October 23, 2026 | Newcastle UniversityConference 2026
Call for Abstracts: Workshop on Validating Welfare Indicators in Invertebrates
Aim and Scope
Welfare science depends on indicators—physiological, behavioral, resource, or otherwise—that are expected to relate to the internal state of the animal. In vertebrate welfare science, indicators are often subject to careful validation: their construct validity, convergent validity with other welfare measures, and predictive validity with respect to outcomes of interest are all assessed. Invertebrate welfare science is at a much earlier stage.
Session topics:
Construct validation of physiological, behavioral, or environmental indicators in specific invertebrate species
Convergent validity studies comparing multiple putative indicators of the same welfare state
Predictive validity studies linking candidate indicators to longer-term welfare outcomes
Critical assessments of indicators imported from vertebrate welfare science
Methodological proposals for validation studies adapted to invertebrate biology and husbandry contexts
Financial Support
Lodging and meals during the workshop will be covered for all accepted participants.
The workshop is open to work on any invertebrate taxa, though we anticipate that a lot of the conversation will concern farmed insects (e.g., black soldier fly larvae, yellow mealworms, crickets, honeybees) and decapod crustaceans (especially farmed shrimp), which are the focus of substantial current research and policy interest and may present unique challenges for validation. The workshop is aimed primarily at invertebrate biologists and at animal welfare scientists working on or interested in invertebrate taxa. Researchers from adjacent fields whose work bears on these questions are also welcome.