Benjamin Kerr

Who is Benjamin Kerr?

Ben Kerr received his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University in 2002. While at Stanford, he worked with Marcus Feldman on modeling the evolution of flammability in resprouting plants, the evolution of animal learning, and the evolution of altruism. He also worked with Brendan Bohannan on experimental evolution within microbial systems and with Peter Godfrey-Smith on some philosophical issues arising in the levels of selection controversy. Ben then spent three years as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Minnesota, where he worked with David Stephens on modeling impulsive behavior in blue jays, with Tony Dean on the evolution of cooperation within a microbial host-pathogen system, and with Claudia Neuhauser on spatial dynamics within model population genetic systems. Ben joined the faculty at the University of Washington in 2005. Current work focuses on the "evolution of interaction" ranging from the scale of communities (e.g., evolution of cooperation, communication, and virulence) to individuals (e.g., evolution of multicellularity, development, learning, and plasticity) to molecules (e.g., evolution of gene networks, protein interactions, and epistasis). Members of the lab use mathematical models, computational approaches, and evolutionary experiments with microbes (viruses, bacteria, and yeast) to explore these themes.