Theoretical Evolutionary Ecology explores how ecological and life-history processes shape the evolution and persistence of biological strategies across species and environments. Using mathematical modelling approaches, projects in this research area examine how life histories such as parental care, cooperation, longevity, and senescence evolve in response to environmental uncertainty, social interactions, and population dynamics.

Current work investigates the ecological conditions under which parental care evolves and persists, including the effects of inter-offspring relatedness, stochastic environments, and cannibalism. Other projects examine how physiological decline, mutations, and density-dependent processes shape patterns of ageing and longevity, while kin selection models explore how social systems and cooperative breeding influence senescence.

Research on cooperation focuses on microbial systems such as the insect pathogen Bacillus thuringiensis, using evolutionary game theory and epidemiological models to understand how cooperative traits are maintained in natural populations. Across these themes, the group combines evolutionary theory with ecological dynamics to better understand how life-history strategies emerge, persist, and respond to changing ecological conditions.