Volker Sommer

Volker Sommer is Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology in the University of London. His research interests focus on the evolution of primate social and sexual behaviour, cognition, rituals, biodiversity conservation, animal rights and evolutionary ethics

Born into a farming community in Holzhausen am Reinhardswald, he grew up in a village situated in the oak forests of central Germany. Here, the Brothers Grimm had recruited native informants for their early 19th-century fairy tale collection. Animals possess human-like characteristics in these indigenous stories. As part and parcel of Volker Sommer's childhood, these narratives inspired him to pursue a career as a zoologist and ethologist. He studied biology, chemistry and protestant theology in Göttingen, Marburg, Hamburg and Berlin. Supervised by Christian Vogel, Sommer obtained his PhD in anthropology (1985) and his habilitation in anthropology and primatology (1990) at the Universität Göttingen, Germany. He received various early-career fellowships (DAAD, Alexander-von-Humboldt-Foundation, DFG Habilitationsstipendium). During his time as a Heisenberg-Fellow of the German Research Council, Sommer was a Research Associate at the University of California in Davis, USA (1992–1994) and at Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand (1994–1996).

Volker Sommer joined the Department of Anthropology, University College London in 1996. Since then, he has been the tutor for the master's programme in Human Evolution and Behaviour. His research generated exemplary impact studies that contributed to the excellent ranking of the department in recent assessment exercises (RAE, REF). From 2008–2011, Sommer developed UCL's International Strategy ("London's Global University") as the first Pro-Provost for Africa. Sommer's initial field study of animal behaviour focused on the eco-ethology of langur monkeys in Rajasthan, India – since 1981 as a doctoral student and afterwards as a post-doc. Personal highlights include residing for some years in a Shiva-temple. -- From 1989, he enabled to develop a long-term study of white-handed gibbons in Thailand. Here, he lived for several years at the edge of the Khao-Yai rainforest. Personal highlights include being set upon by a tiger – and surviving. -- In 1999, in Nigeria's mountainous northeast, Volker Sommer founded the Gashaka Primate Project with a specific focus on monkeys and chimpanzees. The project evolved into one of the largest research and biodiversity conservation initiatives in West Africa (www.ucl.ac.uk /gashaka). As per 2014, the scheme transformed into the Gashaka Biodiversity Project, lead by Chester Zoo. Personal highlights include the first ascend of Gangirwal, West Africa's highest mountain, through the montane jungles of its southern escarpments – thus reliving how 19th-century explorers mapped out Africa's "white spots".

Volker Sommer serves on the boards of various journals and is the only scientist advising on both the "Section on Great Apes" and the "Section on Small Apes" of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). He was part of the steering committee of the London-based Centre for Ecology and Evolution (1996–2006) and of various panels, e.g. the "Evolutionary Biology" initiative of the Volkswagen Stiftung, Germany's largest private science-supporting foundation. Sommer is also a founding scientific board member of the German-based Giordano-Bruno Foundation for Evolutionary Humanism, which promotes a scientific and secular worldview in the tradition of the Enlightenment (www.giordano-bruno-stiftung.de). Sommer has published several hundred articles – scientific as well as popular – and two dozens of books, including novels and poetry. He is a renowned science journalist in German-speaking countries, regularly featured by major magazines and newspapers (GEO, stern, natur, Die Zeit, Der Spiegel, FAZ, Die Welt, bild der wissenschaft, Spektrum der Wissenschaft, Weltwoche, Neue Zuercher Zeitung, Frankfurter Rundschau). Upon invitation, Sommer delivered more than 400 scientific and public talks across the globe. His award-winning writings have been translated into English, Walloon, Polish, Italian, Spanish, Hindi, Korean, Japanese and Persian. As a widely respected opinion-maker, Sommer is a regular guest on radio and TV. He also wrote and read numerous radio segments and presented various television documentaries. His U-tube clips exceed 70,000 views. The political magazine Cicero, in one of its latest rankings, counted Volker Sommer amongst the most influential intellectuals of the German-speaking world. His biography and philosophy was the subject of a TV documentary produced by the German-French culture channel ARTE in 2011. In 2012, Sommer received the Gold Medal of the North of England Zoological Society for lifetime achievements in conservation-related research.

Private passions include projects with contemporary artists; speed-walking marathons; seeking beatification while riding an almighty Harley; as well as performances with Tanzango, an ensemble dedicated to Tango Argentino.