Hamish Morrin
Specialist Team
My background is in veterinary and animal work, but my passion is values and ethics. A lot of my earlier life was spent not knowing what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I spent time as a university dropout, driver, postie and security guard before working it out! I moved into working with animals in my mid-thirties, first as a zookeeper and then as a veterinary nurse. At first, I was concerned with skill development and competency, but eventually I started to think a lot about why we did what we did and whether our stated goals and our actions really aligned. This led to something of a convoluted career trail; from zookeeper to zoo and wildlife VN, stints in charity and referral work, before diving headlong into teaching. I’m currently a Veterinary Lecturer in Clinical Communication skills.
Along this path I kept adding new qualifications to help answer all my questions. I completed an MSc in International Animal Welfare, Ethics and Law with Edinburgh University, and a Certificate in Veterinary Human Support from the University of Tennessee. Currently I’m studying for my Professional Doctorate in Education at UCL, which is giving me a chance to research some key issues in how values affect behaviour in students and educators.
I am also passionate about conservation and developed the UK’s first MSc in Conservation Education and Engagement. It was this project that sent me down a rabbit hole of learning about behaviour change, and how it applied to everything I have seen in animal welfare and conservation. I’m now interested in interdisciplinary working and One Health projects, especially how to communicate shared values and minimise conflict.
A Chat with Hamish
Tell us a little bit about you and your journey into behaviour change?
Behaviour change came up in my reading about systems thinking, and it really struck me as the key element I was missing. Looking back at all of the issues I’d seen in workplaces, I realised that people often knew what needed to change, but lacked the tools to make it happen. Behaviour change tied together a lot of my thinking and reading about values – values affect behaviour and vice versa. Being interested in the intersections of animal health, welfare, ethics and conservation helped! It was pretty clear that the challenges in making One Health projects happen were all people problems, and if I didn’t have ways to address those, I wasn’t going to achieve much.
Why does the science of behaviour change matter?
Because all the challenging issues in the world are about human behaviour. In my sphere of animal work, we have issues like breed-specific animal health, overtreatment, overuse of antibiotics, the illegal pet trade, habitat loss. Any solution to any of these issues needs to consider why people do what they do, and how to create lasting change in behaviour.
What is the most inspiring behaviour change intervention you have come across and why?
I recently saw an article about a One Health clinic in Canada that saw both animals and people in areas of need. An owner came in because they were concerned about their cat having a cough, and on learning that the owner’s smoking might have an effect, the owner went to the medical practitioner for advice on giving up smoking. I love the idea that people can be motivated to take actions that benefit both themselves and animals together.
What’s your vision for behaviour change for the next five years?
It needs to be a consideration for every project where human behaviour matters, which might be a bit much for the next five years! In that time, I’d like to see a lot more interdisciplinary collaborations between communities, NGOs, universities and individuals that include behaviour change principles in their planning and implementation. This is especially important for me in animal health and conservation issues, because they require effective co-operative working between a lot of different people with different needs and values.
Top tip for individuals or organisations getting started with behaviour change?
Start small! Little changes to your own lifestyle or the systems of your own organisation can make a big difference, but they are also easier to adjust and monitor. That will give you the confidence to take on larger projects and let you know what challenges you might run into.
I value being part of HBCL because everyone on the team is excited about making change, but at the same time realistic in expectation. We’re not going to change the world overnight, but we can implement projects that make a positive difference.