Please explain. IE, give examples of Dawkins' wielding power over anything.
AFAIK, RD is a professor who has written several popular books. He has also done original research in ethology, memetics, sociobiology, etc.
Don't confuse the fact that he's in the public's face a lot with influence in scientific circles.
Richard Dawkins was the first Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. (among other things)
On your other issue, intelligence is not simple awareness or consciousness but also includes decision and process. The selection of a mate requires all three: awareness, decision and process.