Who are we (see page bottom)?
van Valen's Maxim
Evolution is the control of development by ecology
Niche Construction / Evo-Devo Maxim
Evolution is the control of ecology by development
Construction Maxim
Evolution is the incorporation of ecology into the phenotype
Kunstformen der Natur, Ernest Haeckel
30,000 feet. . .
My primary
interest is Evolutionary Theory.
A
fundamental concern of evolutionary biology is whether
there are architectural principles that govern the
evolution of structure. I am pursuing the possibility that,
if such principles exist, they will be found by comparing
construction processes –the processes by which
ordered states arise and persist-- in a diverse set of
systems that includes single-celled organisms,
multicellular organisms, and complex, coordinated
aggregates like animal societies. Single-celled and
multicellular organisms are relatively well studied from
this perspective compared to coordinated aggregates. In
recognition of this deficit, my research is devoted to the
study of construction processes at the social level,
largely using as model systems animal societies
characterized by triadic and higher-order interactions. Six
issues characterize this work. These include: (a) the
evolution of mechanisms promoting structural and functional
integrity of social organizations through time despite
exogenous (e.g. fluctuating environment, target knockout of
key components or functions) and endogenous perturbations
(e.g. nose, error, conflict), with particular emphasis on
conflict management mechanisms (Flack et al. 2006; Flack,
Krakauer & de Waal 2005; Flack, de Waal & Krakauer
2005), (b) the role of ‘behavioral’ neutral
networks (sensu Schuster & Fontana 1999), learning, and
combinatorial signaling in innovation (sensu Erwin &
Krakauer 2004; Ay, Flack, & Krakauer in press; Flack
& de Waal 2007), (c) how transitions between indexical
and symbolic signaling systems occur, and the implications
of such transitions for organizational complexity (Flack
& de Waal 2007), (d) the role of network coding (in
contrast to dyadic coding, which typically only considers
sender, receiver, and audience, see Flack & Krakauer
2006) of information and polyadic interactions in the
emergence of higher-level structure (for example, power
structures) and consolidation of components into
coordinated aggregates, (e) whether a separation of
timescales resulting from feedback and hierarchy underpins
organizational memory and persistence despite components
that turnover and are subject to senescence (Flack &
Krakauer 2006), and (f) social niche construction --a
concept introduced in Flack, Girvan, de Waal & Krakauer
2006, building off work on ecological niche construction by
Odling-Smee et al 2003, and before that Dawkins (1982).
Another question of interest (but on which I have yet to do
some work) is whether increasing investment in social niche
construction favors alternative inheritance mechanisms
(e.g. symbolic & behavioral over genetic).
My
colleagues and I approach these topics
theoretically and empirically (through large-scale
perturbation experiments on animal social organizations),
typically using as our model systems the social
organizations of genus Macaca and genus Pan (chimpanzees
and bonobos), and through comparative modeling of dynamical
processes across biological levels.
See Publications for a perspective from 5,000 feet.
Collaborators
My main collaborator is
David Krakauer (SFI). David and I work
together with Doug Erwin (Smithsonian & SFI) on
general issues concerning evolutionary construction
& innovation. Collaborators on specific projects
concerning robustness, power, conflict & conflict
management, signaling, and organizational plasticity
include Frans de Waal (Emory), Nihat Ay (Max Plank Institute for
Mathematics in the Sciences), Karen Page (UCL), Miguel Fuentes (SFI) and Michelle Girvan (University of Maryland).
I completed my undergraduate work at Cornell and my graduate work in the
Neuroscience & Animal Behavior Program at
Emory University, the
Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research
Center, and the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, where I was a
Graduate Fellow for one year. I stayed on at SFI to
complete a three year Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Presently, I am an SFI Research Fellow.
This research has been funded by the NSF, NIH, the James S.
McDonnell Foundation (SFI Robustness Program), and the
Wenner-Gren Foundation.
Jessica Flack
Santa Fe Institute
1399 Hyde Park Road
Santa Fe, NM 87501
USA
jflack@santafe.edu
Macaque Genus; Photos:
Primate Info Net
KEY TO PORTRAITS: Darwin, Kimura, D'Arcy Thompson, von
Neumann, Charles Sanders Pierce, Durkheim, Ruth Benedict,
Lorenz, Tinbergen, Ashby.