Quick Facts
ScorpioBiography
John Alcock (born November 13, 1942) is an American behavioral ecologist and author. He is currently the Emeritus' Professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University. His research interests include the evolution of diversity in insect populations, 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.
Alcock is one of the original scientists to participate in the Ask A Biologist 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 which is common in Arizona. Most of this research was performed in the late 1970s.
Books
- Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach, Sinauer Associates. Sunderland, 2013, ISBN 978-0-87893-966-4
- An Enthusiasm for Orchids: Sex and Deception in Plant Evolution, Oxford University Press, USA, 2005, ISBN 978-0-19-518274-3
- The Triumph of Sociobiology, Oxford University Press, USA, 2003, ISBN 978-0-19-516335-3