Aimee Sue Dunlap

Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Mailing address: 1041 E. Lowell St., Tucson, AZ 85721
Telephone: (520) 626-5565
Fax: (520) 621-2590
Email: asdunlap@email.arizona.edu

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Research Interests

The primary focus of my research is investigating the role of environmental variability in the evolution and ecological function of cognition traits such as learning, memory, and decision making. I approach this problem using a combination of mathematical theory and experiments. In a more broad sense, I am interested in the interplay between evolution and cognitive mechanisms and in bridging the gap between psychology and behavioral ecology.

With my current research, I am looking at how animals track changing environments. I previously conducted experimental evolution studies using fruit flies to test theoretical predictions of when learning versus non-learning should evolve based on the differing selective pressures of change and reliability, and when special learning, like selective associations, should evolve. Here at Arizona, I am working on how different patterns of change and variance in reward determine when bumblebees rely on learning, when they choose randomly, or when they rely on a constant flower choice. In another approach, I hope to look at the reliability of social cues versus floral cues in where bees choose to forage.