Professor of Biology at the School of Cognitive Science at Hampshire College in Massachusetts, USA until 2006. Prof Ray Coppinger studied dogs, bred dogs, raced dog sled teams in the Arctic and worked with dogs for decades all over the world. He was also a consultant to the famous Wolf Park, Indiana, USA.

Along with his wife, Lorna, he co-authored the must-have book, ‘Dogs – a startling new understanding of canine origin, behaviour and evolution’ which forms an integral part of COAPE’s course material.

Ray and Lorna developed the modern theory of how dogs evolved by natural selection. The most consensus view is that people domesticated dogs but the Coppingers questioned that. By investigating dogs in places like the Mexico City dump they gathered information to support their argument that dogs evolved as one of the all-time successful scavengers. Dogs’ wild behaviour is that of a village scavenger, but often dogs like those living off eco-systems such as the Mexico City Dump have their behaviours shaped by the environment they find themselves in. Humans adopting dogs from these background sources have continued to shape them further into diverse forms, making them on the one hand the most successful wolf ever known and on the other hand something interestingly bizarre.

Ray brought together all his amazing experiences and life’s work as a professional scientist to guide students as they explore the emotions, intelligence and development of the behaviour of animals through his courses with COAPE. Ray passed away in 2017, leaving behind a legacy that COAPE is proud to continue teaching to our students.