Evolution & Ecology

The Evolution & Ecology Program (EEP) analyzes and forecasts how ecological and evolutionary dynamics shape populations, communities, and ecosystems, and how behavioral dynamics and adaptations determine the fate of groups of interacting agents

Modern approaches to describing complex adaptive systems need to account for nonlinear feedbacks, non-equilibrium dynamics, discontinuities and break points, collective phenomena, systemic transitions, behavioral dynamics, and multilevel and multiscale interactions among processes and agents.

Ecology is the quintessential systems science, dealing with such challenges in a holistic way. The EEP approach is complemented by studies of adaptation and evolution to account for the ubiquitous capacity of agents to alter their features and interactions in response to environmental change. Applied mathematics and theoretical physics contribute additional advanced tools to the mix of methods characteristic of EEP’s research.