
Transdisciplinary research at the interface of biology, social sciences, mathematics, and
computational science.
I use mathematical models and agent-based simulations to study complex evolutionary processes in biological and social systems. Over the last several years, my research interests have mostly concentrated on the following areas:
- Human origins
- The evolution of social complexity
- Human behavior in cooperation and conflict
- Cultural evolution
- Social norms and beliefs
- Social institutions
Previously I have also worked on
- Speciation and biological diversification
- Sexual conflict and sexual selection
- Coevolution and frequency-dependent selection
- Fitness landscapes
- Dynamics and maintenance of genetic variation
- Phenotypic plasticity and genotype-environment interaction
I am the Director of the
Center for the Dynamics of Social Complexity (DySoC),
a Research Affiliate at the School of Anthropology, University of Oxford, UK,
and an External Faculty at the
Complexity Science Hub Vienna, Austria. I was the Associate Director for Scientific Activities at the
National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) during the life of the NSF award (2008-2021).
My research has been supported by the NIH, the NSF, the John Templeton Foundation, and the DOD (Army Research Office, Minerva Research Initiative, Office of Naval Research).
Some Links
Center for the Dynamics of Social Complexity
NEW! DySoC Spring 2021 Webinar Series: "Human Origins and Cultural Evolution: Celebrating the 150th anniversary of The Descent of Man"
Online teaching modules on cultural evolution (sponsored by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation; PIs - S. Gavrilets and P. J. Richerson)
Videos of earlier DySoC webinars on social and cultural evolution