Gilly is a Professor of Evolutionary & Developmental Psychology at the University of Sussex. Gilly earned a BSc in Cognitive Science from the University of California, San Diego and a PhD in Experimental Neuroscience from the University of Oxford. She is on a quest to better understand how we became the upright walking, talking, tool-using great apes that we are today – both through the evolution of our species and though the development of infants. She studies the behaviours of humans and other animal species.

Gilly is dedicated to science engagement. She runs public science exhibits, features at festivals and makes regular contributions to television, radio, newsprint and podcasts.

Upcoming Public Engagement Events

Cosmic Shambles Network -14th December 2024

Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People (Saturday 14th December 2024, 2pm): The annual chaotic jamboree of science, comedy, music and more hosted by Robin Ince with profits to charity.

BBC Horizon: Secrets of the Brain – airing 2025

Professor Gilly Forrester contributes and consults for both episodes of Secrets of the Brain airing in spring 2025. In episode one, Gilly invites presenter Jim Al-Khalili to consider brain and behavioural biases and their implications for modern cognition. In episode two, Gilly chats with Jim about how our brains evolved to make us the social-communicators that we are today.

On set of Secrets of the Brain with Jim Al-Khalili

Recent Public Engagement Events

Think Again! – A new live psychology panel show in Brighton

In her role as Academic Lead for Public Engagement at the University of Sussex, Professor Gilly Forrester brings a new live psychology panel show to Brighton. Hosted by BBC Broadcaster Claudia Hammond, THINK AGAIN! gives an insider’s look at the psychology behind the way we think, feel and behave. On 21^st November , Claudia presented The Psychology of Siblings with insights from psychologists from the University of Sussex: Professor Alison Pike, Dr Sophie Zadeh and Professor Gilly Forrester. The show covered everything from animal siblings to how nature and nurture influences human sibling relations and the complex relationships of diblings (donor sibling). The audience at Ironworks Studios Brighton, enjoyed an evening of cutting-edge science with quizzes and Q&A. Look out for our next show with a new psychology topic in March 2025.

BBC Radio4 PM Show – Sept 2024

Professor Gilly Forrester is interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s PM show – in light of a new Spanish law aiming to give human rights to great apes. Click the link below and listen in at approximately 54 minutes.

Matiba Port Lymbe Wild Animal Park, Image: Forrester

Mensa IQ Magazine Interview

Professor Gilly Forrester chats about animal intelligence in the May 2024 issue of Mensa IQ

The Psychologist: “Everyone should be part of science”

The Psychologist Editor Dr Jon Sutton meets Gilly Forrester, Professor of Evolutionary and Developmental Psychology at the University of Sussex, and an experienced science communicator.

https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/everyone-should-be-part-science

Children’s Parliament Select Committee for Animal Welfare

University of Sussex Professor Gilly Forrester grilled by Young Prime Minister at historic Children’s Parliament. Forrester said: “I am pleased to have been able to share my expertise with the members of the Children’s Parliament as part of the Select Committee for Animal Welfare. These passionate young people are championing the enactment of the Animal Cruelty Tourism act – without further delay. I hope the government is listening.”

Baby Boogie at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2024

Baby Boogie showcased Professor Gilly Forrester’s infant motor development research from the Baby Grow project, funded by the Simons Foundation. Baby Boogie is a bespoke interactive game developed especially for the public to demonstrate the complexity and variability of early infant motor actions. The lab are researching the links between healthy features of motor development and subsequent social-communication abilities.

Professor Forrester to lead Science Futures Glastonbury Festival 2024

Visit Science Futures, where you can explore how science shapes our daily lives in ways you never imagined. Uncover the secrets of the human brain, meet the wildlife in your back garden, discover new sustainable materials, and talk to scientists fighting climate change – or just catch a show on the Laboratory Stage. Science Futures has something for everyone. Forrester invited Robin Ince to headline the Laboratory Stage 2024 with special guests Justin Rowlatt (BBC Climate Editor) and the BBC Natural History Unit providing sneak peeks of their Asia programme. Other highlights was comedy by Andrew O’Neill, music by The Deep Blue and nature enthusiast/influencer WildlifeKate. It has now been confirmed that Ince will rejoin Science Futures for 2025 – to host an exciting Science Extravaganza with many special guests.