A Taste for the Beautiful

What is the talk about?

Why do animals perceive certain traits as beautiful and others not? While Darwin explained why the animal world abounds in stunning beauty, he struggled to understand how. Dr. Michael Ryan, one of the world’s leading authorities on animal behavior, tells the remarkable story of how he and other scientists have taken up where Darwin left off and transformed our understanding of sexual selection. Join Dr. Ryan as he explores how beauty is defined through the brain of the beholder.

About our presenter

Dr. Michael J. Ryan

Dr. Mike Ryan is a biology professor of Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin. His research focuses on the evolution and function of animal behavior, especially with regard to sexual selection and communication. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Association for Advancement of Science, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Institute for Advanced Studies in Berlin.