Dr John S Park

Research Interests

I study how life cycles generally evolve in cyclically fluctuating environments (e.g. seasonal systems) through a combination of theory, agent-based models, experiments, field data collection, and comparative analysis. I enjoy keeping a theoretical backbone in my work with an eye toward generality; I tend to focus on demographic (structured populations) and life history optimization mechanisms. An important corollary to this research target is to understand how life cycles, and selection dynamics thereof, will change as environmental cycle backgrounds themselves change (e.g. seasonal cycles becoming skewed, and more unpredictable).

As a Marie Curie Fellow, I aim to reach a deeper understanding of generalized life history and phenological selection forces acting on plant, insect, and bird populations. I am interested in both local adaptation to seasonal fluctuations, and signatures of selective pressures visible on continental scales (e.g. latitudinal gradient).

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