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To Mike Goodisman, the yellow jacket is much more than the Georgia Tech mascot.
A molecular geneticist in the School of Biology, Goodisman studies the structure and function of the genome. As a student, he says he was drawn to genetics early because he enjoyed the blend of biology and mathematics the discipline requires.
He's primarily interested in social insects ants, termites, bees and yellow jackets and has been using them in his research to understand how evolutionary processes affect social systems and how sociality, in turn, affects the course of evolution.
"My research focuses on the causes and consequences of sociality," he says. "Members of my lab use a variety of approaches to understand behavior, development, evolution, and ecology in social organisms."
His work is informed by wasps at all stages of development: from egg to larval to pupa to adult. Here he holds a section of a nest containing both larvae and pupas, which spin the white cocoon caps seen at the center. It is from these cocoons that adults will emerge, initiating an annual cycle that propagates the species.
Hailing from Syracuse, New York, Goodisman earned his B.A. in genetics from Cornell University, his Ph.D. in genetics from the University of Georgia, and has completed postdoctoral work at James Cook University in Australia and the University of Arizona. | 