Daniel Weary, University of British Columbia

Research

animal behaviour animal welfare Bayesian brain cognition expectation fear learning negative affect

Latest papers

A future 'rodentopia'? Imagining a good life for rats and mice used in research (and the humans who work with them).
Laboratory animals · 2026 · senior author
Animal affect, welfare and the Bayesian brain.
Animal welfare (South Mimms, England) · 2024 · senior author
Effects of personality on assessments of anxiety and cognition.
Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2022

All 3 publications

Latest funding

The University of British Columbia (UBC) Dairy Cattle Welfare Program - 2024-2029
NSERC · 2024 · Principal investigator
$1,958,276
Novel and Adaptive Rumen Microbiome targeted solutions for GHG mitigation in cattle
NSERC · 2023 · Co-investigator
$1,971,300
Welfare, affect and agency in animals
NSERC · 2023 · Principal investigator
$118,000

All 21 grants and awards

3 publications.

01

A future 'rodentopia'? Imagining a good life for rats and mice used in research (and the humans who work with them).

Mason G, Weary D

Laboratory animals2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1177/00236772261475086 PMID: 42750148

02

Animal affect, welfare and the Bayesian brain.

Lecorps B, Weary D

Animal welfare (South Mimms, England)2024Senior author

DOI: 10.1017/awf.2024.44 PMID: 39464389

03

Effects of personality on assessments of anxiety and cognition.

Améndola L, Weary D, Zobel G

Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews2022

DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104827 PMID: 35970418

The University of British Columbia (UBC) Dairy Cattle Welfare Program - 2024-2029

Principal investigatorNSERC2024Mitacs Accelerate

Principal investigators: Weary, Daniel

Keywords: Agriculture; Animal management (animal diseases, breeding)

$1,958,276

Novel and Adaptive Rumen Microbiome targeted solutions for GHG mitigation in cattle

Co-investigatorNSERC2023Alliance Grants

Principal investigators: Guan, Leluo L

Keywords: cattle genetics; machine learning; metabolome; metagenome; microbiome intervention; rna interference; rumen methanogenesis

$1,971,300

Welfare, affect and agency in animals

Principal investigatorNSERC2023Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Weary, Daniel

Keywords: animal welfare; animal behaviour; pain; fear; suffering; negative affect; expectation; cognition; learning; bayesian brain

$118,000

Retaining social license: A participatory path towards identifying socially sustainable solutions in livestock farming

Co-investigatorSSHRC2022Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Von keyserlingk, Marina A.G.

Keywords: animal welfare; sustainability; agriculture; social impact; farming; public attitudes

$117,884

Retaining social license: A participatory path towards identifying socially sustainable solutions in livestock farming

Co-investigatorSSHRC2022Insight Grants

Principal investigators: von Keyserlingk, Marina A.G.

Keywords: animal welfare; sustainability; agriculture; social impact; farming; public attitudes

$57,022

The science of animal suffering

Principal investigatorNSERC2016Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Weary, Daniel

$366,000

Expert forum on models for public engagement in decisions about the use of animals in biomedical research

Co-investigatorCIHR2012Dissemination Events - Priority Announcement: Ethics

Principal investigators: von Keyserlingk, Marina A

Keywords: Animal Research; Ethics; Governance

$25,000

New approaches to welfare assessment in dairy calves: effects of social housing on cognition, cognitive bias and anticipatory behaviour

Principal investigatorNSERC2011Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Weary, Daniel

$235,000

Effects of social experience on calf behaviour

Principal investigatorNSERC2010Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Weary, Daniel

$35,000

Managing the vulnerable transition cow

Co-investigatorNSERC2007Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Principal investigators: VonKeyserlingk, Marina

$70,000

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Georgia Mason

Integrative Biology

1 shared papers, latest 2026

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their NSERC grant from 2024

Subject: Prospective PhD student: animal behaviour Dear Professor Weary, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "A future 'rodentopia'? Imagining a good life for rats and mice used in research (and the humans who work with them)." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your NSERC-funded project "The University of British Columbia (UBC) Dairy Cattle Welfare Program - 2024-2029" (2024), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]