Robert Francis Lynch PhD

                                                    Data Scientist 

I am a data scientist, specializing in the analysis of large hierarchical datasets.   I specialize in the design, implementation and general management of  research projects from inception to publication. This process includes a) designing the study and generating testable hypotheses, b) successfully procuring funds, c) collecting, managing and cleaning the data,  d) collaborating with other data scientists across disciplines, e) writing up the results,  f) publishing research findings in the peer-reviewed scientific literature and g) communicating  them to both scientific and non-specialist audiences.

I have published more than 25 first author papers in high impact interdisciplinary scientific journals including  Nature Communications, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature Human Behaviour and Proceedings B  and have taught multiple college courses. 

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

My research to data has used evolutionary theory to understand human behavior and has been focused on a range of topics including the impact of immigration on social networks, what predicts social mobility, tribalism, the relationship between social capital, loneliness and the rise of populism, the effect of marriage practices on reproduction and the evolutionary function of humor.  I received my PhD at Rutgers advised by Robert Trivers doing research in Iceland on the effects of parental investment on life history outcomes such as reproduction and lifespan. My current research with the Shenk Research Group in the anthropology department at Penn State is centered around seeking to understand how religion increases cooperation which can lead to higher fertility and greater social mobility. My research in Finland with the Human Life History Project was focused on understand the impact of immigration on life history traits, while my time at the University of Missouri was spent analyzing a database of previously uncontacted Yanomamo Indians from the Amazon rainforest.  

Interactive maps and link to current projects