Sergey Gavrilets, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA

Models of evolution

In these lectures I will present and discuss a sample of mathematical models and approaches used to understand biological evolution. My focus will be on dynamic models describing how the properties of biological populations are expected to change in time given a set of assumptions about biological factors acting on the population. I will use both very simple analytical models and more complex numerical models.

Lecture 1. Fitness landscapes
Lecture 2. Major evolutionary forces: natural and sexual selection, mutation, recombination and random genetics drift
Lecture 3. Evolutionary game theory, cooperation, and altruism
Lecture 4. Darwin's "mystery of mysteries" - the origin of new species.

Biosketch

Sergey Gavrilets received PhD in Physico-Mathematical Sciences from the Moscow State University, USSR, in 1987. He is engaged in trans-disciplinary research at the interface of evolutionary biology, mathematics, and computational sciences. Currently Dr. Gavrilets is Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Mathematics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA. He is also Associate Director for Scientific Activities at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis.