Lab Overview
The Comparative Biomechanics Lab is part of the 484 acre Friday Harbor Marine Research Station complex located in the San Juan Islands about 70 miles north of Seattle, WA.
The biodiversity of the Salish Sea and the San Juan Islands makes it an ideal location to carry out comparative biological experiments.
Opportunities for students
We have a diverse group of students, both undergradaute and graduate, who are interested in a wide variety of topics in the general area of comparative biomechanics. In general my students are not working on projects directly related to my own lines of research, but instead develop their own area of expertise.
Graduate
I do have room in the lab, and teaching assistantship funding, if you are interested in coming to the lab as a graduate student. Before applying to UW please email me about your interests and include a CV and some prose that describes why you think my lab is the right place for you. It is really important that before you apply you examine the realities of graduate student life in a lab in the San Juan Islands. We are far enough from Seattle that regular trips back and forth are a burden, so be sure you are comfortable living in a small island community for several years.
Undergraduate
Undergraduate research in my labs is alive and well. I have some funding to sponsor undergraduates who wish to live at the labs and work on a project. It is improtant that prospective students contact me about their interest and make it clear why they would like to work here. The initial email contact should include a curriculum vitae and a statement of interest that covers your areas of expertise.
Post-Doctorate Students
Friday Harbor Labs also sponsors a competitive post-doctoral fellowship and I would welcome applications from recent graduates for this position. I am also happy to help prospective post-docs work on funding applications in areas of mutual interest.
A CT scan of a Serrasalmus medina, the red throated pirañha, as part of our effort to digitize all the fish species in the world.
Resources & Equipment
Friday Harbor Labs has a wide range of equipment available for use by students and researchers including access to a 58' research vessel capable of launching an ROV that operates at depths of 1000 feet. In addition to the FHL equipment, our lab also operates and maintains a suite of equipment that supports our research interests, including:
- Z-Corp 310 rapid prototyper with post printing cleanup station. We usually use cyanoacrylate as a infiltrant but we have the appropriate equipment to use parafin or epoxy.
- Tormach 4-axis mill with Alibris CAD and SprutCAM CAM software.
- 3-D visualization stations with Amira and Sketchup
- Zeiss V20 Discovery fluorescence dissecting microscope with high sensitivity coor camera and image analysis software
- Joel Scanning electron microscope and critical point drying system. This scope is antiquated, but it continues to function.
- MTS Synergie material test stand. A leadscrew actuated load frame with 500N loadcell and 50gm loadcell. We also have an extensometer and several fixtures for testing in tension, compression and three point bending.
- Tetra MUST Biotester for indentation tests and friction/scratch tests on very small samples. The resolution of this machine is in the mNewton range and samples can be as large as 3cm on a side.
- Fastec Troubleshooter LE500 high speed video camera capable of 500 frames per second at 640x240 or 250fps at 640x480.
- Fastec Highspec high speed video camera capable of 500fps at 1280x1024 and 1000 at 1280x512 pixels resolution.
- Racetrack Flume with very low turbulence and excellent low speed capability. The working section is about 60x30x100cm and the highest speed is about 0.25m/sec.
COLLABORATORS' BIOMECHANICS LABS
If you are interested in biomechanics, take a look at the following labs run by my teachers, students, collaborators, and friends.
Steve Kajiura
The Kajiura lab is primarily interested in the integration of sensory biology and behavior with functional morphology. They employ behavioral assays, field observations, and comparative morphology to test hypotheses about the evolution of biological structures. They have concentrated primarily on the elasmobranch fishes, which provide an opportunity to investigate various sensory modalities among closely related but morphologically dissimilar species.
BETH BRAINERD
Work in the Brainerd lab integrates studies of morphology, physiology, and development toward a more complete understanding of vertebrate evolution. Examples of ongoing areas of research include 3D skeletal kinematics of feeding in pigs and ducks, 3D rib movements during lung ventilation and locomotion, pharyngeal jaw kinematics in cyprinid fishes, intervertebral joint kinematics in fish, skeletal kinematics of Wing-Assisted Incline Running (WAIR), and the morphology and mechanics of segmented musculature.
Cheryl Hayashi
The mechanical properties of silk -- elasticity, tensile properties, breaking strength, etc. -- are ultimately dependent on the sequence of amino acids that form silk proteins. Dr. Hayashi is interested in spider silks across many levels of biological integration, from the molecular genetics and evolution of the various silk genes to analyses of the protein sequences of different types of silk to biomechanical testing of the functional properties of the final product.
Cheryl Wilga
The Wilga lab uses the comparative approach to investigate how changes in the morphology of a musculoskeletal system affect its function. A comprehensive knowledge of the morphology and function of a musculoskeletal system as well as the physical environment is essential in understanding how form and function evolve. This integration of function, morphology, ecology and phylogeny is essential to accurately interpret the evolution of structure and function in a system.
PHIL MOTTA
The Motta lab research interests are in functional and ecological morphology, and behavior of fishes, particularly as it pertains to feeding. Graduate students work on ecomorphological, anatomical, functional morphological, biomechanical, or behavioral projects involving feeding in bony fishes, sharks, and rays. The goal of the current research is an understanding of the comparative functional morphology of the feeding mechanisms in elasmobranchs (sharks, skates and rays), the relationship of functional morphology to their feeding behavior, and the evolution of feeding mechanisms in sharks and rays.
MATT MCHENRY
The the McHenry lab, they use a combination of theory and experimentation to understand how aquatic animals function mechanically. They then apply what they learn about biomechanics to questions about the development, evolution, and behavior of animals. The current focus of the lab is on understanding how zebrafish use their lateral line system to sense the flow of water around them.