|
The IGERT Program in Evolutionary Modeling (IPEM) is an innovative Ph.D. training program in "Model-based
Approaches to Biological and Cultural Evolution" funded by the National Science Foundation. The program aims
to produce professionals versed in modern evolutionary theory and familiar with the most important perspectives
and quantitative techniques for studying the evolution of social behavior and culture. The program is open to
students working on both humans and non-human animals, and emphasizes evolutionary processes of adaptation and
diversification in genetic, behavioral, and cultural domains, as well as a set of methods (including computational
modeling, game theory, phylogenetic analysis, and other field and laboratory techniques) applicable to analyzing
evolutionary processes across these domains.
Students enter IPEM through PhD programs in the Department of Anthropology or the School of Biological Sciences at
Washington State University, Pullman, or the Department of Anthropology at the University of Washington, Seattle.
Fellows spend at least one term taking courses or pursuing research at the sister institution, and form research
teams across these universities and disciplines, allowing them to draw on relevant expertise at either sponsoring
university. In addition they have the opportunity to pursue research at our partner institutions (the Santa Fe
Institute in New Mexico; the Centre for the Evolution of Cultural Diversity, which has branches in the UK and
Canada; Le Centre Universitaire de Recherche et de Documentation en Histoire et Archéologie, Central African
Republic; and the University of Costa Rica).
Fellows will be supported for two years—with the possibility of a third year of funding to be
competitively determined—at the NSF-mandated rate of $30,000 per year, plus tuition and an annual
supplement for research and conference expenses, competitively granted, of up to $8,000.
For further information on various aspects of the program, click one of the navigation links on the left.
News and Updates
Half-time opening: Information Systems Coordinator
New Volume from SAR Press Highlights IPEM Faculty Research
The Model-Based Archaeology of Socionatura
l
Systems
(SAR Press, 2007) emphasizes the role of computational models in understanding how past social systems operated
in their environmental contexts. The volume is edited by Tim Kohler (IPEM Director) and Sander van der Leeuw
(Director of Arizona State University's School of Human Evolution and Social Change). Chapters by faculty
involved in IPEM include...[more]
To view the News Archives,
click here.
|
|
IPEM Research
IPEM research includes the following main foci and ongoing projects (partial list):
Area 1: Statistical phylogenetics: modeling evolutionary associations and cultural transmission:
•  Capuchin Monkey Phylogeography and Cultural Ecology (Jessica Lynch Alfaro
& Michael Alfaro) This project studies phylogenetic and phylogeographic relationships among capuchin monkeys,
examining both broad-scale and local patterns of cultural and behavioral evolution.
• Hunter-gatherer childhoods, emerging diseases and cultural menopause
(Barry Hewlett) With a focus on cultural evolution, this project examines responses to emerging diseases,
parenting behavior, and transmission and acquisition of culture.
• Sexual selection and divergence in birds and other taxa (Webster)
This project uses phylogeographic approaches to examine divergence of sexual and nonsexual traits across an avian
hybrid zone where two populations differing in male sexual signals meet.
Area 2: Behavioral ecology: Modeling conflict and cooperation:
• Hunting and Meat Redistribution among Central African Foragers (Karen Lupo)
Lupo and colleagues study hunting and meat-sharing among Aka and Bofi forest foragers in the Central African Republic.
They employ ethnoarchaeological methods to test models of sharing and cooperation, and examine the links between
technology, sharing, parental effort, and conservation.
• Ecological and social factors shaping female reproductive behavior in
monogamous birds
(Michael Webster) Fellows participating in this on-going project on reproductive conflicts of interest among
group members in cooperatively breeding and socially monogamous birds will participate in fieldwork, most of which is
conducted in Queensland, Australia, or help develop and test game-theory and simulation models of social constraints
on reproduction.
• Coupled Human/Ecosystems over Long Periods: Mesa Verde region ecodynamics
(Tim Kohler) This project studies the emergence of cooperation on a realistic virtual landscape representing SW
Colorado between A.D. 600 and 1300, using agent-based models to analyze changing levels of cooperation, environmental
impacts, and violence documented in the local archaeological record.
See "Research Opportunities" and "Fellows" links on left for additional information.
|
