Bronwyn Tarr is a postdoctoral researcher at the Social and Evolutionary Neuroscience Research Group and a research associate at the Institute for Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, the University of Oxford. At Oxford, Bronwyn’s doctoral research combined her passion for dance with her curiosity about human nature and evolution of social behaviours. Her thesis centred on evolutionary theories of our species’ love-affair with music and dance. Working with people in Brazil, Oxford and Barcelona, she has researched how dancing in synchrony acts as a social glue, causing the release of endorphins and the experience of a collective ‘high’. A believer in Open Science, Bronwyn has delivered a number of interactive public talks, Café Scientifique lectures, spoken on radio and podcasts and written popular science articles on her research. She has also written and developed a documentary series concept – ‘Musical Planet’ – which celebrates and explores humankind’s pervasive love-affair with music and dance. The series is currently under pre-production review at the BBC.

Postdoctoral Researcher | Social & Evolutionary Neuroscience Research Group Research Associate | Institute for Cognitive & Evolutionary Anthropology University of Oxford, UK