I am an associate professor of Evolutionary Biology at Swarthmore College.  My lab uses a combination of selection analysis, social network analysis, animal behavior, and mutli-level selection theory to understand how the social environment can shape and be shaped by the process of natural selection.

 

We study the charismatic forked fungus beetle (Bolitotherus cornutus) as a model system to understand how social behaviors evolve.  B. cornutus have sustained and recurring social interactions and are a classic example of sexual selection for male weaponry.

 

My students and I travel to Mountain Lake Biological Station each summer to conduct the field components of our research.