Marc Cooper

Marc is a senior scientific manager within our farm animals department and has worked for the RSPCA since 2004.  He is a trained animal welfare scientist, holding a PhD in animal behaviour and welfare and a MSc in animal production.  As well as a strong academic background he has extensive practical experience and worked hands-on in the field of general farm animal production and welfare since 1989.  For example, Marc has worked as a lead auditor (auditing pig and poultry farms and abattoirs in the UK and Europe), a veterinary nurse and a stockman.

At the RSPCA, he provides an authoritative scientific and technical information and advice service on farm animal welfare matters, particularly that of meat poultry.  In addition he has lead responsibility for developing, promoting, overseeing and co-ordinating full implementation of the RSPCA's Welfare Outcome Assessment programme.

Marc is also instrumental in further developing the RSPCA welfare standards for chickens, turkeys and ducks that are applied worldwide and within the higher welfare farm assurance scheme, Freedom Food.

He is a representative on various external governmental and non-governmental consultative groups and committees in the UK and overseas, such as the European Animal Welfare Platform (Poultry Cluster) and the UK Poultry Forum.  Marc has represented Eurogroup for Animals at European Government level meetings and has been involved in the implementation of EU Directive 2007/43/EC, which concerns the protection of meat chickens, into UK law.

Marc has wide experience working with the media and regularly comments for both TV and radio. He has been interviewed for Channel 4’s Jamie’s Fowl Dinners, BBC Three’s Kill it, Cook it, Eat it and has appeared on GMTV, Sky News, BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today programme, and 5 Live, amongst others. Marc was also involved with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Channel 4 programme Chicken Run.

He has spoken at workshops and conferences around the world and has had work published in a range of scientific journals.