Studying social structure and the evolution of sociality
The first big grant for the new Hobson Lab was funded by the NSF!!
The research focuses on sociality in vampire bats across many different levels, from individuals to relationships, to network structures. The work is in collaboration with Gerry Carter and Ian Hamilton at the Ohio State University.… [Read full details]
In trying to wrap my brain around the effects of #Pruittdata, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I collaborate, who I trust, and how I approach the process of doing science. The following is my thought process, trying to deal with the aftermath.… [Read full details]
The first new Cincinnati Zoo babies of the year are baby penguins!
Here’s the news from the zoo: http://cincinnatizoo.org/news-releases/little-blue-penguin-hatchlings-kick-off-cincinnati-zoos-year-of-the-penguin/
The zoo is reporting Reuben and Chip as the parents of these two new chicks. Interestingly, in our very preliminary analyses last semester in Penguin Data Club, Reuben was very social while Chip was not (based on RFID tags and swimming data).… [Read full details]
I was invited to be a lecturer and faculty mentor for the second annual Complex Networks Winter Workshop in Quebec City, Canada. CNWW (pronounced “canoe”) is a one-week crash course in transdisciplinary approaches to complex networks, bringing together biologists, social scientists, mathematicians, and more to learn about a variety of network methods and to conduct independent group projects, all while staying in the historic monastery in beautiful Quebec City.… [Read full details]
This semester, I recruited University of Cincinnati undergrads interested in gaining research experience with a volunteer data analysis opportunity. The students used data collected at the Cincinnati Zoo, and generously shared by Dr. Katie Kalafut, to start to learn how to clean and manage data, run analyses, and code in R. … [Read full details]
I was excited to return to NIMBioS this week for a working group looking at new ways to think about null models for animal social behavior.
I started “Penguin Data Club” this fall at the University of Cincinnati. Working in collaboration with Dr. Katie Kalafut and the Cincinnati Zoo, we will dig into the social lives of Little Blue Penguins.
This is an opportunity for undergrad students to volunteer 2 hours / week to learn about data analysis, coding in R, social network analysis, and of course, penguins!… [Read full details]
I was really excited to re-visit Knoxville this week. I hadn’t been back since finishing my postdoc at NIMBioS and moving to Santa Fe. I visited with the Psych and EEB departments, gave my first Psych department talk, and got a ton of science done in a working group with Todd Freeberg, Nina Fefferman, and David Buckley.… [Read full details]
I had a great time getting our sexual selection working group back to SFI for a follow-up meeting. This time, everyone made it to Santa Fe!
We got a ton of science done, weathered a crazy windstorm / April blizzard, ate lots of great food, and were hyper-productive.… [Read full details]
Along with Simon DeDeo and Dan Mønster, I recently organized a Working Group at SFI focused on cooperation, conflict, cognition, and information.
Summary from the SFI press team:
FEBRUARY 4, 2019
In social species like humans, the information we have about group members and the nature of their relationships can help us make decisions about how to interact with each other.… [Read full details]