Staff profile

Research

I am a postdoctoral research associate studying comparative psychology in great apes. My research interests include empathy and other emotional processes, decision-making, rationality, and conflict management. I am particularly interested in how individual and social characteristics influence variation in the aforementioned concepts.

I completed my bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Kent and my PhD at Durham University, where I now work. My postdoctoral placement is funded through a grant obtained with Prof Zanna Clay and Dr Edwin van Leeuwen (Utrecht University). We are investigating how social structures influence individual and collective decision-making and collective action.

I have worked with captive, wild, and sanctuary-living populations of primates. My current research is focused on great apes, but I have interests in and some experience studying human populations. I primarily work at Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Trust in Zambia, where I also sit on the Research Advisory Board.

• Empathy
• Great ape social behaviour
• Conflict management
• Comparative psychology
• Collective action
• Decision-making
• Social structures

Chapter in book

• Primate empathy: A flexible and multi-componential phenomenon
  
  Brooker, J. S., Webb, C. E., & Clay, Z. (2022). Primate empathy: A flexible and multi-componential phenomenon. In M. J. Beran & B. L. Schwartz (Eds.), Primate Cognitive Studies. (pp. 505-531). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108955836.020

Journal Article

• Within-species variation eclipses between-species differences in Pan consolation
  
  Brooker, J. S., Webb, C. E., Kordon, S., de Waal, F. B., & Clay, Z. (2025). Within-species variation eclipses between-species differences in Pan consolation. Evolution and Human Behavior, 46(3), Article 106682. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106682
• Bonobos and chimpanzees overlap in sexual behaviour patterns during social tension
  
  Brooker, J. S., Webb, C. E., van Leeuwen, E. J. C., Kordon, S., de Waal, F. B. M., & Clay, Z. (2025). Bonobos and chimpanzees overlap in sexual behaviour patterns during social tension. Royal Society Open Science, 12(3), Article 242031. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.242031
• Factors shaping socio-emotional trajectories in sanctuary-living bonobos: a longitudinal approach
  
  Kordon, S., Webb, C. E., Brooker, J. S., de Waal, F. B., & Clay, Z. (2024). Factors shaping socio-emotional trajectories in sanctuary-living bonobos: a longitudinal approach. Royal Society Open Science, 11(12), Article 240435. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240435
• ChimpanSEE, ChimpanDO: Grooming and play contagion in chimpanzees
  
  Sandars, G., Brooker, J. S., & Clay, Z. (2024). ChimpanSEE, ChimpanDO: Grooming and play contagion in chimpanzees. PLOS ONE, 19(11), Article e0312467. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0312467
• The expression of empathy in human's closest relatives, bonobos and chimpanzees: current and future directions
  
  Brooker, J. S., Webb, C. E., de Waal, F. B. M., & Clay, Z. (2024). The expression of empathy in human’s closest relatives, bonobos and chimpanzees: current and future directions. Biological Reviews, 99(4), 1556-1575. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.13080
• Group-specific expressions of co-feeding tolerance in bonobos and chimpanzees preclude dichotomous species generalizations
  
  van Leeuwen, E. J., Staes, N., Brooker, J. S., Kordon, S., Nolte, S., Clay, Z., Eens, M., & Stevens, J. M. (2023). Group-specific expressions of co-feeding tolerance in bonobos and chimpanzees preclude dichotomous species generalizations. IScience, 26(12), Article 108528. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.108528
• Fellatio among male sanctuary-living chimpanzees during a period of social tension
  
  Brooker, J. S., Webb, C. E., & Clay, Z. (2021). Fellatio among male sanctuary-living chimpanzees during a period of social tension. Behaviour, 158, 77-87. https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539x-bja10053
• An investigation of the auditory perception of western lowland gorillas in an enrichment study
  
  Brooker, J. S. (2016). An investigation of the auditory perception of western lowland gorillas in an enrichment study. Zoo Biology, 35(5), 398-408. https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.21312