The eco-evolutionary dynamics of social environments in a changing world
Institute Seminar by Rose Thorogood
- Date: Nov 25, 2025
- Time: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM (Local Time Germany)
- Speaker: Rose Thorogood
- Rose Thorogood is an Associate Professor of Behavioural Ecology at the University of Helsinki in Finland where she leads the ‘Informed Birds Information Ecology & Evolution’ research group. Originally from New Zealand, Rose completed her PhD on parental care at the University of Cambridge (under supervision of Prof. Rebecca Kilner) and postdoc with Prof. Nick Davies where she began her work on cuckoos and their hosts. She held a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC UK) Independent Research Fellowship (2013-2018) to develop her work on the role of social information in evolution and since joining the HiLIFE Helsinki Institute of Life Science she has taken a leading role in developing workplace wellbeing, winning University awards for her contributions to equality and international teaching.
- Location: Bückle St. 5a, 78467 Konstanz
- Room: Seminar room MPI-AB Bücklestrasse + Online
- Host: Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
- Contact: aandhare@ab.mpg.de
Social behaviour lies at the heart of behavioural ecology, from interactions between parents negotiating investment over care to the evolution of cooperation and complex animal societies. However, while the role of the social environment in shaping responses to selective pressures has long been implicit, it is only in the last decade that the eco-evolutionary dynamics of social interactions has received attention. In this talk, I will use examples from our work in the core paradigms of predator-prey and brood parasite-host coevolution to present an overview of what constitutes a ‘social environment’ and how it may drive feedbacks between individuals, populations, and genetic change
The MPI-AB Seminar Series is open to members of MPI and Uni Konstanz. The zoom link is published each week in the MPI-AB newsletter.