Hi Bruce, thank you for your questions. I’m leading this project and made the decision to recruit volunteers, so thought I’d be best positioned to respond. (And Ben’s busy protesting for shrimp welfare today anyway!)
Did the team consider a paid/minimum wage position instead of an unpaid one? How did it decide on the unpaid positions?
Yes, we would prefer to offer additional paid positions. However, given the budget for this project, we were not able to offer such positions.
We regularly receive unsolicited inquiries from people interested in volunteering for our research. There is not always a good fit, but since this project is highly modular allowing people to meaningfully contribute with just a few hours of time, we decided to provide a formal volunteer opportunity.
Is the theory of change for impact here mainly an “upskill students/early career researchers” thing, or for the benefits to RP’s research outputs?
The primary theory of change is to improve the evidence-base for interventions to reduce animal product usage, thus allowing more and better interventions to be implemented and reducing the numbers of animals harmed by factory farming. RP’s research outputs are a mediator in this theory of change. The volunteer opportunity itself also represents an opportunity to upskill, but ultimately the goal for all involved is to benefit non-human animals.
What is RP’s current policy on volunteers?
RP occasionally considers and engages with volunteers for some projects, especially where relatively small time-limited contributions are possible.
Does RP expect to continue recruiting volunteers for research projects in the future?
In practice, this will depend on the project and whether there are other opportunities that would be an appropriate fit.
Hey Ben! A few quick Qs:
Did the team consider a paid/minimum wage position instead of an unpaid one? How did it decide on the unpaid positions?
Is the theory of change for impact here mainly an “upskill students/early career researchers” thing, or for the benefits to RP’s research outputs?
What is RP’s current policy on volunteers?
Does RP expect to continue recruiting volunteers for research projects in the future?
Hi Bruce, thank you for your questions. I’m leading this project and made the decision to recruit volunteers, so thought I’d be best positioned to respond. (And Ben’s busy protesting for shrimp welfare today anyway!)
Yes, we would prefer to offer additional paid positions. However, given the budget for this project, we were not able to offer such positions. We regularly receive unsolicited inquiries from people interested in volunteering for our research. There is not always a good fit, but since this project is highly modular allowing people to meaningfully contribute with just a few hours of time, we decided to provide a formal volunteer opportunity.
The primary theory of change is to improve the evidence-base for interventions to reduce animal product usage, thus allowing more and better interventions to be implemented and reducing the numbers of animals harmed by factory farming. RP’s research outputs are a mediator in this theory of change. The volunteer opportunity itself also represents an opportunity to upskill, but ultimately the goal for all involved is to benefit non-human animals.
RP occasionally considers and engages with volunteers for some projects, especially where relatively small time-limited contributions are possible.
In practice, this will depend on the project and whether there are other opportunities that would be an appropriate fit.