Collective behavior, widespread in nature, from brains to bird flocks, operates without central control, using interactions among the participants. Ant colonies provide great opportunities to learn about collective behavior. Colonies consist of one or more reproductive females, called 'queens' though they do not direct the behavior of the rest of the colony; the rest of the ants you see walking around are sterile female workers. Local interactions among ants allow colonies to adjust to changing conditions. Ants as a group are enormously diverse, with more than BIO 15,BIO 000 species in every habitat on earth, and they show very diverse forms of collective behavior reflecting different ecological conditions. The course will include discussion of research about ant colony behavior, ecology, and evolution; a research project on campus involving observation and hypothesis testing; and, for the technologically-inclined, some simple simulations based on agent-based modeling. We will also discuss collective behavior in other natural systems, including the immune system and brains.
3 units · Letter (ABCD/NP) · GER: WAY-SMA
Collective behavior, widespread in nature, from brains to bird flocks, operates without central control, using interactions among the participants. Ant colonies provide great opportunities to learn about collective behavior. Colonies consist of one or more reproductive females, called 'queens' though they do not direct the behavior of the rest of the colony; the rest of the ants you see walking around are sterile female workers. Local interactions among ants allow colonies to adjust to changing conditions. Ants as a group are enormously diverse, with more than 15,000 species in every habitat on earth, and they show very diverse forms of collective behavior reflecting different ecological conditions. The course will include discussion of research about ant colony behavior, ecology, and evolution; a research project on campus involving observation and hypothesis testing; and, for the technologically-inclined, some simple simulations based on agent-based modeling. We will also discuss collective behavior in other natural systems, including the immune system and brains.
Offered in Winter 2027 at Stanford University.