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Louise van der Merwe is deeply honoured to have been awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics in recognition of her contribution to the cause of animal protection.
In announcing the award, Revd Professor Andrew Linzey said:
“This is the highest award that the Centre can bestow and is only given to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the Centre and/or the cause of animal protection. I am delighted to report that, after careful consideration, it is the unanimous decision of the Selection Committee to invite you to become our thirteenth Honorary Fellow.”
Oxford Animal Ethics Centre Honours Pioneer in Humane Education
11th June 2026
The Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics is delighted to announce the appointment of Louise van der Merwe as its thirteenth Honorary Fellow. Honorary Fellowship is the highest award that the Centre can bestow and is given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Centre and/or the protection of animals.
Louise van der Merwe is the founder of The Humane Education Trust, a registered South African Public Benefit Organization working under the umbrella of Nature-Based Education, and specializes in advancing humane education in schools, universities, and veterinary training.
A journalist by profession, she has spent a lifetime devoted to rekindling a sense of care and respect for all life, as part of formal, every-day education in schools around South Africa and beyond.
Nature Based Education’s supports the ethos of the South African Constitutional Court’s historic judgment in 2016, which states that “animals have intrinsic value as individuals,” “are sentient beings capable of suffering and experiencing pain,” and that “animal protection safeguards the moral status of humans and the degeneration of human values.”
Van der Merwe has consistently highlighted the strong link between human and animal wellbeing, and their interconnection supporting One Health and One Welfare. The United Nations has recently clarified the Rights of the Child to include that children are harmed by witnessing violence and should be protected from both human violence and violence towards animals.
Alongside, she has compiled and edited a national magazine titled Animal Voice, which shows the social evolution of animal ethics in Africa over three decades.
The forthcoming Palgrave Companion to Humane Education, edited by Clair Linzey and Andrew Linzey, is dedicated to Louise in recognition of her outstanding work in humane education. The volume is the first international Companion volume to focus on humane education and provides an introduction to the theory and practice of the field of humane education.
Director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, Professor Andrew Linzey commented
“In a world of what seems increasing violence, helping young people to strive for a more humane and less violent world is an ethical imperative. Louise has been trailblazer in this cause and deserves world-wide recognition.”
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
Louise van der Merwe is available for interview, comment and articles.
PDF review copies of the Palgrave Companion to Humane Education are available on request.
A cover image of the book, plus a headshot of Louise van der Merwe, can be downloaded here.
For media enquiries please contact Dorothea at Panpathic Communications – Dorothea@panpathic.com
+ 44 20 8891 2669 / +44 7930 634 047
THE OXFORD CENTRE FOR ANIMAL ETHICS:
The Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics is an independent centre pioneering ethical perspectives on animals through academic research, teaching, and publication.
It hosts the hugely popular Annual Oxford Animal Ethics Summer School.
The Centre comprises more than 100 academic Fellows.
Web: www.oxfordanimalethics.com/home
Instagram: @oxfordanimalethics
Louise van der Merwe was invited to present Humane Education’s pioneering work at
Forest Heights Primary School to an
international audience at the
Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics Summer School, back in 2019.
The inspiring outcomes of this pilot project
are now included in the
Palgrave Companion to Humane Education.
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