Christopher X Jon Jensen | Pratt Institute (original) (raw)

Here at Pratt I am currently teaching courses in Evolution, Ecology, Ecology for Architects, The Evolution of Sex, and The Evolution of Cooperation.

My course in Ecology uses a series of case studies to immerse students in the basics of the science. Rather than focus on giving students and encyclopedic treatment of ecology, I highlight the major ideas, each illuminated by exploration of a particular ecosystem. After gaining a strong background in ecological science, we spend the remainder of the semester looking at ecological problems including pollution and runoff, biodiversity loss, invasive species, and global warming. To conclude we discuss solutions to the world’s ecological problems. Throughout the semester, students are asked to work together in class on a variety of problem-solving exercises. All students are required to complete two projects, including one that considers the interface between ecology and visual creativity.

My approach to teaching Evolution is to focus students on the key concepts of evolutionary biology. I try to highlight adaptations that intrigue students, so we look at everything from the amazing camouflage of cephalopods to the bizarre genetalia of waterfowl. Because this class is designed to provide a foundation in evolutionary biology, I do give a cumulative final exam.

The Evolution of Cooperation is an advanced course that looks at cooperation as an evolved biological phenomenon present from the level of the genome all the way up through human societies.

My research:

My main research interest is how individual behaviors propagate to create emergent properties at the larger scales of groups, populations, communities, and ecosystems. Individuals represent a fundamental biological unit, as they are the only vehicle through which genes can be copied.

My dissertation work focused mainly on predator-prey behavior, and explored how differing rules for predator interaction affect the stability and long-term evolution of predator-prey systems. In collaboration with Jeffrey Yule of Louisiana Tech, I have also used these approaches to reconstruct the ancient predation of paleoindians on North American megafauna, demonstrating which patterns of extinction can and cannot be explained by simple predator-prey models.

I am also looking at how animals form cooperative groups. Over the past semester I have worked with fellow Stony Brook University graduate Jennifer Verdolin to develop a simulation of prairie dog group formation in relation to resource distribution. Prairie dogs form colonies to defend resources, but what individual behaviors mediate this process are unknown. Dylan Moore, a Pratt graduate student in the digital arts program, has been working to code this virtual prairie dog world. Soon, we hope to be able to test some prominent models of how groups form and why groups defend a territory of a particular size.

I would eventually like to work at larger scales and with more collaborators, so that the complexity of the simulations I work with can be increased. I am particularly interested in working with video game designers, whose sophistication with creating simulated worlds has far outpaced anything that ecologists and evolutionary biologists have managed to construct. I am particularly curious about how data from online computer games might be used to better understand human behavior within groups of varying sizes.
Supervisors: Lev R. Ginzburg
Phone: Office: 718-636-3572
Address: Christopher X J. Jensen, PhD
Pratt Institute
Department of Math and Science
200 Willoughby Avenue - ARC LL G49
Brooklyn, NY 11205

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