Michael Kasumovic

I am part of the Ecology & Evolution Research group at the University of new South Wales.

Everything revolves around sex. My research is no different. I explore how individuals maximize their reproductive fitness in a constantly changing world, particularly highly variable social environments. I approach these questions from a behavioural, ecological and evolutionary perspective using both quantitative and genomic approaches. This avenue of my research focuses on non-human animals as it allows a more controlled method of examining the effect of environmental change.

My research interests however, are much broader. I enjoy exploring how evolution has shaped human societies and cultures, and more importantly, how we respond to change. Our environment has changed both physically and socially in dramatic ways over the past century. Although we may interact with a greater number of people on a daily basis, the mechanism through which we interact (the internet, social media, gaming servers) has changed so drastically, that our bodies haven’t had time to adapt. This change provides a remarkable opportunity for evolutionary biologists to observe how the environment shapes human behaviour.

Most of my contributions will explore this latter category as I’m fascinated in how new generations respond to such a technologically changing environment. I discuss these topics further at www.theevolvedgamer.com.