Our Team
Sean Butler
Co-Director
Dr Sean Butler is an Emeritus Fellow of St Edmund’s College. Previously, he worked at Shell and Nokia. Sean studied Law at Oxford (St Edmund Hall) and the LSE, as well as Genetics at the University of Cambridge (CPGS) before taking his PhD in social science at Imperial College, London. He specialises in intellectual property strategy in life sciences, and technology-based start-ups. He is also CEO of Cambridge Agritech, a syndicate of investors in agritech startups. He was previously Director of Studies in Law at St Edmund’s, and he teaches Roman Law and Animal Rights Law.
Raffael Fasel
Co-Director
Dr Raffael Fasel is an Assistant Professor in Public Law at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge. He was previously Yates Glazebrook Fellow and Director of Studies in Law at Jesus College, and Fellow in Law at LSE Law School. He obtained his PhD in Law from the University of Cambridge (Sidney Sussex College), with a thesis on the legal theory and intellectual history of human and animal rights, for which he was awarded the Law Faculty’s Yorke Prize. He holds a Bachelor of Law and a Master of Law degree from the University of Fribourg, an MA in Philosophy from University College London, and an LLM from Yale Law School.
Junior Research Associate & Teaching Network Manager
Eva Bernet Kempers
Dr Eva Bernet Kempers is a full time post-doc at the Animal & Law Chair of the University of Antwerp, Belgium. Previously, she was a Visiting Researcher at the Helsinki Animal Law Centre, the Global Animal Law Project at the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg, and the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law. She obtained her PhD in Law from the University of Antwerp on the concept of animal dignity. Eva also takes on the role of Teaching Network Manager, coordinating an international network of law lecturers who teach animal rights law at universities throughout the world.
Carolina Leiva Ilabaca
Junior Research Associate
Dr Carolina Leiva Ilabaca is an Assistant Professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, and Visiting Lecturer at the University of Chile. Previously, she was a Visiting Researcher at the Helsinki Animal Law Centre and the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law, alongside her work as a lawyer and legal counsellor. She holds a PhD in Law from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the University of Chile, where she explored the intersection between Criminal Law and Animal Rights Law in Chile and Spain. She continues to pursue her research in the field from a global perspective as a Junior Research Associate at our Centre.
Marketing and Public Relations Manager
Carly McCann
Carly McCann is a creative marketing coordinator, presenter, performer, and theatre maker with a passion for communications and storytelling. She holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in both Broadcast Journalism and Theatre Performance from the Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Fine Arts in Advanced Theatre Practice from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Carly has produced and coordinated several creative events that have toured the UK. Carly is also the host of Animal Rights Tour, the Centre’s podcast that launched in September 2025.