Dr. Waring gives lecture on The Evolution of Social-Ecological Systems

Professor Waring presented his research on the evolution of social-ecological systems at the SEANET speaker series this week. His lecture, “The Evolution of Social-Ecological Systems” explains how human cooperation dynamics often determine if and how people manage the environmental resources sustainably.

Seminar Abstract

To solve the modern environmental predicament we must understand how humans created it. Beyond emitting carbon, over-populating, polluting, or over-consuming, humans have come to dominate the planet, surviving in all terrestrial environments from the tropics to the arctic. We have achieved this through a mix of cooperation and cumulative adaptation to the environment. Dr. Waring argues that the factors that make the human species special, ultrasociality and cumulative cultural adaptation, also present the best and only hope for surviving and managing modern ecological crises. This talk will explain how human culture and cooperation both evolve, and how the dynamics of cultural adaptation play out at multiple levels of social organization in different social ecological systems, with detailed examples from around the world. Finally, Dr. Waring explains how to harness the power of human cooperation and cultural adaptation to achieve environmental sustainability.

The Evolution of Social-Ecological Systems: Slides

Upcoming Talk: Dr. Timothy Waring on “The Evolution of Social-Ecological Systems”