The Museum's Animal Ethics Committee
About the AEC
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s Animal Ethics Committee (AEC) is an institutional oversight committee charged with ensuring responsible, humane, and ethical treatment and use of animals in research, collecting activities, and management projects. The goal of this committee is to balance the desired outcomes of research and management with animal-welfare concerns. Certain practices that are legal in the state of Ohio are deemed unacceptable by this committee; the Museum aspires to a higher standard of animal welfare in carrying out its mission.
The committee’s purview includes oversight of animal-based research conducted by Museum staff in the Museum’s Research & Collections and Natural Areas Divisions, projects carried out by non-Museum researchers using Museum property or resources, management practices impacting animals in Museum facilities or on Museum-owned or -managed property, and research conducted by Museum staff off Museum property. For projects it approves, the AEC provides animal-welfare assurances that are necessary for the procurement of certain funding and publication of research results. The committee’s protocols and guidelines are in accordance with state and federal laws and comply with the Animal Welfare Act. Approved methods of euthanasia are consistent with recommendations of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Panel on Euthanasia.
Composition
The AEC is composed of seven members: one licensed DVM, four practicing field researchers (one of whom is unaffiliated with the Museum), one layperson, and one non-research professional.
Role & ResponsibilitiesOversight Functions
- Review and approve, prior to the commencement of the project, all proposals for research, collection, and wildlife-management (including approved hunting) projects that involve vertebrate animals and are conducted by Museum staff and/or use Museum facilities or properties.
- Monitor research, collections, and management projects involving vertebrate animals.
- Provide guidance and support on matters relating to animal welfare.
- Conduct ongoing assessment of animal care and use.
- Review animal-welfare concerns and complaints.
- Recommend alternative methods or adjusted sample sizes when necessary.
- Institute new protocols/guidelines in accordance with current scientific knowledge and established best practices.
Committee Authority
The AEC is empowered to suspend any project it finds to be noncompliant with Museum policy or in violation of Animal Welfare Regulations.
- A warning will be issued and a mandatory meeting with the AEC will be convened.
- Staff and non-staff researchers who are noncompliant may have their research suspended and their permit to access the property revoked pending review.
- The AEC is required to take appropriate corrective action and report the action and circumstances surrounding the suspension. Museum staff may be subject to notification of their supervisor.
GuidanceGuidelines for Applicants
- The AEC relies on well-written proposals for an efficient review process.
- Applications are reviewed at a convened meeting of a quorum of the AEC. The committee has the authority to approve, require modifications to secure approval, withhold approval, or defer any proposed activity to a future meeting. Applications must receive a majority vote of the quorum present to be approved.
- Completed proposals will be considered in the order in which they are submitted. If a proposal is incomplete when submitted, it will be returned and considered in the order in which the completed document is received by the committee.
- Proposals must comply with all institutional policies. Proposals for projects using methods that conflict with these policies will be returned to the applicant for modifications to ensure compliance.
- Applicants should not delay in submitting project proposals. Approval can take two to six weeks or longer, depending on the complexity of the application and the number of proposals under review.
- Applicants are required to submit all state and federal permits associated with the project activities outlined in their proposal.
- All non-Museum researchers/managers must obtain access permits from the Museum’s Natural Areas Division to work on Museum properties prior to submission of the project proposal.
- Applicants may be called upon to answer questions posed by the committee in writing. It is ultimately the investigators’ responsibility to ensure that the information provided answers all the AEC’s questions with sufficient detail and quality for a fast and effective review. In all cases, the investigator must justify and explain the proposed animal use to the satisfaction of the AEC before the application may be approved. Applicants may only attend a committee meeting if the committee members deem it necessary for clarification. The committee will decide by a majority vote whether attendance is needed.
- Applicants are prohibited from contacting members of the committee to solicit information regarding the review of their proposal. Any questions regarding the review process must be submitted via email to the Committee Chair (Roberta Muehlheim at rmuehlheim@cmnh.org).
- The committee reserves the right to inspect research/project sites without prior notice to the researcher/project manager.
- Applicants will be informed of a decision and relevant explanations via email as soon as possible.
*Note: All non-Museum researchers/managers must also obtain access permits from the Museum’s Natural Areas Division to work on Museum properties prior to submission of the project proposal.
Principal Investigators/Project Managers
Principal investigators (PI)/project managers will be held, at a minimum, responsible for:
- Acknowledging and accepting responsibility for the humane care and use of animals in their activities.
- Complying with applicable institutional policies and governmental regulations.
- Delaying involvement until written approval without contingencies is received from the AEC.
- Adhering to high ethical standards.
- Identifying and holding accountable all personnel who will be working on the research project.
- Ensuring that all project personnel have received adequate training to perform their duties and act in an ethical manner.
- Ensuring that all personnel engaged in activities that involve animals are aware of the risks and required personal protective equipment necessary to protect both the animals and the staff handling them. The PI must ensure that all students and staff are trained in safety protocols.
- Forwarding to the AEC any proposed modification(s) to a previously approved protocol prior to initiation, and delaying the initiation of any changes prior to receipt of written approval without contingencies from the AEC.
- Notifying the AEC of any changes in funding and submitting to the AEC a copy of the proposal submitted to request funding.
Committee Decisions
All committee decisions are communicated to the PI/project manager as soon as possible after the AEC convened meeting. Communication is in the form of a memo from the Chair and outlines specific approval, information still required, or whether the committee decided to table or reject the proposal. Each proposal will receive one of the following designations:
- Approved – The AEC has reviewed and approved the proposal as submitted. The investigator is notified in writing by the AEC Chair. The AEC Chair must have the signed and dated PI Assurance page before the work may begin.
- Requires Modifications to Secure Approval – The AEC requires modification(s) to the proposal. This decision means the committee has determined that the revised proposal needs non-substantive modifications and final approval can be secured when the AEC Chair finds the modifications have addressed the committee's concerns. The signed and dated PI Assurance page must be on file before the work may begin.
- Tabled/Requires Significant Revisions – The AEC has determined that the proposal is missing substantive information necessary to make a decision or a potential serious animal-welfare concern has been identified. The PI is notified by the Chair in the form of a memo and advised as to his/her options. For a proposal designated Tabled/Requires Significant Revisions, the PI is provided with a written outline of the problems or concerns to use as a guide for resubmission to the AEC.
- Rejected – The AEC has significant concerns and cannot approve the research as proposed. An explanation and recommendations will be provided in writing to the PI.
