Christopher Michael Wathes (May 1952 – 6 May 2016) was a British

research scientist A scientist is a person who researches to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophical study of nature ...

who specialised in agricultural and veterinary science. Poynting Physics building 2

Wathes was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

in 1951 and graduated from the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

with a BSc degree in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

in 1974. He graduated from the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

in 1978 with a PhD in environmental physics. From 2005 to 2013 Wathes was chairman of the

Farm Animal Welfare Council The Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) is an independent advisory body established by the Government of the United Kingdom as the Farm Animal Welfare Committee in 2011, it's name was changed to Animal Welfare Committee in 2019. It replaced the Farm A ...

, which advised the

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for environmental quality, environmenta ...

(Defra) on the welfare of farmed animals. Wathes has been Professor of Animal Welfare and director of the Centre for Animal Welfare at the

Royal Veterinary College The Royal Veterinary College (informally the RVC) is a veterinary school located in London and a member institution of the federal University of London. The RVC was founded in 1791 and joined the University of London in 1949. It is the oldest an ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

since 2005. Previously he was Director of Science at the

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, is a non-departmental public body (NDPB), and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience. It predominantly funds science, scient ...

’s Silsoe Research Institute. In 2005 he was a member of Defra's Review of Avian Quarantine at the time of the outbreak of avian influenza. Wathes was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

2013 Birthday Honours The 2013 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of t ...

for services to animal welfare. He was awarded the Research Medal of the

Royal Agricultural Society of England The Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) promotes the scientific development of English agriculture. It was established in 1838 with the motto "Practice with Science" and was known as the English Agricultural Society until it received i ...

for research on environmental management for livestock in 2002. The medal recognises research work of outstanding merit, carried out in the United Kingdom of benefit to agriculture. He was an Elected Fellow of the Institution of Agricultural Engineers. In 2001 Wathes was guest professor at Huazhong Agricultural University in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. He was posthumously awarded the

Universities Federation for Animal Welfare The Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) is an animal welfare science society. It is a UK-registered scientific and educational charity. UFAW works to improve animals' lives by promoting and supporting developments in the science ...

(UFAW) Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science in 2016. He was married to Claire Wathes, also a veterinary researcher.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wathes, Christopher Michael 1952 births 2016 deaths Alumni of the University of Birmingham Alumni of the University of Nottingham Academics of the University of Bristol British animal welfare workers British scientists Officers of the Order of the British Empire People associated with the Royal Veterinary College Scientists from Birmingham, West Midlands