Animal Behavior – Feb 28

Many of us are captivated by the behavior of wild animals: a pride of lions fighting off a clan of hyenas, a honeybee dancing to communicate the location of food, the crazy acrobatic courtship displays of male lance-tailed manakins. What is it like to be a biologist who studies the behavior of such creatures? What are the implications for the study of human behavior? Using examples drawn from her work with rodents known as tuco-tucos, tojos, and tokoros (pictured above), Dr. Eileen Lacey will describe the types of questions, concerns, and sometimes astounding solutions that field biologists employ in their quest to understand why animals do what they do.

Dr. Eileen Lacey is Professor and Co-Chair in the Department of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley. She also leads the Vertebrate Social Behavior and Population Biology Laboratory at Cal’s Museum of Vertebrate Zoology.