John Alcock (; born November 13, 1942) is an American

behavior Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as we ...

ecologist Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. He is currently the Emeritus'

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

in the School of

Life Sciences This list of life sciences comprises the branches of science that involve the scientific study of life – such as microorganisms, plants, and animals including human beings. This science is one of the two major branches of natural science, th ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. His research interests include the

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

of diversity in

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pa ...

populations Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

, studying the adaptive value of different ways in which males find mating partners. He has authored several books, including ''The Kookaburras' Song: Exploring Animal Behavior in Australia'' (1988), ''Sonoran Desert Summer'' (1990), ''The Triumph of Sociobiology'' (2003), and ''Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach'' (tenth edition, 2013). He authored ''Sonoran Desert Spring'' (1994) which was illustrated by Marilyn Hoff Stewart, and also authored ''In a Desert Garden: Love and Death Among the Insects'' (1999) illustrated by

Turid Forsyth Turid is a Norwegian feminine given name. Notable people with the name include: *Turid Balke (1921–2000), Norwegian actress, playwright and artist *Turid Birkeland (born 1962), Norwegian cultural executive and former politician for the Labour P ...

. Alcock is one of the original scientists to participate in the

Ask A Biologist Ask A Biologist is a science outreach program originating from Arizona State University's School of Life Sciences, a unit of the ASU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. About the program Ask A Biologist is a pre-kindergarten through high ...

program and continues to participate in interviews as well as answering questions from students around the world. Alcock has performed extensive research and is the leading authority on the bee ''

Centris pallida ''Centris pallida'' is a species of solitary bee native to North America. It lacks an accepted common name; however, it has been called the digger bee, the desert bee, and the pallid bee due to its actions, habitat, and color respectively. The s ...

'' which is common in Arizona. Most of this research was performed in the late 1970s. He completed his undergraduate degree at

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educati ...

(1965) and his Ph.D. at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

(1969).

Books

* ''Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach'', Sinauer Associates. Sunderland, 2013, * ''An Enthusiasm for Orchids: Sex and Deception in Plant Evolution'', Oxford University Press, US, 2005, * ''The Triumph of Sociobiology'', Oxford University Press, US, 2003,

References

External links

''Biology Net'' - Ask A Biologist podcast interview of John Alcock

''Cowpies, Termites a Main Attraction'' - Ask A Biologist children profile of John Alcock

Arizona State University Profile Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alcock, John 1942 births Living people Arizona State University faculty John Burroughs Medal recipients Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni American ecologists Amherst College alumni