Lecturer
I am a theoretical biologist working on social evolution theory and modelling behavioural evolution more generally.
I have a Masters in computational biology from Imperial and I completed my DPhil at the University of Oxford. I was previously a Postdoctoral researcher at Cambridge in the department of Zoology and the Centre for the Future of Intelligence.
Microbial warfare and the evolution of symbiosis
Patel, M., & West, S. (2022). Microbial warfare and the evolution of symbiosis. Biology Letters, 18(12), Article 20220447. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2022.0447
Visual odometry of Rhinecanthus aculeatus depends on the visual density of the environment
Karlsson, C., Willis, J., Patel, M., & de Perera, T. B. (2022). Visual odometry of Rhinecanthus aculeatus depends on the visual density of the environment. Communications Biology, 5(1), Article 1045. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03925-5
Kin discrimination, negative relatedness, and how to distinguish between selfishness and spite
Patel, M., West, S. A., & Biernaskie, J. M. (2020). Kin discrimination, negative relatedness, and how to distinguish between selfishness and spite. Evolution Letters, 4(1), 65-72. https://doi.org/10.1002/evl3.150
I am interested in how evolution works and shapes complex animal behaviours.
My work has focused on social evolution specifically the evolution of altruistic and spiteful trait in bacteria and multicellular life.
I am also interested in using artificial life and simulations to ask more general questions about co-evolution and cooperation across species.
I have recently also been working on the evolution of intelligence and how we can use major transitions theory to better understand the evolution of animal and non-animal intelligences.
Data Science AI and Modelling Centre (DAIM)
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