Raymond Coppinger

Raymond Coppinger, PhD majored in literature and philosophy as an undergraduate at Boston University. His Ph.D. thesis in biology (at the University of Massachusetts) is on the effect of experience and novelty on avian feeding behaviour. He joined the founding faculty at Hampshire College in 1969, where he is professor of biology. He teaches and does research on animal behaviour, especially the behaviour of canines. In 1976, Dr Coppinger founded the Livestock Guarding Dog Project at Hampshire College. This long-term investigation into the behaviour of a new kind of dog for farmers and ranchers in the United States has resulted in greater understanding about early developmental behaviour of dogs. Dr Coppinger (and his colleagues and students) have published over fifty papers on his dog research. His favourite publication, however, is the book Fishing Dogs, a humorous and iconoclastic look at dogs, fishermen and professors. His latest book, co-authored with Lorna Coppinger, is DOGS: A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behaviour, and Evolution, Scribner, NY, 2001. Dr Coppinger is considered the leading world expert on dogs and their behaviour as domesticated as well as wild animals. He is authoritative when analyzing the linkages between wolves, dogs (which belong to the same species Canis lupus) and people. Studies lead by Dr Coppinger unequivocally demonstrate substantial influences on the environment exerted by wolves, dogs and people.