I am interested in studying the fundamental link between sensory systems and social groups, particularly the role vision plays in group formation. The central focus of my research is how individuals visually locate conspecifics, decide where to position themselves within social groups, and consequently how the social group impacts the individual. In addition to researching the role vision plays at the individual scale, I am interested in studying the evolutionary differences in the eye across different environments and behaviors.
Publications
Steele, E. P. and Laidre, M. E. (2019) ‘Leaf me alone: visual constraints on the ecology of social group formation’, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 73(4), p. 53. doi: 10.1007/s00265-019-2662-3.