I am responsible for courses in General Zoology (BIO 217), Marine Biology (BIO 313),
Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy (BIO 357), Marine Mammals (BIO 453), and Functional
Animal Morphology (BIO 457). Specific projects open to students as thesis research
in the Liquid Life Laboratory include dolphin swimming, batoid ray locomotion, morphology
and kinematics of locomotion, energy conservation by formation swimming, metabolic
energetics of swimming and terrestrial locomotion, biomechanics of maneuverability,
jet propulsion in fish, and functional design of propulsive structures in aquatic
vertebrates.
One of the activities for the Marine Biology (BIO 313) class is for the students
to go SCUBA diving in the campus pool.
I am also involved with teaching at the Shoals Marine Laboratory (SML) on Appledore
Island, Maine. For my first summer at SML (2007), I was part of a team that taught
the course A Marine Approach to Introductory Biology. Students performed projects
on motion analysis of walking in gull chicks of different ages and performed an experiment
on the estimation of the force necessary to break mussel shells. For summers 2008
through 2011, I taught Anatomy and Function of Marine Vertebrates with Dr. William
Bemis. In this course, students were able to dissect lampreys and sharks and necropsy
phocid seals and dolphins.
The view from SML at sunset overlooking the R/V John M. Kingsbury.
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The 2009 Anatomy and Function of Marine Vertebrates class on a whalewatch.
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A female gray seal on Duck Island.
The 2010 Anatomy and Function of Marine Vertebrates class in the water off the Shoals
Marine Laboratory. In June, the water is cold around the island.