Our research is focused on understanding the evolution of cooperation and the selective pressures that favor cooperative group living. How do social animals process information from their physical and social environment to make decisions that enhance their survival and reproductive success? In animal societies where group members are constantly interacting, how do these interactions shape brain architecture and function? How can certain social insects persist in broad distributions with different environmental pressures? More recently, we also explore the effect of behavioral manipulation by parasites in these insect societies. We use an integrative approach to investigate the relationship among relatedness, social interactions, behavior cues, environmental factors and brain architecture in group formation and cooperation. Interests: Evolution of sociality; Neuroethology; Host-parasite interactions; Behavioral Ecology; Conservation