Research
Interests
- Collective decision-making in social insects
- 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
Peer-reviewed publications
- Donaldson-Matasci, M. C., and A. Dornhaus. (2012) How habitat affects the benefits of communication in collectively foraging honey bees.
- Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology (in press).
- Donaldson-Matasci, M. C., C. T. Bergstrom, and M. Lachmann. (2010) The fitness value of information.
- Oikos 199 (2): 219–230.
- 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.
Other publications and manuscripts in preparation
- Donaldson-Matasci, M. C. (2012) Review: Honeybee Democracy by Thomas D. Seeley
- The Quarterly Review of Biology, 86 (4): 360.
- Donaldson-Matasci, M. C., C. T. Bergstrom, and M. Lachmann. (in prep) Hedging bets by making perceptual mistakes.
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- Donaldson-Matasci, M. C. (2008) Adaptation in a changing environment: Phenotypic diversity in response to environmental uncertainty and information.
- Dissertation, University of Washington.
Presentations
- Donaldson-Matasci M.C., Dornhaus A. (2011) The benefits of communication in honeybees depend on ecological context.
- Contributed Talk, Ecological Society of America Meeting, Austin, TX, USA.
- Donaldson-Matasci, M.C., Dornhaus A. (2011) Collective foraging and communication in honey bees: how habitat affects fitness benefits.
- Contributed Talk, Animal Behavior Society Meeting. Bloomington, IN.
- Donaldson-Matasci, M.C., Dornhaus A. (2010) Influence of ecological context on benefits of communication in honey bees.
- Poster, Animal Behavior Society Meeting. Williamsburg, VA.
- Donaldson-Matasci, M.C. and Dornhaus A. (2010) The value of information about floral resources in honey bees.
- Poster, Social Biomimicry Conference. Tempe, AZ.
- 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 and Mentoring
- Undergraduate Research Mentor, University of Arizona, August 2009-present
- As part of my research, I have mentored a total of 12 undergraduate students from Pima Community College and the University of Arizona. One former student went on to graduate school in physiology; another took a position with the Nature Conservancy.
- KEYS Summer Internship Mentor, University of Arizona, Summer 2011.
- Mentored a high school student for a 5-week internship. Supervised his research project building an automated counter for bees as they enter and exit the hive.
- Instructor, Pima Community College, Fall 2010 (PERT Postdoctoral Program)
- Taught "Natural History of the Desert Southwest" for non-science majors.
- Instructor, MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology, Fall 2006 (volunteer)
- Taught an introductory course in evolutionary game theory to a multidisciplinary group of graduate students and postdocs. Organized a follow-up reading group, Jan–May 2007.
- Co-instructor, MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology, Spring 2005 (volunteer.)
- Co-taught (with Michael Lachmann) a course in group selection to a multidisciplinary group of graduate students and postdocs. The course involved hands-on simulation modeling using the programming language R.
- Tutor, University of Washington, Spring and Fall 2004 (volunteer)
- Organized a weekly reading and discussion session for a biology undergraduate, with the goal of improving her English reading skills and study habits (with one other graduate student.)
- Course Software Developer, University of Washington, Spring 2003
- Developed software for an undergraduate course in game theory, which allowed professors to design simple online games and evaluate students' performance.
- 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.
Outreach
- Animal Behavior Society Outreach Fair, Wonderlab, Bloomington IN, Summer 2011.
- Co-organized an active exhibit for public visitors to the science museum, including activities on honey bee communication and honey tasting.
- Passport to High School Summer Program, University of Arizona, Summer 2011.
- Gave lab tours and answered questions for junior high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
- Integration of Science and Computing Summer Camp, University of Arizona, Summer 2011.
- Led a combined lecture and activity session on plant structure and function for junior high school students learning about computer vision.
- WISE Expanding Your Horizons Workshop, University of Arizona, Spring 2011.
- Co-organized a workshop on careers in animal behavior for junior high school girls, with activities highlighting pollination biology and honey bee communication.
Professional Service and Affiliations
- Member, Animal Behavior Society and Ecological Society of America.
- Reviewer: Behavioral Ecology, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, PLoS ONE, PLoS Computational Biology, Functional Ecology, National Science Foundation, Theoretical Population Biology, Journal of Theoretical Biology.
Fellowships and Awards
- 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).