ULAM Introduces New Behavioral Welfare Group

The newly-formed Behavioral Welfare Group, part of the Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine (ULAM), consists of a team of laboratory animal professionals who meet monthly to discuss our animals’ welfare and behavioral health needs.

Specific areas of focus include animal enrichment, social housing, and acclimation to procedures. This group replaces the previous Animal Enrichment Committee and expands upon its directives to encompass a wider range of animal welfare issues.

Led by ULAM Faculty Veterinarian Dr. Tara Martin, ULAM Social Housing Coordinator Sarah Thurston, and ULAM Animal Enrichment Coordinator Jenny Jones, the group also includes representatives from ULAM’s veterinary technician, husbandry supervisory, husbandry management, Breeding Colony, and Training Core teams.

Open discussions are held once a month and all members of the U-M animal care and use community are invited to attend.

Meetings alternate between NCRC and the medical campus to allow for the maximum amount of participation and input from staff. We encourage anyone from the U-M research and animal care communities to come to a future meeting if they would like to learn more.

For future meeting dates and times, or if you have any questions/comments about animal social housing, enrichment, and/or behavior, please email the Behavioral Welfare Group at ulam-welfare@umich.edu.

We hope to see you at the next meeting!