What is your field of research – briefly described?

I study the ecology and the evolution of species that live with societies. This includes non-human societies, such as those of ants or bees. But it also includes human societies. Recently, much of my work has considered mutualisms between humans and other species and the question of how we might engender more mutualistic relationships with more of the living world.

 

What are the research challenges in your field?

Most of the challenges in my field are challenges that, whether they relate to discovery or application, that must be solved through bringing people together across disciplines. In this light, the challenges and opportunities both relate to interdisciplinarity. This is true for something as ordinary as sourdough bread, the ecology of which is influenced by history, culture, religious tradition, evolutionary biology and other drivers. It is also true for the biggest challenges we face, such as climate change (and its influence on our interactions with other species), where many of our failures in the last decades have related to our failures to work together across disciplines. We have a great opportunity right now, to work together across disciplines in light of new technologies to find solutions that were scarcely imaginable a decade ago. But this opportunity depends upon our coming together to overcome our differences in scholarly language, ideas about the kinds of science that should be esteemed, etc…

 

Why is this research area particularly interesting?

Humans only exist in light of our interactions with other species. Humans are dependent on more other species than perhaps any other kind of organism ever to exist. Yet, we know far less about these interactions than we could and should. And the consequences of mismanaging them will affect us one way or another. As we become less aware of the living world (and more embedded in digital worlds), our knowledge of these dependencies becomes ever more dependent on the few people who study them.

 

What do you expect from your membership in the Royal Academy?

I could not be more honored to be part of the Royal Academy. My career has been dedicated to coming together across disciplines to think together, to seek truth together, to better the world together. This too is what the Royal Academy stands for. I look forward to being part of this community to have a chance to talk more with other members about how we might together wrestle new truths from the darkness and wrestle better futures into being.

 

Tell us a bit about the person behind the researcher.

I am a scholar and a writer. I’ve written seven or eight books, depending on how you count. I’m a father and a husband. I co-wrote the book Delicious with my wife, Monica Sanchez. I have two children, both of whom are more interesting than me. With my family I spend many hours listening to music, much of it bluegrass and jazz, genres in which teams of individuals play together to produce art that leverages their unique abilities.