Matt Zimmerman

I'm interested in understanding the emergence of human behavior and institutions through analytical and computational models of cultural evolution. The theoretical framework for these efforts is Dual Inheritance Theory, which has a 30-year tradition of analytically modeling how human evolution has been shaped by the coevolutionary interaction between genetic evolution and cultural evolution. Since this coevolutionary process often results in complex dynamics, I aim to further DIT by adapting computational modeling techniques to this existing analytical framework. I hope the Complex Systems Summer School will give me a better grounding in both the construction and analysis of computational models.

I am specifically interested in how transmission strategies and biases evolve in cultural systems and how humans behaviorally adapt to changing environmental conditions. I also tinker with applying evolutionary game theoretic models to behavioral ecology.

I'm in the Graduate Group in Ecology at UC Davis and a member of the a member of the UC Davis Cultural Evolution Laboratory. My undergraduate was in engineering and I spent six years as an engineering officer in the United States Air Force with some time in the UAE and Afghanistan. This will be my first time in China.

I try swim and run to keep fit. In moments of triathlete envy, I add cycling to the mix. My little sister and I are planning to do the Alcatraz Challenge in August, so I'll probably be looking for a workout partner in Beijing.

mrz1 at ucdavis edu