Ackerman Lab
Ackerman Lab
Wavy Rayed

Physical Ecology Researchers and Institutional Webpages

These links are intended to provide you a guide to Researchers involved in Physical Ecology-related Research.

If you have additions, comments or suggestions, email Joe Ackerman.

Contents

Physical Ecology Researcher Webpages

  • Professor Joe Ackerman studies Physical Ecology especially related to the bio-fluid mechanics, and evolutionary ecology of plants and animals in marine, freshwater and stream environments.
  • Professor Paul Addison has initiated various research projects in fluids mechanics, non-linear dynamics, wavelet transform and fractal analysis.
  • Professor Jelle Atema examines animal behavior in the sea and in the lab, including social interactions and chemotaxis to understand the role of chemical signals in the sea.
  • Professor Raouf Baddour studies stratified flows, turbulent jets and plumes, thermal-saline mixing, mixing and cooling channels, intake hydrodynamics, zebra mussels and ice at water intakes, and bubble screen technologies
  • Professor Paul Calvert is interested in biological materials and bio-mimetics, which are are composites, usually with complex hierarchical microstructures that give combinations of properties that could not be achieved by a single material.
  • Professor Sallie Chisholm studies the ecology and evolution of marine cyanobacteria; iron limitation of phytoplankton growth; ocean fertility and planktonic size spectra; and the ecological and policy dimensions of large-scale ocean fertilization.
  • Professor John Costello’s research interests are marine biology, predator-prey relationships in invertebrates, including cnidarians and ctenophores.
  • Professor Douglas Craig focuses on the feeding and ecology of aquatic insect larvae and their habitats, as well as fine-scale flow and morphology of stream invertebrates.
  • Professor Hugh C. Crenshaw is interested in the interaction of single cells and microorganisms with their physical environments.
  • Professor Thomas L. Daniel researches the physical principles underlying the design of biological systems, especially related to the movement and morphology of animals.
  • Professor M. Edwin DeMont examines the structure and function of natural biomaterials, in addition to biofluid mechanics.
  • Professor Mark Denny’s studies the mechanical design of organisms to predict the survivorship of organisms in physically stressful environments and to understand the mechanisms of natural selection which have led to existing plants and animals.
  • Professor Robert deWredde has researched both theoretical and practical aspects of the ecology of marine macro-algae, in both temperate and tropical habitats
  • Professor Dickinson focuses on the physiology and mechanics of flight behavior in insects, specially, Drosophila melanogaster.
  • Professor Elliot Elsonstudies the mechanical properties and functions of animal cells, with research topics such as cell deformability, cell locomotion and tissue engineering.
  • Professor Roland Ennos studies the biomechanics of plants and is interested in how the structures of different plant species are adapted to their particular habitat and how the structures of individual species are altered by the mechanical environment in which they grow.
  • Professor Robert J. Full’s research program deals with general animal performance and locomotion in particular as it relates to an animal’s structure, physiology, and behavior.
  • Professor Yuan-Cheng Fung’s research involves biomechanics of molecular, cellular, tissue, organ, and holistic physiology.
  • Professor Rocky Geyer is interested in Estuarine and coastal transport processes. Sediment transport. Numerical modeling of estuaries and riverplumes.
  • Professor Tom Givnish addresses several questions at the interface of ecology, evolution, systematics, and biogeography (e.g., How do specific morphological and physiological traits contribute to competitive ability in different environments?).
  • Professor John Gosline studies comparative biomechanics, concentrating on the design of structural materials in animal skeletons and on the mechanics of locomotion in soft-bodied animals.
  • Professor Joseph A.C. Humphrey is interested in experimental and numerical flow, heat and mass transfer, as well as microsensors in nature.
  • Professor Catriona Hurd studies seaweed physiological ecology, nutrient relationships, hydrodynamics, biomechanics, primary production, and seagrass ecology
  • Professor Jorg Imberger is interested in the motion of stratified fluid in the context of environmental fluid dynamics (e.g., estuaries, reservoirs and lakes, turbulent buoyant jets, and the interaction of the biological system and the water motion).
  • Professor George Jackson’s research interests involve biological-chemical-physical modeling, coagulation processes/particle dynamics, marine pollution, and coastal ecosystems.
  • Professor Dr. Ian Jenkinson’s research interests include the visualization of turbulence, feeding of zooplankton, adhesion and recognition in phytoplankton, and the rheological properties of phytoplankton cultures and seawater.
  • Professor George Jeronimidis’ research interests include composite materials, mechanics and design and biomimetics.
  • Professor Peter Jumars investigates deposit-feeding & theory, boundary-layer dynamics and biota, foraging theory for osmotrophs, and acoustic interactions with Benthos
  • Professor John R. Jungck is involved in developing software to simulate biological research simulations and tools.
  • Professor Richard Kiltie is involved in a number of areas involving vertebrates and visual patterns.
  • Professor Joel G. Kingsolver investigates the environmental physiology and functional morphology of insects and the organisms that they eat or that eat them.
  • Professor Evamaria Koch studies seagrass ecology and the hydrodynamics of macrophytes in general.
  • Professor Mimi Koehl research involves the application of fluid and solid mechanics in the study of biological structure in plants and animals.
  • Professor Jeffery Koseff extends fluid mechanics to environmental problems and to the interaction between physical and biological processes in natural water systems
  • Professor Michael LaBarbera uses principles of solid and fluid mechanics to help understand the morphology and evolution of marine invertebrates.
  • Professor Tony Larkum studies many topics dealing with algae, coral reefs, sea grasses eutrophication, global climate change, molecular genetics, and photosynthesis and pigments.
  • Professor George Lauder is using biomechanical and phylogenetic analysis to elucidate the relationship between environmental demands and the design of morphological systems as they have evolved.
  • Professor Greg Lawrence is interested in environmental fluid mechanics, pollutant dispersion, and stratified flows.
  • Professor Sharon Lubkin’s primary interests are in the biomechanics of self-deforming tissues undergrowth, development, healing, and disease.
  • Professor Joseph Lee studies hydraulics/fluid mechanics and environmental engineering which includes all types of hydraulic problems related to the prediction and control of water quality.
  • Professor Jeff Levinton is interested in all areas of general marine ecology, especially in relating feeding biology of marine bottom animals to population and community-level processes.
  • Professor Catherine Loudon interests are in the area of physical biology, or biomechanics, with a primary focus on how insect antennae extract chemical and physical information from their environment.
  • Professor Mark Lowen studies environmental fluid dynamics, air-sea interactions, surface wave dynamics, oceanographic instrumentation and remote sensing
  • Professor Rachel Ann Merz research involves the Function of Polychaete Setae and the Biology of Stream Dwelling Insects.
  • Professor Thomas Miller investigates fish ecology and oceanography; fish early life history, especially feeding; physical-biological interactions; aquatic ecology.
  • Professor Stephan Monismith studies the application of fluid mechanics principles to the analysis of flow processes operating in rivers, lakes, estuaries and the oceans.
  • Professor Paul Moore works on environments and fluid dynamics related primarily to sensory ecology.
  • Professor Heidi Nepf studies the hydrodynamic impact of aquatic vegetation, dynamics of littoral wetlands and inflow dynamics, and three-dimensional wave breaking.
  • Professor Karl J. Niklas’ interests involve the application of engineering principles and technologies to an understanding of the relationship between plant form and function.
  • Professor P. Nobel examines many aspects of plant physiological ecology from a biophysical point of view.
  • Professor Arthur Nowell is interested in the identification, parameterization and quantification among fluid dynamics, particle transport, and biological activities; deep ocean sediment transport; and geophysical boundary layer dynamics.
  • Professor A. Richard Palmer uses comparative and experimental studies of marine invertebrate morphology and ecology to address issues of evolutionary significance.
  • Professor Colin J. Pennycuick studies the mechanics and biology of bird flight.
  • Professor Jeremy Rayner is concerned with the aerodynamics, energetics, evolution and diversity of flight in birds and bats, especially the aerodynamics of flapping flight.
  • Professor Chris Rehmann is interested in environmental fluid mechanics and mixing processes.
  • Professor Larry Sanford studies issues in physical oceanography, boundary layer processes, and mixing.
  • Professor Knut Schmidt-Nielsen is a animal physiologist.
  • Professor Ken Sebens’ research deals with the ecology of marine invertebrates living on rocky coasts and the feeding ecology of coral reefs.
  • Professor Wendy Silk studies quantitative plant biology including growth and development, nutrient cycling, soil-plant-water interactions, transport processes, resource management and biomechanics
  • Professor Jeff Shimeta’s interests include suspension feeding and the biomechanics of microrganisms and protists.
  • Professor Wendy Silk studies quantitative plant biology including growth and development, nutrient cycling, soil-plant-water interactions, transport processes, resource management and biomechanics.
  • Professor M. Sleigh investigates the mechanics and ecology of freshwater and marine protozoa.
  • Professor Guy Steucek specializes in plant architecture, physiology and ecology and biometry, specifically, organismal archetecture, mineral nutrition in plants.
  • Professor Keith Stolzenbach investigates how water movement in natural water bodies affects the fate and transport of pollutants and natural substances.
  • Professor Rudy Strickler observes the mechanics of swimming and feeding performances of small aquatic animals.
  • Professor Robert Suter is interested in the locomotion of invertebrates on the surface of waters.
  • Professor Frank Telewski is interested in the growth and development of woody plants in response to stress.
  • Professor Dr. Florence Thomas investigates the ecology and evolution of invertebrate reproduction, as well as the effects of water flow on nutrient uptake.
  • Professor Vance A. Tucker is interested in the energetics of locomotion, and the interactions an organism’s natural environment and its respiratory circulatory systems.
  • Professor Julian Vincent studies the nature of biomaterials and biomimetics with reference to biological structures.
  • Professor Steven Vogel mainly ask how the structural of organisms reflect adaptation to the mechanics moving fluids
  • Professor Stephen A. Wainwright is interested in the functional morphology of plants and animals, specifically adhesion, lubrication, flexibility and the role of fibers in design.
  • Professor Evan Ward focuses on the endogenous and exogenous factors that mediate the behavior and physiology of benthic, particle-feeding invertebrates
  • Professor David Wildish is a benthic ecologist interested in the relationship between the benthic boundary layer and bivalve productivity.
  • Professor Marc Weissburg’s research interests fall into two broader categories- chemical ecology and sensory ecology and physiology of invertebrates.
  • Professor Jeannette Yen’s research interests include various aspects (e.g., feeding, functional morphology, behavior, reproduction) of marine plankton, specifically copepods.
  • Professor R. Zimmer (Zimmer-Faust) focuses broadly on chemical and physical environmental factors as they regulate behavioral and ecological interactions between aquatic organisms.

In Memoriam

Professor Sir James Lighthill (1924 – 1998)

Applied mathematician and fluid dynamicist. His many achievements as a fluid dynamicist are well known along with the subject that he named ‘biofluiddynamics’. His survey article, “Hydrodynamics of Aquatic Animal Propulsion”, published in 1969 emphasized the need for an interdisciplinary approach: “… if I was to help in classifying the hydrodynamics of aquatic animal locomotion I must talk to zoologists and go on talking to them; read their works and go on reading them; study their collections (in museums and aquaria) and go on studying them!” And so he did. It was through this total immersion that a new realm of scientific endeavour was defined, explored and revealed to the fluid dynamics community.
(more information)

Professor Thomas McMahon (1943 – 1999)

Used principles of engineering and physics to unlock the secrets of animal locomotion. He and his students explored, for example, how springlike properties of muscles, tendons, and reflexes govern important mechanical features of running and walking. His wrote scientific books (On Size and Life (1983) and Muscles, Reflexes and Locomotion (1984)) as well as three widely acclaimed fictional works ( Principles of American Nuclear Chemistry: A Novel (1970), McKay’s Bees (1979) and Loving Little Egypt (1987), which won the 1988 Rosenthal Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters).
(more information)

Professor Akira Okubo (1924 – 1996)

Teacher, collaborator, and friend. While Akira received many honors during his career (e.g., Medal of the Oceanography Society of Japan, and Senior Visiting Scholarship at the University of Oxford) none matched the respect of his colleagues, students and friends. In essence, he was a graduate advisor, teacher, and confidant of multitudes of graduate students, whose lives and careers were enriched and influenced by him. His approach of linking physical and mathematical principles with those of oceanography and biology will continue in his many students, collaborators, and friends, who pursue their interests in the field of Physical Ecology.
(more information)

Professor Claude Shannon (1916 – 2001)

The mathematician who laid the foundation of modern information theory in his 1948 publication A Mathematical Theory of Communication. He begins this pioneering paper on information theory by observing that “the fundamental problem of communication is that of reproducing at one point either exactly or approximately a message selected at another point.” He then proceeds to so thoroughly establish the foundations of information theory that his framework and terminology remain standard.
(more information)

Please forward your WWW site to Joe Ackerman.

Institutions with Physical Ecology Researchers

University of California Berkeley

Duke University

Rockefeller University

Scripps Institute of Oceanography

  • Various Departments
  • There is an overview of each researcher with selected publications, which varies by Department.

Stanford Univerity

University of Wisconsin at Madison

University of Washington

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute

  • Various Departments
  • There is an overview of each researcher with selected publications, which varies by Department.

Please forward your institutional WWW site to Joe Ackerman.