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James Gould's current work concentrates on the evolution of female-choice preferences. He addresses the number of hypotheses that account for how females use cues to select mates, which are mutually exclusive and testable. His approach examines female preferences across species regarding female choice, especially when allowed to choose, and investigates the biases that arise in the absence of opportunities to express preferences. His research includes a concentrated study on family live-bearing fish, such as mollies, guppies, mosquitofish, platys, and swordtails. He finds that while females of certain species exhibit preferences based on male contests and male scrambles, there are still strong preferences that correspond with male dimorphisms evolved in derived species and genera. Gould's interests also include exploring the associations between biases in recognizing signs of health prior to making choices and how these biases relate to the evolution of male dimorphisms, which appear to exploit innate recognition and preferences in fish schooling behavior.
GRE scores are not accepted. Ph.D. is the primary degree; students are not required to hold an M.S.E. prior to admission.