Curiosity as an approach to ethoexperimental analysis: Behavioral neuroscience as seen by students and colleagues of Bob Blanchard

•Bob Blanchard’s ethoexperimental approach informs the design and interpretation of research.•Neural representations of the world are flexible and thus adaptable.•The visible burrow system represents an animal model with ecological validity.•A zoom out-zoom in approach captures both general sociality with detailed dynamics.•Blanchard called for the creation of new ecologically and ethologically relevant models. This review is a synopsis of an International Behavioral Neuroscience Society (IBNS) symposium which focused on the elements of Behavioral Neuroscience for which Robert J. Blanchard was a Pioneer, Leading Expert, Advocate, Mentor, and Sage. Bob Blanchard’s work demonstrably changed our broad understanding of animal behavior, and led the way to experimental design and analysis for studies of animal behavior that helped to clarify the deep complexity and subtleties of behavior. Bob’s impact on the field of Behavioral Neuroscience includes the behavior, neurocircuitry, neurochemistry, and pharmacology related to social interactions, aggressive behavior, defensive behaviors, flight, freezing, threat, attack, risk assessment, anxiety disorders, animal models, models of social behavior, and autism. The methods and designs developed by Bob Blanchard over a lifetime have been adopted by scientists around the world, and form a standard of excellence in the field. The article addresses these topics in a way that presents developments in the field, describes the newest research data, and pays tribute to a great scientist and founder of this field of work, Bob Blanchard.