Junior Fellow, Harvard Society of Fellows, 2007
PhD, Princeton University, 2003
AB, Harvard College, 1999
I use mathematics and computation to study questions in evolutionary biology and ecology. Research in the group is concerned primarily with adaptation in populations. Related interests include the evolution of robustness and adaptability, the evolutionary ecology of viral populations, the nature of genetic drift, the dynamics of protein translation, and the evolution of culture and social norms (read more).
Michel-Mata S, Kawakatsu M, Sartini J, Kessinger K, Plotkin JB, Tarnita C. The evolution of private reputations in information-abundant landscapes. Nature (2024) [pdf]
Twomey C, Brainard D, Plotkin JB. History constrains the evolution of efficient color naming, enabling historical inference. PNAS (2024) [pdf]
Kawakatsu M, Kessinger T, Plotkin JB. A mechanistic model of gossip, reputations, and cooperation. PNAS (2024) [pdf]
Stewart A, Arechar A, Rand D, Plotkin JB. The distorting effects of producer strategies: Why engagement does not reveal consumer preferences for misinformation. PNAS (2024) [pdf]
Kessinger T, Tarnita C, Plotkin JB. Evolution of norms for judging social behavior. PNAS (2023) [pdf]
Wang G, Su Q, Wang L, Plotkin JB. Reproductive variance can drive behavioral dynamics. PNAS (2023) [pdf]
Cooney D, Levin SA, Mori Y, Plotkin JB. Evolutionary dynamics within and among competing groups. PNAS (2023) [pdf]
Su Q, McAvoy A, Mori Y, Plotkin JB. Evolution of prosocial behavior in multilayer populations. Nature Human Behaviour (2022) [pdf]
Newberry M, Plotkin JB. Measuring frequency-dependent selection in culture. Nature Human Behaviour (2022) [pdf]
McAvoy A, Mori Y, Plotkin JB. Selfish optimization and collective learning in populations. Physica D (2022) [pdf]
Su Q, Allen B, Plotkin JB. Evolution of cooperation with asymmetric social interactions. PNAS (2021) [pdf]
Twomey C, Roberts G, Brainard D, Plotkin JB. What we talk about when we talk about colors. PNAS (2021) [pdf]
Hirshleifer D, Plotkin JB. Moonshots, investment booms, and selection bias in the transmission of cultural traits. PNAS (2021) [pdf]
Stewart A, Mosleh M, Diakonova M, Arechar A, Rand D, Plotkin JB. Information gerrymandering and undemocratic decisions. Nature (2019) [pdf]
Otwinowski J, McCandlish D, Plotkin JB. Inferring the shape of global epistasis. PNAS (2018) [pdf]
Newberry MG, Ahern C, Clark R, Plotkin JB. Detecting evolutionary forces in language change. Nature (2017) [pdf]
Shah P, McCandlish M, Plotkin JB. Contingency and entrenchment in protein evolution under purifying selection. PNAS (2015) [pdf]
Stewart A, Plotkin JB. Collapse of cooperation in evolving games. PNAS (2014) [pdf]
Shah P, Ding Y, Niemczyk M, Kudla G, Plotkin JB. Rate-limiting steps in yeast protein translation. Cell [pdf]
Stewart A, Plotkin JB. From extortion to generosity, evolution in the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma. PNAS [pdf]
Morlon H, Parsons T, Plotkin JB. Reconciling molecular phylogenies with the fossil record. PNAS (2012) [pdf]
Lipsitch M, Plotkin JB, Simonsen L, Bloom B. Evolution, safety, and highly pathogenic influenza viruses. Science (2012) [pdf]
Der R, Epstein C, Plotkin JB. Generalized population models and the nature of genetic drift. Theoretical Population Biology (2011) [pdf]
Kryazhimskiy S, Dushoff J, Bazykin G, Plotkin JB. Prevalence of epistasis in the evolution of influenza A surface proteins. PLoS Genetics (2011) [pdf]
Draghi J, Parsons T, Wagner G, Plotkin JB. Mutational robustness can facilitate adaptation. Nature (2010) [pdf]
Kudla G, Murray AW, Tollervey D, Plotkin JB. Coding-sequence determinants of gene expression in Escherichia coli. Science (2009) [pdf]