Michael H. Dickinson (born 1963) is an American fly bioengineer and

neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist specializing in neuroscience that deals with the anatomy and function of neurons, Biological neural network, neural circuits, and glia, and their Behavior, behavioral, biological, and psycholo ...

, and Zarem Professor of Biology and Bioengineering at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

. He studies ''

Drosophila ''Drosophila'' (), from Ancient Greek δρόσος (''drósos''), meaning "dew", and φίλος (''phílos''), meaning "loving", is a genus of fly, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "small fruit flies" or p ...

'' flight control systems and sensory processing and was dubbed the Fly Guy by The Scientist.

Early life and education

Dickinson was born in

Seaford, Delaware Seaford is a city located along the Nanticoke River in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 Census Bureau figures, the population of the city is 6,928, an increase of 3.4% from the 2000 census. It is part of the Salisbu ...

, in 1963 but grew up in Baltimore before moving to Philadelphia. He graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

with a B.S. in 1984, and from

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

with a Ph.D. in 1989. He did his postdoctoral work with Karl Georg Götz at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

Career and Research

He was an assistant professor at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1991, before moving to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, in 1996. He was at

from 2002 to 2011 before moving to the

for 2010 to 2014. He is now back at Caltech. He is a Monitoring Editor at

the Journal of Experimental Biology ''Journal of Experimental Biology'' (formerly ''The British Journal of Experimental Biology)'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in the field of comparative physiology and integrative biology. It is published by The Company of Biologists. Th ...

. He was a course director of the Neural Systems and Behavior course at the

Marine Biological Laboratory The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is an international center for research and education in biological and environmental science. Founded in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in 1888, the MBL is a private, nonprofit institution that was independent ...

Awards

* 1990 Larry Sandler Memorial Award * 2001

MacArthur Fellows Program The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...

* 2008

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

Sources

"Micro Warfare"
''Popular Mechanics'', Feb 2001
"Flyorama"
''Popular Science'', Dec 2002

References

External links

"Focusing on Fruit Flies, Curiosity Takes Flight"
''New York Times''
"Flies In Danger Escape With Safety Dance"
''NPR'', Joe Palca
"Fly Flight Simulators"
''ScienCentral''
"Michael H. Dickson"
''Scientific Commons''
"How a fly flies"
(TED conference) {{DEFAULTSORT:Dickinson, Michael 1963 births American bioengineers Brown University alumni University of Washington alumni University of California, Berkeley faculty California Institute of Technology faculty Living people MacArthur Fellows