Scientists who study animal behavior ask questions about why and how animals behave as they do. Because scientists can see what animals do, they can test theories more easily than they might in other circumstances. Then they can look for the same kinds of patterns in more difficult circumstances, such as among microbes inhabiting environments important to humans. Studies of animal behavior are also important for understanding the role of the brain, the nervous system, and hormones in influencing actions. An understanding of animal behavior is also crucial for conservation. Habitat preservation choices depend on understanding how target organisms live. Studies of animal behavior have also revealed how conflicts among relatives arise and are controlled. The challenge now is to work hard to use the power of animal behavior studies to solve human and environmental problems in new, innovative ways that escape a zero-sum mindset, instead revealing synergistic, win-win solutions. The workshop will bring together a diverse set of researchers from animal behavior, systems biology, genetics and genomics, neurobiology, computational biology, and social science. This exciting group will combine new ideas from animal behavior with new ideas from complementary fields to meet grand challenges of biology. This group will show how animal behavior studies can help with the challenges facing humans on this planet. The intellectual products of this workshop will be shared widely.
Scientific research is crucial for improving human lives. Research advances both by the efforts of individual researchers and by the joint efforts of research teams, particularly those that cross disciplines. The purpose of this meeting was to put together a pool of researchers from biology, computer science, bioengineering, and the social sciences to forge new directions and discoveries in animal behavior. Together we explored the role of behavior in understanding how genes influence behavior, how behavior helps organisms adapt to changing environments, the new physics of collective behavior, microbial and parasitic behavior, practical applications of animal behavior, and the future grand challenges of the field. We assembled a diverse group of 23 researchers from Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Washington D. C., and Wisconsin, including 13 women and 4 Hispanic or African-American scientists. The meeting allowed this extended group to forge new ties for research projects, and to develop new insights in animal behavior. We identified many avenues for future research, including several of high relevance for human well-being as well as others that are likely to develop knowledge that will ultimately be useful. For example, collective actions of individuals are more than the sum of their parts. This can help us understand movement of metastasizing cancer cells. Another example comes from the impact of microbes and diseases on the behavior of their hosts. A third is that ecosystems can be managed only with a thorough understanding of the behavior of their inhabitants, from the highly destructive tree-infesting insects to beneficial pollinators that help us produce most of our crops. All in all, the meeting served its purpose well. It allowed ties for new researchers across the country that have already put together a report for the National Science Foundation, and published one high profile paper, with more to come.
