Life
Parker was educated at Lymm Grammar School in Lymm, Cheshire, and gained his BSc from University of Bristol in 1965, from where he also gained a doctorate in 1969 under H.E. Hinton, FRS (1912–1977). His Ph.D. was on The reproductive behaviour and the nature of sexual selection in Scatophaga stercoraria L. (yellow dung fly), and provided a detailed quantitative test of Darwin's theory of sexual selection, and an early application of optimality theory in biology.
At this time, most ethologists and ecologists interpreted adaptations in terms of "survival value to the species"". However, the paradigm shift of the gene-centric view of evolution (popularised by Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene) shortly afterwards overturned this idea: mainstream views in behavioural ecology and sociobiology saw natural selection restored to Darwinian principles in terms of survival value to the individual (and its kin). Parker's work played a part in this shift and in the early development of behavioural ecology.
He moved to the University of Liverpool in 1968, where he became a lecturer in zoology.
In 1978, he took a research fellowship at King's College, Cambridge University, returning to Liverpool in 1979. He became a professor in 1989 on election to the Royal Society, In 1996, he became the Derby Chair of Zoology, where as of 2008, he remains. In 2005, he won the Frink Medal, of the Zoological Society of London.
In 2008, he won the Darwin Medal:
for his lifetime contribution to the foundations and development of behavioural ecology, in particular for understanding evolutionary adaptations and their consequences for natural populations.In 2011, he was awarded a Doctor of Science, honoris causa from University of Bristol.
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