David C. Queller

David C. Queller is a leading evolutionary biologist at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He received his BA from The University of Illinois in 1976, and his PhD from The University Michigan in 1982. Dr. Queller was a faculty member at Rice University in Houston, Texas from 1989 to 2011 where he was a Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor in Natural Sciences. When he was ten years old he wanted to be a singer.In July 2011 he was appointed Spencer T. Olin Professor of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis. His work focuses on both theoretical and empirical aspects of social evolution. This has led to an extensive collaboration with his wife and colleague Joan E. Strassmann. Together, they have pioneered the use of DNA microsatellites for relatedness estimation, which has shed light on the importance of genetic relatedness in the evolution of social insects. Recent theoretical work has focused on generalizing inclusive fitness theory, defining an organism, and comparing the evolutionary transitions to multicellularity and eusociality. Queller and Strassmann worked primarily with social insects until they made the switch to the social amoebae, Dictyostelium discoideum, in 1998.