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Fields of study
Behavioral ecology
Research interests
I am broadly interested in social behavior and animal communication. At Michigan, I plan to study the mechanisms of conflict management in paper wasps societies. Specifically, I am researching the evolution of visual individual recognition systems in the Northern paper wasp, Polistes fuscatus. These paper wasps use highly variable and distinctive facial and body markings to recognize colony members as individuals. Since their visual markings are readily manipulated they are an ideal system for studying individual recognition. Previous theoretical work suggests that individual recognition should lead to more stable, linear hierarchies, thus reducing aggression and providing a benefit to the group. Experimental work, however, has not been done to test the theoretical predictions. My current work is examining the benefits of being individually distinctive, the function of individual recognition in a paper wasp colony and cognitive specializations of recognition in paper wasps.
Advisor
Elizabeth Tibbetts
Sheehan's home page
Tibbetts Lab
Select Publications
Tibbetts, E.A., M.J. Sheehan and J. Dale. 2008. A testable definition of individual recognition. TREE 23(7):356.
Sheehan, M.J. and E.A. Tibbetts. 2008. Robust long-term social memories in a paper wasp. Current Biology 18:R851-R852.
Schoenemann, P.T., L.D. Glotzer, and M.J. Sheehan. 2005. Reply to “Is prefrontal white matter a human evolutionary specialization?” Nature Neuroscience 8:538.
Schoenamann, P.T., M.J. Sheehan, and L.D. Glotzer. 2005. Prefrontal white matter volume is disproportionately larger in humans than in other primates. Nature Neuroscience 8:242–52.
News
NCID funds part of EEB’s recruitment efforts
EEB graduate students Shalene Jha, Brian Sedio, and SNRE grad Jose Gonzalez visited the University of Puerto Rico in February 2009 to present a research symposium and to take part in a panel to answer questions about graduate school and U-M. The segment of EEB’s recruiting program that seeks to increase the diversity of the graduate student body is funded by a grant from the National Center for Institutional Diversity. The long-term goal is to ensure that the diversity of graduate students in the discipline, and ultimately of the professoriate, matches that of society at large. The $30,000 grant is for one-and-a-half years, and began in 2007.
As part of the program, select students from partner universities visit UM’s campus to meet faculty and students in EEB and the School of Natural Resources and the Environment and participate in a field ecology course for the weekend. Partners for 2008 were: University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras and Mayaguez Campuses, Morehouse College and Howard University. So far, 12 students have visited campus through the program.
EEB and SNRE students began visiting partner universities as part of the NCID program in 2007. Jha and EEB grad Mike Sheehan traveled to Morehouse College in 2008 where many Spelman College students were in attendance. EEB grads Sarah Cobey, Jahi Chappell and SNRE grad Solomon David visited Howard University in 2007.
Professor John Vandermeer, chair of EEB’s Diversity Committee, presented a seminar and touted graduate school in EEB at Howard University in 2008. He travels to Morehouse College in April 2009. Future plans include expanding the program to include Tuskegee University.
Great close-ups
EEB graduate student Mike Sheehan’s up close and personal photos of wasp faces are featured in the January 2009 issue of BBC Wildlife Magazine. The photos accompany an article about his research with Professor Elizabeth Tibbetts, which was previously featured on the EEB Web site. Sheehan was paid 80 pounds for his photographs, which is about $115.
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