Jack Shaw (he/him)

Postdoctoral Associate, University of Colorado Boulder (2024-Present)

Omidyar Postdoctoral Fellow, Santa Fe Institute (2022-2023)

Ph.D. Yale University (2017-2022)

A.B. Lafayette College (2013-2017)

I study how interactions across biological scales—from cells to organisms to ecosystems—have shaped the evolution of life. My research uses the fossil record to uncover how relationships between organisms, from predation to competition, drive evolutionary and ecological change over deep time. Previous work applied statistical techniques (e.g., machine learning and network analysis approaches) to paleontological and biological data to disentangle true biological signals and those generated by preservation biases. This work helped identify changes in food web structure across the history of animal life, indicating that ancient and modern systems may respond differently to stimuli. Currently, I focus on the evolution of biological complexity, using bryozoans as a model system. These colonial organisms, composed of individual zooids working collectively, offer a rare opportunity to examine how selection operates across different organizational levels—from individual zooids to entire colonies and species. By studying these dynamics, I aim to unravel how cooperation and conflict between biological scales shape key evolutionary transitions.

White Sands, New Mexico.