Available to book
Lucy Cooke
Effective Leadership
Behavioural Science
Team Building
Transform leadership and sustainability strategies with Lucy Cooke, speaker, zoologist and bestselling author. Lucy works with organisations to apply animal behaviour insights to workplace dynamics and environmental challenges, delivering powerful frameworks for clients including J.P. Morgan, Deloitte and Disney.
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Environmentalist
Lucy Cooke is a zoologist, author, and National Geographic explorer who transforms complex animal behaviours into powerful insights for organisations. Her expertise bridges the gap between natural science and business strategy, offering fresh perspectives on leadership and sustainability. Lucy's credentials include a Master's in zoology from New College Oxford, where she studied under Richard Dawkins.
She has authored four books, including the feminist paradigm-shifting bestseller Bitch: What does it mean to be female? and the New York Times bestseller "A Little Book of Sloth." As a BBC Wildlife Magazine columnist, she also writes the popular "Female of the Species" column. Through her work, Lucy helps organisations understand leadership dynamics by drawing parallels between animal behaviour and workplace environments. Her research on pack mentalities provides actionable frameworks for team building, while her insights on sustainability offer businesses practical approaches to environmental challenges based on natural systems.
Audiences leave Lucy's presentations with concrete strategies for fostering inclusive leadership models, practical tools for implementing sustainable business practices, and a renewed perspective on gender dynamics in professional settings. Her engaging delivery makes complex scientific concepts accessible and immediately applicable. She has spoken to a range of businesses, including J. P Morgan, Gartner, Deloitte and Disney.
Book Lucy Cooke to give your organisation the evolutionary edge that comes from understanding the profound business lessons hidden within the natural world.
Topics, sessions and talks
Leadership in nature takes many forms, often defying human assumptions. Lucy Cooke explores how dominance, cooperation, and adaptability play out in the animal world, from the matriarchal societies of elephants to the rule-breaking behaviours of alpha females. Drawing on evolutionary biology and animal behaviour, she challenges traditional leadership models and offers surprising insights into what truly makes an effective leader.
Nature offers powerful lessons in collaboration, from the coordinated hunts of wild dogs to the social structures of meerkats. Lucy Cooke examines the evolutionary advantages of teamwork, exploring how animals work together to survive and thrive. With a mix of science, storytelling, and humour, she uncovers the key ingredients of successful group dynamics and how they apply to human teams in business and beyond.
Biology has long been used to justify gender stereotypes, but modern science tells a different story. Lucy Cooke dismantles outdated myths about sex and gender in nature, revealing a world where females are dominant, males nurture, and diversity is the norm. By understanding the true complexities of evolutionary biology, she provides a fresh perspective on gender roles and the importance of challenging ingrained biases.
In her insightful talk, Lucy Cooke explores the misconception of the "alpha" model in wolf hierarchies, revealing that successful animal societies thrive on teamwork rather than dominance. Drawing from groundbreaking research, she highlights parallels between animal behaviour and leadership styles of both successful and unsuccessful leaders. Attendees will learn essential leadership lessons, refined over 3.5 billion years of evolution, to enhance their own leadership skills and build effective teams.
In this fascinating talk, Lucy Cooke challenges the negative perception of sloths, highlighting their resilience over 60 million years. She draws inspiration from sloths and other enduring species to share valuable life lessons. Attendees will discover how these insights can foster a better, happier, and more productive workforce, ultimately transforming their approach to work and life. Join Lucy to learn how nature's survivors can inspire personal and professional growth.
Lucy Cooke, zoologist and National Geographic explorer, transforms animal behavior insights into powerful business strategies, offering your team fresh perspectives on leadership, sustainability, and workplace dynamics. Book this Oxford-educated bestselling author today to give your organisation the evolutionary edge that comes from understanding the profound business lessons hidden within the natural world.
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frequently asked questions
Something we've not covered here?
Email lucy.cooke@getapeptalk.com or call PepTalk on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm Lucy's availability and fees. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and a bit about your audience.
Lucy Cooke draws on evolutionary biology and animal behaviour research to structure her presentations, using cross-species case studies — such as matriarchal elephant societies and coordinated wild dog hunts — to challenge established models of leadership, teamwork, and gender roles, translating these into frameworks applicable to organisational contexts.
Lucy Cooke speaks on leadership lessons from the animal kingdom, evolutionary approaches to teamwork and group dynamics, and the biology of gender equality and unconscious bias. She holds a Master's in zoology from New College Oxford, where she studied under Richard Dawkins, and is the author of the bestselling Bitch: What Does It Mean To Be Female?, with speaking clients including J.P. Morgan, Gartner, Deloitte, and Disney.
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Not all of them, and it makes no difference to your booking. PepTalk's network of 15,000+ speakers covers talent the team works with directly alongside speakers represented by agents and agencies worldwide. PepTalk approaches the speaker, negotiates the fee and handles contracting either way.
Three to six months ahead is comfortable for most events, and 12 months is better for large conferences, peak-season dates or one specific in-demand speaker. Shorter timelines are workable, and PepTalk regularly fills last-minute and replacement bookings within days. Availability is the constraint, so get in touch as soon as you have a date.
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