Risky Business: Using biological systems to mitigate risk in supply chains and transportation networks. In an uncertain world, resilient supply chains are crucial for getting products and services to consumers. However, the algorithms used to design and manage supply chains are inadequate to deal with the increasingly complex and self-organised nature of modern supply chains. This project will look to nature for new solutions to supply chain design and management problems. Natural systems are hi ....Risky Business: Using biological systems to mitigate risk in supply chains and transportation networks. In an uncertain world, resilient supply chains are crucial for getting products and services to consumers. However, the algorithms used to design and manage supply chains are inadequate to deal with the increasingly complex and self-organised nature of modern supply chains. This project will look to nature for new solutions to supply chain design and management problems. Natural systems are highly resilient against perturbations and damage. They have had millions of years to evolve efficient solutions to the same problems currently facing supply chains. Using experiments on ants and slime moulds. This project will uncover the secrets of biological resilience, and use this insight to develop new algorithms for supply chain design and management. Read moreRead less
The evolution of cooperative communication. This interdisciplinary project will provide a broad understanding of communication in a model ecological system involving ants, lycaenid butterflies, and host-plants. The project will reveal the nature of the chemical signals used to communicate, and their role in the origin, maintenance, and loss of mutualistic and parasitic associations.
The origins of gender. This project intends to address how the evolutionary phenomena of intra-sexual competition and inter-sexual conflict interact with economic circumstances to shape gendered behaviour and attitudes. These phenomena are important in evolution, economics, psychology and sociology, with implications for the economy and for the welfare of women and men. The project predicts that gender-related culture arises, partially, out of mating market dynamics. The research crosses traditi ....The origins of gender. This project intends to address how the evolutionary phenomena of intra-sexual competition and inter-sexual conflict interact with economic circumstances to shape gendered behaviour and attitudes. These phenomena are important in evolution, economics, psychology and sociology, with implications for the economy and for the welfare of women and men. The project predicts that gender-related culture arises, partially, out of mating market dynamics. The research crosses traditional boundaries between biology and economics to investigate the forces giving rise to gendered behaviour and resulting patterns of marriages, violence, political preferences and occupational choices. The project may provide new insights into the links between gender and violence, within-family conflicts, and gender roles in the home and workplace.Read moreRead less
Understanding the crowd - improving accuracy in collective motion theory. This project intends to develop more accurate methods for predicting the motions of large groups. The amazing coordinated movements seen in large groups of animals are governed by simple interactions between individuals, termed rules of motion. In 2011, techniques were developed to estimate individual rules of motion from video tracking data. The project plans to build on these breakthroughs by using advanced tracking, mod ....Understanding the crowd - improving accuracy in collective motion theory. This project intends to develop more accurate methods for predicting the motions of large groups. The amazing coordinated movements seen in large groups of animals are governed by simple interactions between individuals, termed rules of motion. In 2011, techniques were developed to estimate individual rules of motion from video tracking data. The project plans to build on these breakthroughs by using advanced tracking, modelling and analysis to systematically determine the influence that different movement parameters have on rules of motion and how rules of motion are affected by group size. It aims to develop a framework for analysis and modelling built on the visual perception of individuals.Read moreRead less
Leadership matters: the emergence of informed leaders and their influence on group movement. This project will discover the effect of leadership and social structure on collective motion in schools of damselfish, swarms of honey bees and human pedestrians using videoed experiments and computer simulations. These findings will be important in preventing crowd stampedes, understanding risky road crossing behaviour and designing 'swarms' of robots.
Microcosm Experiments for Improved Species Distribution Models. This project aims to use a spatially-explicit experimental system based on protists (microscopic organisms) to evaluate the predictive performance of dynamic distribution models, which are a newly-emerging class of species distribution models. Species distribution models are a fundamental part of ecological science, and underpin a range of applications related to managing threatened and invasive species. The project is expected to p ....Microcosm Experiments for Improved Species Distribution Models. This project aims to use a spatially-explicit experimental system based on protists (microscopic organisms) to evaluate the predictive performance of dynamic distribution models, which are a newly-emerging class of species distribution models. Species distribution models are a fundamental part of ecological science, and underpin a range of applications related to managing threatened and invasive species. The project is expected to provide insights into when these models are likely to work better than more traditional correlative models in non-lab environments. The experiments will inform further development of dynamic distribution models, and help determine whether dynamic distribution models can be usefully applied to species management.Read moreRead less
Pair bonding: is it all in the brain? This project aims to understand the interaction between classic pair bonding neural circuits, parasites, and the immune system in sleepy lizards. Social bonds are a cornerstone of human societies, especially true of the pair bond and this project expects to generate knowledge to help understand why healthy adult pair bonds are the single best predictor of longevity in humans. The expected outcomes of this project are to reveal the mechanistic basis of pair b ....Pair bonding: is it all in the brain? This project aims to understand the interaction between classic pair bonding neural circuits, parasites, and the immune system in sleepy lizards. Social bonds are a cornerstone of human societies, especially true of the pair bond and this project expects to generate knowledge to help understand why healthy adult pair bonds are the single best predictor of longevity in humans. The expected outcomes of this project are to reveal the mechanistic basis of pair bonding by identifying the brain regions, cell types and neurochemicals that promote pair bonding behaviour — for the first time in a wild animal. This project should provide significant benefits by increasing our knowledge of how pair bonds promote wellness.Read moreRead less
The benefits of sociality: understanding the relationship between cooperation, cognition and fitness. Cooperation may present unique cognitive challenges. Individuals perform behaviours that provide fitness benefits to others, exposing themselves to risk. The need to monitor the behaviour of group members, recognise suitable cooperative partners, and make corresponding behavioural adjustments to maximize the benefits of cooperation, may therefore be an important driver of social evolution. The r ....The benefits of sociality: understanding the relationship between cooperation, cognition and fitness. Cooperation may present unique cognitive challenges. Individuals perform behaviours that provide fitness benefits to others, exposing themselves to risk. The need to monitor the behaviour of group members, recognise suitable cooperative partners, and make corresponding behavioural adjustments to maximize the benefits of cooperation, may therefore be an important driver of social evolution. The relevance of understanding the relationship between cognition and cooperation is in how it affects the fitness of individuals and the stability of cooperation. This project aims to unveil this relationship by conducting one of the first comprehensive studies of the selective benefits of cognitive ability in a wild, cooperative bird species.Read moreRead less
From individual interactions to global patterns: understanding the basis of collective behaviour. Some of the most incredible sights in nature happen when animals form into groups, such as shoals or flocks. This study examines the phenomenon of collective animal behaviour to understand how simple interactions between group members scale to produce these behavioural spectacles.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230101231
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$390,295.00
Summary
The effect of nutrition on male life history traits in humans. This project will provide answers to fundamental questions in evolutionary biology while identifying diet compositions that will benefit human health and well-being. Using a longitudinal public-health database, the Raine Study, and a theoretical framework from the field of Nutritional Ecology, the project will provide new knowledge on how nutrition affects key life-history traits in humans including immune function, reproductive heal ....The effect of nutrition on male life history traits in humans. This project will provide answers to fundamental questions in evolutionary biology while identifying diet compositions that will benefit human health and well-being. Using a longitudinal public-health database, the Raine Study, and a theoretical framework from the field of Nutritional Ecology, the project will provide new knowledge on how nutrition affects key life-history traits in humans including immune function, reproductive health, physical appearance, and healthy ageing. A systematic literature review on how diet impacts these life-history traits in animals generally, and an experimental study of the effect of diet on health and reproduction in the house mouse (a lab analog species for humans) will complement the Raine Study findings.Read moreRead less