I recently visited the National Institute for National and Biological Synthesis to give an invited talk on the origin and spread of human agriculture. Thank you to Dr. Sergey Gavrilets for being an amazing host and to all the wonderful colleagues that I met during this visit. The recorded talk is available below:

Thomas Haaland and I recently wrote a paper that investigates potential vulnerabilities  in natural populations to changes in the intensity, duration and frequency of extreme weather events. The paper is open access so feel free to download it from my publications link or directly from the publisher's URL. Although it took some time to get covered, the press and more importantly, the institutions that can really use this information are beginning to pay attention. Here's an example of our coverage so far...

Are you interested in a largely independent postdoctoral fellowship that will allow you to advance your research agenda, expand your network of mentors and colleagues and make a difference in the world? If so, then please consider the following opportunity from the Living Earth Collaborative at Washington University. Please contact me for details if you are interested in submitting an application...

I am happy to announce that two of our newest products have been published in Nature Communications and Ecology and Evolution. Kudos to Trevor Fristoe and Thomas Haaland for their hard work and brilliance... Trevor's paper explores the atypical distribution of brain sizes in temperate environments (spoiler alert: it is bimodal) and how it may be related to alternative ecological strategies to deal with massive temperate swings. Thomas' paper investigates the phenomenon of extreme weather events and proposes a framework for understanding how organisms may adapt or not to current changes in the intensity, frequency and scope of these events. Press summaries of our work are found here:

Big Brains or Big Guts?        |         Brave New World

Postdoctoral position on the Evolutionary Ecology of the Avian Brain
 
Start date: 1 November 2018. 
Duration: Three years
 
The Botero Lab at Washington University in Saint Louis (https://boterolab.weebly.com) is seeking a creative and self-motivated postdoctoral colleague to help develop our research program on the evolution of brain size variation in birds. The position will involve highly collaborative, multi-institutional work on a range of topics, including ecological niche theory and biogeography. In year 1, the project will also involve three or four short visits to museum collections across the United States. The successful candidate will be expected to assist with training and mentoring of graduate students and undergraduates, develop synergistic projects, write grants, produce first-authored publications and contribute to co-authored papers. 
 
Candidates are expected to have obtained a PhD degree in a relevant field by the anticipated starting date (Nov. 2018). Strong quantitative background and R programming skills are important, as well as a solid background in ecology and evolution. Experience in biogeography (e.g., ability to process and work with geographic data sets) is highly desired. Willingness to work collaboratively as part of a research team is a must. 
 
This is a three-year position, but yearly contract renewal will depend upon satisfactory work.
 
Inquiries and CVs should be addressed to Prof Carlos A. Botero (cbotero@wustl.edu). If possible, please set up an in-person meeting with me during the upcoming Evolution 2018 meeting in Montpellier.
 
 
Postdoctoral position in the phylogeography of human culture in the New World
 
Start date: 1 October 2018 (an earlier start date is also possible).
Duration: One year
 
The Botero Lab at Washington University in Saint Louis (https://boterolab.weebly.com) is seeking a creative and self-motivated postdoctoral colleague to help develop evolutionary ecology models aimed at understanding the process of human colonization of the New World. The position will involve highly collaborative, multi-institutional work as part of the D-PLACE (d-place.org) research network. The successful candidate will be expected to develop synergistic projects, produce first-authored publications and contribute to co-authored papers. 
 
Candidates are expected to have obtained a PhD degree in a relevant field by the anticipated starting date (Sep. 2018). Strong quantitative background and R programming skills are important, as well as a solid background in ecology and evolution. Experience in phylogeography is highly desired. Willingness to work collaboratively as part of a research team is a must. 
 
While this is being advertised as a one-year position, interested candidates will be involved in current efforts to extend this timeline through the development of new grant proposals.
 
Inquiries and CVs should be addressed to Prof Carlos A. Botero (cbotero@wustl.edu). If possible, please set up an in-person meeting with me during the upcoming Evolution 2018 meeting in Montpellier.

Our new paper on the origins of human agriculture is out today in Nature Human Behavior. By modeling how the potential density of hunter-gatherer societies changed both around the world and in regions where agriculture originated, our study evaluated the support for alternative hypotheses related to why agriculture evolved when it did. Our analyses indicate that the carrying capacity of hunter-gatherer habitats in these areas of origin was generally improving during the times in which agriculture evolved, supporting the idea that surplus may have enabled early humans to develop this costly new mode of subsistence (possibly by allowing them to allocate time and energy into the domestication of plants and animals and the development of  new techniques to derive sustenance from their environment).

​Stay tuned for the next few months for more exciting products of our collaboration with linguists, social scientists, and other eco-evolutionary biologists on this topic.

Today we finally got together for a long-overdue group picture! Unfortunately Sarah B. and Sarah S. could not make it (we missed you guys!). What a wonderful semester... Thank you all for the hard work and for making this an amazing space where creativity, teamwork and curiosity flourish!

ps. [FROM LEFT TO RIGHT] Carlos Botero, Ty Tuff, Anthony Law, Trevor Fristoe, Savannah Fuqua, Bruno Vilela, Lily Malcom, Vince Fasanello and Suchith DaSilva

[From Left to right] Bruno Vilela, Ty Tuff, Carlos Botero & Trevor Fristoe celebrate in style the news that our first paper on the evolution of human agriculture has been accepted for publication in Nature Human Behaviour! Big shout-out to our fantastic collaborators at Colorado State University, including Patrick Kavanagh, Hannah Haynie and Michael Gavin!

Trevor Fristoe, Bruno Vilela, Ty Tuff and Vincent Fasanello (core members of the Botero Lab) recently competed at Wash U's emergency preparedness team building excercise and set the fastest time on record for solving the challenge. So proud!!!!