Iain Couzin

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Iain Couzin (born 1974 in Edinburgh ) is a British biologist who specializes in theoretical biology and the application of mathematical modeling to the analysis of animal behavior . He is Professor of Biodiversity and Collective Behavior at the University of Konstanz and one of three directors of the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior in Radolfzell on Lake Constance .

Through his research, he wants to recognize and understand basic behavioral patterns that are responsible for the evolutionary history of a whole range of animal species, such as insects , fish and primates .

Professional background

Couzin earned a B.Sc. in Biology from the University of St Andrews and a Ph.D. in 1999 at the University of Bath under Professor Nigel R. Franks. From 2000 to 2002 he was a postdoc at the University of Leeds . Between 2002 and 2007 he held various positions at the University of Oxford , both in the Department of Zoology and in the Center for Mathematical Biology. and at the same time worked temporarily as a postdoc in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University in the USA .

From November 2007 to 2013, Couzin was Assistant Professor and until January 2015 Full Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University. In February 2015 he moved to the University of Konstanz and was transferred to a management position at the then Max Planck Institute for Ornithology . At the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior , which was renamed in 2019, he is responsible for the research department of collective behavior .

research

His research aims to understand how collective behavior arises among animals through insights into animal behavior. To do this, he uses various methods such as field research , computer simulation , laboratory experiments and mathematical modeling . His research has shown why locusts form large swarms or how ants optimize their movements by forming traffic lanes and thus avoid traffic jams.

Couzin regularly publishes studies from his research projects in specialist journals. By mid-2020 he was involved in the publication of over 220 publications. These have been cited over 14,000 times so far.

The results of his research projects are also reported in the mass media , such as the New York Times , Time magazine, the BBC , Wired magazine and Der Spiegel .

Collective behavior

In his research, Couzin repeatedly found that collective behavior depends on decisions made together within a group of animals. One theory predicts that factors such as unequal dominance hierarchies and social power have an impact on decision-making. Therefore, studies of how a group reaches a consensus decision can shed light on the evolution of complex social groups . By GPS - tracking of animals in the wild, for example, transaction data is collected on what animal when, where and with whom is on the way. In addition, Couzin investigates the advantage of synchronization on the functional complexity of groups.

Democratic behavior in the animal world

In the animal world, evidence of democratic behavior can be found among groups of ants , red deer or macaques, for example . If individual animals have different interests, the success of reaching a consensus depends on the conflict resolution process in which certain group members act as mediators. This observation applies to both groups of animals and groups of people.

Awards

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Iain Couzin - Department of Collective Behavior. In: collectivebehaviour.com. Retrieved July 7, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Lennart Pyritz: "As long as I can remember, animals have fascinated me". In: deutschlandfunk.de. August 27, 2018, accessed July 7, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Department of Collective Behavior. In: Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior. Retrieved July 22, 2020 .
  4. ↑ NG Live !: Iain Couzin: Lessons From a Cannibal Plague. National Geographic Society, accessed July 23, 2020 .
  5. ^ Iain Couzin. In: ResearchGate. Retrieved July 7, 2020 .
  6. ↑ a b Konstanz scientists among the world's most influential. Retrieved July 2, 2020 .
  7. ^ Carl Zimmer: From Ants to People, an Instinct to Swarm . In: New York Times . November 13, 2007 ( nytimes.com [accessed July 7, 2020]).
  8. ^ Felicity Barringer: On the Migratory Trail, Leaders and Followers . In: New York Times . September 8, 2010 ( nytimes.com [accessed July 7, 2020]).
  9. ↑ Jeffrey Kluger: America Votes with the Fishes. In: Time . December 20, 2011, accessed July 7, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Veronique Greenwood: Smarth Fish: The Wisdom of Crowds-and Schools. Piscine choreography is a lot more complex-and a lot simpler-than it seems. In: Time . January 31, 2013, accessed July 7, 2020 .
  11. ^ Zoe Kleinman: Fish play video game in new behavior study. August 24, 2012, accessed July 24, 2020 .
  12. ↑ World Questions: Why do locusts swarm. (Podcast) February 22, 2014, accessed July 23, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Crowd Science: What makes a spider spin a web? (Podcast) April 20, 2020, accessed July 23, 2020 .
  14. ^ Ed Young: How the Science of Swarms Can Help Us Fight Cancer and Predict the Future. In: wired.com. March 19, 2013, accessed July 23, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Samiha Shafy: Smarter in the Swarm. May 26, 2008, accessed August 17, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Ariana beach Burg-Peshkin et al .: Shared decision-making drives collective movement in wild baboons . In: Science . tape 348 , no. 6241 , June 17, 2015, doi : 10.1126 / science.aaa5099 .
  17. ^ Phil Berardelli: When Pigeons Flock, Who's in Command? In: sciencemag.org. April 8, 2010, accessed August 17, 2020 .
  18. ^ Iain D. Couzin: Synchronization: The Key to Effective Communication in Animal Collectives . In: Trends in Cognitive Sciences . tape 22 , no. 10 , 2018, p. 844-846 , doi : 10.1016 / j.tics.2018.08.001 .
  19. ↑ Ewen Callaway: Dictators lay down the law in baboon troupes . In: New Scientist . November 20, 2008 ( newscientist.com [accessed July 7, 2020]).
  20. ^ Iain D. Couzin, et al .: Uninformed Individuals Promote Democratic Consensus in Animal Groups . In: Science . tape 334 , no. 6062 , doi : 10.1126 / science.1210280 .
  21. ↑ Awardees. In: searlescholars.net. Retrieved July 7, 2020 .
  22. ↑ Jakob Ward: Brilliant 10: Iain Couzin, the Pattern Maker. In: Popular Science . December 6, 2010, accessed July 7, 2020 .
  23. ^ Iain D. Couzin - Awardee 2012. In: nationalgeographic.org. Retrieved July 7, 2020 .
  24. ↑ ZSL Scientific Awards winners announced. In: zsl.org. Retrieved July 7, 2020 .
  25. ↑ ISI press release September 24, 2019
personal data
SURNAME Couzin, Iain
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Couzin, Iain D.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British biologist and behaviorist
DATE OF BIRTH 1974
PLACE OF BIRTH Edinburgh , Scotland, United Kingdom