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In my view, progress in biology results from equal admixtures of theory, familiarity with real organisms, critical thinking, and common sense. My approach to teaching reflects this, my basic goal being to expose students to the intellectual tools and ways of thinking of evolutionary biology, and help them use these - in conjunction with everything they already know - to make sense of the material world and the world of ideas. I have taught graduate and college level courses in both biology and in anthropology. In biology I have taught courses in evolution and human behavior, genetics, and several varieties of introductory biology. In anthropology I have taught human behavioral ecology and been a guest lecturer in primatology courses. And I have taught many associates and assistants the relevant theory and practicalities in regard to studying dolphins in the wild.
My research has focused on the evolution of social behavior - especially cooperation and other forms of social competition - and the evolution of life history parameters and their relation to brain size. I am also interested in sexual selection and conflicts of interest between the sexes. I conducted a long term study of life history and behavior of bottlenose dolphins in Australia, who, like humans, have very slow reproductive rates, heavy maternal investment in single offspring, extensive male-male cooperation, and very large relative brain sizes. Unlike humans they have no male parental investment. Dolphins thus show convergent evolution of these traits to some extent with primates in general, and to a greater extent with apes in particular. I have also studied biogeography and speciation in 13 and 17-year periodical cicadas in the U.S., and participated in a study of paternity in humpback whales in Mexico. In recent years my interests have centered on the evolution of human traits and behavior - large brains, concealed ovulation, male parental investment, menopause, complex nepotism, reciprocity, the ability to have and use culture, emotional and linguistic communication, and other such traits.
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