Kevin Laland
is Professor of Behavioural and Evolutionary Biology at the University of St Andrews.
Kevin Laland is Professor of Behavioural and Evolutionary Biology at the University of St Andrews, and prior to that held positions at UCL, UC Berkeley and Cambridge Universities. He studies animal behaviour and evolution, with a specific focus on niche construction, the extended evolutionary synthesis, and the evolution of cognition. He has published over 200 scientific articles on these topics, and been the recipient of more than £15m in grant income. He is an Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology. His books include Niche Construction: The Neglected Process in Evolution, Sense and Nonsense: Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behaviour and Social Learning: an Introduction to Mechanisms, Methods and Models.
Authored by
Kevin Laland
October 10, 2017
Completing Darwin’s Unfinished Symphony: A Conversation with Kevin Laland
At the heart of Kevin Laland's new book is a “cultural drive” mechanism, whereby selection for accurate, efficient information transmission shaped the evolution of the primate brain and intelligence.
June 19, 2017
Deconstructing Niche Construction: A Conversation between Gordon Burghardt and Kevin Laland
The concept of niche construction stresses a dialectical relationship between organisms and their environments, rather than one being passively shaped by the other. It has deep roots in evolutionary thought but only now is resulting in a systematic research program. Join Gordon Burghardt and Kevin Laland as they take a deep dive into the subject.
