Sherman, Paul Willard
Professor & Stephen H. Weiss P
My students and I study the adaptive significance of social and reproductive behaviors. Currently, our study organisms include bdelloid rotifers, fig wasps, little-hermit hummingbirds, Washington ground squirrels, and humans. Despite this apparent diversity, we are united intellectually because we all take a Darwinian approach, and we keep our levels of analysis separate as we develop and conduct strong inference tests of alternative adaptive and nonadaptive hypotheses using data gathered in the field or gleaned from the literature.
research
research and scholarship focus
Field research on ground squirrel behavior, ecology, and management; Lab research on Darwinian Medicine (particularly allergies, lactose malabsorption, morning sickness, and gestational hypertension).
primary investigator of
research areas
- biodiversity | collaborative research area (CALS)
- biomedical sciences | collaborative research area (CALS)
- conservation biology | collaborative research area (CALS)
- ecology | collaborative research area (CALS)
- evolution | collaborative research area (CALS)
- milk | collaborative research area (CALS)
- wildlife management | collaborative research area (CALS)
- zoology | collaborative research area (CALS)
international geographic focus
- Africa | continent
- Australia | country
- Central America | trans-national region
- Guinea | country
- Mexico | country
domestic geographic focus
- southern U.S. | sub-national region
- United States | country
submitted impact statement
- DARWINIAN MEDICINE: A NEW APPROACH TO PROMOTING HEALTH, SAFETY, AND ACCESS TO QUALITY HEALTH CARE | 2007 Impact statement
- Allergies and protection against cancer | 2006 Impact statement
- Darwinian Medicine: A new approach to health and disease | 2005 Impact statement
affiliations
faculty appointment in
- Neurobiology and Behavior (BIO NB) | Cornell department
member of graduate field
- Neurobiology and Behavior | graduate field
teaching
teaching focus
Animal Social Behavior; Darwinian Medicine
teaches
- BIOG 2990 - Introduction to Research Methods in Biology (TBA -) | fall 2009 class
- BIOG 4990 - Independent Undergraduate Research in Biology (TBA -) | fall 2009 class
- BIONB 4200 - Topics in Neurobiology & Behavior (T 02:55:PM-04:10:PM) | fall 2009 class
- BIONB 7201 - Research Design in the Study of Animal Social Behavior (T 12:20:PM-01:20:PM) | fall 2009 class
- BIOG 2990 - Introduction to Research Methods in Biology (TBA -) | spring 2009 class
- BIONB 4270 - Darwinian Medicine (TR 02:30:PM-04:25:PM) | fall 2008 class
- BIONB 7201 - Research Design in the Study of Animal Social Behavior (T 12:20:PM-01:20:PM) | fall 2008 class
service
outreach focus
Ecology, Behavior, and Conservation of Washington Ground Squirrels
background
awards and distinctions
- Weiss Presidential Fellow
featured in
- Cornell researchers challenge Cornell-led proposal to stock U.S. plains with lions and elephants | Cornell Chronicle feature
- Lactose intolerance seems linked to ancestral struggles with harsh climate and cattle diseases, Cornell study finds | Cornell news release
- Morning sickness is pregnancy 'wellness insurance,' says Cornell professor | Cornell Chronicle feature
- One-third of men have endured the painful procedure -- all for evolutionary purpose, says researcher | Cornell Chronicle feature
- The miseries of allergies just may help prevent some cancers, study finds | Cornell Chronicle feature
publications
speaker at Cornell event
Keywords: animal and human social behavior, darwinian medicine, n.b.& b. (Animal behavior)