top of page
This
Just In
News, Updates, Reflections, & Stories from the justify community
Whether you have spent years working in a laboratory, completed a class involving animal use or dissection, served on an IACUC, attended veterinary or pharmacy school, conducted research as a student, or worked with lab animals in a professional, educational, or oversight role, your insights can help break the silence surrounding animal research and contribute to a more ethical, compassionate future for humans, animals, and science.
If you are interested in contributing with credit or under a pseudonym to This Just In, please email info@justifyglobal.org.
I cared about animals yet experimented on them.
During my PhD in neuroscience, I worked with mice. I injected viruses into their brains to trace neural circuits, and then killed them so we could visualize the tissue under a microscope. Over time, this work slowly tore me apart, as I cared about animals yet was the one inflicting harm. I want to share my experience because I know it is not unique. Many researchers carry this kind of distress in silence, and I carried it for years before I understood what it was. My fascin
![Writer: Noah [Guest Blog]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5c7114_b0d6b6af9b714e13ade91e54c8bc8bf0%7Emv2.png/v1/fill/w_64,h_64,al_c,q_85,enc_avif,quality_auto/5c7114_b0d6b6af9b714e13ade91e54c8bc8bf0%7Emv2.png)
Noah [Guest Blog]
May 194 min read
Left With PTSD: The Cost of Caring for Lab Animals
I have always loved animals; my interest was piqued by the age of two and I never considered any other career field. By my mid-twenties I had graduated with a degree in Animal Science and had worked with a variety of domestic, wild, and exotic animal species. Keeping a job in the animal field is difficult, the pay is low, hours are horrible, there are toxic workplace environments, and the job prospects are very competitive. I had jumped around doing different jobs/internships
Morgan [Guest Blog]
Apr 248 min read
A Trauma Therapist’s Journey to Animal Research Through Moral Injury
I've never actually stepped inside an animal lab. It may be surprising, then, that I've found such a deep passion for this community and for both the human and non-human animals connected to it. But I think the way I arrived here says something important about how these things work, about how we are all connected, and about how what happens in one place, in one life, has a way of traveling further than we expect. I came to this work through war. I enlisted in the military at
Jamie McNally, PhD, LPC, VSW/VMHP
Apr 137 min read
Leaving the Lab to Find Myself
What do you want to be when you grow up? That’s a question I have never known the answer to. To give an accurate answer, I need to understand the question. When we are asked this as kids, we are expected to state the job of our dreams. We learn that what we are when we grow up is what we do for work. So , when I grew up and I still didn’t know what I wanted to do for work, I felt like I lacked an identity. Entering the workforce after university was daunting, especially when
Emily [Guest Blog]
Mar 24 min read
Reflecting on a decade in academic neuroscience
At dinner over the holidays, my mother-in-law asked me what happened to “the rats”, as she affectionately called the subjects of my postdoc research, which had ended in March. This was a light-hearted question, and “they went to the gas chamber” was not a light-hearted answer, but it was the truth. I didn’t say more than that, but these rats were lucky compared to others. The topic quickly changed. For an academic career of 11 years, I toughed out what I have recently learn
![Writer: Matthew Bryson, PhD [Guest Blog]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5c7114_7ae58908db2b43b5aad1291896f778ff~mv2.png)
Matthew Bryson, PhD [Guest Blog]
Jan 217 min read
Honoring Jane Goodall
Before she became one of the most influential advocates for animals and the preservation of the natural world, many people might not know that Jane Goodall had previously spent time in research labs. What she saw changed the course of her life. That early experience revealed the reality of what animals in labs endure and ignited an unshakable conviction to create change. Her decision to speak out transformed primatology and the global conversation around ethics in science. J
Lindsay Oliver, Justify President & CEO
Oct 24, 20251 min read
When “Compassion Fatigue” is Weaponized in Animal Labs
In the animal research industry, the phrase compassion fatigue is starting to get thrown around a lot. On the surface, it sounds supportive and acknowledging of the emotional toll of working inside labs. But in reality, the term has become a tool to deflect responsibility away from the system itself and onto the workers who are inside it. Here’s what actually happens. Staff in laboratories are placed in morally and ethically devastating environments. Some witness suffering
Lindsay Oliver, Justify President & CEO
Oct 16, 20252 min read
The Science I Was Trained to Defend—and Why I Don’t Anymore
During my first year in the neuroscience Ph.D. Program, I sat down with my major professor to decide what kind of experiments I would...
![Writer: Emily R. Trunnell, PhD [Guest Blog]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5c7114_d46b003262ef47e78c304506b3350ac4~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_252,h_252,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/5c7114_d46b003262ef47e78c304506b3350ac4~mv2.jpg)
Emily R. Trunnell, PhD [Guest Blog]
Oct 10, 20255 min read
Why I Can No Longer "Justify" Animal Research
Animals have been used as stand-ins for humans when conducting biomedical research since classical antiquity when this approach was...
![Writer: Richard J. Miller, PhD [Guest Blog]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5c7114_73e7f46904fd41a2a6904469f98a3a45%7Emv2.png/v1/fill/w_64,h_64,al_c,q_85,enc_avif,quality_auto/5c7114_73e7f46904fd41a2a6904469f98a3a45%7Emv2.png)
Richard J. Miller, PhD [Guest Blog]
Oct 1, 20254 min read
Leaping Rhino: The Rabbit Who Opened the Door to Change
One of my core memories from working in the lab is about a rabbit named Rhino. Although that was not her “real” name, as she was given a...
Mallory Cormier, Justify Board Secretary & Treasurer
Sep 25, 20255 min read
Another Hidden Side of Animal Research No One Talks About
When working undercover in animal labs, I knew it would be hard. But it was worse than I could have ever imagined. What animals endure is...
Lindsay Oliver, Justify President & CEO
Aug 22, 20252 min read
When Science Made Me Sick: Why I Left the Lab for Good
My initial exposure to animal experimentation came during my high school and undergraduate years, where I participated in dissections...
![Writer: Dr. Diqui LaPenta, PhD [Guest Blog]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b924f_9deae96028f44b40b6059254f8228561%7Emv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_64,h_64,al_c,q_80,enc_avif,quality_auto/7b924f_9deae96028f44b40b6059254f8228561%7Emv2.jpg)
Dr. Diqui LaPenta, PhD [Guest Blog]
Aug 22, 20252 min read
The Case for Justify
What does it reveal about an industry that prides itself on rigorous oversight, ethical review processes, and mental health resources when its own workers feel compelled to voice concerns only under total anonymity?
Madeline Krasno, Justify Executive Director
Aug 22, 20255 min read
bottom of page