The Hefner Museum of Natural History features Dr. Kay Holekamp at the 45th Annual Hefner Lecture.
Kay Holekamp is the University Distinguished Professor of Integrative Biology and Director of Michigan State University's interdisciplinary program in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology & Behavior. Holekamp is recognized as one of the world’s leading behavioral ecologists. Holekamp has devoted her career to animal behavior and behavioral neuroendocrinology, focusing specifically on the study of the evolution of intelligence. Her long-running study of spotted hyenas in Africa has acquired more than 30 years of data, covering 10 generations of hyena.
Holekamp earned her Ph.D. in psychobiology from the University of California, Berkeley. She was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, for three years, where she received a National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Institutes of Health. Since joining MSU in 1991, she and her students have published more than 150 scholarly articles. Her research on wild hyenas has received continuous support from the National Science Foundation since 1987.
Holekamp’s honors include election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, being named a fellow of the Animal Behavior Society, and a Merriam Award from the American Society of Mammalogists. She is also a talented and dedicated instructor, which has earned her the MSU Graduate School Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award and Teacher-Scholar Award, and the College of Natural Science Outstanding Academic Advisor Award.
In addition to the evening talk, her departmental seminar entitled "Selective forces shaping the evolution of intelligence" will be at 4:15pm in Upham 002.
There will be a reception at the Hefner Musuem Upham Hall room 106 following her presentation.
These events are free and open to the public.
We hope you can join us for the departmental seminar and evening lecture on November 7.
