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.
Zwick, M., and Fletcher, J. A. 2014. "Levels of altruism" Biological Theory,9(1): 100-107.
Simon, B, Fletcher, J.A., and Doebeli, M. 2013. "Towards a general theory of group selection" Evolution, 67(6): 1561-1572.
Purcell, J, Vasconcellos-Neto, J, Gonzaga, M, Fletcher, J.A., and Aviles, L. 2012. "Spatio-temporal differentaition and sociality in spiders" PLoS ONE, 7(4), e34592-e34592.
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)
Levels of Altruism: Workshop on Kinship, Conflict and Cooperation: Reconceptualizing kinship for the 21st century, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (Berlin Institute for Advanced Study), Oct 2015.
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.
Invited Co-Coordinator: ALife's Role in the Group Selection Debate Workshop, ALife VII Conference, Reed College, Portland, Oregon, August 2000.
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.
A Game Theoretic Basis for Multilevel Selection Theory. W.D. Hamilton International Symposium, Bloomington, Indiana, April 2001.