Prioritizing Neglected Animals explores how to make the biggest difference for animal welfare, both now and in the future. Fellows will learn key principles for prioritizing interventions across species and contexts using evidence-based tools, including scope-sensitive frameworks, sentience-focused moral weights, and methods for quantifying negative welfare by time and intensity. Through real-world case studies, we’ll apply these tools to some of the most neglected groups: fish, shrimp, insects, wild animals, and even speculative future animal markets. By the end, you’ll be equipped with the frameworks and practical skills needed to direct your advocacy or career toward the areas where you can help the greatest number of sentient beings most effectively.

What the fellowship offers

The Prioritizing Neglected Animals (PNA) Fellowship is a 7-week program preparing learners with the tools and principles to prioritize the animals that need it most. As part of the fellowship, learners will join an industry-leading community working at the cutting edge of effective animal welfare for expert-facilitated discussions following our curated curriculum.

Program:

Week 1: Scope Sensitivity and Fish Welfare Week 2: Sentience Weights and Decapod Crustaceans Week 3: Quantifying Time/Intensity of Suffering and Farmed Birds Week 4: Neglectedness/Cause X and Small Invertebrates Week 5: Wild Animals Week 6: Future Animals Week 7: Next Steps

Who is this fellowship for?

This program is rooted in values including: sentience-focused welfarism (as opposed to animal rights, abolitionism, conservation, etc), scope sensitivity, evidence-based action, cost effectiveness, and longtermism. It is for anyone who wants to improve their knowledge/skills at prioritizing animal groups and interventions, increasing their impact with these values in mind.

We invite fellows from a variety of backgrounds, including the animal welfare movement, grantmaking, governance, and others.

If this mission sounds exciting to you, we encourage you to apply!

What does the fellowship require?

This fellowship involves a high level of engagement, including 2-3 hours of at-home reading and activities and a 90-minute, expert-facilitated group discussion each week. It is fully remote.

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Questions? Please reach out to us at fellowships@sentientfutures.ai.

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