Jonathan Balcombe (born 28 February 1959) is an

ethologist Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and object ...

and author. He is formerly Director of Animal Sentience with the Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy, and Department Chair for Animal Studies with Humane Society University, in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

. He lectures internationally on animal behavior and the human-animal relationship. He also served as Associate Editor of the journal Animal Sentience from 2015 to 2019.

Biography

Balcombe was born in Hornchurch, England. He grew up in New Zealand and Canada before settling in the United States in 1987. Balcombe earned a Bachelor of Science degree in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...

in 1983 from

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and staf ...

in Toronto, then a Master of Science in biology from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...

in Ottawa in 1987. In 1991, he completed a Ph.D in

ethology Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and object ...

(animal behavior) at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

, where he studied mother-pup vocal communication in the

Mexican free-tailed bat The Mexican free-tailed bat or Brazilian free-tailed bat (''Tadarida brasiliensis'') is a medium-sized bat native to the Americas, so named because its tail can be almost half its total length and is not attached to its uropatagium. It has bee ...

. Balcombe has worked for several animal protection organizations, including

The Humane Society of the United States The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scope. It uses strategies that are beyond the abilities of local organizations. ...

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is a non-profit research and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., which promotes a plant-based diet, preventive medicine, and alternatives to animal research, and encourages ...

, and

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; , stylized as PeTA) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. PETA reports that PETA entities have ...

. He also worked as a research coordinator and grant writer for Immersion Medical, a for-profit company that makes virtual reality training simulators for minimally-invasive surgery. In addition to writing books, Jonathan currently does professional editing for aspiring and established authors. He also teaches a course in animal sentience for the Viridis Graduate Institute. Balcombe has been a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

since 1989.

Writing

Balcombe's first book, ''The Use of Animals in Higher Education: Problems, Alternatives, and Recommendations'', was published by Humane Society Press in 2000. His trade book, ''Pleasurable Kingdom: Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good'', was released by Macmillan in 2006. The book details Balcombe's positions on the

sentience Sentience is the capacity to experience feelings and sensations. The word was first coined by philosophers in the 1630s for the concept of an ability to feel, derived from Latin '' sentientem'' (a feeling), to distinguish it from the ability to ...

of animals, and the existence of pleasure seeking behavior, in contrast with the behavioralist mainstream, which rejects

anthropomorphism Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

of animals. Deutschlandradio called the book a "convincing and a fun read." In 2010, Balcombe published ''Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals'', in which he surveys recent scientific discoveries about animal

cognition Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, though ...

emotion Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. There is currently no scientific consensus on a definition. ...

, and

virtue Virtue ( la, virtus) is moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that shows high moral standards: ...

, and aims to "protest against what he sees as an unbroken tradition of human cruelty and indifference." '' The Exultant Ark: A Pictorial Tour of Animal Pleasure'' was released in 2011 by the University of California Press. Using images of contented animals in their natural environment, Balcombe "proves that animals aren’t always engaged in a battle for survival but will frequently do things for nothing more than the feeling of satisfaction." Balcombe disputes the mainstream scientific community's belief that the animal kingdom is an unforgiving struggle for survival. The book briefly broke into the top 100 on Amazon.com following favorable reviews in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

.'' Balcombe's 2016 book, ''What A Fish Knows'', combines science and story-telling to examine the inner lives of the world's most diverse group of vertebrates. ''What A Fish Knows'' has a release date of June 7, 2016, from Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Balcombe has published over 60 scholarly articles and book chapters on various topics, including animal behavior, animal research, animal dissection, medical simulation, and

veganism Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. D ...

. His essay titled "After Meat" appears in the 2016 book "Impact of Meat Consumption on Health and Environmental Sustainability," edited by Dora Marinova and Talia Raphaely.

Advocacy

Balcombe uses a variety of platforms to advocate for a sea-change in the human-animal relationship. In addition to his books and journal papers, he is a regular speaker at conferences, campuses, public schools and other venues. He is interviewed often in the media, and he has written blogs for ''

Psychology Today ''Psychology Today'' is an American media organization with a focus on psychology and human behavior. It began as a bimonthly magazine, which first appeared in 1967. The ''Psychology Today'' website features therapy and health professionals direc ...

'', One Green Planet, Secretary of Innovation, and

. He is a manuscript reviewer for scholarly journals such as ''Animal Behaviour'', the ''Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science'', and the ''

Journal of Consciousness Studies A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

''.

Bibliography

;Books * ''The Use of Animals in Higher Education: Problems, Alternatives, and Recommendations'' (Humane Society Press, 2000) * ''Pleasurable Kingdom: Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good'' (Macmillan, 2006) * ''Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals'' (Macmillan, 2010) * '' The Exultant Ark: A Pictorial Tour of Animal Pleasure'' (University of California Press, 2011) * ''What A Fish Knows: The Inner Lives of Our Underwater Cousins'' (Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016) * ''Super Fly: The Unexpected Lives of the World's Most Successful Insects'' (Penguin Books, 2020)

References

External links