The Donkey Sanctuary

Laura has worked in research for over 15 years, working in a range of sectors including wildlife ecology, conservation genetics, animal welfare and human development. Prior to starting at The Donkey Sanctuary, Laura completed a PhD on European pine martens in Scottish forested landscapes, followed by a Research Fellowship at the University of Exeter / Mammal Society. Laura joined the Donkey Sanctuary in 2017 as a Senior Researcher, working on projects both in the UK and overseas. Recent projects include exploring the links between animal welfare and human development in low to middle income countries, and developing novel techniques to analyse welfare data, as well as supporting student projects to investigate management systems that support donkey welfare and ecosystem health. 

Andrew is an experienced senior manager with over 30 years’ experience working with donkeys. He is currently the Director of Equine Operations (Sanctuaries) and leads the UK and Ireland farms, European Teams, Equine Behaviourists and Animal Management System team. As well as managing the farms capital building programs and farm vehicle program for The Donkey Sanctuary.

He led the scoping, building and development of The Donkey Sanctuaries online education platform (The Donkey Academy) and has been instrumental in the design and  implementation of a variety of campaigns and research projects and papers.