One of the hallmarks of living organisms is the change they induce in their abiotic and biotic environments. For instance, earthworms affect soil structure, beavers build dams, bees construct nests, trees lower light levels under their canopies, butterflies pollinate flowers, etc. Through their development, physiology, and behavior, organisms alter the world in which they live and these effects can feed back to influence their ecology and evolution. This process has been labeled niche construction (or, alternatively, ecosystem engineering). Using a combination of analytical, simulation-based and lab-experimental techniques, my collaborators and I have focused on four biological systems that possess strong niche construction elements: (1) fire-prone flora with plant traits that enhance flammability, (2) learning organisms that alter the form and frequency of their stimuli, (3) bacteria that produce anti-bacterial toxins, and (4) hosts and pathogens that continually coevolve. Recently, we have focused on how the incorporation of spatial structure can drastically affect the eco-evolutionary dynamics of these and other niche construction systems. In particular, I am extremely interested in how altruistic forms of niche construction evolve in relation to various forms of population structure. |
Ben
Kerr received his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Stanford
University in 2002. While at Stanford, he worked with Marcus Feldman
on modeling the evolution of flammability in resprouting plants,
the evolution of animal learning, and the evolution of altruism.
He also worked with Brendan Bohannan on experimental evolution within
microbial systems and with Peter Godfrey-Smith on some philosophical
issues arising in the levels of selection controversy. Ben then spent
three years as a postdoctoral research associate at the University
of Minnesota, where he worked with David Stephens on modeling impulsive
behavior in blue jays, with Tony Dean on the evolution of cooperation
within a microbial host-pathogen system, and with Claudia Neuhauser
on spatial dynamics within model population genetic systems. Ben
joined the faculty at the University of Washington in 2005.