Event

Abstract: Are our genes our destiny? If not, what shapes our phenotype and fitness? Phenotypic variation attributable to past experiences, known as developmental plasticity, enables organisms to respond to environmental challenges despite their genetics. I investigate how and why early-life environments influence the phenotypes upon which selection acts. By integrating data on behavior, genomics, physiology, and life history from several wild animal and human populations, I test hypotheses about the type and timing of social experiences in the context of developmental plasticity. Across studies, I apply causal inference methods to answer questions about organismal biology using observational data. Additionally, as Co-director of the Mara Hyena Project, a long-term field study of wild spotted hyenas in Kenya, I seek to establish hyenas as a model system for studying the effects of early-life social experiences on life history trade-offs and aging via developmentally plastic processes.