The field of biomechanics uses the principles of engineering and physics to understand how plants and animals function. I was raised as a biomechanic, beginning as an undergraduate at Duke University where I was recruited by two of the influential leaders of the field, Steve Wainwright and Steve ...
The field of biomechanics uses the principles of engineering and physics to understand how plants and animals function. I was raised as a biomechanic, beginning as an undergraduate at Duke University where I was recruited by two of the influential leaders of the field, Steve Wainwright and Steve Vogel. After my doctoral work at the University of British Columbia (where I explored the mechanics of gastropod locomotion with John Gosline), I began to wonder how biomechanics could be used in an ecological context, and I have been exploring this question ever since. Two years as a postdoc with Bob Paine at the University of Washington introduced me to the ecology of wave-swept shores, and it is in that uniquely stressful environment that my current research strives to advance our understanding of ecological mechanics.