Our researchers

About Mal

Mal Graham is Strategy Director at Wild Animal Initiative, where they work on promoting interest in the field of wild animal welfare science, and help the organization decide where to allocate resources to most effectively advance its mission. In their research, they are interested in how welfare changes can permute through animal interaction networks. They are currently completing a postdoc in NYU’s Wild Animal Welfare Program, where they study the effects of urban infrastructure on wild animal welfare within the NYU WILD Lab. 

Outside of Wild Animal Initiative, Mal is the board treasurer at the Arthropoda Foundation. They also represent Wild Animal Initiative at the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicines’ Roundtable on Animal Welfare.

Previous experience & education

Mal served as Executive Director of Wild Animal Initiative for three years before becoming Strategy Director. Prior to joining Wild Animal Initiative, 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.