Project for Research Experiences for Undergraduates
2012 Summer Program, June 11 - August 3, 2012
National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS)
at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Title: Modeling the evolution of sexual imprinting
Mentors: Dr. Heather Finotti (Mathematics) and Dr. Tucker Gilman (Biology)
Sexual imprinting is a process by which an individual's mate preference is learned through interaction with the environment. Young individuals that imprint on parents, siblings, or neighbors will look for similar traits in potential mates. Learned mate preferences are believed to play an important role in speciation, but how imprinting strategies evolve is only partly understood. We will use novel mathematical models to ask how imprinting strategies evolve, and how evolved strategies are likely to differ between males and females.
Return to REU 2012.
