Jonathan Balcombe has a PhD in ethology from the University of Tennessee. He has published over 50 scientific papers on animal behaviour and animal protection. He is the author of four books, including: What a Fish Knows (available in 12 foreign editions), Pleasurable Kingdom, Second Nature, and The Exultant Ark. He is currently writing a book about the lives of flies. Balcombe serves as an Associate Editor for The Editorial Department, and for the journal Animal Sentience. He also teaches an online course in Animal Sentience for the Viridis Graduate Institute.