The Universe Under Our Noses: Inside the Minds of Animals

Talks on Tuesdays: Real lectures in your favourite venues. 45-min& Q+A with Dr Portland Jones Talks on Tuesdays is a live event series bringing big ideas, real experts, and curious minds together - at your favourite local venues. Think thought-provoking lectures, audience questions, and post-talk mingling over drinks and dinner. This isn’t a uni lecture. It’s a social, intelligent night out.Come alone or with friends, leave with something to talk about. Event Schedule: 6.30pm Arrival & Doors Open 7pm Lecture Starts 7.45pm Q&A 8pm Talk Concludes 8.30pm Event Closes. *Please arrive close to 6.30pm A La Carte menu and full bar available throughout the night - pay as you go. Your Topic: The Universe Under Our Noses: Inside the Minds of Animals. We spend billions looking into space for intelligent life, while sharing this planet with creatures experiencing the world in ways we can barely comprehend. After a lifetime training animals, from horses and camels to birds, reptiles and elephants, this talk explores the extraordinary world of animal cognition and senses. Does your dog actually feel guilty, or is it simply reacting to your anger? When an animal seems to understand us, does it know what we mean, or has it become incredibly good at recognising patterns and predicting what happens next? Through stories from decades of animal training, including working with elephants in Assam used to track poachers, we'll explore just how differently animals experience the world and some of the remarkable things they're capable of. Ultimately, this isn't about whether animals are smarter than humans. It's about why that's the wrong comparison. Animals are extraordinary, unique minds in their own right and perhaps instead of searching distant galaxies for alien intelligence, we should spend more time appreciating the incredible minds already living alongside us. Your Speaker: Dr Portland Jones is an Australian equitation scientist, equine behaviour lecturer at Murdoch University, and award-winning author based in Western Australia’s Swan Valley. Holding a PhD in Literature alongside her extensive expertise in animal welfare, she combines scientific rigor with storytelling to promote evidence-based, humane training methods. Her literary portfolio includes acclaimed novels like Seeing the Elephant and Only Birds Above, as well as impactful non-fiction works such as Equine: A Love Letter to the Horse and Horses Hate Surprise Parties. Beyond her academic and writing career, Dr Jones is an experienced horse trainer and a dedicated board member of the Human Elephant Learning Programs (H-ELP), where she applies ethological principles to improve the management and welfare of captive Asian elephants.