Lucy Cooke

Lucy Cooke is an author, National Geographic explorer and award-winning broadcaster, with a Masters in zoology from New College Oxford, where she studied under Richard Dawkins. Lucy is the author of 4 books, the recent best-seller and feminist paradigm shaker, Bitch: What does it mean to be female?, New York Times best-seller A Little Book of Sloth and its follow up Life in the Sloth Lane: Slow Down and Smell the Hibiscus, and The Truth About Animals a Royal Society prize winner. She is also a columnist for BBC Wildlife Magazine, writing her popular Female of the Species column since 2021.

Using her vast knowledge and experience as a zoologist and naturalist, Lucy’s work focuses on what we can learn and understand from the unique biology and behaviour of animals and the animal kingdom, including lessons surrounding: female and male behavioural patterns, leadership and dominance, pack mentalities and sustainability.

A sought-after public speaker who is comfortable performing to a wide range of audiences from Harvard to Birmingham ICC to Glastonbury Music festival. She has also worked with a range of corporate clients including J. P Morgan, Gartner, Deloitte and Disney. Lucy was also invited to speak about sloths and sustainability at TED Women in 2018, and has spoken at numerous festivals including Hay-on-Wye, Cheltenham Science and book festivals, Bath book festival, Edinburgh Science Festival, New Scientist Live, The Electric Picnic in Ireland, the G10 in Amsterdam and Heidelberg science festival.

As a broadcaster, Lucy has written, produced and presented high profile prime time documentaries for BBC, Channel 4, National Geographic, PBS, Animal Planet and Discovery, as well as live programmes Springwatch and The Beach Live for BBC. A regular panellist on radio shows such as Sue Perkins Nature Table, Infinite Monkey Cage, Women’s Hour and The Museum of Curiosity. Lucy’s Power of… series has been released as an audiobook entitled The Evolutionary Edge on Audible.

Lucy’s paradigm-busting research has earned her a fellowship at Durham University. Bitch has also been placed on the syllabus of countless international universities, many of whom have invited Lucy to lecture including Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, Mount Holyoke, Chicago, Stockholm, Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Newcastle and Durham.

Lead Like a Bonobo, not a Baboon: Smarter leadership lessons from the wild
Wolves were the original animal hierarchy, with an alpha male on top. However, the “alpha” model of leadership was never real, it was based on a biased view of animal behaviour and discounts the teamwork that embodies wolf society.

In this inspirational talk, Lucy gives a tour of cutting-edge research into the animal kingdom and explains how and why the most successful animal societies don’t thrive on dominance. She also draws on parallels with some of world’s most successful, and unsuccessful leaders, and shares the essential leadership lessons (honed by 3.5 billion years of evolution) to help you lead well and build successful teams.

Work Like a Sloth, think like a Dolphin: Nature’s blueprint for a better workplace
Sloths have a bad rap. Being named after a deadly sin has done nothing for their PR. But nature’s slow coaches have been around for over 60 million years, outliving flashier species like the sabre-toothed tiger. As the founder of the Sloth Appreciation Society, Lucy takes inspiration from the Sloth, along with many of Nature’s other great survivors.

In this fascinating talk, Lucy shares the work and life lessons learned from the vast array of species in the animal kingdom, to help create a better, happier, and thriving workforce.

Survival of the flexible – Darwin in the boardroom
The octopus is a master of innovation, which is why they have been on the planet for over 330 million years. Ultimately, the key to success is not strength but adaptability, and in an era of rapid change — AI, economic shifts, climate crises— embracing flexibility, innovation, and collaboration is key.

In this talk, Lucy explores lessons from nature’s greatest survivors, from problem-solving urban raccoons to cooperative meerkats, as these pioneering toughies not only offer inspiration but also the perfect antidote to future-proofing success.

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Clients often ask about purchasing books for giveaways and delegate packs. Below you’ll find a selection of products by Lucy Cooke. Click the images to view on Amazon's website. For bulk orders, please speak with your Booking Agent.