how this influences our ethical deliberations and policy decisions. There are two primary strands to this research: a philosophy of science strand, and an applied ethics strand.
The first involves a philosophical analysis of the methods and challenges in animal welfare science, with an aim to identify problems and improve the measurement of animal welfare. In particular, examining the ways in which an understanding of the evolution of and mechanisms of sentience can help refine and improve the ways we do animal welfare science.
The second looks at how we can develop an empirically-informed animal ethics, based on a deep understanding of the biology, psychology and evolution of animals and how this might be applied to specific issues within animal ethics. I am currently working with Walter Veit on a short book called What Are Zoos For? to be released in 2024, as part of a series with Bristol University Press.
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Research groups
Any research groups you belong to will automatically appear on your profile. Speak to your line manager if these are incorrect. Please do not raise a ticket in Ask HR.
Research interests
Add up to 5 research interests. The first 3 will appear in your staff profile next to your name. The full list will appear on your research page. Keep these brief and focus on the keywords people may use when searching for your work. Use a different line for each one.
In Pure (opens in a new tab), select ‘Edit profile’. Under the heading 'Curriculum and research description', select 'Add profile information'. In the dropdown menu, select 'Research interests: use separate lines'.
Current research
Update this in Pure (opens in a new tab). Select ‘Edit profile’ and then ‘Curriculum and research description - Current research’.
Describe your current research in 100 to 200 words. Write in the third person. Include broad key terms to help people discover your work, for example, “sustainability” or “fashion textiles”.
Research projects
Research Council funded projects will automatically appear here. The active project name is taken from the finance system.
Publications
Public outputs that list you as an author will appear here, once they’re validated by the ePrints Team. If you’re missing any outputs that you’ve added to Pure, they may be waiting for validation.
Supervision
A list of your current and past PhD students.
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Contact your Faculty Operating Service team to update PhD students you supervise and any you’ve previously supervised. Making this information available will help potential PhD applicants to find you.
Teaching
I primarily teach on animal ethics and the philosophy of animal minds, as well as philosophy of science and applied ethics.
You can update your teaching description in Pure (opens in a new tab). Select ‘Edit profile’. Under the heading and then ‘Curriculum and research description’ , select ‘Add profile information’. In the dropdown menu, select – ‘Teaching Interests’. Describe your teaching interests and your current responsibilities. Aim for 200 words maximum.
Courses and modules
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External roles and responsibilities
These are the public-facing activities you’d like people to know about.
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Biography
Dr Heather Browning is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Southampton.
She joined the department in 2022, after spending two years as a postdoctoral researcher in animal sentience and welfare at the London School of Economics, as part of the Foundations of Animal Sentience project. During this time, she was part of the research team who produced a report for DEFRA reviewing the evidence of sentience in cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans, leading to an amendment of the UK's Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act to include their protection.
She completed her PhD at the Australian National University in 2020, with a thesis on the measurement of animal welfare.
Heather also spent many years working as a zookeeper and zoo animal welfare officer, interested in the practical application of animal welfare measurement.
You can update your biography section in Pure (opens in a new tab). Select your ‘Personal’ tab then ‘Edit profile’. Under the heading, and ‘Curriculum and research description’, select ‘Add profile information’. In the dropdown menu, select - ‘Biography’. Aim for no more than 400 words.
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Prizes
You can update this section in Pure (opens in a new tab). Select ‘+Add content’ and then ‘Prize’. using the ‘Prizes’ section.
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