Carsten Schradin

Institution: CNRS Strasbourg, France

My research: I want to understand evolved physiological mechanisms which allow animals to behave adaptively in their changing natural environment. I study why animals live in groups, why animals live solitarily, both doing field studies in South Africa and comparative studies in mammals.

My vision for FINE: To create a community that enjoys weekly meeting because all of us are fascinated by research in social evolution. Attending FINE is more than fine, it is fun!

Adriana Maldonado-Chaparro

Institution: Universidad del Rosario, Colombia

My research: I’m interested in understanding how individuals of group living species respond to variation in their social and ecological environment and how variation in social behavior can drive changes in group and population dynamics. I’m also interested in understanding the ontogeny of pairbond formation and the influence of the social environment mating decisions. We work with birds and rodents, specifically on oilbirds and wild guinea pigs.

My vision for FINE: To create a community where researchers at all stages of their careers and from anywhere in the world can share ideas and experiences and engage in enjoyable discussions related to research on social behavior and its methods.

Loren Hayes

Institution: University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, U.S.A

My research: I am fascinated by communal breeding and social evolution. My research program has two main thrusts. For more than 15 years, my lab group has been studying the physiological underpinnings and reproductive consequences of communal breeding in the Chilean rodent, Octodon degus. We are also examining how climatic variation can shape the evolution of mammalian social organization. Personally, I am dedicated to the pursuit of Quality.

My vision for FINE: Bring together people with diverse backgrounds to share exciting research on social evolution.

Eduardo Fernandez-Duque

Institution: Yale University, U.S.A

My research: In my research I investigate: (1) the evolution and biological basis of pair-bonds, (2) the importance of alloparental as a possible influence on the evolution of mating/social systems and life history; (3) the relationship among mating systems, competition and sexual dimorphism; and (4) the evolution of diurnality/nocturnality, sleep, and activity patterns. Our research system includes three genera of pair-living Neotropical primates (titis, sakis and owl monkeys) that my collaborators and I study in field stations in Ecuador and Argentina, and primate centers in the US.

My vision for FINE: To create an intellectual community where everyone feels comfortable discussing and debating issues related to study of social complexity across the whole animal kingdom.

Facundo Fernandez-Duque

Institution: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, U.S.A

My Research Interests: Currently, I’m interested in the evolution of social interactions and parental care. What drives an individual to be a good parent? What are the neural mechanisms driving the provisioning or protection of young? How plastic are these mechanisms? How much can past experiences shape future behaviors?

Involvement in FINE: I created the FINE website to make this seminar more accessible to anyone interested in Social Evolution. I love collaborating and, obviously, social interactions so please feel free to reach out about working together!

Jingyu Qiu

Institution: CNRS Strasbourg, France

My Research Interests: I'm a Ph.D. student supervised by Dr. Carsten Schradin. I'm interested in the personality of bush Karoo rats (Otomys unisulcatus) and how it affects their fitness in changing environments.

Involvement in FINE: I'm responsible for running the FINE Twitter account and sometimes help with monitoring Youtube during live steam. I also participate in FINE as an audience in most of the seminars.

Madison Roberts

Institution: University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, U.S.A

My Research Interests: I am an undergraduate student with Dr. Loren Hayes. I participated in IRES over the Summer of 2021 collecting data on social organization in Artiodactyla from existing literature. Currently, I am collecting data on mating systems in mammals for my honors thesis project with the aims of publication to address the question: Does social organization during breeding predict multiple mating in mammals?

Involvement in FINE: I assist with networking aspects of FINE by sending emails and posting on the FINE Facebook and Instagram. I email with the speaker and the lab group to create a schedule for individual meetings. I help spread the word regarding FINE, as a couple times each week, I write emails and create social media posts enclosing information about the upcoming speaker to all participants.