The evolution of cooperation—costly behavior that benefits others—faces one clear obstacle. Namely, cooperators are always at a competitive disadvantage relative to defectors, individuals that reap the same social benefits, but evade the personal cost. One solution to this problem involves genetic hitchhiking, where the allele encoding cooperative behavior becomes linked to a beneficial mutation. While traditionally seen as a passive process driven purely by chance, here we explore a more active form of hitchhiking. Specifically, we model hitchhiking in the context of adaptation to a stressful environment by cooperators and defectors with spatially limited dispersal. Under such conditions, clustered cooperators reach higher local densities, thereby experiencing more opportunities for mutations than defectors. Thus, the allele encoding cooperation has a greater probability of hitchhiking with alleles conferring stress adaptation. We label this probabilistic enhancement the “Hankshaw effect” after the character Sissy Hankshaw, whose anomalously large thumbs made her a singularly effective hitchhiker. Using an agent-based model, we demonstrate that there exists a broad set of conditions allowing the evolution of cooperation through the Hankshaw effect. We discuss the feasibility of our theoretical assumptions for natural systems, not only for the case of cooperation, but also for other costly social behaviors such as spite. The primary elements of our model, including genetic hitchhiking and population structure, have been discussed separately in previous models exploring the evolution of cooperation. However, the combination of these elements has not been appreciated as a solution to the problem of cooperation.

Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) provide active and authentic scientific involvement to tens of thousands of students each year. Through this process, CUREs offer the benefits of increased learning outcomes, improved equity, and increased retention in STEM. During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, research and teaching labs have limited capacity. Some universities are closed for in-person learning altogether, and others are likely to face emergency shut-downs throughout the year. In this setting, the inability to conduct experiments limits a core aspect of CUREs. Without experimentation as a basis for student engagement, interest, and broader relevance, true course-based research this year becomes a major challenge. We suggest that this limitation provides a moment to enhance CUREs with research-enriching learning activities that are obtainable while away from the bench. In this essay we outline a variety of these student-centered activities and review their benefits in terms of student interest, learning, and equity. While useful during emergency teaching transitions during COVID-19, we make the case that these new evidence-based practices for CUREs will also be helpful for the enrichment of research-based learning beyond the current crisis.