User:Cesarmetzger/Laurent Keller

Laurent Keller (born 28 February 1961) is a swiss evolutionary biologist, myrmecologist and author. Born and raised in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, he accomplished his studies in biology at the University of Lausanne (Bachelor, Master and PhD degrees), after which he was a Research Associate at the Labroatory of Entomology of the University Paul-Sabatier (in Toulouse, France), a Post-doctoral fellow at the University of Lausanne, a Post-doctoral Research Associate at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, and again a Post-doctoral Research Associate at the University of Lausanne. Subsequently he was nominated Associate Professor of Ecology at the University of Lausanne in 1996, where he later became Head of the Institute of Ecology (1998), was then promoted to Full Professor of Evolutionary Ecology and Head of the Department of Ecology and Evolution (in 2000) positions he has been holding since.

Research
Scientifically, his contributions to the advancement of the study of the evolution of eusociality in ants have been recognized by his peers and by the general public through his numerous scientific publications in top peer-reviewed journals, his many invited talks and seminars, and his regular appearances in the media (Press, Radio and Television).

His research group is aiming to "understand the principles governing the evolution of animal societies and the ecological and evolutionary consequences of social life" (Group Keller at the University of Lausanne)

Disciplines in which members of his research group are active include animal behaviour, ecology, evolutionary genetics and genomics.

His also amicably known as the "Enfant Terrible" of myrmecology among biologists of the world.

Teaching
He currently teaches Evolution and Levels of selection in Evolution at the School of Biology of the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the University of Lausanne on a regular basis. He often is an invited lecturer in other Universities throughout the world.

Contributions
His contributions include over 180 scientific articles in top peer-reviewed journals (among which Science, Nature, PLoS Biology, Current Biology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Proceedings of the Royal Society London B, American Naturalist, Journal of Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Ecology, Heredity, Age, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Molecular Ecology, and many others), many book chapters in scientific textbooks, and three books edited and/or authored.

Le Monde des Fourmis. 2006. L. Keller & E. Gordon, Odile Jacob, Paris, 303 pp.

Levels of Selection in Evolution. 1999. L. Keller (ed.), Princeton University Press, Princeton, 318 pp.

Queen Number and Sociality in Insects. 1993. L. Keller (ed.), Oxford University Press, Oxford, 439 pp.