Lucy Aplin

Lucy Aplin is an Associate Professor at the Research School of Biology, Australian National University (ANU), with a joint appointment as SNSF Professor at the University of Zurich's Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies. She leads the Cognitive and Cultural Ecology (CCE) Group and directs the ERC-funded project CULTURES ADAPT. Her research examines cognition, social behavior, and cultural evolution in avian systems, with field studies spanning sulphur-crested cockatoos, great tits, monk parakeets, and cockatiels.

Research Focus

Aplin's work integrates behavioral ecology, cognitive science, and evolutionary biology to investigate:

• Cultural transmission of innovations like bin-opening in urban cockatoos
• Vocal dialects and social complexity in parrots
• Social cognition within animal networks
• Co-evolution of brain size, longevity, and sociality in birds
• Landscape-level impacts of human activity on animal culture

Research Output

Her publications (2021-2025) demonstrate methodological innovation in tracking cultural evolution through multilevel Bayesian analysis, Bluetooth-based animal monitoring, and experimental field devices. Key themes include cultural adaptation to urbanization, social information use in foraging decisions, and conservation applications of cultural research.

Awards & Funding

• ERC Starter Grant (€2.3M) for CULTURES ADAPT project
• DFG Cluster of Excellence (€7M) for collective behavior research
• National Geographic Exploration Grant for parrot culture studies
• Max Planck Research Group Leader Fellowship

Academic Leadership

Aplin leads the CCE Group with labs at ANU and Zurich, supervising PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers. She teaches behavioral ecology and evolutionary genetics, and developed public education modules on animal culture for the Cultural Evolution Society.