Faculty Spotlight: Q&A with Daniel Margoliash, Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy

Daniel Margoliash

Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy
Biological Sciences Division 

As a professor in the University’s Biological Sciences Division, Daniel Margoliash, PhD, runs a neuroethology lab. Neurotheology is the study of the neural basis of natural behavior in animals or, in Margoliash’s case, birds. Biologists in Margoliash’s lab investigate nervous system function by relating it to innate and learned natural behaviors.

Q: How long have you been with the University of Chicago, and what drew you here?

I joined the faculty on April 1, 1986. Not because it was April Fool's Day, but because in my mind, as a beginning assistant professor, I would collect sparrows during the spring migration and be ready to have my lab fully running and doing experiments by the summer. In fact, I did collect birds that spring, but it took perhaps a bit longer to get the lab fully operational.

Q: How did you become interested in Neuroethology?

I discovered neurobiology late in my biology undergraduate career. My undergraduate institution, Caltech, was assembling a strong neurobiology program and I wanted to participate in that, so I switched to engineering as a graduate student because there were faculty using a form of mathematical analysis to study sensory responses of neurons. Once I learned that approach, I wanted to go back to neurobiology. At one point I read a monograph by a neuroethologist who studied the behavior of a species of weakly electric fish, Walter Heiligenberg. It was utterly captivating to me and presented a principled way to study brain and behavior. That got me started!

Q: You’re an expert in birdsong research. What drew you to focus on birdsong?

As a graduate student, I interviewed with another leading neuroethologist to work in his lab. Mark Konishi told me an exceptional story regarding birdsong learning, how juvenile birds must hear and memorize the songs of their parents, and then practice by listening to their own auditory feedback as they pass through stages of "babbling" (called sub-song in birds) and plastic song before achieving adult song patterns. This seemed to identify a clear research path to understanding how memories are represented in the brain. The clarity of Mark's thinking helped to highlight the beauty of the system, which was captivating. It still is.

Q: What kinds of challenges do you encounter as a professor and researcher, and what is your favorite thing about your role?

There are many small challenges, such as the increasing burden of paperwork and regulation and seeking grant support. Those are negatives, but the big challenges are very positive, seeking progress in scientific research. Especially profound are those moments when a new way to think about a scientific problem opens up—a new insight. You cannot go back to thinking about the world in the old way once that happens. It is very special, very exciting. Conveying the ideas of science to people in my lab (it is a back-and-forth discussion!) and to students in courses is also very satisfying.

Q: What’s one thing you’ve learned that helped you become the teacher and mentor you are now?

Listen carefully. Support your students. Give them every chance—that includes challenging them—to succeed at their highest level.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share about your UChicago experience?

I have had opportunities to be recruited elsewhere but never wanted to leave. The faculty here are excellent, and there are so many varied and interesting cultures at the University. For the most part, the University has in general supported the breadth of their faculty to allow them to thrive. Whatever the outside pressures might be, sustaining that is the most central responsibility of the University at large. And—it is no longer the place where "fun comes to die"—rather, it is fun! That helps draw in our superior student body, and that adds enormously to the intellectual richness of our community.