James Greenwood-Lee

My research interests lie in mathematical modelling, and its applications to study adaptation. At present, I’m fascinated with a particular type of adaptive process that can be framed as a game in which one player (the primary) exerts a certain amount of control over the other players. Specifically, the primary is tasked with creating an environment with the proper incentives to maximize the social or group benefit shared by all players. The difficulty is that each player seeks to achieve its own objective, which might conflict with the objective of the primary. As such social benefit may be sacrificed as each player pursues its own personal gain. Such games arise naturally in systems that exhibit adaptation, this includes (but is not limited to) biological, social, and economic systems. My work has examined such systems within the context of the fields of Evolutionary Biology and Health Services Research.

I have an appreciation for both variation and similarity. Similarity brings comfort, yet it’s the differences that make things interesting. My path to AU reflects this. Undergraduate studies in biology, graduate studies in mathematics, a side-step to pursue the craft of woodworking, a return to research in the fields of population health and health services research. A seemingly wandering journey among unrelated fields but linked together through mathematics and a passion for learning and sharing knowledge.