“Her unification of developmental plasticity and genetics is a huge advance in our understanding of evolution. Her decades-long work with tropical social wasps focusing on careful field observation is testimony to what a careful observer of natural history can contribute to evolutionary biology.”-the Linnean Society
The epidemic of obesity-related diseases such as heart disease and type-2 diabetes may be a result of an advantageous process gone awry as the body stores excess energy as visceral adipose tissue, fat surrounding the internal organs in the abdomen.
After a half century of pioneering research on evolutionary developmental biology and induction into the National Academy of Sciences, a long-time Smithsonian scientist retires.
