We explore behavior in dynamic & changing ecosystems.

The Collective Ecology Group is led by Dr. William Oestreich. We will be moving the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in early 2027. Opportunities for graduate students and postdocs will be posted soon.

We aim to understand how physical and biological ecosystem variation shape animals' individual, social, and collective behaviors. In turn, we explore how animals' social lives shape the ecosystems they inhabit. We interrogate these questions across taxa and ecosystems, but with a particular focus on the extreme biophysical and social conditions of life in the ocean.

This research requires cooperation among networks of humans and our technologies. We reflect on how our own species' remarkable capacity for collective behavior can enable us to more effectively & equitably understand, steward, & adapt to the changing ecosystems of which we are all a part.