I am an evolutionary biologist currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at Concordia University with Dr Pascale Sicotte. My research interests primarily focus on understanding the mechanisms driving cooperation in both human and non-human primates, and the strategies that non-human primates have for overcoming inter-sexual conflict. I am currently working on a number of projects with various collaborators, including:
- Female reproductive decisions and infanticide avoidance strategies in Colobus vellerosus (with Dr Pascale Sicotte, Dr Eva Wikberg and Ally King)
- Dynamics of the food-for-sex market in vervet monkeys (with Dr Julie Teichroeb)
- Foraging strategies in vervet monkeys (with Dr Julie Teichroeb and Ming Fei Li)
- Foraging strategies, social structure, and inter-unit interactions in Colobus angolensis ruwenzorii (with Dr Julie Teichroeb, Samantha Stead, Frances Adams and Florence Landry)
- The mechanisms promoting spontaneous helping in humans (with Dr Julie Teichroeb)
My doctoral research examined the evolutionary origins of human warfare, using vervet monkeys as a model species. In this work, I demonstrated that males and females experience very different costs and benefits from fighting in, or even experiencing intergroup conflicts. As a result, conflicts of interest often arise between the sexes, and both males and females use a number of social incentives like punishment, rewards and coercion to manipulate the participation of members of the opposite sex.
