Collective Motion and Decision Making in Animal Groups

Something a little different:

The Mohammed Dahleh Distinguished Lecture in the UCSB College of Engineering

Collective Motion and Decision Making in Animal Groups
by Ian Couzin (Princeton) on Monday at 4PM in Engineering Science Building room 1001 (reception from 3:30PM).

I have it on good authority that Ian Couzin is a superb lecturer and his material is likely to be of interest to many biologists.

Collective organization is ubiquitous, as evidenced from examples ranging from the human brain, in which billions of interconnected cells communicate with chemical and electrical signals, to colonies of army ants capable of coordinating raids, to flocks of birds, to human society. Professor Couzin’s work aims to reveal the fundamental principles underlying evolved collective behavior, including questions of how animal groups move in unison, how individual behavior produces group dynamics, and how animal societies make informed unanimous decisions.