Michael A. Woodley of Menie, Yr. took his Bachelor's degree at Columbia University, New York, majoring in Evolution, Ecology and Environmental Biology. His PhD work concerned the molecular characterization of aspects of the life history ecology of the thale cress Arabidopsis thaliana, and was undertaken at the University of London (Royal Holloway). Shortly after completing this work, Michael switched his focus from plant to human evolutionary and behavioural ecology and has conducted much of the research showing that average general intelligence is in decline, to the extent that this has even become known as the 'Woodley Effect’ in academic circles. He has co-written the academic monograph Historical Variability in Heritable General Intelligence (Buckingham University Press, 2013). Michael has publically discussed this research in various media, including national and international newspapers (The Times, The Telegraph, Huffington Post, The Daily Mail, etc.), and also in various radio, television and internet formats (e.g. BBC Radio, Al-Jazeera, The Stefan Molyneux Show etc.).
