Posted 10 Jan 2011 / 0
I just finished reading Robert Axelrod’s seminal book entitled The Evolution of Cooperation. Although I had read a lot about Axelrod’s work and am quite familiar with the body of literature that it inspired, I had never actually read his book cover to cover. Going in, my expectation was of finding a rather primitive treatment Read More
Altruism, Behavioral Ecology, Books, Coevolution, Cooperation, Cultural Evolution, Evolution, Evolutionary Modeling, Game Theory, Human Evolution, Individual-based Models, Interdisciplinarity, Multilevel Selection, Mutualism, Political Science, Public Policy, Reciprocity, Sociology, Spatially Explicit Modeling
Posted 07 Jan 2011 / 0
John C. Avise [1, 2] started off the colloquium by giving a very brief introduction to the In the Light of Evolution series, highlighting much of the history I discussed in my preview. Peter Nonacs “Insect Societies: Pinnacles of Cooperation” Nonacs began his talk by giving it an additional subtitle: “peaks of runaway niceness”. His Read More
Conferences, Cooperation, Evolution, Talks & Seminars
Posted 04 Jan 2011 / 0
In a couple of days I will be attending the In the Light of Evolution V: Cooperation colloquium, and in preparation I have been reviewing the work of the featured speakers. Tomorrow, I will be posting a preview of the meeting. The meeting promises to be broad and interdisciplinary. It also features a very elite Read More
Conferences, Cooperation, Social Network Analysis
Posted 02 Jan 2011 / 0
In preparation for my attendance at the In the Light of Evolution V: Cooperation conference, I have been checking out past National Academy of Sciences colloquia in this series. In 2009, there was an In the Light of Evolution of III: Two Centuries of Darwin conference. There are podcast MP4’s for each of the talks Read More
Conferences, Evolution, History, Homo species, Human Evolution, Phylogenetics
Posted 09 Nov 2010 / 0
Neuroscience represents a sort of “last frontier” in biology: despite decades of research into the nervous systems of a diverse set of organisms, scientific understanding of how the web of neurons we call a brain creates complex emergent patterns of cognition and behavior remains limited. Part of the challenge faced by neuroscience has to do Read More
Adaptation, Ethics, Experiments (General), Genetic Engineering, Neuroscience
Posted 13 Oct 2010 / 16
One of the most difficult things about being the only full-time biologist on the Pratt Institute campus is that I do not have the opportunity to discuss serious science in my field with colleagues or guest speakers. To help alleviate this problem, I have my friends who are at serious research institutions on the lookout Read More
Adaptation, Altruism, Articles, Behavioral Ecology, Cooperation, Data Limitation, Evolution, Game Theory, Group Selection, Human Evolution, Multilevel Selection, Sociology, Superorganisms, Talks & Seminars
Posted 17 Sep 2010 / 0
Steve Chillrud with his Pratt host, Associate Professor Damon Chaky of the Department of Mathematics & Science Every year, Pratt Institute’s School of Liberal Arts and Sciences hosts a “scholar-in-residence” who spends a few days on campus giving talks and workshops to faculty and students. The honor of selecting a scholar-in-residence rotates between the three Read More
Data Limitation, Department of Mathematics & Science, Environmental Justice, Experiments (General), Pollution, Pratt Institute, Public Policy, Urban Ecology
Posted 07 Aug 2010 / 0
This year’s Ecological Society of America (ESA) annual meeting was a success for me, and its siting in Pittsburgh was an added bonus. Based on the scope and focus of the meeting, ESA seems to be an organization poised to move beyond its traditional role as the central home of ecological research. The extension into Read More
Conferences, Ecological Society of America, Ecology
Posted 06 Aug 2010 / 0
This year’s ESA has included a lot more sessions and symposia on the work being done by ecologists to preserve ecosystem services and work within the communities that benefit by these services. Ana Elisa Pérez-Quintero’s talk, “Healthy ecosystems, healthy people: Popularizing ecology from the local to the global, the example of GAIA in Puerto Rico”, Read More
Conferences, Ecological Society of America, Ecology
Posted 05 Aug 2010 / 0
Allison “Sunny” Power, last year’s ESA president, presented the first talk (“Global warming and agricultural intensification”) of a special session entitled “Global Warming, Smallholder Agriculture And Environmental Justice: Making Critical Connections”. She spoke about the effects of agricultural intensification through the use of increased fertilizer and pesticide use and the effect this intensification has on Read More
Conferences, Ecological Society of America, Ecology
