Professor Geoffrey Alan Parker FRS (born 24 May 1944) is an emeritus

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

at the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

and the 2008 recipient of the

Darwin Medal The Darwin Medal is one of the medals awarded by the Royal Society for "distinction in evolution, biological diversity and developmental, population and organismal biology". In 1885, International Darwin Memorial Fund was transferred to the ...

. Parker has been called "the professional's professional". He has a particular interest in

behavioural ecology Behavioral ecology, also spelled behavioural ecology, is the study of the evolutionary basis for animal behavior due to ecological pressures. Behavioral ecology emerged from ethology after Niko Tinbergen outlined four questions to address when ...

and

evolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes such as natural selection, common descent, and speciation that produced the diversity of life on Earth. In the 1930s, the discipline of evolutionary biolo ...

, and is most noted for introducing the concept of

sperm competition Sperm competition is the competitive process between Spermatozoon, spermatozoa of two or more different males to fertility, fertilize the same Egg cell, egg during sexual reproduction. Competition can occur when females have multiple potential m ...

in 1970. Much of his work from the 1970s onwards has related to the application of

game theory Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions. It has applications in many fields of social science, and is used extensively in economics, logic, systems science and computer science. Initially, game theory addressed ...

(theory of games) to various biological problems, using the evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) approach pioneered by John Maynard Smith and George Price. With R. R. Baker and V. G. F. Smith in 1972, he proposed a leading theory for the evolution of anisogamy and two sexes, and in 1979 made the first theoretical analysis of sexual conflict in evolution. He has also investigated the evolution of competitive mate searching, animal distributions, animal fighting, coercion, intrafamilial conflict, complex life cycles, and several other topics.

Life

Parker was educated at Lymm Grammar School in

Lymm Lymm ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England. It incorporates the hamlets of Booths Hill, Broomedge, Church Green, Deansgreen, Heatley, Heatley Heath, Little Heatley, Oughtrington, Reddish, Rushgreen and ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, and gained his BSc from

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

in 1965, from where he also gained a doctorate in 1969 under H.E. Hinton, FRS (1912–1977). His Ph.D. was on ''The reproductive behaviour and the nature of sexual selection in ''Scatophaga stercoraria'' L.'' (

yellow dung fly ''Scathophaga stercoraria'', commonly known as the yellow dung fly or the golden dung fly, is one of the most familiar and abundant flies in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere. As its common name suggests, it is often found on the feces of la ...

), and provided a detailed quantitative test of Darwin's theory of sexual selection, and an early application of optimality theory in biology. At this time, most

ethologists Ethology is a branch of zoology that studies the behaviour of non-human animals. It has its scientific roots in the work of Charles Darwin and of American and German ornithologists of the late 19th and early 20th century, including Charle ...

and

ecologists This is a list of notable ecologists. A-D * John Aber (United States) * Aziz Ab'Saber (Brazil) * Charles Christopher Adams (United States) * Warder Clyde Allee (United States) * Herbert G. Andrewartha (Australia) * Sarah Martha Baker ( ...

interpreted adaptations in terms of " survival value to the species"". However, the

paradigm shift A paradigm shift is a fundamental change in the basic concepts and experimental practices of a scientific discipline. It is a concept in the philosophy of science that was introduced and brought into the common lexicon by the American physicist a ...

of the gene-centric view of evolution (popularised by

Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biology, evolutionary biologist, zoologist, science communicator and author. He is an Oxford fellow, emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was Simonyi Professor for the Publ ...

in ''

The Selfish Gene ''The Selfish Gene'' is a 1976 book on evolution by ethologist Richard Dawkins that promotes the gene-centred view of evolution, as opposed to views focused on the organism and the group. The book builds upon the thesis of George C. Willia ...

'') shortly afterwards overturned this idea: mainstream views in behavioural ecology and sociobiology saw

natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the Heredity, heritable traits characteristic of a population over generation ...

restored to Darwinian principles in terms of survival value to the individual (and its kin). Parker's work played a part in this shift and in the early development of behavioural ecology. He moved to the

in 1968, where he became a lecturer in

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

. In 1978, he was a senior research fellow in the Research Centre at King's College,

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, returning to Liverpool in 1979. He became a

in 1989 on election to the Royal Society, In 1996, he became the Derby Chair of Zoology, retiring in 2009, but remaining as emeritus professor and continuing scientific research (as of 2014). In 2005, he won the Frink Medal, of the

Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity and organization devoted to the worldwide animal conservation, conservation of animals and their habitat conservation, habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained London Zo ...

. In 2008, he won the

: He has been awarded the degrees of Doctor of Science, ''honoris causa'' by the

. in 2011, and by the Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2018.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Geoff English zoologists British evolutionary biologists 1944 births Living people Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of King's College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Bristol Academics of the University of Liverpool 20th-century British zoologists People from Lymm

Life

See also

References

External links