Ana Duarte

I am generally interested in cooperation and conflict in social species. During my masters I worked on a model of evolution of territorial behavior and on cheating in social amoebas (Dictyostelium discoideum).
My PhD project is focused on division of labour in social insects. I am interested in behavioral mechanisms and self-organized processes underlying task allocation. I use a combined approach of theoretical models (simulation and analytical) and empirical work in the ant Camponotus fellah to investigate the behavioral underpinnings of the organization of work and their evolution. For this I collaborate with two groups: the Theoretical Biology Group, in the University of Groningen (Netherlands) and the group of Prof. Laurent Keller, in the University of Lausanne.

Birth Date: April 7th 1980 Nationality: Portuguese Graduate studies Since November 2006:
PhD student at the Theoretical Biology Group, University of Groningen. Collaboration with group Keller at University of Lausanne. September 2004 - October 2006:
Top Master in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Undergraduate studies September 1998 - October 2003:
degree in Biology Applied to Terrestrial Animal Resources in the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (Portugal).
Research experience January 2006 - August 2006:
MSc project on "The role of relatedness in conflict and cooperation in Dictyostelium discoideum", with Prof. Dr. Joan Strassmann and Prof. Dr. David Queller, at Rice University, Houston, TX, USA. April 2005 - October 2005:
MSc project on "Adaptive behavioral strategies and their influence in territory formation", with Drs. Martin Hinsch, Dr. Ido Pen and Prof. Dr. Franz J. Weissing, at the Theoretical Biology Group of the University of Groningen. January 2002 - August 2004:
research assistant at the Evolutionary Ecology Lab of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Margarida Matos, studying evolutionary processes in Drosophila subobscura during laboratory adaptation.
Other Qualifications July 2003:
Tropical Biology course, of the Tropical Biology Association, in Uganda.

SIMÕES, P., M. R. ROSE, A. DUARTE, R. GONÇALVES & M. MATOS (2007). Evolutionary domestication in Drosophila subobscura. J. Evol. Biol. 20 (2). MATOS, M., P. SIMÕES, A. DUARTE, C. REGO, T. AVELAR & M. R. ROSE (2004). Convergence to a novel environment - comparative method versus experimental evolution. Evolution 58(7).