Dr. Eva Jablonka, Professor emerita, Tel-Aviv University: The Evolution of Animal Consciousness. Hosted by the UCLA Dept. of Philosophy
2026-04-10 16:00 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Royce Hall, 10745 Dickson Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Abstract:
The study of animal consciousness is becoming a respectable domain of study, which has implications for neuroscience, evolutionary biology and ethics. In this lecture I discuss the theoretical commitments of different naturalistic approaches to animal consciousness and point to markers of consciousness. I suggest that an approach focusing on cognitive capacities in humans that were shown by contrastive experiments (comparing conscious and non-conscious perception) to require consciousness is a good starting point for the search for consciousness markers in non-human animals. However, the choice of contrastive experiments that are deemed relevant for animals is theory-dependent. I present an evolutionary approach suggesting that consciousness is the outcome of the evolution of a complex form of associative learning (unlimited associative learning, UAL), and that the cognitive architecture that evolved to enable this kind of learning is the architecture of minimal consciousness. This theory provides a framework for observational and experimental studies in animals and has many testable predictions. I end by discussing the implications of the evolutionary approach for consciousness studies and for research in evolutionary biology.

Royce Hall 306
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“The Evolution of Animal Consciousness” – Eva Jablonka, Prof. Emerita, Tel Aviv University

Eva Jablonka, Prof. Emerita, Tel Aviv Univ.: Evolutionary Theory and the Unification of Life Sciences in the 21st Century. Frank Marlowe Memorial lecture.
2026-04-13 12:00 - 13:30 | 352 Haines Hall
Abstract: I argue that the changes in our current view of evolutionary theory are leading to a new unification of life-sciences, which is occurring, seemingly paradoxically, within the context of their increased specialization and fracturing. Unlike the modern evolutionary synthesis of the 20th century (the MS) which claimed that selection is the only direction-giving process in evolution, the current synthesis incorporates not only new biological domains but also processes that were excluded by the MS. I consider two aspects of this unification: the first is the synthesis between development and heredity, which involves enrichment of both notions and is leading to important changes in our view of evolution, discussed within the framework of the extended evolutionary synthesis (EES). The second aspect is the study of mental processes stemming from research into the evolutionary origins and effects of consciousness. I argue that these developments enable the construction of a unifying evolutionary framework for the expanding domain of 21st century life sciences, which is becoming based on broader and richer views of heredity, adaptation and cognition.
Zoom link:
https://ucla.zoom.us/j/94308730584?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 943 0873 0584
Passcode: [REDACTED]

There will also be an art exhibit and reception by Anna Zeligowska featuring the art from Eva Jablnoka’s books from 5:30-7PM in Dodd 321. Food will be served at that evening event and members of the BEC community are welcome.

Frank Marlowe Memorial Lecturer: Mike Gurven, Anthropology, UCSB. Title: A Natural History of Human Longevity.
2026-04-20 12:00 - 13:30 | 352 Haines Hall
Abstract:
The evolution of human longevity still remains a curious puzzle. Here I provide some new perspectives on the why and how of longevity over the course of human evolution, relying on the anthropological study of subsistence societies as an imperfect lens for gaining insight. I argue that our evolved human lifespan is about seven decades, and that the multifaceted contributions of middle-to-older aged adults is part of the reason why. I combine ethnographic, demographic and biomedical studies to shed light on the timing and significance of the transition from “asset” to “burden” in late adulthood, with implications for navigating the global Gray Wave of population aging.
Zoom link:
https://ucla.zoom.us/j/94308730584?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 943 0873 0584
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Morgan Tingley, EEB, UCLA: "To move, or not to move? How species respond to a warming climate"
2026-05-04 12:00 - 13:30 | 352 Haines Hall
Abstract: When we contemplate how biodiversity is changing, we often focus on the species we have lost entirely. But while we have yet to lose a single bird species to our rapidly changing climate, birds and other creatures are currently adapting and responding in myriad ways. Across the world, species are shifting their geographic distributions, shifting the timing of life history events, and even shifting their body shapes and sizes. Integrating field research and citizen science over decades to centuries, the research presented in this talk demonstrates the complex ways that species are responding to a changing climate, as well as the options that humans have to help species cope with an increasingly dynamic earth system.
Zoom link:
https://ucla.zoom.us/j/94308730584?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 943 0873 0584
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Dr. Kim Zhu: Multi-Omic Investigations of Convergent Human Adaptations to High-Altitude Hypoxia in the Himalayas and Andes
2026-05-18 12:00 - 13:30 | 352 Haines Hall
Abstract: A long-standing goal within the field of evolutionary genomics has been to understand how genomic and phenotypic differences between human populations arise. High-altitude environments offer a natural experiment to study this question, as these environments impose a number of selective pressures, the most severe of which is high-altitude hypoxia. Human populations residing across the Andean Altiplano, Tibetan Plateau, and Ethiopian Highlands represent three separate replications of this natural experiment, each displaying a unique suite of high-altitude adaptive phenotypes. This talk explores how multi-omic methods can be leveraged to uncover signatures of natural selection and developmental adaptation that have shaped the adaptive phenotypes displayed among high-altitude residing Andean and Himalayan populations. Ultimately, this work highlights how adaptive processes can act across evolutionary and developmental timescales to shape the shared and distinguishing features observed between human populations.
Zoom link:
https://ucla.zoom.us/j/94308730584?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 943 0873 0584
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Ashley Mensing, Dept of Anthropology, UCLA. Title: Early life adversity and life history correlates in wild white-faced capuchins: physiological mechanisms and fitness outcomes
2026-06-01 12:00 - 13:30 | 352 Haines Hall
Abstract:
Organisms that develop under adversity often differ from their peers in stress physiology, behavior, and reproductive timing. Life history frameworks offer a powerful lens for making sense of this variation, proposing that these differences reflect developmental responses calibrated to early environmental conditions. Yet the mechanistic pathway connecting early adversity to physiological changes to behavioral shifts to life history outcomes has rarely been traced empirically within wild populations, leaving core assumptions about how this process unfolds largely untested.
I draw on long-term data from the Lomas Barbudal Monkey Project in Costa Rica to examine whether early adversity in wild white-faced capuchins (Cebus imitator) generates the downstream physiological, behavioral, and life history changes that these frameworks anticipate. I first characterize early environmental harshness and its relationship to stress physiology, then ask whether physiological variation connects to behavioral and life history shifts in the expected directions. By tracing this pathway empirically in a wild primate, this work offers a window into how and whether the predictions embedded in life history approaches hold when tested mechanistically in a system with rich longitudinal data. These findings have implications for how we study developmental plasticity and the promises and limitations of applying life history frameworks to individual-level developmental trajectories.
This talk will be presented via Zoom:
https://ucla.zoom.us/j/94308730584?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 943 0873 0584
Passcode: [REDACTED]
