Current Grads

Erick Peirson

Peirson - Curriculum Vitae.pdf

My research concerns the history of 20th century evolutionary theory, ecology, and developmental biology, especially where these fields overlap. Lately I have been thinking about different conceptions of “phenotypic plasticity,” and what the epistemic roles of these ideas within evolutionary ecology research might reveal about explanatory frameworks in late-20th century evolutionary biology. This research has led me to consider the use of optimality, game-theoretic and quantitative genetic models in evolutionary biology, and attempts to merge evolutionary and ecological theory and methods in the second half of the 20th century.