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Human Evolution Interest

I use mathematical and computational methods to study questions of evolutionary biology and social behaviour. I am especially interested in the relationship between population genetics and social evolution. I work mostlyÌýon questionsÌýconcerning the potential for complex adaptations in evolving systems, the dynamics of repeated social interactions, and the impact of genetic architectureÌýon evolutionary dynamics.

Cooperative interactions are the basic units of social bahaviour. In higherÌýorganisms, and especially in humans, such interactions are many and various. But even among theÌýsimplest bacteria, basicÌýcooperative interactions can beÌýcomplicatedÌýto evolve and maintain. I study how behavioural strategies,Ìýwhich determineÌýwhen an organism will engage in cooperation, change over time in a population. I am especially interested in how the evolution of such strategies is alteredÌýby access to information such as memory of past interactions, the public reputation of other individuals, the spatial structure of the population and the relatedness between individuals. I aim to quantify and predict how long it takesÌýbehaviouralÌýnorms to become established in a population, and how longÌýa norm will persist once it is established.

Human Evolution Research Themes

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Collaborative projects & Networks