The Macon Statement

Professor Thomas R. Sawicki

A biology professor new to Macon State this year, Thomas Sawicki, Ph.D., believes he has discovered a new species of arthropods, which he collected in an underwater cave.

Thomas Sawicki, Ph.D., joins the faculty of Macon State’s School of Arts and Sciences. Photo by Glen Stone

Though he is new to this school, he is not new to discovering organisms. Over the course of his career, Sawicki has re-described four species and discovered 2 new genre and 14 new species, all of them crustaceans belonging to the phylum Arthropoda. Sawicki has a doctorate in Ecology and specializes in systematics commonly referred to as Taxonomy, which is the naming and classifying of species.

Sawicki’s discovery involves a type of pouch shrimp that are only about four millimeters in size. In order to describe the organism as a new species, he must record extensive details. This requires dissection of the organism and analysis of each section under a special microscope. Detailed drawings of the specimen must be made for comparison to other similar species.

In order to identify accurately these tiny crustaceans as definite new species, Sawicki needs a research-quality microscope with a camera Lucida. He has applied for a grant with the Macon State Foundation to help fund the research project and plans to apply for other grants to cover remaining costs.

Sawicki has a hypothesis that there are many new species waiting to be discovered in the underwater caves of Florida. Because the submerged caves are isolated from each other, different species could have evolved in each cave.

While pouch shrimp are generally believed to be the same species because they resemble each other, Sawicki believes this is simply the result of convergent evolution. Convergent evolution is when two or more organisms resemble each other physically but are different genetically. This phenomenon can lead to the existence of “very different species living only 17 kilometers apart” said Sawicki.

Aside from research, Sawicki enjoys teaching. He said, “I hope that I can be a positive influence on students. I love to teach.” His first year at Macon State, Sawicki believes that the faculty are “wonderful–they are very concerned, very caring and giving of their time. The administrators are dedicated and focused on quality education,” he said.

Sawicki also said that he is “impressed with the students.” The fact that Macon State has so many non-traditional students impressed him because he was 26 years old when he started college. Sawicki’s advice to Macon State students is to “take advantage of the opportunity you have–study hard and understand that getting a degree is something earned.”