Robert Lachlan

Robert Lachlan is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London. His research focuses on cultural evolution, animal communication, and theoretical evolutionary biology, with applications ranging from bird song analysis to consumer risk perception. He leads the Cuco Group, which investigates vocal learning through observational and experimental methods.

• Lab Members: Marianne Sarfati (PhD Student), Warren Horrod-Wilson (PhD Student), Lies Zandberg (Leverhulme ECF)
• Key Research Areas: Cultural evolution, social learning, avian behavior, animal psychology, auditory perception

Recent Trends: His work increasingly integrates machine learning with animal sound analysis, while expanding cultural evolution models to human risk behavior. Current projects explore vocal learning in birds, cultural evolution-air pollution interactions, and psychological factors in product risk perception.

• Scientific Recognition: Elected Fellow of the Linnean Society (2021)

Funding & Supervision: Leads grants from the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (2021-2022), BBSRC (2019-2021), and multiple active projects. Supervises PhD students and mentors early career researchers in interdisciplinary studies spanning biology and psychology.