Matina Donaldson-Matasci
Associate Professor of Biology
F.W. Olin Science Center, Room 1243
1250 N. Dartmouth Ave.
Claremont, CA 91711
909.607.1572
mdonaldsonmatasci@hmc.edu
Education and Professional Experience
- B.A., Mathematics, Reed College
- PhD, Biology, University of Washington
- Postdoctoral Research Associate, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Department of Evolutionary Genetics)
- Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Arizona (Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology)
Teaching
- Bio 46: Introductory Biology (Fall)
- Bio 23: Biology Laboratory (Fall)
- Writ 01: Introduction to Academic Writing (Fall)
- Bio 154: Biostatistics (Spring)
- Math Comp Bio 117: Game Theory and the Evolution of Cooperation (Fall, alternate years)
- Math Comp Bio 118B: Introduction to Computational Biology (Spring, second half)
- Bio 110: Experimental Ecology Laboratory (Spring)
- Bio 186: Topics in Behavioral Ecology (Fall, alternate years)
Research Interests
In the HMC Bee Lab, we study how colonies of social insects, such as bees and ants, coordinate group behaviors. In particular, communication between group members often shapes the activity of the group as a whole. For example, honey bees use a specialized 鈥渄ance language鈥� to communicate with their nestmates about the location of food sources, which allows the colony to forage efficiently even as resources change. Turtle ant (Cephalotes) colonies coordinate group defense of multiple nests, based on the value and defensibility of each nest. Using a combination of field experiments with honey bees, laboratory experiments with ants, mathematical models and computer simulations, we explore how different types of communication systems are suited to different types of environments and social structures.
See the for more information on , including field experiments on honey bee foraging, mapping the floral landscape using drones and computer vision, and a combination of lab experiments and simulations of the transportation networks of arboreal ants.
Selected Publications
Adams, Benjamin J., Evan M. Gora, Matina C. Donaldson-Matasci, Elva J. H. Robinson, and Scott Powell. 2023. 鈥淐ompetition and Habitat Availability Interact to Structure Arboreal Ant Communities across Scales of Ecological Organization.鈥� Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 290 (2007): 20231290. .
Donaldson-Matasci, Matina C., Scott Powell, and Anna Dornhaus. 2022. 鈥淒istributing Defenses: How Resource Defendability Shapes the Optimal Response to Risk.鈥� The American Naturalist 199 (5): 636鈥�52. .
Chang, Joanna*, Scott Powell, Elva J. H. Robinson, and Matina C. Donaldson-Matasci. 2021. 鈥淣est Choice in Arboreal Ants Is an Emergent Consequence of Network Creation under Spatial Constraints.鈥� Swarm Intelligence 15 (1): 7鈥�30. .
Lecheval, Valentin, Hannah Larson*, Dominic D. R. Burns, Samuel Ellis, Scott Powell, Matina C. Donaldson-Matasci, and Elva J. H. Robinson. 2021. 鈥淔rom Foraging Trails to Transport Networks: How the Quality-Distance Trade-off Shapes Network Structure.鈥� Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 288 (1949): 20210430. .
Powell, S, MC Donaldson-Matasci, A Woodrow-Tomizuka** and A Dornhaus. 2017. . Functional Ecology 31 (12): 2287-2298. doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.12926
Rivera, MD*, MC Donaldson-Matasci, and A Dornhaus (2015). Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 3: 1鈥�9. doi:10.3389/fevo.2015.00050
Donaldson-Matasci MC and A Dornhaus (2014). . PLoS ONE 9 (10): e107527. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0107527
Donaldson-Matasci MC, CT Bergstrom, and M Lachmann (2013). . American Naturalist 182 (3): 313-327. doi:10.1086/671161.
Donaldson-Matasci MC, G DeGrandi-Hoffman, and A Dornhaus (2013). . Animal Behaviour 85 (3): 585-592. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.12.020
Donaldson-Matasci MC and A Dornhaus. (2012) . Behav Ecol & Sociobiol 66 (4): 583-592. doi:10.1007/s00265-011-1306-z ()
Donaldson-Matasci MC, CT Bergstrom, and M Lachmann. (2010) . Oikos 119 (2): 219-230. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0706.2009.17781.x ()
Donaldson-Matasci MC, M Lachmann, and CT Bergstrom. (2008) . Evol Ecol Research 10 (4): 493-515. ()
* Undergraduate author ** High school student author