Emily Major works with Marielle covering the role of Secretary. It’s her second year with NZAVS and she’s just getting started! Easily the most qualified person in our little family, her advocacy for animals in New Zealand began over five years ago when she moved from Canada to pursue her PhD in Human-Animal Studies.

Her dissertation, awarded from the University of Canterbury, examined alternative perspectives of possum advocacy and considered compassionate conservation as a way forward to alleviate cruelty towards the maligned marsupials.

She is an academic activist and promotes ecofeminist approaches to scholarly research that put compassion and empathy to the fore.

Emily is the author of the Framing Speciesism blog and is working on publishing open-access academic articles that explore these ideas in more detail.