EA Organization Updates: October 2023

By Lizka, JP Addison🔸 @ 2023-10-17T12:52 (+25)

We’re featuring some opportunities and job listings at the top of this post. Some have (very) pressing deadlines. 

• You can see previous updates on the "EA Organization Updates (monthly series)" topic page, or in our repository of past newsletters. Notice that there’s also an “org update” tag, where you can find more news and updates that are not part of this consolidated series. 
• These monthly posts originated as the "Updates" section of the EA Newsletter. Organizations submit their own updates, which we edit for clarity. 
• (If you think your organization should be getting emails about adding their updates to this series, please apply here.)

Opportunities and jobs

Opportunities

Applications are open for a number of conferences

• Applications are now open for EAGxVirtual 2023, which will take place on November 17–19, 2023. You can apply here. Applicants are not expected to have prior EA engagement; anyone interested in learning more about EA and connecting with the global community is welcome to apply. The event is free and the deadline for applications is 11:59 pm UTC on Thursday, 16 November.
• Join Rethink Priorities' researcher Sagar Shah’s presentation on fish welfare corporate campaigns at the Aquatic Life Institute Conference on Tuesday, October 17 from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm EST. The event is virtual and free to attend. 

Fellowships and incubation programs

• The 2024 Tarbell Fellowship provides aspiring journalists with a stipend of up to $50,000, a placement at a major outlet, and training in AI fundamentals. The Tarbell Fellowship launched in 2023, selecting 7 fellows from a competitive pool of over 950 applications. 3 fellows are currently at TIME, and another is freelancing with the New Yorker. Apply by 5 November.

Job listings

Anthropic

• Research Scientist, Frontier Red Team (Hybrid in SF/London, $250k - $450k)
• Research Scientist, Interpretability (Hybrid in SF/London, $280k - $520k)

Centre for Effective Altruism

• University Group Coordinator (Oxford/Berkely, £48.8K to £65.4K, apply by 8 November) 

EA Funds (Long-Term Future Fund)

• Fund Chair for the Long-Term Future Fund (Berkeley/remote, ~$120k - ~$240k)

Giving Green

• Research Associate (Remote, $50K-$80K, apply by 22 October)
• Associate Director of Research (Remote, $90K-120K for AD, apply by 22 October)

The Good Food Institute

• Lead Writer-Editor (Remote, $77,700-$81,492, apply by 23 October)
• Scientific Partnerships Manager (Remote, $89.1K - $92.3K, apply by 1 November)

Our World in Data

• Communications & Outreach Manager (Hybrid-Oxford, UK, £45K – £65K, apply by 5 November)

Organization Updates

80,000 Hours

80,000 Hours updated their career review on founding new projects tackling top problems. 

On The 80,000 Hours Podcast:

• Rob interviewed Anders Sandberg on war in space, whether civilizations age, and the best things possible in our universe.
• Luisa interviewed Kevin Esvelt on cults that want to kill everyone, stealth vs wildfire pandemics, and how he felt about inventing gene drives.

They also released several blog posts covering:

• The major ways in which their newly re-launched career guide has been updated
• New advice on three paths for building career capital 
• Mistakes 80K staff have made in their careers — and what they learned 

Anima International

• As a result of Anima International’s investigation into a carp farm, a Polish court issued a judgement of conviction against a farmer for killing fish without stunning. This is one of very few judgements issued in cases relating to fish.
• The CNOUS (body which is responsible for all university canteens in France) has announced that resp. 30% and 50% of all meals served in its canteens will be meat free in 2025 and 2030. Uni canteens serve approximately 35 millions meals a year.

Cellular Agriculture Society

• Published Modern Meat, the first textbook on cultivated meat, open-access through Oxford ORA.

Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER)

A report on governing the drivers of global and existential catastrophes was published by the UNDRR, International Science Council, CSER & Simon Institute for Longterm Governance.  The report explores how to manage known hazards that could trigger cascades leading to catastrophe. Read more.

In a new paper, Haydn Belfield and Shin-Shin Hua consider whether competition law enforcement is future-proof by examining the effective enforceability of EU competition law and the Digital Markets Act under different AI development scenarios. Read more.

Faunalytics

Faunalytics published an in-depth economic examination of the chicken, egg, and fish industries in the USA, China, and Brazil. The analysis covers the historical consolidation of these organizations, risks for these companies, and what factors determine the price of animal products. The report is helpful to advocates and journalists looking to understand the basics of how the animal agriculture industry profits from animal suffering, as well as strategies for decreasing the power of this industry.

Fauna Connections 2023 got over 550 advocates attending, and all sessions are now on the Faunalytics YouTube channel. Additionally, the nine research posters are on the Fauna Connections web page. 

The organization has also updated their Research Library with articles on topics including the carbon footprint of different diets, how many fishes are slaughtered annually, and the health risks of animal commerce. 

Fish Welfare Initiative

Fish Welfare Initiative (FWI) is continuing on with its main programming to reduce farmed fish suffering in India:

• They are continuing to grow their Alliance for Responsible Aquaculture, which is a collective of farmers that have committed and are implementing improved water quality and stocking density practices. 103 farmers are now enrolled in this program.
• They are near the end of a 3-month study on “focus farms”, which are farms with a greater frequency of welfare issues than normal. The idea here is that if they can identify how best to improve welfare in the places where the issues are more concentrated, they will be able to have a greater impact per dollar.

For more information on the type of welfare improvements FWI is making, see their latest newsletter.

GiveWell

Open Philanthropy plans to give $300 million total to GiveWell to spend over the next three years. Annualized, this is similar to what Open Philanthropy gave in 2020 and roughly in line with what GiveWell projected earlier this year, though less than Open Philanthropy gave in 2021 and 2022. GiveWell expects this grant to fund programs that will save tens of thousands of lives. It is also funding-constrained and believes it won't be able to fully fund all high-impact giving opportunities – though strong growth in donations could help close that gap.

Recently, GiveWell’s CEO, Elie Hassenfeld was featured on the EconTalk podcast. In this episode, Elie discussed GiveWell’s history and how they strive to get the most charitable “bang for your buck”. The conversation covered how and why GiveWell was founded, their methods for determining top charities and other high-impact grant opportunities, and the dangers of an over-reliance on data.

GiveWell recently made a $6.2 million grant to PATH to conduct a two-year implementation pilot of perennial malaria chemoprevention (PMC) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It is believed that this pilot, by demonstrating the possibility for successful implementation in DRC, has the potential to accelerate PMC support from other donors, which could lead to roughly 900,000 infants receiving PMC over the next decade. 

GiveWell also recently made a one-year, $451,212 grant to One Acre Fund to scope potential in-line chlorination opportunities in Rwanda. The goal of this grant is to explore if ILC in Rwanda could be cost-effective at scale. 

Giving What We Can

• GWWC launched their new community strategy, which involves:
  • Launching GWWC local groups in at least: London, NYC, Sydney, Berlin, Vancouver, and Melbourne (with more to come)!
  • A new online community space for their community (at all levels of engagement) to connect
  • A directory of other (non-GWWC) effective giving groups, to better connect the effective giving community more broadly
• As part of the new community strategy, One for the World has kindly offered their time, expertise, and support to help support GWWC’s new local group leaders.
• A talk by Grace Adams, the Head of Marketing for Giving What We Can, “The future of effective altruism relies on effective giving” is now on YouTube.

Happier Lives Institute

Peter Brietbart has become the new Managing Director at the Happier Lives Institute (HLI), joining Michael Plant, the transitioning Research Director. As Co-Directors, they consolidate their collective expertise and knowledge. Peter has relinquished his position as the Chair of HLI's board to assume his new role, with Caspar Kaiser succeeding him as the new Chair of the Board.

HLI is dedicated to maintaining rigor and transparency in their work, but acknowledges that they are not always successful – occasionally, they make mistakes. They have been considering ways to improve their performance and have shared their reflections in a post on the EA forum and on their website. They are appreciative of the insightful feedback from the EA community, which has prompted positive changes.

HLI is proud to have contributed to the OECD WISE's recent report, "Subjective well-being measurement: Current practice and new frontiers" before its release. The OECD has graciously cited the work of Michael Plant (Founder and Research Director), Caspar Kaiser (Chair of the Board), and Samuel Dupret (Research Analyst).

The Humane League

The Humane League (THL) and its Open Wing Alliance (OWA) are celebrating a milestone victory, a global commitment from Jollibee Foods Corporation—one of Asia’s largest and fastest-growing restaurant companies—to stop caging hens in extreme confinement. Nearly 68% of the world’s eggs are produced in Asia, and it’s estimated that this commitment will positively impact two million individual birds worldwide every year. This months-long, international campaign was the OWA’s first campaign in the Philippines, and its success sets a new standard in animal welfare.

Legal Priorities Project

Matthijs Maas and José Jaime Villalobos published a report titled “International AI institutions: A literature review of models, examples, and proposals”.

Christoph Winter and Mackenzie Arnold contributed to a paper on “Open-sourcing highly capable foundation models” alongside researchers from the Centre for the Governance of AI and others.

New Incentives

In September, New Incentives enrolled its two millionth infant. Though it took six years to reach its first million, with the program rapidly expanding across northern Nigeria, it only took nine months to reach the second million! 

New Incentives released its first video of their program. In this short video, Magaji, a Routine Immunization Provider, talks about working at Kwalam Model Primary Health Care and the value of the program’s presence in Jigawa State. Rashida, whose baby is enrolled in the program, also shares her experience. You can check out the blog post and video here. 

One for the World 

One for the World has allocated a portion of its staff time to provide support to the new Giving What We Can Groups for the upcoming 12 months. Under the leadership of their Director of Chapter Organizing, Emma Cameron, they will also extend their community-building tools and resources. Read their blog post here.

The recap video of the Chapter Leaders Meeting 2023 is now live on their Vimeo. The video offers excellent insight from their staff, board members, and volunteers about how One for the World is cultivating community and driving change. 

Rethink Priorities (RP)

• Recently, 80,000 Hours added the RP Existential Security Team’s list of concrete project ideas to reduce existential risk into their collection of resources for people looking to launch new projects. (See a presentation by Marie Davidsen Buhl to learn more about how the team created this list.)
• Willem Sleegers presented his work measuring public perceptions of wild animal welfare issues at the Animal Advocacy Conference and at Fauna Connections (see recording). Willem’s research revealed that many respondents do seem to care about wild animals and there is even some support for interventions.