Friday, Feb. 17 • 8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.   (more info.)

Dr. Poling received his B.A. in 1972 from Alderson-Broaddus College, his M.A. in 1974 from West Virginia University, and his Ph.D. in 1977 from the University of Minnesota. He joined the faculty of the Department of Psychology at Western Michigan University in 1977 and currently is a Professor in that department. Dr. Poling's primary research interests are in behavior analysis and psychopharmacology. A Fellow of Divisions 3, 25, and 28 of the American Psychological Association, Dr. Poling has published 12 books and over 300 articles and book chapters and served as the research advisor of 28 Ph.D. recipients. He was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus of West Virginia University in 1999 and a Distinguished Faculty Scholar at Western Michigan University in 1996. In 2003, Dr. Poling received the Western Michigan University College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Achievement in Research and Creative Activity Award. In recent years he has worked with colleagues at APOPO, a Belgian NGO headquartered in Tanzania, on humanitarian projects in which giant African pouched rats are used to detect landmines and human tuberculosis in resource-poor countries.

Lessons Learned in Forty Years
My training in behavior analysis began in 1972, when I entered the graduate program in psychology at Western Michigan University and Andy Lattal was assigned as my advisor. From that time to the present, I've been involved in behavior analysis. The purpose of this presentation is to overview what I've learned from that involvement. Using projects in which I was or currently am involved as examples, I will discuss how behavior analysis has changed across time and offer suggestions for increasing the likelihood that the discipline will survive and prosper. Because the project is often of general interest, I will describe in some detail an ongoing project involving the use of giant African pouched rats (Cricetomys gambianus) to detect tuberculosis and landmines. The presentation is intended for a general audience and no particular expertise is needed to understand it.