Nichola Raihani

Although individuals are expected to benefit from selfish behaviour; cooperation is not only commonplace in nature, but is of profound evolutionary and social significance, being responsible for most of the major evolutionary transitions. I aim to elucidate the mechanisms that maintain cooperation in interactions where partners may otherwise be tempted to exploit one another. In parallel, I investigate the ecological causes and evolutionary consequences of individual variation in cooperative behaviour. To answer these questions, I work on a variety of systems, including humans and non-human animals.