Laurent Keller

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Laurent Keller (born February 28, 1961 in Lausanne ) is a Swiss evolutionary biologist . He is a professor of evolutionary ecology at the University of Lausanne and studies the ecological and evolutionary relationships in the social behavior of insects , especially ants .

Career

Laurent Keller studied biology at the University of Lausanne , where he obtained a Bachelor's degree in 1983 and a Master of Science in 1985 . In 1989 he received his Ph.D. in the zoology department. PhD. His dissertation was entitled "Etude de quelques régulations sociales chez les fourmis et de leurs implications évolutives" and dealt with the social behavior of ants and their evolutionary influence. He then spent two years as a post-doc at Harvard University before returning to Lausanne, where he worked as a private lecturer from 1994 . From 1996 to 2000 he taught as an assistant professor at the Institute of Ecology, which he took over in 1998. In 2000 this was transferred to the new Institute for Ecology and Evolution, whereby Keller was appointed to a full professorship for Evolutionary Ecology and continues to act as institute director. He has held both positions to this day. In 2009 he also spent a sabbatical at Rockefeller University .

Research priorities

Keller and his working group deal with the social behavior of animals as well as their ecological and evolutionary effects, in particular using the example of ants , but also using other social insects . The focus is on the different lifespan, the division of labor, the biological invasion and the genetic influences on the evolution of insects. In addition, there is a cooperation with the EPFL , in which an attempt is made to use the behavioral principles of ants in robotics .

Awards and memberships

In 1990 he received the Brunner Prize for the best scientific dissertation at the University of Lausanne. In 2000 he was honored with the National Latsis Prize for special scientific achievements up to the age of 40. In 2010 he was elected to the European Molecular Biology Organization before receiving the Marcel Benoist Prize in 2015 .

Keller is co-editor of various specialist magazines, including Biology Letters and Current Biology . He is also a member of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology and is its President from 2015 to 2017. From 1994 to 1997 he was also President of the Swiss Zoological Society .

Publications

Keller's publications include over 300 specialist articles and the following three books:

  • Queen Number and Sociality in Insects . Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1993, ISBN 978-0-19-854057-1 . (Editorship)
  • Levels of Selection in Evolution. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1999, ISBN 0-691-00703-9 . (Editorship)
  • The lives of ants. L. Keller & E. Gordon, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2010, ISBN 978-0-19-954187-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Le Prof. Keller élu President de l'ESEB. unil.ch, November 11, 2013, accessed on September 18, 2015 (French).
personal data
SURNAME Keller, Laurent
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss evolutionary biologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 28, 1961
PLACE OF BIRTH Lausanne , Switzerland