One of the world’s foremost ethologists and animal behaviorists, Marc Bekoff has spent decades observing animals in the wild, learning to understand their minds and discovering how and why they (and we) play. In 2001 he published a landmark paper with Marek Spinka and Ruth Newberry providing a new conceptual framework for the study of mammalian play as “training for the unexpected,” driven by complex neurological responses that are experienced as “having fun.” As of 2021, he is professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, writes frequently on the subjects of play and compassionate conservation, and serves on a number of boards. One of his current projects is the Boulder Art Behind Bars program, which focuses on animal behavior and allows incarcerated students to express themselves through writing and art.
Most Influential Work:
- “Mammalian Play: Training for the Unexpected” (The Quarterly Review of Biology 76 (2): 141–68; with Marek Spinka and Ruth C. Newberry) provided an entirely new view of mammalian play as providing an evolutionary survival benefit. Bekoff also co-edited Animal Play: Evolutionary, Comparative, and Ecological Perspectives with John A. Byers, (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998).
View all books and articles on our site by Marc Bekoff:
