SEPT 27 & 28 2023

Anaheim Convention Center

SEPT 27 & 28 2023

Anaheim Convention Center

Donna Kean: Speaking at the Natural Disaster Expo California

Donna Kean

Behavioral Research Scientist  -  APOPO

RescueRATs! Trained giant pouched rats to complement S&R efforts.

APOPO is a non-profit with a solid track record of training rats to solve humanitarian challenges. Our rats are actively clearing minefields & detecting tuberculosis patients. With their keen sense of smell, trainability, small size, and agility, they may also uniquely aid search and rescue efforts. Provisional RescueRAT training will be presented, with promising early results.

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About Donna Kean

Dr. Donna Kean is a behavioral researcher from Glasgow, Scotland. She joined APOPO in early 2021 and is now based at their headquarters in beautiful Morogoro, Tanzania. Here, she leads the training of African giant pouched rats on search and rescue. She has also led projects training the rats to detect disease, as well as soil contamination for environmental clean-up.
Before joining APOPO Donna has worked with children, monkeys, and chimpanzees in the UK, Italy, and Japan, with an interest in animal cognition and learning. For her PhD, she investigated cultural evolution and learning in monkeys at the University of Stirling. Donna previously obtained an MSc in Evolution and Human Behavior from the University of Kent where her thesis focused on tactical deception in monkeys.