05-23-06

Animal welfare specialist Temple Grandin will speak at Iowa State June 5

AMES, Iowa -- Renowned animal scientist and animal welfare advocate Temple Grandin will present two lectures at Iowa State University, Monday, June 5. Both are free and open to the public.

At 3 p.m. in Hughes Auditorium, Reiman Gardens, Grandin will present, "Promoting Animal Welfare: You Manage What You Measure," which will focus on the scoring system she designed for assessing the quality of livestock handling procedures at meat plants.

At 7 p.m. in the auditorium (room 0125) of Kildee Hall, Grandin will present "Animals in Translation." This lecture will shed light on the connection between the way animals and autistic people think, and how that may offer autistic people a unique insight into animal behavior.

Grandin is a professor of animal science at Colorado State University, Fort Collins. She is known throughout the world for her efforts to insure proper and humane stockmanship and for designing humane slaughter facilities. At least half of all cattle in North America are handled in facilities she designed. She has conducted extensive research on cattle temperament, environmental enrichment for pigs, and effective stunning methods for cattle and pigs at meat plants. Grandin also developed an objective scoring system to assess the handling of cattle and pigs at meat plants that is being used by many large corporations to improve animal welfare.

Grandin has argued that her experience as a person with autism is an advantage for a scholar interested in animal psychology and animal welfare. Her many published works include the book, "Thinking in Pictures," and "Animals in Translation," which explores the connection between autism and animal behavior.

The lectures are sponsored by the ISU Bioethics Program. Additional information about Temple Grandin is at http://www.grandin.com/temple.html For more information about the lectures, contact the Bioethics Program, (515) 294-3068, or (515) 294-2566.

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