biological sciences HONOURs 2014 - The University of Sydney

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28 GROUP BEHAVIOUR AND SWARM INTELLIGENCE Research Interests I am interested in a variety of questions related to group behaviour and swarm intelligence. I am particularly interested in understanding how organisms with relatively simple cognitive systems (ants, bees and slime moulds) are able to solve complex tasks. For example, slime moulds (which lack brains) can solve mazes, anticipate periodic events, make ‘clever’ decisions about which foods to consume, and even use a form of memory to navigate around their environment. Despite the fact that ant brains are tiny, colonies of ants can solve shortest path problems and respond rapidly to changes in food quality. I am also interested in the costs and benefits of group living. Honours projects Honours projects will usually focus on some aspect of behaviour in ants, slime moulds, honey bees or Australian native bees (although I am open to working with other species). 1. Ants Ant colonies build complex, efficient networks between nests. We have shown that the shape of these networks is highly efficient, but we don’t know how individual ants use the network, or how networks respond to changes in traffic. Student projects in this area would study the response of networks to various Dr Tanya Latty Room 253, Macleay Building A12 T: (02) 9036 5162 E: tanya.latty@sydney. edu.au perturbations (severed trails, increase in traffic, etc), as well as examining how the individual behavior of ants leads to collective solutions. 2. Slime moulds Projects on slime moulds can either focus on behaviour (what kinds of problems can slime moulds solve? How do these brainless organisms go about problem solving?) or on slime mould ecology. For example, we know very little about the role slime moulds play in soil ecosystems. 3. Bees I am looking for students to work on a project that will examine the ecology of native bees in community gardens.
EVOLUTION OF SOCIALITY 29 Research Interests Sociality is a widespread phenomenon in nature that can take many forms, from temporary aggregations of dozens of individuals to colonies of thousands of individuals working together as a ‘superorganism’. The goal of my research is to understand why and how such social diversity has evolved by studying the mechanisms of social behaviour in species exhibiting various levels of social complexities. To address this goal, I use a combination of behavioural experiments on a range of sub-social and social insect species and computer simulations of evolutionary models. My previous work includes empirical and theoretical examinations of the social biology of cockroaches, bumblebees and fruit flies. The aim of my current projects, in collaboration with Professor Steve Simpson, is to explore the role of nutrition in the mechanism and the evolution of sociality. We will develop laboratory experiments (probably on fruit flies - Drosophila) using various spatial arrangements of artificial diets and automated video tracking systems to investigate the nutritional underpinnings of a range of simple social phenomena such as: aggregation, group synchronisation and collective decisions. We will also develop agent-based models to explore these phenomena in silico. The ultimate goal is to generate a general Dr Mathieu Lihoreau Room 320, Heydon- Laurence Building A08 T: (02) 9351 3259 E: mathieu.lihoreau@ sydney.edu.au conceptual framework to examine how nutritional constraints contribute to the evolution of social behaviour and structures of in animal groups of increasing complexities. Honours projects Several specific questions could be asked during an Honours project: 1. How does the spatio-temporal availability of nutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, fat) in the environment affect collective behaviour? 2. How does this vary in mixed groups where individuals have different nutritional needs (males vs females, hungry vs well fed individuals)? 3. Do the same principles apply to walking and flying animals? 4. Do the same principles apply to herbivores, carnivores and omnivores? 5. What features of the nutritional environment may lead to the evolution of different social organisations? Over what timescale?
Page 1 and 2: iological sciences HONOURs 2014 sci
Page 3 and 4: BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES Honours Coordin
Page 5 and 6: Why do Honours? 5 Flesh fly by Jess
Page 7 and 8: When does Honours begin? 7 You can
Page 9 and 10: 9 How do I apply? Photo courtesy Di
Page 11 and 12: 11 27 Eddie Holmes Evolutionary gen
Page 13 and 14: BEHAVIOUR AND GENETICS OF SOCIAL IN
Page 15 and 16: REGULATION OF PLANT DEVELOPMENT 15
Page 17 and 18: NUTRIENT BALANCING AND LOCUST PHYSI
Page 19 and 20: TERRESTRIAL ECOLOGY 19 Research Int
Page 21 and 22: MOLECULAR GENETICS 21 Research Inte
Page 23 and 24: PLANT SYSTEMATICS 23 Research Inter
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Page 30 and 31: 30 MICROBIAL ECOLOGY Research Inter
Page 32 and 33: 32 ANIMAL-PLANT INTERACTIONS Resear
Page 34: 34 REPTILE EVOLUTION AND BEHAVIOURA
Page 37 and 38: NUTRITION, INFECTION AND HOST-FITNE
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Page 42 and 43: 42 PLANT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY Research
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Page 46 and 47: 46 ANIMAL DEVELOPMENT AND STRESS Re
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Page 50 and 51: 50 CARNIVORE ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION AND
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