Dr. Temple Grandin is a designer of livestock handling facilities and a Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. Facilities she has designed are located in the United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries. In North America, almost half of the cattle are handled in a centre track restrainer system that she designed for meat plants. Curved chute and race systems she has designed for cattle are used worldwide and her writings on the flight zone and other principles of grazing animal behaviour have helped many people to reduce stress on their animals during handling.

She has also developed an objective scoring system for assessing handling of cattle and pigs at meat plants. This scoring system is being used by many large corporations to improve animal welfare. Other areas of research are: cattle temperament, environmental enrichment for pigs, reducing dark cutters and bruises, bull fertility, training procedures, horse perception of novel objects, and effective stunning methods for cattle and pigs at meat plants.

She obtained her B.A. at Franklin Pierce College and her M.S. in Animal Science at Arizona State University. Dr. Grandin received her Ph.D in Animal Science from the University of Illinois in 1989. Today she teaches courses on livestock behaviour and facility design at Colorado State University and consults with the livestock industry on facility design, livestock handling, and animal welfare.

Dr Grandin is also a prominent author and speaker on autism. Grandin is one of the first autistic people to document the insights she gained from her personal experiences with autism. In 2010, Time 100, an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, named her in the "Heroes" category. She was the subject of the Emmy and Golden Globe winning biographical film Temple Grandin. Grandin has been an outspoken proponent of autism rights and neurodiversity movements.

17:30 – 18:00 | Drinks reception

18:00 – 18:10 | Welcome (Professor Nigel Scollan)

18:10 – 18:20 | Introduction by Chair (Dr Gareth Arnott)

18:25 – 19:10 | Lecture – Insights into Animal Behaviour and Autism (Dr Temple Grandin)

19:10 – 19:25 | Audience questions

19:25 – 19:30 | Close (Professor Karen McCloskey)