Our researchers
Mal Graham
Welfare assessment | Network effects | Academic field development | EthicsCurrent projects
Developing a protocol for assessment of wild animal welfare in urban infrastructure decision-making
Investigating welfare impacts of bird-window collisions and bird-safe glass
About Mal
Mal Graham is an affiliated scientist of Wild Animal Initiative. Mal works on promoting interest in the field of wild animal welfare science, and on intervention-focused research. In their research, Mal is interested in how welfare changes can permute through animal interaction networks. They are currently studying the effects of urban infrastructure on wild animal welfare.
Mal is the board treasurer at the Arthropoda Foundation.
Previous experience & education
Mal was Executive Director of Wild Animal Initiative from 2019–2022, and Strategy Director from 2022–2026. Prior to this, Mal worked as a receptionist in a veterinary clinic, volunteered at local animal shelters, and completed a reptile husbandry internship at the National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C.
Mal earned their PhD in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech, where their dissertation investigated dynamic gap-crossing movements in jumping and flying snakes. Mal also holds a Bachelor of Physics and Philosophy from the University of Oxford.
Selected publications
*Elliott, V., et al. (2026). The emerging field of wild animal welfare science. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2026.06.003
*Graham M., Fischer B. (2026). Research sense: Incorporating animals’ sensory capacities in animal care and study design. Laboratory Animals. 2026;60(2):220-224. https://doi.org/10.1177/00236772251385784. (First published online December 14, 2025.)
Graham, M., & Socha, J. J. (2020). Going the distance: The biomechanics of gap‐crossing behaviors. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology 333(1), 60–73. https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.2266
*Denotes papers published while working at Wild Animal Initiative.
Media work
Measuring Wild Animal Welfare (Our Hen House podcast, 2021)
The wild frontier of animal welfare (Vox, 2021)
Investigating Wild Animal Welfare (In Tune to Nature podcast, 2020)
These snakes can jump—and scientists want to know why. (National Geographic, 2019)