Professor Rebecca Sear – an evolutionary behavioural scientist at Brunel University London, and Director of Brunel's Centre for Culture and Evolution – has been elected to the Fellowship of the British Academy.
The British Academy is the UK's national academy for the humanities and social sciences, and Fellows of the Academy are the leading minds in their academic fields, representing the very best of humanities and social sciences research, in the UK and globally. Only one or two scholars a year are elected in most fields, so a Fellowship is a significant mark of distinction.
Prof Sear, who joined Brunel earlier this year, uses an interdisciplinary approach to understand human behaviour and wellbeing, incorporating anthropology, demography, biology and psychology.
She works on questions of demographic and public health interest, including fertility and reproductive development, child health and mortality, and health inequalities; and has a particular interest in the family, and how family relationships influence these outcomes.
She co-founded and is currently President of the European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association.
“I’m delighted and honoured to be elected to the British Academy fellowship," said Prof Sear. "The social sciences and humanities are vital to tackling the challenges facing humanity today, by helping us understand why humans do the things we do. I look forward to working with the British Academy in its important mission to promote and support these disciplines.”
The Academy's 86 new Fellows join a community of more than 1,700 distinguished academics. Current British Academy Fellows include the classicist Professor Dame Mary Beard, the historian and China expert Professor Rana Mitter and philosopher Professor Baroness Onora O’Neill.
Welcoming the new Fellows for 2024, the President of the British Academy, Prof Julia Black, said: “We are delighted to welcome this year’s cohort of Fellows, and I offer my warmest congratulations to each and every one.
“Since the Academy was created in 1902, our Fellows have been the lifeblood of the organisation, representing the very best of our disciplines – and we would not have the impact we have without their expertise, time and energy. I very much look forward to working closely with our new Fellows; the breadth and depth of their expertise adds so much to the Academy.”
Find out more about the Centre for Culture and Evolution (CCE) at Brunel University London
Reported by:
Joe Buchanunn,
Media Relations
+44 (0)1895 268821
joe.buchanunn@brunel.ac.uk