Research Translation & Public Scholarship

Research in the lab examines how organisms respond to stress, conflict, disease, and environmental uncertainty—from insect societies to human biology. Much of this work has translated beyond the scientific literature into public media, science writing, and educational outreach.

Recent Highlights

A new essay in Psyche examines what resilience really means and why bouncing back may not be the right frame. Recent media coverage includes an interview on WBUR (May 5, 2026, on audio @ 34:40) and an interview on The Early Edition, Vista Radio – Kelowna (April 27, 2026, ~9:20 a.m. EST).

Wasps

Research in paper wasps has explored reproductive conflict, collective behavior, and disease ecology in insect societies. Early work on “male stuffing” behavior—where workers confine males to reduce colony resource use—received international coverage in outlets including The New York Times, BBC, and NPR. Subsequent studies examined alternative reproductive tactics (“sit-and-wait” nest adoption) and the role of invasive paper wasps in grape sour rot disease, attracting attention from both science and wine/agricultural media.

Honey Bees

Research on honey bees examines how insect societies collectively regulate temperature, immunity, and colony health under environmental stress. Early work on colony-level fever responses to infection and “heat shielding” behavior—workers acting as living insulation—received coverage in outlets including Science News, New Scientist, and Natural History. More recent work has explored collective immunity, nutritional stress, and heat dissipation within colonies, with public-facing essays including “From furry friends to fish, turning up the heat helps animals fight germs” in The Conversation.

Human Biology & Evolutionary Medicine

Research in evolutionary medicine examines how evolutionary trade-offs, behavior, and social regulation shape human health and disease. Early work on HIV and sexual behavior and later studies of Huntington’s disease received coverage in outlets including Reuters, Wired, New Scientist, Scientific American, and ScienceDaily. More recent public-facing essays in The Conversation have explored topics including placebo biology, fever as an adaptive defense, and the evolutionary history of the appendix.

Comparative Systems

The lab has also explored behavioral and evolutionary questions across a range of additional systems, including hermit crabs, mountain goats, invasive bees, and microbial communities associated with social insects. These projects extend broader interests in how organisms respond to environmental stress, resource limitation, disease, and social interaction across diverse biological systems.

Public Writing & Essays

Beyond peer-reviewed research, the lab has an active program of public scholarship—essays and commentary written for general audiences exploring how evolutionary biology intersects with medicine, behavior, and everyday human experience. This writing has appeared in outlets including JAMA, Scientific American, Nature, Psyche, and The Conversation, with topics ranging from placebo biology and fever to the appendix, night terrors, geophagia, and cancer treatment.