{"id":3722,"date":"2017-02-15T15:40:02","date_gmt":"2017-02-15T20:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/bump\/?post_type=profile&p=3722"},"modified":"2026-02-18T09:19:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T14:19:05","slug":"peter-buston","status":"publish","type":"profile","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/bump\/people\/peter-buston\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter Buston"},"content":{"rendered":"

Research Website<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Google Scholar Profile<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Twitter: @BustonLab<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Current Research<\/h3>\n

My lab tackles major challenges in the fields of behavioral ecology, population ecology, and evolutionary biology within the marine environment. Two main questions have commanded our attention. First, why do some individuals forgo their own reproduction and behave cooperatively in animal societies? This question has challenged behavioral ecologists and evolutionary biologists ever since Darwin pointed out the difficulties these behaviors posed for his theory of natural selection. Second, what is the probability of larval exchange, or connectivity, between populations in marine metapopulations? This question has long been a focus for marine ecologists and biological oceanographers, because the answer holds the key to understanding metapopulation dynamics and designing effective networks of marine reserves. Students in the lab have built on these foundations, developing their own related lines of research. The lab\u2019s research combines long-term field studies with experimental manipulations, molecular genetics, and mathematical modeling. We use a hypothesis-driven approach to answer fundamental questions of behavioral ecology, population ecology, and evolutionary biology in marine systems.<\/span><\/p>\n

Selected Student Publications<\/h3>\n