Scientists who study animal behavior ask questions about why and how individuals and groups of animals behave as they do. Studies of animal behavior are important for understanding the role of the brain, the nervous system, genes and hormones in influencing actions of individuals and the groups that they are in. An understanding of animal behavior is also important for conservation and understanding how animals respond to our changing world. This meeting will bring together a wide variety of scientists who study animal behavior using a wide range of approaches to discuss the future of integrative studies in the field of animal behavior. Ideas developed at this meeting are likely to have far reaching societal benefits to address complex problems. Blog posts and a Twitter feed of the meeting will be presented in real time and also available to the public as well as publications in open access journals.
At the 50th anniversary of Tinbergen's seminal publication on levels of analysis in studies of animal behavior, efforts to integrate neural, genetic, physiological, ecological, and evolutionary studies of behavior at the organismal level are gaining new prominence. These integrative studies of animal behavior are being facilitated by multiple factors, including new technologies and analytical procedures, as well as the increasing ease of application of these advances to field studies. The primary goal of the workshop will be to define what "integrative" means for animal behavior today. There are three primary areas of focus for this meeting: genes, brains, and physiology. It will include participants who broadly study animal behavior using genetic, genomic, epigenetic, neurobiological, neuroendocrine, immune-ecological, nutritional, and other physiological approaches. It will also include researchers developing emerging technologies and statistical advances that will allow for the next generation of integrative behavior studies thus bringing together groups of scientists that don't typically interact. As the 2014 ABS meeting immediately follows this workshop, a summary of the discussion will be presented there. The white paper will be freely available to anyone and we publish the paper from this meeting in open access format. Time at the meeting will also be devoted to discuss underrepresented minority recruitment to these disciplines.
