Remote Affective Ethologist: Chicken Welfare Phenotyping

Animal Pain Research Institute; United States; Remote; USD 50,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Animal Pain Research Institute seeks an Affective Ethologist to phenotype welfare traits in chickens. You will design and validate assays reflecting welfare-relevant states, and integrate precision farming tools to inform selection protocols within commercial breeding programs.

You will work on challenging tests, analyze large datasets, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate welfare concepts into practical outputs for industry partners.

Qualifications

• MSc or PhD in Animal Welfare Science, Ethology, Poultry Science, Behavioral Neuroscience, or a related discipline; peer‑reviewed publications.
• Experience designing or validating behavioral or physiological assays in poultry (chickens preferred).
• Familiarity with neurobiology of nociception and stress (HPA axis) and welfare monitoring in chickens.
• Exposure to precision poultry farming tools (vision, acoustic monitoring, RFID/UWB, sensors) and ML pipelines.
• Experience with statistics and mixed models (R/Python) is a plus.
• Ability to work in interdisciplinary teams and translate welfare ideas into field-ready outputs.
• Strong documentation and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Design and validate behavioral and physiological assays that reflect welfare-relevant traits.
• Create challenge tests or structured protocols for use in real-world breeding settings.
• Evaluate precision livestock farming tools and ML pipelines (video, acoustic, biometric sensors).
• Define SOPs for consistent phenotyping across breeding environments (barns, aviaries, cages).
• Publish high-quality research articles and present findings when projects permit.
• Interview or provide feedback on prospective teammates.

Skills

Poultry behavioral assays

Nociception & stress biology

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Documentation & scientific writing

Statistics & mixed models (R/Python)

Precision poultry farming tools

Education

MSc or PhD in Animal Welfare Science / Ethology / Poultry Science / Behavioral Neuroscience

Tools

Computer vision for tracking/pose/gait

RFID/UWB sensors

Infrared thermography

Accelerometers

Job description

Animal Pain Research Institute seeks an Affective Ethologist to phenotype welfare traits in chickens. You will design and validate assays reflecting welfare-relevant states, and integrate precision farming tools to inform selection protocols within commercial breeding programs.

You will work on challenging tests, analyze large datasets, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate welfare concepts into practical outputs for industry partners.