Marian Stamp Dawkins

Marian Stamp Dawkins (born Marian Ellina Stamp; 13 February 1945) is a British biologist and professor of ethology at the University of Oxford. Her research interests include vision in birds, animal signalling, behavioural synchrony, animal consciousness and animal welfare. Education Dawkins was educated at Queen's College, London and Somerville College, Oxford, where she earned bachelor's and PhD (1970) degrees. Her doctoral research was supervised by Niko Tinbergen. Career and research Dawkins was appointed a lecturer in zoology in 1977 and in 1998 was made professor of animal behaviour. She is currently (2014) Head of the Animal Behaviour Research Group and is the Director of the John Krebs Field Laboratory. Dawkins has written extensively on animal behaviour and issues of animal welfare. Along with other academics in the field, such as Ian Duncan, Dawkins promoted the argument that animal welfare is about the feelings of animals. This approach indicates the belief that animals should be considered as sentient beings. Dawkins wrote, "Let us not mince words: Animal welfare involves the subjective feelings of animals.