معرفی
Professor Stuart West is a Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Oxford's Department of Biology. His research focuses on the evolution of social behaviors, including cooperation, altruism, and spite, with a particular emphasis on how these phenomena drive major evolutionary transitions. He employs a multidisciplinary approach combining theoretical models, experimental studies, and comparative analyses across species, particularly in bacteria and insects.
Key research areas include the evolution of cooperation and division of labor, genomic analyses of social behaviors, and the role of ecological factors in shaping social strategies. His work addresses questions such as how cooperation evolves despite potential cheating, and how symbiotic relationships influence diversification.
Professor West is affiliated with two Oxford addresses: the Department of Biology on Mansfield Road (OX1 3SZ) and the South Parks Road campus (OX1 3RB). His research has explored topics ranging from microbial cooperation to the evolutionary dynamics of eusociality in ants. He is actively engaged in advancing methods like SOCfinder, a genomic tool for identifying cooperative genes in bacteria.
