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Emily Jones
Instructor
Huxley Research Instructor
e-mail:[email protected]
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B.A. Biology (2004) Rice University, Houston, TX
Ph.D. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (2009)
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Websites
Natural history blog
Research website
Research Areas
evolutionary ecology, behavioral ecology
Research Statement
The goal of my research is to develop empirically grounded theory that increases our
understanding of how species interactions structure communities. In this research, I combine
theoretical and empirical approaches at the interface of ecology, evolution, and behavior
to investigate questions inthree focal areas:
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The role of evolution in species invasions
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I am interested in the evolutionary aspects of what is generally considered an
ecological process, including rapid evolution during the establishment phase of
potential invasions, the relationship between a community’s evolutionary history
and its susceptibility to invasion, and the consequences of coevolution during
community assembly.
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The persistence of mutualisms
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Mutualisms raise a number of fascinating questions about how cooperation is
maintained in the face of conflict, including how mutualisms persist despite
exploitation by non-mutualists, how predators alter the costs and benefits of
mutualism, and how competition has shaped mutualisms.
The joint control of disease by hosts and parasites
o
Virulence has traditionally been viewed as a trait of the parasite; however, the
host’s behavior and immune system can play important roles in resisting
infection and reducing virulence. Along with students I mentor, I have been
developing evolutionary models investigating this joint control of disease.
To see more about my research, go to my website http://eijones.blogspot.com/.
Teaching Areas
animal behavior
Selected Publications
Refereed articles
Jones, EI, Afkhami, ME Akcay, E Bronstein, JL, Bshary, R, Frederickson, ME, Heath, KD,
Hoeksema, JD, Ness, JH, Pankey, MS, Porter, SS, Sachs, JL, Scharnagl, K, and Friesen,
ML. 2015. Cheaters must prosper: reconciling theoretical and empirical perspectives on
cheating in mutualism. Ecology Letters 18 (11) 1270-1284
Jones, E.I., Nuismer, S.L., and Gomulkiewicz, R. (2013) Revisiting Darwin's conundrum
reveals a twist on the relationship between phylogenetic distance and invasibility. Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences, 110 (51), 20627-20632.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1310247110
Jones, E.I., Bronstein, J.L., and Ferriere, R. (2012) The fundamental role of competition in
the ecology and evolution of mutualisms. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1256,
The Year in Evolutionary Biology: 66-88.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2012.06552.x
Jones, E.I. and Gomulkiewicz, R. (2012) Biotic interactions, rapid evolution and the
establishment of introduced species. The American Naturalist, 179: E28-E36.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/663678
Lanan, M.C., Dornhaus, A., Jones, E.I., Waser, A., and Bronstein, J.L. (2012) The trail less
traveled: individual decision-making and its effect on group behavior. PLoS ONE: 7(10):
e47976.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0047976
Jones, E.I. (2010) Optimal foraging when predation risk increases with patch resources: an
analysis of pollinators and ambush predators. Oikos, 119: 835-840.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2009.17841.x
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2009.17841.x
Jones, E.I., Ferriere, R., and Bronstein, J.L. (2009) Eco-evolutionary dynamics of mutualists
and exploiters. The American Naturalist, 174: 780-794.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/647971
Jack, C.N., Ridgeway, J.G., Mehdiabadi, N.J., Jones, E.I., Edwards, T.A., Queller, D.C., and
Strassmann, J.E. (2008) Segregate or cooperate - a study of the interaction between two
species of Dictyostelium. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 8: 293.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-8-293
Book chapters
Friesen ML, Jones EI. Modelling the evolution of mutualistic symbioses. Methods Mol Biol.
2012;804:481-99.
Presentations
Conference Paper
Jones, E.I., S.L. Nuismer and R. Gomulkiewicz. Darwin’s conundrum revisited: does
phylogenetic distance predict invasibility? Evolution, Raleigh, North Carolina (2014).
Invited Talks
Jones, E.I. The role of competition in the ecology and evolution of cooperation. Organismality
Meeting, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
Jones, E.I. Cooperation in a competitive world: how competition shapes the ecology and
evolution of cooperation within and between species. International Society for Behavioral
Ecology, Satellite Symposium: 'Cooperation within and between species: what are the
similarities and differences?', New York, New York (2014).
Other
Jones, E.I. and R. Gomulkiewicz. Rapid (co)evolution and the establishment of introduced
species. Organized Oral Session on “Community and ecosystem effects of rapid evolution”,
Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Baltimore, Maryland
Posters
Jones, E.I., S.L. Nuismer, and R. Gomulkiewicz. An ecophylogenetic approach to novel
predator-prey interactions. Gordon Research Conference on Predator-Prey Interactions.
Ventura, California (2014).
Seminar Speaker
Mathematical Biosciences Institute workshop: Rapid Evolution and Sustainability, Columbus,
Ohio
Department of Biology, Queens College, Queens, New York
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany
Mathematical Biology Conference: Biological invasions and evolutionary biology, stochastic
and deterministic models, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University, Houston, Texas