Corina Tarnita
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Corina Tarniţă is a Romanian-American mathematician and theoretical biologist known for her work in
mathematical biology Mathematical and theoretical biology, or biomathematics, is a branch of biology which employs theoretical analysis, mathematical models and abstractions of living organisms to investigate the principles that govern the structure, development ...
and
complex adaptive systems Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
. She is currently a professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
. Her research examines how living organisms organize themselves into patterns at different scales.


Early life and education

Born in Romania, Tarnita showed an early aptitude for mathematics, encouraged by her mother, a professor of
materials science Materials science is an interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries. The intellectual origins of materials sci ...
and
engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
. She won the Romanian National Mathematical Olympiad three times from 1999 to 2001. Tarnita moved to the United States to pursue higher education, obtaining her B.A. (2006), M.A. (2008), and Ph.D. (2009) in Mathematics from
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
. She was a Junior Fellow in the
Harvard Society of Fellows The Society of Fellows is a group of scholars selected at the beginnings of their careers by Harvard University for their potential to advance academic wisdom, upon whom are bestowed distinctive opportunities to foster their individual and intellect ...
before joining the
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
faculty in 2013.


Research and career

Initially focused on high-dimensional mathematics, Tarnita was inspired by
Martin Nowak Martin Andreas Nowak (born April 7, 1965) is an Austrian-born professor of mathematics and biology at Harvard University. He is a researcher in evolutionary dynamics, and has made contributions to the fields of evolutionary theory and viral dy ...
's work on
evolutionary dynamics Evolutionary dynamics is the study of the mathematical principles according to which biological organisms as well as cultural ideas evolve and evolved. This is mostly achieved through the mathematical discipline of population genetics, along with ...
and shifted to studying
mathematical biology Mathematical and theoretical biology, or biomathematics, is a branch of biology which employs theoretical analysis, mathematical models and abstractions of living organisms to investigate the principles that govern the structure, development ...
. This change led her to complete her Ph.D. under Nowak's supervision, finishing in just three years. Tarnita's 2010 paper, "The evolution of eusociality," co-authored with Martin A. Nowak and
Edward O. Wilson Edward Osborne Wilson (June 10, 1929 – December 26, 2021) was an American biologist, naturalist, ecologist, and entomologist known for developing the field of sociobiology. Born in Alabama, Wilson found an early interest in nature and frequ ...
, challenged the long-standing
kin selection Kin selection is a process whereby natural selection favours a trait due to its positive effects on the reproductive success of an organism's relatives, even when at a cost to the organism's own survival and reproduction. Kin selection can lead ...
theory and proposed a new model for the evolution of
eusociality Eusociality ( Greek 'good' and social) is the highest level of organization of sociality. It is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping generations wit ...
, sparking significant debate and reevaluation in the field of
evolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes such as natural selection, common descent, and speciation that produced the diversity of life on Earth. In the 1930s, the discipline of evolutionary biolo ...
. The response included a rebuttal published in ''
Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
'' from over a hundred researchers. Working with Princeton colleagues Robert Pringle and Juan Bonachela, Tarnita developed new theories about the formation of large, regular vegetation patterns, such as fairy circles in the
Namib Desert The Namib ( ; ) is a coastal desert in Southern Africa. According to the broadest definition, the Namib stretches for more than along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Namibia, and northwest South Africa, extending southward from the Carunjamba Ri ...
. Tarnita's research on "loner" behavior in
slime mold Slime mold or slime mould is an informal name given to a polyphyletic assemblage of unrelated eukaryotic organisms in the Stramenopiles, Rhizaria, Discoba, Amoebozoa and Holomycota clades. Most are near-microscopic; those in the Myxogastria ...
s revealed that this seemingly non-cooperative trait is actually an
evolutionarily stable strategy An evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) is a strategy (or set of strategies) that is ''impermeable'' when adopted by a population in adaptation to a specific environment, that is to say it cannot be displaced by an alternative strategy (or set of ...
, challenging previous assumptions about social behavior in
microorganism A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic scale, microscopic size, which may exist in its unicellular organism, single-celled form or as a Colony (biology)#Microbial colonies, colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen ...
s. In 2024, Tarnita was named a
Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated d ...
.


Selected publications

* Nowak, Martin A.; Tarnita, Corina E.; Wilson, Edward O. (2010)
"The evolution of eusociality"
Nature. 466 (7310): 1057–1062. doi:10.1038/nature09205. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 20740005. * Bonachela, J. A.; Pringle, R. M.; Sheffer, E.; Coverdale, T. C.; Guyton, J. A.; Caylor, K. K.; Levin, S. A.; Tarnita, C. E. (2015).
Termite mounds can increase the robustness of dryland ecosystems to climatic change
. Science. 347 (6222): 651–655. doi:10.1126/science.1261487. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 25657248. * Tarnita, C. E.; Bonachela, J. A.; Sheffer, E.; Guyton, J. A.; Coverdale, T. C.; Long, R. A.; Pringle, R. M. (2017).
A theoretical foundation for multi-scale regular vegetation patterns"
Nature. 541 (7637): 398–401. doi:10.1038/nature20801. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 28102269.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarnita, Corina Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American biologists Romanian emigrants to the United States Harvard College alumni Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Princeton University faculty