Animal Learning Theory Expert Visiting as Animal Science King Scholar

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Andrew McLean, developer and manager of the Australian Equine Behaviour Centre, created The HELP Foundation - Human Elephant Learning Programs.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Equine behavior expert Andrew McLean has been named the King Visiting Scholar for 2016 in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences’ Department of Animal Science and will visit with University of Arkansas students and others on April 28.

McLean is developer and manager of the Australian Equine Behaviour Centre, an internationally recognized horse training and behavior modification center. He has won the Eureka Prize, the highest Australian science award; lectured at the University of Tasmania for 11 years on subjects ranging from animal behavior to genetics to Tasmanian fauna; and show-jumped at the Grand Prix level, held a racehorse owner-trainer’s license and raced bareback in Australia and New Zealand.

McLean is visiting with U of A students throughout the day on Thursday, April 28, including an 11 a.m. lecture for students, faculty and staff in Hembree Auditorium in the Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences Building. His hour-long presentation will focus on an introduction to learning theory and how it can improve our interactions with animals.

A free public lecture is scheduled at 6 p.m. in the Pauline Whitaker Animal Science Center. McLean’s two-hour presentation will be on how understanding learning theory and biomechanics optimizes training and improves horse welfare.   

McLean is a noted authority on animal behavior and learning theory, with a specific focus on horses, but he has worked with many animal species. He founded The HELP Foundation, a non-profit focused on the welfare and training of working elephants in Asia.

He began training elephants in Nepal in 2007, which led to the creation of HELP, Human Elephant Learning Programs. The program includes the development and implementation of innovative training techniques based on learning theory and the elimination of punishment.

McLean will incorporate his work with elephants into both presentations.

The King Visiting Scholar program is supported by the Carl B. and Florence E. King Foundation. It was created to contribute academically to the Bumpers College by giving students and others access to national and/or international authorities in their field. The Kings had a long-standing and dedicated interest in improving Arkansas’ beef production industry.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.