My research explores the evolutionary ecology of human sociality, life history, and health. I am particularly interested in combining theoretical models with empirical field research to explain variation in social organization across primate and human societies. (Click here to see a recent review of this work.) I do fieldwork with the Tsimane', a group native to the Bolivian Amazon. My undergraduate education focused on Islamic and Eurasian history and languages at Princeton.

In spring 2010 I am co-teaching a new course with George Bezerra (Computer Science) and Wenyun Zuo (Biology) entitled Networks: An introduction to network theory and its applications in social, biological, and technological systems.

publications

Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, Samuel Bowles, Tom Hertz, Adrian Bell, Jan Beise, Greg Clark, Ila Fazzio, Michael Gurven, Kim Hill, Paul L. Hooper, William Irons, Hillard Kaplan, Donna Leonetti, Bobbi Low, Frank Marlowe, Richard McElreath, Suresh Naidu, David Nolin, Patrizio Piraino, Rob Quinlan, Eric Schniter, Rebecca Sear, Mary Shenk, Eric Alden Smith, Christopher von Rueden and Polly Wiessner (2009) "Intergenerational wealth transmission and the dynamics of inequality in small-scale societies." Science 326(5953), 682-688. web link  Online supplement: pdf  See Acemoglu and Robinson's perspectives piece here: web link

Hillard S. Kaplan, Paul L. Hooper and Michael Gurven (2009) "The evolutionary and ecological roots of human social organization." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences 364(1533), 3289-3299. pdf audio

Hillard S. Kaplan, Michael Gurven, Jeffrey Winking, Paul L. Hooper and Jonathan Stieglitz. "Learning, menopause, and the human adaptive complex." Annals of the NY Academy of Sciences, in press.

Michael Gurven, Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, Paul L. Hooper, Hillard Kaplan, Robert Quinlan, Rebecca Sear, Eric Schniter, Christopher von Rueden, Samuel Bowles, Adrian Bell and Tom Hertz. "Domestication alone does not lead to inequality: Intergenerational wealth transmission among horticulturalists." Current Anthropology, in press.

Philip L. Hooper and Paul L. Hooper (2009) "Inflammation, heat shock proteins, and type 2 diabetes." Cell Stress and Chaperones 14(2), 113-115. pdf

Paul L. Hooper and Geoffrey F. Miller (2008) “Mutual mate choice can drive costly signaling even under perfect monogamy." Adaptive Behavior 16(1), 53-70. pdf  Supplementary table: pdf

Paul L. Hooper (2003) "Forced population transfers in early Ottoman imperial strategy: A comparative approach." Senior Thesis, Department of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University. pdf