Jeff Fletcher: Research
Research Interests
My research focuses on evolution theory--especially theories
of altruism evolution (inclusive fitness, multilevel selection theory,
reciprocal altruism) and how these theories relate to each other. I am
also interested in how general theories (that apply to systems across
many disciplines) such as game theory, information theory, chaos
theory, and theories of "complexity" can be used in novel ways to
investigate problems in evolutionary biology. My methods focus on
evolutionary
simulations and analytical models, as well as some
empirical work on neotropical social spiders. My use of models has led
me to think more deeply about the role models play in the scientific
method and how this role is not well defined (e.g., in comparison to
the role of empirical experiments). Finally, I am intrigued
by
the intersection between scientific and social understandings, both in
how social forces influence the course of scientific
advancement and in how scientific understanding is
applied (or misapplied) to social problems.
Publications
Purcell, J, Vasconcellos-Neto, J, Gonzaga, M, Fletcher, J.A., and Aviles, L.
2012. "Spatio-temporal differentaition and sociality in spiders" PLoS ONE. (In Press)
Simon, B, Fletcher, J.A., and Doebeli, M.
2012. "Hamilton's rule in multi-level
selection models" Journal of Theoretical Biology, 299:55-63.
Wade, M.J., Wilson, D.S., Goodnight, C.J., Taylor, D., Bar-Yam,
Y., Aguiar, M.A.M.d., Stacey, B., Werfel, J., Hoelzer, G.A., III,
E.D.B., Fields, P., Breden, F., Linksvayer, T.A., Fletcher, J.A., Richerson, P.J.,
Bever, J.D., Dyken, J.D.V., and Zee, P., 2010. "Multilevel and kin selection
in a connected world" Nature 463,
doi:10.1038/nature08809.
Fletcher, J.A. and Doebeli, M., 2010. "Assortment
is a more fundamental explanation for the evolution of altruism than
inclusive fitness or multi-level selection": reply to Bijma and Aanen, Proceedings of the Royal Society London B,
Invited Reply, 277:677-678. (link)
Fletcher, J.A. and Doebeli, M., 2009. "A simple and
general explanation for the evolution of altruism" Proceedings of the Royal Society London B,
276:13-19. (pdf)
One
of the Top Cited Proceedings of the Royal Society B Articles for 2009
Fletcher, J.A. and Zwick, M., 2007. "The
evolution of altruism: Game theory in multilevel selection and
inclusive fitness" Journal of Theoretical Biology 245:26-36. (pdf)
Fletcher, J.A. and Zwick, M., 2006. "Unifying the
Theories of
Inclusive Fitness and Reciprocal Altruism" The
American Naturalist 168:252-262. Abstract
(HTML)
(pdf)
(Appendix)
Fletcher, J.A. Zwick, M., Doebeli, M., and Wilson, D.S., 2006.
"What's Wrong with Inclusive Fitness?" Trends in Ecology and
Evolution 21:597-598. (pdf)
Fletcher, J.A. and Doebeli, M., 2006. "How
Altruism Evolves: Assortment and Synergy" Journal of Evolutionary
Biology 19:1389-1393. (pdf)
Fletcher, J.A. 2006. "Book Review: Evolutionary Game
Theory,
Natural Selection, and Darwinian Dynamics by Thomas L.
Vincent and Joel S. Brown" Journal of Mammalian Evolution
13:157-159. Entire Paper (pdf)
Fletcher, J.A. and Zwick, M., 2004.
"Strong Altruism Can Evolve in Randomly Formed Groups" Journal
of Theoretical Biology 228:303-313. Abstract
(HTML)
Entire Paper (pdf)
Avilés, L.,Fletcher, J.A.,
and Cutter, A. 2004. "The Kin Composition
of Social Groups: Trading Group Size for Degree of Altruism" The
American Naturalist: 164:132-144. Abstract
(HTML)
Entire Paper (pdf)
Fletcher,
J. A. 2004. Fundamental Conditions for the Evolution
of
Altruism: Towards a Unification of Theories, Ph.D. Thesis.
Portland State University, Portland, Oregon
Fletcher, J.A. and Zwick, M. 2004.
"Hamilton's Rule Applied to Reciprocal Altruism" In Proceedings
of IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation 2004, Portland,
Oregon, 2004, 994-1000. Abstract
(HTML)
Entire Paper (pdf)
Fletcher, J.A. and Zwick, M., 2001.
"Altruism, the Prisoner's Dilemma, and the
Components of Selection" In Proceedings of the 2001 IEEE
Systems, Man,
and Cybernetics Conference, Tucson, Arizona, 2001. Abstract
(HTML)
Entire Paper (pdf)
Fletcher,J.A. and Zwick, M., 2000.
"N-Player Prisoner's Dilemma in Multiple Groups
: A Model of Multilevel Selection" In Proceedings of the
Artificial Life VII Workshops, Portland, Oregon, 2000, Eilis
Boudreau and Carlo Maley, eds. Abstract
(HTML)
Entire Paper (pdf
/ postscript)
Fletcher, J.A. and Zwick, M., 2000.
"Simpson's Paradox Can Emerge from the N-Player Prisoner's Dilemma:
Implications for the Evolution of Altruistic Behavior" In Proceedings
of The World Congress of the Systems Sciences
and ISSS 2000, Allen, J.K. and Wilby, J.M. eds., Toronto,
Canada: International Society for the
Systems Sciences. Abstract
(HTML)
Entire Paper (pdf
/ postscript)
Fletcher, J.A., Bedau, M., Zwick, M., 1998.
"Effect of Environmental Structure on Evolutionary Adaptation" In
Proceedings of Artificial Life VI, Los Angeles,
June 26-29, 1998; C. Adami, R. Belew, H. Kitano, and C. Taylor, eds.,
MIT Press, 189-198. Abstract
(HTML)
Entire paper (pdf
/ postscript
)
Fletcher, J.A., Zwick, M., Bedau, M., 1996.
"Dependence of Adaptability on Environmental
Structure in a Simple Evolutionary Model" Adaptive Behavior
4:275-307. Abstract
(HTML), Entire paper (without figures)
(postscript), Zip file of paper figures (zip)
Invited Talks
Systems Science Seminar Portland State University, Portland, OR, March 2012. Tsunamis to Genocides: Exploring the Human Response to Catastrophe
Theory of Cooperation Workshop, Conference Universitaire de Suisse Occidentale (CUSO), Adelboden, Switzerland, August 2011.
Systems Science Seminar Portland State University, Portland, OR, February 2011.
Inclusive Fitness Wars Update.
Banff International Research Station (BIRS),Evolutionary
Games Workshop, June
2010.Theories and Models of the Evolution of Altruism.
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) conference,
Vienna,Austria, September 2009.Evolution of Altruism and Cooperation: Theories and Models. (video)
Evolution and the Levels of Selection: Themes and Counter-Themes,
Workshop on the Historical, Philosophical and Conceptual Foundations
of Evolutionary Theory, Green College, University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, BC, November 2008. A Simple and General Explanation for the
Evolution of Altruism
Systems Science Seminar,
Portland State University, February 2008.Evolution of Altruism Theory: Different Accounting Methods
or Different Causal Explanations?
Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, June 2007.Reconsidering Kin Selection Theory, Statistical vs. Causal
Selection Decompositions.
Seminar for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Department. University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, April 2007.Advances in Social Evolution Theory: Is Genetic Similarity
the Key?
Postdoctoral Seminar, Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM,
February 2007.Unification and Controversy in Evolution of Altruism Theory,
Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology Seminar Series,
University of Nevada, Reno NV, November 2006.Controversy and Unification in Evolution of Altruism Theory.
Les Ecologistes Seminar, Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Simon Fraser University,
Vancouver, BC, November 2005.Unifying Game Theoretic and Inclusive
Fitness Models of Altruism.
Biology Seminar, Department of Biology, Portland State University, Portland,
OR, May 2004.Evolution of Altruism Fundamentals: Towards a Unification of Theories.
Cascade Systems Science Society Seminar,
Portland, Oregon, December2003. The Evolution of Altruism: A New Game
Theoretic Approach.
Evolution, Ecology, and Biodiversity Seminar,Department of Zoology,
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, October 2003.The Evolution of Altruism: Game Theory,
Multilevel Selection, and Inclusive Fitness.
Principals of Social Evolution
Workshop, Institute for Advanced Study Berlin
(Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin), May 2001.
Seminar for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department.
University of Arizona, October 2001.A Game-Theoretic Perspective on the
Relationship Between Altruism and Components of Selection.
Workshop on the "Principals of Social Evolution Workshop", Berlin
Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin, Germany, May 2001.A Game Theoretic Model of
Multilevel Selection: Implications for the Evolution of Altruistic
Behavior.
ALife VII Conference, ALife VII workshop on "ALife's Role in
the Group Selection Debate" Portland,
Oregon, August 2000.N-Player
Prisoner's Dilemma in Multiple Groups: A Model of Multilevel Selection.
Workshops Coordinated
Invited Co-Coordinator: ALife's
Role in the Group Selection Debate Workshop, ALife VII
Conference, Reed College, Portland, Oregon, August 2000.
Contributed Talks
Catalyzing Student Sustainability Engagement and Leadership with
Campus Living Laboratories. Association for the Advancement of
Sustainability in Higher Education, with Heather Spalding, Denver, CO,
October 2010.
The Use of Evolutionary Models in the Scientific Method.
Evolution 2010, Portland, OR, June 2010.
A Simple and General Explanation for the Evolution of
Altruism. Evolution 2009, Moscow, ID, June 2009.
Unifying the Theories of Inclusive Fitness and Reciprocal
Altruism.
International Conference on Complex Systems, Boston, MA, June 2006.
What's Wrong with Inclusive Fitness?
Evolution 2006 Conference, Stony Brook, NY, June 2006.
What's Wrong with Inclusive Fitness?
Evolutionary Biology in the Pacific Northwest (EVO-WIBO), Port
Townsend, WA, April 2006.
The Evolution of Altruism: Game Theory in Inclusive Fitness
and Multilevel Selection.
Evolution 2005, Fairbanks, AK, June 2005.
Hamilton's rule in Reciprocal Altruism and Symbiosis.
Evolution 2005, Fairbanks, AK, June 2005.
Applying Hamilton's Rule to Reciprocal Altruism: A Challenge
to the "Selfish Gene" Perspective. Ecology and Evolution
Retreat. UBC, October 2004.
Hamilton's
Rule Applied to Reciprocal Altruism. IEEE
Congress on Evolutionary Computation, Portland, Oregon, June
2004.
Strong Altruism Can Evolve in Randomly
Formed Groups. Evolution 2003 Conference, Chico,
CA, July 2003.
Altruism,
the Prisoner's Dilemma, and the Components of Selection.
IEEE, Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Conference, Tucson,
Arizona, October 2001.
Simpson's
Paradox Can Emerge from the N-Player Prisoner's Dilemma: Implications
for the Evolution of Altruistic Behavior.
The World Congress of the Systems Sciences and International Systems
Science Society Conference, Toronto, Canada, July 2000.
Effect
of Environmental Structure on Evolutionary Adaptation.
ALife VI Conference, Los Angeles, June 1998.
Posters
A Game Theoretic Basis for Multilevel
Selection Theory. W.D. Hamilton International
Symposium, Bloomington, Indiana, April 2001.
US Mail:
Systems Science Ph.D. Program
Portland State University
P.O. Box 751
Portland, OR 97207-0751
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Other Deliveries:Systems Science Building
1604 SW 10th Ave
Portland, OR 97201
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Direct:Email: jeff@pdx.edu
Phone: (503) 725-4995
Office: 201 Harder House
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