HBES 2026 Conference Report

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HBES 2026 was a success!

HBES 2026 was held May 13-16 at University Mohammad VI Polytechnic (UM6P) in Rabat, Morocco. The conference was four fantastic days of presentations, posters, and discussions, including great a shared day with the Cultural Evolution Society meeting. The conference featured plenary lectures from Youssef Bokbot, Hannah Kokko, Sara Lowes, Hugo Mercier, Brooke Scelza, and a keynote lecture from Simon Baron-Cohen. Thanks to Zachary Garfield, Edmond Seabright, and the rest of the organizers; the Program Committee; the volunteers; the sponsors; and everyone else who made it great!

Plenaries

We enjoyed the following plenary and keynote lectures:

  • Brooke Scelza – More Than Our Differences: Moving beyond dichotomies in the study of human mating
  • Hugo Mercier (Joint HBES and CES Plenary) – The evolution of reason and the cultural evolution of reasons
  • Hanna Kokko – A long life: how desirable is it, evolutionarily speaking?
  • Sara Lowes – Culture, Policy, and Economic Development
  • Youssef Bokbot – Adapting to an unusual biotope: cultural and technological innovations in Oued, Morocco ~6kya
  • Simon Baron Cohen (Keynote) – The Pattern Seekers: How Autism Drives Human Invention

Conference Awards

Read more about HBES Awards here.

  • New Investigator Award: Joakim Zahl – Preverbal Infants Represent and Emotionally Value Direct Reciprocity
  • Postdoctoral Award: Elizabeth Agey – Parental influence on mate choice shapes reproduction and socioeconomic resources in Nepal
  • Poster Award: Yukino Watanabe & Yohsuke Ohtsubo – Examining the Voluntary Use of Cooperative Intention Signals: An Experimental Approach

Society Awards

Read more about HBES Awards here.

Paper Awards

Read more about HBES Awards here.