Policy committee

Motivation

Human health and well-being this cen­tury are likely to be defined by soci­et­al chal­lenges that are essen­tially bio­lo­gic­al in nature. Evol­u­tion­ary bio­logy has the poten­tial to address many of these challenges.

These chal­lenges include:

• The effects of cli­mate change and biod­iversity loss on pop­u­la­tions and ecosystems
• The emer­gence and spread of nov­el pathogens
• How to encour­age sus­tain­able beha­viour in human societies
• The respons­ible and effect­ive use of AI
• The value of genet­ic inform­a­tion in pre­dict­ing mor­bid­it­ies and health­care needs
• The nego­ti­ation of cre­at­ive and equit­able rela­tion­ships through an under­stand­ing of the evol­u­tion of cooper­a­tion and conflict

A key role of learned soci­et­ies is also to counter dis­in­form­a­tion, and to pro­mote policy based on evidence.

Fos­ter­ing a great­er appre­ci­ation for the poten­tial impact of evol­u­tion­ary bio­logy research will help evol­u­tion­ary bio­lo­gists pre­pare for altern­at­ive career paths, increase the vis­ib­il­ity of such career oppor­tun­it­ies, and strengthen the capa­city for evol­u­tion­ary bio­logy to con­trib­ute to solu­tions to soci­et­al issues, as well as impact on these soci­et­al chal­lenges themselves.

These efforts will also help increase the num­ber of ESEB mem­bers that are involved with policy, and strength­en­ing ESEB’s capa­city to con­trib­ute to and influ­ence pub­lic dis­course on soci­et­al issues. 

Remit of the committee

The remit of the ESEB com­mit­tee is to:

1. Facil­it­ate activ­it­ies that focus on policy and/or soci­et­al impact of evol­u­tion­ary bio­logy research, organ­ized by ESEB members.
2. Enhance the vis­ib­il­ity of policy to the evol­u­tion­ary bio­logy com­munity, both in terms of career pos­sib­il­it­ies and poten­tial impact of their research.
3. Provide oppor­tun­it­ies for ESEB mem­bers to explore, dis­cuss, and become involved in policy.
4. Defend the value of sci­ence-driv­en solu­tions to soci­et­al issues, e.g. cli­mate change, biod­iversity loss, and dis­ease risk.

Membership of the committee

Any ESEB mem­bers can make their interest in mem­ber­ship of the com­mit­tee known through sub­mis­sion to the Teams or Slack web­site, or by regis­ter­ing their interest at any time by regis­ter­ing via this Google Form https://forms.gle/XkA7qkuAZ5Yf6Cb98. Their mem­ber­ship will then be con­sidered when a vacancy appears in the Policy Committee.

Current committee members

Annual Call Open!
Policy and Evolutionary Biology Funds 2026

Dead­line: Wed­nes­day, 30 Septem­ber 2026, 23.59 UTC.

Please vis­it the web­site of the Policy and Evol­u­tion­ary Bio­logy Funds for fur­ther information.