biology

#483 Lauren Brent: The Evolution of Sociality, and Primate Societies

Jun 17, 2021

Dr. Lauren Brent is Associate Professor in the Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour at the University of Exeter. She is a biologist interested in the evolution of sociality. Her research asks why social relationships are formed and how they are maintained. Her work focuses on highly gregarious, group-living animals. She works mostly with data collected from wild or free-ranging groups, and specialize on study systems with uniquely long-term datasets. She uses a diverse set of methods, including techniques from ethology, evolutionary biology, quantitative and functional genetics, life-history evolution, endocrinology, comparative psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. More»
#476 Edward Slingerland - Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization

May 31, 2021

Dr. Edward Slingerland is a Professor of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. He’s the Director of the Cultural Evolution of Religion Research Consortium (CERC), the Director of the Database of Religious History (DRH), and the Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Human Evolution, Cognition and Culture (HECC). His most recent book is Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization. More»
#467 David Barash - Threats: Intimidation and Its Discontents; Nuclear Deterrence

May 10, 2021

Dr. David P. Barash is Professor of Psychology Emeritus at the University of Washington. He has written, edited or co-authored 40 books, including ones on human aggression, peace studies, and the sexual behavior of animals and people. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and has been the recipient of several honors. His books include “Homo Mysterious – Evolutionary Puzzles of Human Nature”, “Buddhist Biology: Ancient Eastern Wisdom Meets Modern Western Science”, “Approaches to Peace: A Reader in Peace Studies”, and “Through a Glass Brightly: using science to see our species as we really are”. His most recent book is “Threats: Intimidation and Its Discontents”. More»
#461 David Buss When Men Behave Badly: The Hidden Roots of Sexual Deception, Harassment, and Assault

Apr 26, 2021

Dr. David Buss is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. He’s one of the founders of the field of evolutionary psychology. His primary research focus is on strategies of human mating. He’s the author of many books, including The Evolution of Desire, and the first textbook in Evolutionary Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind. His most recent book is When Men Behave Badly: The Hidden Roots of Sexual Deception, Harassment, and Assault. More»
#458 Lesley Newson & Peter Richerson - A Story of Us: A New Look at Human Evolution

Apr 19, 2021

Dr. Lesley Newson is honorary post-doc at University of California, Davis. She studies the cultural evolutionary process known as “modernization” which most human populations are now experiencing. Her first degree was in biology. After that she worked for over 20 years as a science writer and television producer before getting a PhD in psychology. More»
#456 Henry Greely - CRISPR People: The Science and Ethics of Editing Humans

Apr 15, 2021

Dr. Henry Greely is currently the Deane F. and Kate Edelman Johnson Professor of Law and Professor by courtesy of Genetics at Stanford University, and also an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He specializes in the ethical, legal, and social implications of new biomedical technologies, particularly those related to neuroscience, genetics, or stem cell research. He is a founder and president of the International Neuroethics Society; a member of the Multi-Council Working Group of the NIH’s BRAIN Initiative, whose Neuroethics Working Group he co-chairs; a member of the Committee on Science, Technology, and Law of the National Academies; and chair of California’s Human Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee. He’s also the author of The End of Sex and the Future of Human Reproduction, and more recently, CRISPR People: The Science and Ethics of Editing Humans. More»
#450 Kirsty Graham: Gestural Communication in Primates

Apr 1, 2021

Dr. Kirsty Graham is Research Associate at the University of St. Andrews. Her PhD research, supervised by Prof. Richard Byrne, catalogued the full gestural repertoire of wild bonobos. She examined individual differences in repertoire size and usage. Most importantly, she defined the meaning of each gesture type by determining the reaction given by the recipient that satisfies the signaller. Understanding meanings or ambiguity of meanings for wild bonobo gestural communication provides insights into the evolution of our own complex communication system. More»
#442 Nathan Lents - Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes

Mar 12, 2021

Dr. Nathan H. Lents is Professor of Biology and director of the honors program and the campus Macaulay Honors College program at John Jay College. Dr. Lents is noted for his work in cell biology, genetics, and forensic science, as well as his popular science writing and blogging on the evolution of human biology and behavior. He is the author of books like Not So Different: Finding Human Nature in Animals, and Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes. More»
#431 Menelaos Apostolou: The Evolution of Same-Sex Attraction

Feb 15, 2021

Dr. Menelaos Apostolou is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Nicosia, Cyprus. He was born in Athens, Greece and he completed his post-graduate and graduate studies in the United Kingdom. He has published several peer-reviewed papers, books and chapters in books in the area of evolutionary psychology. He’s the author of a new book, The Evolution of Same-Sex Attraction. More»
#430 David Lahti: Philosophy of Biology, Complex Traits, and Evolutionary Ethics

Feb 12, 2021

Dr. David C. Lahti is an Associate Professor of Biology at Queens College, City University of New York, where he runs a Behavior & Evolution laboratory. His work focuses on evolutionary and behavioral ecology, especially the evolution of complex and learned traits in birds and humans. More»