Human society or health, ecosystems or engineered systems: the processes most relevant to our lives all depend on collective behavior, that is, are shaped by the actions and interactions of many semi-independent units, whether they be people, cells in our bodies, species of organisms, or nodes in a biological or engineered ‘neural network’. What types of organization in such collectives lead to ‘intelligence’, and when and how does such organization emerge? Evolutionary biology turns out to have some key answers to these questions, and social insect colonies provide a rich set of examples of robust, effective, and flexible strategies with minimal overhead.
Featured Speaker:
Dr. Anna Dornhaus
Professor, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona
Anna Dornhaus, Ph.D., is a Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona, renowned for her research on collective behavior and social organization in insect societies. She holds additional affiliations across Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, Psychology, Entomology, and the BIO5 Institute, underscoring the interdisciplinary significance of her scholarship. Dr. Dornhaus is internationally recognized for advancing fundamental understanding of how complex group-level behaviors emerge from interactions among individuals.
Related Events
Event Disclaimer
It is essential to the National Academy of Sciences mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization.