Carel van Schaik, born in Rotterdam in 1953, is a behavioural researcher and evolutionary biologist. He researches the roots of human culture, co-operation and intelligence in great apes and has spent many years observing orangutans in the jungles of Indonesia.
He was a professor at Duke University in the USA and Professor of Biological Anthropology at the University of Zurich, where he was Director of the Anthropological Institute and Museum.
Carel van Schaik is a corresponding member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the Max Planck Society. He lives in Zurich.
Together with Kai Michel, he wrote the bestsellers ‘Diary of Mankind’, ‘The Truth about Eve’ and ‘Being Human’.