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I am the A. Watson III Manager of the Pritzker Laboratory for Molecular Systematics and Evolution. My research focuses on inferring the mating system and population biology of sharks using genetic markers called microsatellites, although I am broadly interested in many organisms. Microsatellites are short, tandem repeats in DNA (e.g, AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAG) and are extremely useful in identifying individuals. In fact, these are the same types of genetic markers that are used in court cases and paternity tests. We use these markers in our lab to answer similar questions in other animals, plants, and fungi.