I am a quantitative biologist studying the evolution and ecology of collective behavior, working as an independent postdoctoral fellow in the Self-Organizing Systems Research group at Harvard. I completed my PhD in 2017 at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and I received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in environmental engineering from MIT.
I'm fascinated by how complexity and collective intelligence emerge in leaderless groups of relatively simple individuals. I mostly use ants as model organisms to answer questions about group behavior. My primary research areas are:
Beyond my research, I love engaging with students in the classroom, and I'm always reinvigorated when I get to bring my science to the broader community. See my research, teaching, and outreach pages for more!
Contact me at hmccreery@seas.harvard.edu
On twitter @HelenMcCreery
I'm fascinated by how complexity and collective intelligence emerge in leaderless groups of relatively simple individuals. I mostly use ants as model organisms to answer questions about group behavior. My primary research areas are:
- Mechanisms: Connecting individual-level behavior with group-level results
- Evolutionary benefits: Exploring group-level performance and strategy
- Flexibility: How do collectives dynamically respond to rapid changes?
Beyond my research, I love engaging with students in the classroom, and I'm always reinvigorated when I get to bring my science to the broader community. See my research, teaching, and outreach pages for more!
Contact me at hmccreery@seas.harvard.edu
On twitter @HelenMcCreery