Marc Bekoff

Marc Bekoff is professor emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has published 31 books (or 41 depending on you count multi-volume encyclopedias), won many awards for his research on animal behavior, animal emotions (cognitive ethology), compassionate conservation, and animal protection, has worked closely with Jane Goodall, is co-chair of the ethics committee of the Jane Goodall Institute, and is a former Guggenheim Fellow.

Marc also works closely with inmates at the Boulder Country Jail. In June 2022 Marc was recognized as a Hero by the Academy of Dog Trainers. His latest books are The Animals' Agenda: Freedom, Compassion, and Coexistence in the Human Age (with Jessica Pierce), Canine Confidential: Why Dogs Do What They Do, and Unleashing Your Dog: A Field Guide to Giving Your Canine Companion the Best Life Possible (with Jessica Pierce) and he also publishes regularly for Psychology Today. Marc and Jessica's most recent book A Dog's World: Imagining the Lives of Dogs in a World Without Humans was published by Princeton University Press in October 2021. Dogs Demystified: An A-Z Guide to All Things Canine will be published by New World Library in June 2023 and the second edition of The Emotional Lives of Animals will b.e published in March 2024. In 1986 Marc won the Master’s Tour du Haut, aka the age-graded Tour de France.” His homepage is marcbekoff.com. 

Marc's other books include: Species of Mind: The Philosophy and Biology of Cognitive Ethology (with Colin Allen, MIT Press, 1997); Nature's Purposes: Analyses of Function and Design in Biology (edited with Colin Allen and George Lauder, MIT Press, 1998); Animal play: Evolutionary, Comparative, and Ecological Perspectives (edited with John Byers, Cambridge University Press, 1998), Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998), and a book on the lighter side, Nature's Life Lessons: Everyday Truths from Nature (with Jim Carrier, Fulcrum, 1996). His children's book, Strolling With Our Kin was published in Fall 2000 (AAVS/Lantern Books) as was The Smile of a Dolphin: Remarkable Accounts of Animal Emotions (Random House/Discovery Books). The Cognitive Animal: Empirical and theoretical perspectives on animal cognition (edited by Marc, Colin Allen, and Gordon Burghardt) appeared in 2002 (MIT Press), as did Minding Animals: Awareness, Emotions, and Heart (Oxford University Press) and Jane Goodall and Marc's The Ten Trusts: What we must do to care for the animals we love (HarperCollins). Marc has edited a three volume Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004), and a collection of his essays titled Animal Passions and Beastly Virtues: Reflections on Redecorating Nature was published by Temple University Press (2006).

A summary of Marc's research on animal emotions titled The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy and Why They Matter, was published in 2007 by New World Library and his and Jessica Pierce's book on the evolution of moral behavior titled Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2009. Marc has also edited a four-volume Encyclopedia of Human-Animal Relationships: A Global Exploration of our Connections with Animals for Greenwood Publishing Group (2007) and he and Cara Blessley Lowe have edited a book of readings on cougars titled Listening to Cougar (University Press of Colorado, 2007). Marc's book Animals Matter: A Biologist Explains Why We Should Treat Animals with Compassion and Respect was also published in 2007 (Shambhala Publications) and Temple University Press published Marc's children's book, Animals at Play: Rules of the Game in 2008. The two-volume revision and expansion of Marc's 1998 Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare was published in 2010 (ABC-CLIO) and The Animal Manifesto: Six Reasons For Expanding Our Compassion Footprint was also published in 2010 (New World Library). Ignoring Nature No More: The Case For Compassionate Conservation and a collection of Marc's essays from Psychology Today called Why Dogs Hump and Bees Get Depressed: The Fascinating Science of Animal Intelligence, Emotions, Friendship, and Conservation were published in Fall 2013, and Rewilding Our Hearts was published in 2014. Jill Robinson (founder of Animals Asia) and Marc's award-winning children's book titled Jasper's Story: Saving Moon Bears was also been published in 2013 by Sleeping Bear Press. The Jane Effect: Celebrating Jane Goodall (edited with Dale Peterson) was published in 2015. The Animals' Agenda: Freedom, Compassion, and Coexistence in the Human Age (with Jessica Pierce) was published by Beacon Press in April 2017 and Canine Confidential: Why Dogs Do What They Do was published in March 2018 by the University of Chicago Press. Unleashing Your Dog (with Jessica Pierce) was published in February  2019 by New World Library.