Understanding Reproductive Fission in European Honey Bees

We created a set of predictive, deterministic models, each of a set of different 'traditional' hypothesis for the mechanism triggering reproductive swarming in honey bees. We compared these outcomes to one from a model of our own unifying, ultimate hypothesis. By looking at the honey bee system, we were able to generalize the understanding of why swarming occurs when it does in all systems that reproduce via reproductive fission. (PDF of the paper in Insectes Sociaux)

This is in collaboration with Philip Starks at Tufts University.

Individual Choice and the Evolution of Social Complexity

We created a set of dynamic network models to evaluate how individual social affiliation preferences affected the stability and organizational success of social populations. Using a few basic definitions from social network theory, we were able to generate some promising insights into the possible pathways of evolution of complex social organizations once sociality had already evolved. (PDF of the paper in press in the Annales Zoologici Fennici)

This is in collaboration with Kah Loon Ng at National University of Singapore and DIMACS.

Nest Founding Behavior in Paper Wasps

We are using game theory to analyze the choices of paper wasp nest foundresses based on their probable reproductive success in each of four strategies: solitary founding, collaborative founding, abandoned-nest adoption or nest usurpation. (In press in the Annales Zoologici Fennici – please check back here soon for a PDF version)

This is in collaboration with Philip Starks at Tufts University.

Drone Rearing and Tenure in Honey Bees

We are examining drone rearing and maintenance from a game theoretic perspective, looking at the timing of rearing, and duration of maintenance, of drones as both a global optimization and a series of locally optimized choices to understand how the observed behaviors might be functionally adaptive.

This is in collaboration with Philip Starks at Tufts University.

Differential Investment in Reproductive Offspring in Honey Bee Colonies

As an extension of earlier work, we are using our understanding of both reproductive fission and the rearing of reproductives at various points in colony development to quantify the differential investment in male vs female reproductives.

This is in collaboration with Philip Starks at Tufts University.

Optimal Strategies of Task Allocation in Social Insects

We are using cellular automata models to determine theoretically optimal strategies of task allocation, independent of task recruitment mechanisms, in the organization of social insect societies.

This is in collaboration with Sam Beshers at the University of Illinois.

Some of my projects in the field of Evolutionary and Behavioral Sociobiology: