CAREER: Creating a Unified Framework for the Quantitative Study of Animal Aggregations

动物的社会行为发生在许多物种中，通常会产生壮观的视觉效果。在过去，研究的重点要么是(1)动物为什么会加入群体，要么是(2)动物用来在群体中定位的“交通规则”。然而，目前还没有理论来描述如何将这两个想法联系起来。该项目将创建一个单一的理论体系，通过结合现有的动物社会行为模型来明确地整合这两个概念，并将生成一个新的计算机工具包，以允许开发新的模型。该项目的主要成果将是一个新的、统一的动物社会行为理论和一个新的用户友好的工具包来进行行为分析。通过开发新的理论和提供研究社会行为的新工具，该项目将把研究和教育结合起来，并改变学生学习科学的方式。为了向尽可能多的受众提供新的工具包，所有的计算机程序和数据都将储存在科学理事会图书馆http://www.wssu.edu/cg-okelly-library/archives/digitalcollection.aspx.This项目的数字档案馆中，它将为未来的调查人员提供一个新的框架，并为他们提供一个方便使用的计算机工具包，从而对科学界产生更广泛的影响。这个项目将在教育中产生更广泛的影响，因为它将普及行为生态学的科学，并扩大代表不足的群体对科学的参与。一项新的研讨会课程和独立的学生项目将有助于提高校园行为生态的受欢迎程度。学生还将维护一个项目网站，并基于研究工具包开发“智能手机”应用程序。这些由学生主导的项目将作为门户，激发普通民众对行为生态学的兴趣，使该项目的内容达到数千人。

Animal social behavior occurs in many species, often with spectacular visual results. In the past, studies have either focused on (1) why animals join groups, or (2) the "traffic rules" animals use to position themselves within groups. However, there is currently no theory to describe how one would go about connecting these two ideas. This project will create a single theoretical system that explicitly integrates the two concepts by combining existing models of animal social behavior and will generate a new computer toolkit to allow the development of the new model. The primary results of this project will be a new, unifying theory of animal social behavior and a new user-friendly toolkit to conduct behavioral analysis. By developing new theory and providing new tools to study social behavior, this project will integrate research and education and transform the way students learn about science. To make the new toolkit available to the widest possible audience, all computer programs and data will be stored in the WSSU library digital archive at http://www.wssu.edu/cg-okelly-library/archives/digitalcollection.aspx.This project will have broader impact on the scientific community by providing a new framework for future investigators, and by providing them with a user-friendly computer toolkit. This project will have broader impact in education because it will popularize the science of behavioral ecology, and broaden participation in science by under-represented groups. A new seminar course and independent student projects will help increase the popularity of behavioral ecology on campus. Students will also maintain a project web site and develop "smartphone" applications based on the research toolkit. These student-led projects will serve as portals to incite interest in behavioral ecology by the general population, allowing the project's content to reach thousands.