OSyM Participants

    • Type of Researcher
    Members
    Fred Nijhout
    Modeler, Organismal Biologist
    Professor
    Duke University
    hfn@duke.edu
    Research Summary

    Developmental physiology. Control of size and shape in development. Polyphenisms. Allometry. Pattern formation.
    I do wet-lab research on the above systems. I also do a lot of mathematical modeling of those systems.
    In addition, I collaborate with Mike Reed (Duke Mathematcis) in modeling metabolic systems relevant to human health, in which we study the mecahnsism of robustness sand homeostasis.


    Biographical Info

    I have been a Full Professor at Duke University since 1987.


    Mary Kate O'Donnell
    Biomechanic, Organismal Biologist
    Assistant Professor
    Lycoming College
    odonnell@lycoming.edu
    Mary Kate O'Donnell Personal Website
    Research Summary

    I am broadly interested in the biomechanics of feeding and locomotion with a particular focus on plethodontid salamanders. I have contributed to studies of their ballistic tongue projection performance. The majority of my work has been investigating adhesion, clinging, and climbing in plethodontid salamanders to try to determine what attachment mechanisms they're using, how strong they are, what surfaces they can stick to, and how that might relate to microhabitat choices, climbing kinematics, and morphological variation of bodies, feet, and tails. As a direct result of frequently encountering gravid female timber rattlesnakes at salamander field sites, I have also started studying gravid female behavior and maternal care in timber rattlesnakes to better understand the effects of maternal care (or sometimes, lack thereof) in this species.


    Biographical Info

    I’m an assistant professor in anatomy and physiology at Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. I teach human anatomy and physiology courses, as well as an undergraduate comparative biomechanics course, a non-majors human biology course and a first-year seminar in the biology of monsters. My research interests include biomechanics, functional morphology, and physiology of reptiles and amphibians, with a special focus on plethodontid salamanders and their climbing performance. I am also studying timber rattlesnake maternal care using camera trapping.


    Natascha Ouillon
    Organismal Biologist
    PhD graduate student
    University of Rostock (Germany)
    natascha.ouillon@gmail.com
    Research Summary

    I am interested in impacts of environmental changes on the physiology and behavior of marine organisms. My PhD in integrative biology at the University of Rostock (Germany), is entitled "Bioenergetics-mediated effects of multiple stressors on marine bioturbators in shallow coastal ecosystems". I focus on the combined effects of constant and cyclic hypoxia and hypercapnia on a common bioturbator Mya arenaria at different levels (molecular and individual). I am assessing their digging activity, respiration and filtration rate (on the individual level), total energy reserves and their mitochondrial function (on the molecular level).Furthermore, I try to link the different observed physiological and molecular stress responses to the whole organism to see impacts on their fitness. Another project of my PhD is to perform modelling at the individual level by using the concept of DEB (Dynamic Energy Budget theory).


    Biographical Info

    From a marine and coastal ecology education, I obtained a Bachelor in “Marine Biology and Ecology” and a Master in “Ecology and dynamics of estuaries and coasts” from the University of La Rochelle (France). Since the beginning of my studies, my research interests focuses on the impact of environmental changes, whether natural or human-induced, on the physiology of marine organism. I had the chance to assess the impact of environmental variability (Hypoxia, Temperature, pH) from the individual to the molecular level. I am currently doing my PhD by focusing on bioenergetics-mediated effects of multiple stressors (hypoxia and hypercapnia) on marine bioturbators (Mya arenaria) in shallow coastal ecosystems at the University of Rostock (Germany).


    Dianna Padilla
    Organismal Biologist
    Professor
    Stony Brook University
    Deparment of Ecology and Evolution
    dianna.padilla@stonybrook.edu
    Research Summary

    My research focuses on phenotypically plastic responses of organisms to environmental change, functional morphology and ecology of marine invertebrates and algae, life histories of marine invertebrates, and invasion biology.


    Biographical Info

    Dianna grew up in Wyomig, recevied Bachelors Degrees in Biological Oceanography and Zoology and the University of Washington, a MS in Zoology at Oregon State University, and PhD at the University of Alberta, Canada, and was a postdoc at Cornell before taking a job at the University of Wisconsin. After 8 years she left Wisconsin and moved to Stony Brook.


    Keywords: functional ecology, phenotypic plasticity, responses to climate change, marine invertebrates, functional morphology, invasion biololgy
    Anchal Padukone
    Organismal Biologist
    PhD Candidate
    University of Tennessee
    anchal.padukone@gmail.com
    Twitter
    Research Summary

    I am broadly interested in how organisms respond to environmental change and seek to study these responses across levels of organization (from physiological responses in individuals to population dynamics and changes in community composition). My dissertation research investigates the effects of temperature variability on the life history, population dynamics, and species interactions of a noctuid moth and agricultural pest (fall armyworm). This work seeks to understand how the magnitude of short-term climate fluctuations would alter pest populations and the effectiveness of biocontrol strategies in a warmer world. While most of my research has involved recording or measuring individual- or plot-level responses in the lab or field, I have recently begun to explore mathematical models as tools to link these responses to expected population-level outcomes.


    Biographical Info

    I am a Ph.D. candidate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, advised by Dr. Kimberly Sheldon. My dissertation investigates the effects of temperature variability on the life history, population dynamics, and species interactions of a globally relevant agricultural pest (fall armyworm). Aside from my Ph.D., I have participated in a few collaborative projects, including an ongoing study on metabolic rate variation across dung beetle species and morphs and a review of microbial ecology studies using macroecological frameworks. Before my PhD, I coordinated field courses and academic outreach programs at the conservation-focused Mpala Research Centre (Kenya) as their Princeton in Africa Fellow, and contributed to research on acacia ant community dynamics. I continue to engage in my passion for science education by mentoring undergraduate researchers, and participating in community science initiatives and conferences. I earned my Bachelor's degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University in 2016, where I conducted senior thesis research on the influence of microenvironmental factors on the distribution of an insect vector of Chagas disease.


    Matthew Reidenbach
    Biomechanic, Engineer
    Professor
    University of Virginia
    University of Virginia
    reidenbach@virginia.edu
    Matt Reidenbach research website
    Research Summary

    My primary area of research is environmental fluid dynamics, with an emphasis on fluid-biological interactions in coastal environments. Current studies include the effects of flow and turbulence on nutrient exchange in coral reefs, larval transport in estuaries, chemical dispersion in the coastal ocean, and wave dynamics. I also study biomechanics of marine organisms, including olfaction and mechano-sensing in lobsters, crabs, crayfish, and larvae.


    Biographical Info

    I am a professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia.


    Adam Reitzel
    Organismal Biologist
    Professor
    University of North Carolina at Charlotte
    areitze2@uncc.edu
    Research Summary

    Our laboratory is interested in answering integrative questions concerning the evolution and ecology of coastal invertebrates by using an interdisciplinary approach that combines comparative genomics, molecular biology, population genetics, evolutionary ecology, and field studies. We utilize species in the phylum Cnidaria (sea anemones, corals, and jellyfishes) as models because of their ecological importance and phylogenetic position. Our focal species is the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis, which has emerged as a model cnidarian species due to availability of a sequenced genome, ease of culture in the laboratory, and distribution in estuarine habitats throughout North America.


    Biographical Info

    I am a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and a co-Director for the CIPHER Center at UNC Charlotte.


    Corey Rennolds
    Organismal Biologist
    PhD candidate
    University of Maryland, College Park
    Biological Sciences program, Bely Lab
    rennolds@umd.edu
    Research Summary

    I am broadly interested in ecophysiology, toxicology, aquatic ecology, and invertebrate zoology. My doctoral work is concerned with the physiological costs and ecological consequences of injury and regeneration in annelids. In particular, I am investigating how the loss and absence of particular body parts impacts biological function and distinguishing these effects from the costs of regenerating those same body parts. These effects have included altered tolerance to environmental stressors, reduced reproductive investment, and decreased lifespan. Linking experimental results to ecological significance of injury, including repeated injury, remains a focal challenge of my work. I am also engaged in projects to determine how environmental factors, both biotic and abiotic, may affect the prevalence and severity of injury and the consequences injury may have on freshwater annelid populations and the communities in which they exist.


    Biographical Info

    I am currently a PhD candidate in the Biological Sciences program at the University of Maryland, College Park in the laboratory of Dr. Alexandra Bely. I earned my Bachelor of Science in Biology at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2013, where I was mentored by Dr. Terry Snell. I was born and raised in the Atlanta, GA area. Powder Springs Elementary spelling bee champion of '02. When not teaching or working on my dissertation, I enjoy writing and playing music, being in nature, cooking, reading (politics, philosophy, & horror mostly—and a little bit of science, too), and writing fiction.