EVOLUTION AND BIOLOGICAL CONFLICT

TOPIC OF PRESENTATION AT OU

Norman – Geoffrey Alan Parker, Derby Professor of Zoology at the University of Liverpool, will discuss “Sexual Conflict and Evolution” during a free, public lecture scheduled for 4:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 16 in 312 Sutton Hall, 625 Elm Ave., on the University of Oklahoma Norman campus.

Parker is an international leader in evolutionary biology who is credited with the 1970 discovery of sperm competition.  He is considered a pioneer in the study of evolutionary game theory, a mathematical approach heralded as one of the most influential developments in recent evolutionary biology.  Game theory began as a way for economists to determine the best “bang for the buck.”  Evolutionary biology adapted this theory to help determine answers to questions such as fight or flight tendencies or territory defense in animals, with Parker at the forefront of its development and application.