A New Breed of Funding

Read more about how Dr. Martin Nielsen helped launch the first crowdfunding project for equine research.
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Dr. Martin Nielsen
Dr. Martin Nielsen helped launch the first crowdfunding project for equine research. | Photo: Steve Patton, Courtesy Dr. Martin Nielsen

Until about a year ago, I had heard the terms “crowdfunding” and “crowdsourcing” several times without fully understanding what they meant. When my wife made a small donation toward a musician’s efforts to raise enough money to release her first album, I started to get an idea of what this was all about. The musician had posted a project description on a crowdfunding website called Kickstarter and invited people to make donations online. Word then spread through social media. The campaign was successful, and the musician reached her goal.

Soon thereafter, I was listening to NPR while driving to work one morning. The station was broadcasting a feature about scientists using crowdfunding to raise funding for their research. The concept was the same as for the musician, but instead of an album the final product would be a funded research project. The key to success was still effective communication by means of social media. I immediately thought this would be worth trying.

Through the years I have been studying equine parasitology, I have always enjoyed how horse owners appreciate science. The Horse’s magazine, website, and newsletters serve as an excellent illustration of this; people genuinely like science and they want updated information. I figured this would provide a good foundation for a crowdfunding project. Furthermore, I felt my research topic, parasitology, would be a common denominator across various horse breeds, uses, and geographic locations. No matter what, horses will always have worms, and owners will always have opinions about and experiences with controlling them

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Martin Krarup Nielsen, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVM, is an associate professor of parasitology and the Schlaikjer professor in equine infectious disease at the University of Kentucky’s Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center, in Lexington. His research focus includes parasite diagnostic measures and drug resistance. Known as a foremost expert in the field of equine parasites, Nielsen chaired the American Association of Equine Practitioners’ (AAEP) parasite control task force, which produced the “AAEP Parasite Control Guidelines.”

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