Temple Grandin's Graduate Pipeline Shapes Animal Welfare Field
Temple Grandin sits down regularly with her graduate students over dinner to discuss their research, a hands-on mentoring approach that has defined her decades-long career shaping the future of food-animal welfare. These informal "family dinners" are where Grandin, a University Distinguished Professor of animal science at Colorado State University, mentors the next generation of leaders who will carry her humane livestock-handling practices into industry and academia.
This is how her globally influential ideas about humane livestock handling will outlive her own career.
Since joining CSU in 1990, Grandin has pioneered the field of food-animal welfare. She has taught thousands of students in her livestock-handling class and advised more than two dozen master's and doctoral students, according to CSU Source.
Four of her current graduate students describe this approach in a new Barnfly Productions video. "I think Temple's biggest impact has been on education and trying to incorporate experiential learning for everyone," Erika Franson, a doctoral student, says in the video. "She wants to give everyone the opportunity to try everything and see what they like and what they don't like and let that shape their direction."
Her CV shows deep ties to major meatpackers, feedyards, universities, and animal-welfare organizations—sectors where her trained students commonly pursue careers.
"Investing in students is really important. They are the future," Grandin says. "I want to see students go out and get a good career and be successful in a job that they really like."
Beyond her graduate advising, CSU honors Grandin's legacy through the Temple Grandin Equine Center, which conducts research and provides equine-assisted services such as therapeutic riding for children and adults with physical, mental and emotional challenges. The university also produced a documentary about her life and legacy called "An Open Door."
The documentary is now available on Amazon Prime.