RCVS Fellowship Board elections 2026

Electable positions are as follows:

Projects and Engagement Officer - responsible for helping to raise the profile of the Fellowship’s work and lead on creative and innovative ways to deliver the board’s long-term strategy. They will also work alongside and collaborate with other members of the board and RCVS staff to support campaigns and activities that demonstrate the impactful work that the learned society carries out.

Chair of the Fellowship Science Advisory Panel - tasked with shaping the future direction of the panel, notably providing expert-led scientific research for the College, the professions and helping to promote robust debate on veterinary medicine across the veterinary professions.

Please see below information on the candidates standing for election for the positions of Projects and Engagement Officer and Chair of the Science Advisory Panel.

We had two candidates put themselves forward for the positions. One for Projects and Engagement Officer, and one for Chair of the Science Advisory Panel.

Projects and Engagement Officer

Dr Emma Milne

Candidate biography: 

I graduated from Bristol University in 1996. After 12 years in practice, I left clinical work to concentrate on my passion for ethics and welfare and also became a clinical nutrition advisor. 

I was a trustee of the Animal Welfare Foundation for the full six-year term and sat as their representative on the BVA Ethics and Welfare group for two years. I’ve written several books on pet animal welfare and pedigree health problems and am lucky to speak globally on subjects such as the welfare impact of extreme conformation. I’m a patron of the Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund (RWAF) and Dogs Trust and have worked with many other animal welfare charities. 
In 2021 I was awarded my Fellowship for meritorious contributions to the profession in the field of animal welfare, and I sit on the Fellowship board as Projects and Engagement officer (for now!). 

I was IFAW Vet of the Year in 2008 and was incredibly honoured to receive the 2023 WSAVA Companion Animal Welfare Award. 

I now live in France with my two daughters and a slightly cross-eyed moggie called Stella. I continue my writing, welfare and nutrition work.

Candidate statement: 

I can’t believe how fast my three-year term as Projects and Engagements officer has passed. We had a few stumbling blocks to overcome at first but now have a great P and E team full of enthusiasm. We have several projects underway such as collaboration with BARTA to provide training for vets who are responding to emergency situations. Going forward we want to find more ways that fellows can get involved with projects about which they feel passionate. 

On that note, I’m currently chairing two groups that I’m very passionate about. One is a project looking at the welfare impact of extreme conformation in cats but looking at the wider issues for their emotional and cognitive health, as well as the physical welfare impact. The other is focusing on students and recent graduates with an aim to showcase their research and work done and provide mentoring and future research opportunities. Fellows of the Future has long been a part of Fellowship Day, but we are now going to make it a stand-alone event to allow a greater number of students to benefit from the opportunities. 

I’ve really enjoyed being involved with the Fellowship board and would dearly love the opportunity to serve one more term. This way I can see my current projects through and make sure that when I hand over next time, the new board member has a great platform from which to start their tenure.

Nominators

• Dr Clare Rusbridge FRCVS
• Sarah Heath FRCVS

Chair of the Science Advisory Panel

Professor Anna Meredith

Candidate biography: 

Anna Meredith is Pro Vice-Chancellor Executive Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Keele University.  She became a Fellow of the RCVS in 2016 for meritorious contributions to clinical practice and current Chair of the Fellowship Science Advisory Panel. 

A Cambridge graduate, she is Professor of Zoological and Conservation Medicine with over 30 years' clinical, teaching and research experience in wild animal health and welfare. Prior to Keele she was at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies (since 1992), and Head of Melbourne Veterinary School 2018-2022.  Anna has authored over 160 scientific publications and veterinary books/book chapters, including a number of BSAVA Manuals.

She has held a variety of governance and board roles, and is a current member of the UK Government's Animal Sentience Committee, Chair and Trustee of Wildlife Vets International, Trustee of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and Director/Trustee of Restoring Upland Nature, which has successfully reintroduced golden eagles to Southern Scotland. She previously chaired the UK Government's Zoos Expert Committee for 10 years and advised Scottish Government as a member of the Scottish Science Advisory Council. 

Anna was awarded an OBE in 2019 for services to animal welfare and the veterinary profession. 

Candidate statement: 

I am honoured to stand for re-election as Chair of the RCVS Fellowship Science Advisory Panel. At the end of my first term I feel I still have much to contribute, and recent FSAP projects have reinforced my belief that the Panel plays an important strategic role in ensuring that veterinary science, scholarship and evidence-based thinking remain at the heart of RCVS work and influence. 

For example, the Panel's work on animal behaviourism brought together a wide range of perspectives and evidence. Through careful review, constructive debate and a commitment to finding common ground, we developed a well-informed position that has helped shape wider considerations around reform of the Veterinary Surgeons Act. For me, this demonstrates the unique value of the Fellowship: providing independent, expert advice on complex and often challenging issues facing the profession. 

As Chair, I have sought to foster an inclusive, collegiate and ambitious culture within the Panel, drawing on the Fellowship's remarkable breadth of knowledge to deliver impactful scientific advice and thought leadership. If re-elected, my ambition is for the Panel to become an even more prominent, influential and forward-looking resource for the College and the wider veterinary professions. We have an opportunity to strengthen the Fellowship's role as a trusted source of scientific insight, horizon scanning and strategic advice, helping to inform policy, professional standards and responses to emerging challenges. 

I am also passionate about the Panel's role in fostering robust, informed and inclusive debate, as demonstrated during recent Fellowship Day sessions. By bringing together expertise from different disciplines and sectors, we can help shape discussion on the issues that will define the future of veterinary medicine.

It would be a privilege to continue this work, enhancing the Fellowship's impact and championing veterinary science for the benefit of animals, people and society.

Nominators
•    Professor Philippa Beard FRCVS
•    Elizabeth Mullineaux FRCVS