June 22, 2016

Sigma Xi members and the public are invited to join American Scientist  for an online discussion with a Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer. 

When and Why Organisms Help One Another

Date and Time: June 28 from 3:30–4:30 p.m. EDT

Where: A Google Hangout

Who: The featured speaker is Dr. Lee Dugatkin, professor of biology at the University of Louisville. The moderator is Katie L. Burke, digital features editor for American Scientist. The audience will be able to ask Dugatkin questions.

Topic: The study of altruism—when one individual helps another and incurs a cost for doing so—has a long history that originates with Darwin’s confusion about how it might fit into his theory of natural selection. As evolutionary theory has matured, so has the study of altruism. In simple terms, an organism is more likely to help another when the two individuals are more related genetically or when there is some other high benefit in comparison to the cost. Helping each other has many social implications—about morality, social organization, economics, and the idea of fairness. Dr. Dugatkin will discuss recent and historic experiments that remain relevant to current discussions about the evolution, animal behavior, neuroscience, and psychology of altruism.

To RSVP and to watch the broadcast: Go to the event page. 

Host: This talk is hosted by the Research Triangle Park Chapter of Sigma Xi. 

Follow the Broadcast on Twitter: #AmSciGHO

Follow Up Discussions: Sigma Xi members can post follow up questions in The Lab: Members to Members, an online community. The Research Triangle Park Chapter is hosting an in-person discussion event from 5–7:30 p.m. EDT on June 28 at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. 

More about the speaker and Sigma Xi's Distinguished Lecturers are available on the Distinguished Lecturer page.