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CARE Welcomes Three New Team Members
The Center for Animal Rights and the Environment (CARE) welcomes three new team members: John Hader, Katherine Hermans and Finn Nina Hasler!
John Hader joins CARE as a researcher in the “Transformative Meat Governance” project. With a background in environmental science and a focus on environmental pollution and food system sustainability, he brings valuable interdisciplinary expertise to our team. Having previously worked for an environmental consulting firm in the United States, he completed his PhD at Stockholm University and a postdoc at Empa in Switzerland. At CARE, John will explore the relationship between our current food system built around animal agriculture, the legal frameworks that support it, and how this can be transformed towards a system that better supports One Health Goals.
Katherine Hermans joins CARE as its Coordinator. She brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in sustainability. As the founder and former director of Global Changemakers, she led an international NGO dedicated to youth-led sustainable development. She later built and co-directed the Open Science department at the University of Zurich and has provided strategic advice to governments and international organizations while serving on the boards of several sustainability-focused organizations. Katherine holds an MA from Leiden University and an MSt in Sustainability Leadership from the University of Cambridge.
Finn Nina Hasler joins CARE as our new Research Assistant. Finn studied law at the University of Lucerne, where she will also pursue her PhD. During her studies, she did an internship at the Stiftung für das Tier im Recht (TIR).
CARE officially launched with inaugural conference
On 15 January 2026, the Center for Animal Rights & the Environment (CARE) was officially launched with its inaugural conference “Animal Rights: Between Idealism and Realism” at the Casinotheater Winterthur.
The conference brought together approximately 100 international scholars and practitioners, including highly renowned speakers such as Prof. Cass Sunstein (Harvard Law School), Prof. Julia Hänni (Swiss Federal Supreme Court), Prof. Anne Peters (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law), and Prof. Saskia Stucki, Founder and Director of CARE.
Defund Meat Symposium on Verfassungsblog
Drawing on the Defund Meat Conference held in Heidelberg in January 2025, the symposium features selected conference papers and additional contributions of experts in the field.
The series opens with an introductory piece by CARE Director Dr. Saskia Stucki, explaining the idea of defunding meat.
Read Saskia Stucki’s introductory piece: https://verfassungsblog.de/defund-meat-intro/
Explore the full symposium: Defund Meat Archives - Verfassungsblog
Learn more about the project: Defund Meat | ZHAW Institut für Regulierung und Wettbewerb IRW