Research
Interests
- Evolution of animal communication systems
- Adaptation to environmental uncertainty
- Information theory and evolution
- Evolutionary game theory
Positions
- Postdoctoral research associate. Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, July 2009–present.
- Research topic: The value of honeybee communication in a variable ecological context
- Research group: Social Insect Lab (Anna Dornhaus)
- Postdoctoral associate. Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, June 2008–June 2009.
- Research topic: Information and evolution in biological systems
- Research group: Theoretical Biology (Michael Lachmann)
Education
- Ph.D. in Biology, The University of Washington, 2008
- Dissertation: Adaptation in a changing environment: Phenotypic plasticity in response to environmental uncertainty and information
- Advisor: Carl Bergstrom
- B.A. in Mathematics,
Reed College, 1996
- Thesis: Tiling with Dominoes, on relations between group theory and graph theory
- Advisor: Joe Buhler
Publications
- Donaldson-Matasci, M. C., C. T. Bergstrom, and M. Lachmann. (in press) The fitness value of information.
- Oikos (special issue on "Ecology of Information.")
- Donaldson-Matasci, M. C. (2008) Adaptation in a changing environment: Phenotypic diversity in response to environmental uncertainty and information.
- Dissertation, University of Washington.
- Donaldson-Matasci, M.C., M. Lachmann and C.T. Bergstrom. (2008) Phenotypic diversity as an adaptation to environmental uncertainty.
- Evolutionary Ecology Research, 10 (4): 493–515.
- Donaldson, M.C., M. Lachmann and C.T. Bergstrom. (2007) The evolution of functionally referential meaning in a structured world.
- Journal of Theoretical Biology, 246 (2): 225–233.
Presentations
- Donaldson-Matasci, M.C., C.T. Bergstrom and M. Lachmann. (2008) Developmental plasticity: The value of information in a cue depends on the structure of errors.
- Contributed talk, Evolution Conference. Minneapolis, MN.
- Donaldson-Matasci, M.C., M. Lachmann and C.T. Bergstrom. (2007) A geometric view of adaptation in uncertain environments.
- Poster, European Society for Evolutionary Biology Congress. Uppsala, Sweden.
- Donaldson-Matasci, M.C., M. Lachmann and C.T. Bergstrom. (2007) Specialists and generalists: adapting to environmental risk..
- Visiting speaker, Working Group on Game Theory and Evolution. Institute for Advanced Studies, Jerusalem, Israel.
- Donaldson, M.C., C.T. Bergstrom and M. Lachmann. (2006) Making the best of bad cues.
- Poster, International Society for Behavioural Ecology Congress. Tours, France.
- Donaldson, M.C., C.T. Bergstrom and M. Lachmann. (2004) The evolution of referential meaning in communication systems.
- Contributed talk, Evolution Conference. Colorado State University, Fort Collins.
- Donaldson, M.C. (2003) A game theoretic analysis of the evolution of communication systems.
- Invited speaker, Workshop on the Evolution of Meaning. Institute for Logic, Language and Computation, University of Amsterdam.
Workshops and Symposia Attended
- Evolution, Game Theory, & the Social Contract, University of California at Irvine, USA March 27–29, 2009
- Complex Systems Summer School, Santa Fe Institute, June 4–30, 2006
- The Nature of Human Cooperation, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, March 9–10, 2006
- CEEL program in Adaptive Economic Dynamics, University of Trento, Italy, 13–24 June, 2005
Teaching
- Teaching Assistant, University of Washington, Winter 2003
- Conducted two lab sections of an introductory biology course for majors.
- Teaching Assistant, University of Washington, Fall 2002
- Conducted two lab sections of an introductory biology course for non-majors.
- Math Tutor, Reed College, Spring 1995
- Weekly open tutoring session for students in introductory math courses.
- Physics Lab Instructor, Reed College, Spring 1994
- Prepared, conducted, and graded one section of introductory physics labs.
- Physics Grader, Reed College, Fall 1992–Spring 1993
- Graded homework problem sets for introductory physics.
Honors and Achievements
- PERT Postdoctoral Fellow (2009–present).
- NSF Graduate Research Fellow (2004–7).
- Selected by the Zoology department at the University of Washington to receive the merit-based ARCS Fellowship for incoming students (2002).
- Commended for excellence in scholarship last two years in college
(1995–1996).
- Elected by faculty to be one of three students to represent Reed in the Putnam Competition (1995).
- Member Phi Beta Kappa (1996).