Research interests
Transdisciplinary research at the interface of biology, social sciences, mathematics, and computational science.
Current focus
I use mathematical models, numerical methods, and agent-based simulations to study complex evolutionary processes. I also collaborate with evolutionary biologists, mathematicians, anthropologists, psychologists, sociologists, economists, historians, and researchers working on cultural evolution.
- Human origins
- Evolution of social complexity
- Social norms, social institutions, and beliefs
- Cooperation, conflict, inequality, and cognitive processes
- Cliodynamics and long-run social change
Human origins and the evolution of social complexity
I have worked on models of human brain size and intelligence, coalition and alliance formation, the transition from promiscuity to pair-bonding, the origins of the egalitarian syndrome, and the evolution of social instincts in between-group conflict. Related projects continue to examine social norms, institutions, and the dynamics of collective behavior.
Speciation and adaptive radiation
I have developed mathematical foundations for a general theory of speciation. This work examines how the probability of speciation, waiting times, duration, and related outcomes depend on mutation, migration, population size, local adaptation, and the genetics of reproductive isolation. Later work extended these ideas to adaptive radiation and ecological speciation in a variety of biological systems.
Sexual conflict
My work on sexual conflict studies how traits that increase the reproductive success of one sex may reduce the fitness of the other. Theoretical models have been used to explain rapid evolution of fertilization traits, origins of mate choice, effects of sexual conflict on speciation, and multi-way sexual conflicts.
Holey fitness landscapes
This line of work argues that high-dimensional fitness landscapes differ sharply from the classic metaphor of rugged peaks and valleys. The focus is on nearly neutral networks of high-fitness genotypes extending through genotype space, allowing extensive divergence without crossing deep fitness valleys.
Other areas
Additional work has addressed microevolutionary processes and macroevolutionary patterns, division of labor, differentiated multicellularity, maintenance of genetic variation, phenotypic plasticity, frequency-dependent selection, coevolution, maternal and parental effects, hybrid zones, clines, and spatially heterogeneous selection.