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Niche construction – the modification of environments by organisms – is the focus of a growing number of recent research and theoretical developments in both ecology and culture, according to SFI External Professor Marcus Feldman.

“Fifteen years ago there were not many papers,” he says. “Now there are hundreds, and [niche construction] is poised to explode as a subfield within ecology. It’s a very good time for us to stand back and look at the whole field and how it’s been going over the last few years.”

To explore the current landscape, Feldman, Kevin Laland, Lucy Odling-Smee, and Doug Erwin are convening a workshop, “Frontiers in Niche Construction: From Theory to Application in the Biological and Social Sciences,” at SFI November 10-12.

The invitation-only meeting involves some two-dozen researchers whose fields relate to, or are impacted by, the biological sciences.

Evolutionary theory’s modern synthesis will be among the topics of discussion. It was developed in the middle of last century, says Feldman, before we knew about epigenetics, microbiology, or developmental biology – and pertinent mathematical theory was in its early days – which raises the question of how to fold these new and complex fields into the synthesis, and whether it’s worth doing, he says.

Another question is whether the field “is sufficiently complex that it could serve the purpose of a program at SFI,” he says. “We’ll discuss it with resident faculty and postdocs at SFI to see whether it tickles their fancy enough to make it a regular thing.”

More about the workshop here.