Nicholas B. Davies (scientist)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nicholas Barry Davies FRS[4] (born 1952)[1] is a British field naturalist and zoologist, and Emeritus Professor of Behavioural ecology at the University of Cambridge, where he is also an Emeritus Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge.[5]
May 23, 1952[1]
- University of Cambridge (BA, MA)
- University of Oxford (DPhil)
Nick Davies | |
|---|---|
Nick Davies in 2019 | |
| Born | Nicholas Barry Davies May 23, 1952[1] |
| Citizenship | British |
| Education | Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, Crosby |
| Alma mater |
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| Spouse |
Jan Parr (m. 1979) |
| Children | 2[1] |
| Awards |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Zoology Behavioral ecology |
| Thesis | The feeding behaviour of some insectivorous birds (1976) |
| Euan Dunn[3] | |
| Website | www |
Education
Davies was privately educated at the Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, Crosby and the University of Cambridge where he was a student at Pembroke College, Cambridge.[1] He was awarded a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1973, which was automatically converted into a Master of Arts (MA) degree in 1977.[1] He completed his PhD at the University of Oxford in 1976 supervised by Euan Dunn.[3][1]
Career and research
Davies books with John Krebs helped to define the field of behavioural ecology, the study of how behaviour evolves in response to selection pressures from ecology and the social environment.[6][7][8]
Davies study of dunnocks, linked detailed behavioural observations of individuals to their reproductive success, using DNA profiles to measure paternity and maternity, and revealed how sexual conflicts gave rise to variable mating systems including: monogamy, polygyny in animals, polyandry in animals and polygynandry.[citation needed]
Davies studies of cuckoos and their hosts have revealed an evolutionary arms race of brood parasite adaptations and host counter-adaptations.[citation needed]
Other studies include: territory economics in pied wagtails; contest behaviour and mate searching in butterflies and toads; parent-offspring conflict and the transition to independence in young birds.[citation needed]
Awards and honours
- Scientific Medal of the Zoological Society of London, 1987[citation needed]
- Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1994[4]
- University of Cambridge Teaching Prize, 1995[citation needed]
- William Bate Hardy Prize of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 1995[9]
- Medal of the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour, 1996[citation needed]
- President of the International Society for Behavioural Ecology, 2000-2002[citation needed]
- British Trust for Ornithology / British Birds "Best Book of the Year Award" in 2000 (for Cuckoos, Cowbirds and Other Cheats) and in 2015 (for Cuckoo - Cheating by Nature).[citation needed]
- Frink Medal of the Zoological Society of London, 2001[citation needed]
- Elliott Coues Medal of the American Ornithologists' Union, 2005[10]
- Hamilton Prize Lecture of the International Society for Behavioural Ecology, 2010[citation needed]
- Croonian Medal and Lecture of the Royal Society, 2015[citation needed]
- Godman Salvin Medal of the British Ornithologists' Union, 2022[11]
Publications
Media coverage
In 2009, his research was featured as a BBC Natural World program "Cuckoo", produced by Mike Birkhead and narrated by David Attenborough.[17]
In 2011 he presented a BBC Radio 4 documentary entitled 'The Cuckoo'.[18]
In 2016 he was interviewed by Jim Al-Khalili for The Life Scientific.[19]
In 2017 he was the guest of Michael Berkeley on the BBC Radio 3 show Private Passions.[20]
In 2017 he appeared in an episode of the BBC Radio 4 Natural Histories series entitled "Cuckoo".[21]
Personal life
Davies married Jan Parr in 1976 and has two children.[1]
His entry in Who's Who lists his hobbies as cricket and birdwatching.[1]