Spring 2024: Division of Comparative Biomechanics

Message from DCB Officers

Brooke Flammang, Chair (chair.dcb@sicb.org); Glenna Clifton, Program Officer (dpo.dcb@sicb.org)(dpo.dab@sicb.org); Cassandra Donatelli, Secretary (secretary.dcb@sicb.org); Misty Paig-Tran, Chair-elect (empaig-tran@fullerton.edu); Andrew Schulz, Student-Postdoc Representative (aschulz@is.mpg.de)

Following our in-person SICB 2024 meeting in Seattle, we want to thank our departing officers and welcome our incoming officers! Jimmy Liao is stepping down from the Program Officer position and Laura Habegger from the Secretary Position. We want to thank you both for everything you have done for our division and SICB as a whole! Stepping into the roles are Glenna Clifton as Program Officer and Cassandra Donatelli as secretary. Welcome!

We also want to thank all DCB members who participated in committees and events throughout the year including the Gans committee, BSP judges, Symposia organizers, and regional meeting organizers! Thanks so much for your service to DCB and SICB!

Carl Gans Award

The winner of the 2024 Carl Gans Award, Dr. Michael Granatosky, from New York Institute of Technology, presented his talk  “Decoding Behavioral Innovation Beyond Anatomy.” See more of Dr. Granatosky’s work on his lab website.

Michael Granatosky headshot photo
Michael Granatosky, winner of the 2024 Carl Gans Award.

The Gans Award was sponsored this year by The Journal of Experimental Biology, published by The Company of Biologists. We want to thank CoB for their continuing support!

The Gans Award Committee was composed of Molly Gabler Smith, Saad Bhamla, and Cassandra Donatelli. The Committee said that Dr. Granatosky “demonstrated remarkable excellence in the field of biomechanics” and showed “commitment to nurturing the next generation of scientists.” Congratulations to Dr. Granatosky and the Animal Motion Lab!

The Carl Gans Award was established to recognize Carl Gans’ contributions to animal morphology, biomechanics, and functional biology and to honor investigators who work in this field. The Gans Award is given to (1) an outstanding young investigator in the field of comparative biomechanics and/or (2) an investigator at any career stage for a significant contribution to the literature of comparative biomechanics published in the preceding five calendar years. Each summer we solicit nominations, so please consider nominating yourself or other outstanding researchers in the field.

Best Student Presentation Award

The DCB best student presentation session featured amazing presentations by students in the field of comparative biomechanics. We appreciate all of the students who submitted their applications for consideration. We are grateful to the DCB BSP judging committee: Mark Denny, Glenna Clifton, Marguerite Butler, Valentina DiSanto, John Long, Ben Perlman, Kelly Diamond, Brett Aiello

This year’s winner of The Mimi A. R. Koehl and Stephen A. Wainwright Award for the Best Student Talk in Biomechanics was David Cuban from the University of Washington whose talk was titled: “Feeding efficiency of sunbirds and comparisons with other nectar-feeding birds”

This year’s winner of The Stephen Vogel Award for Best Student Poster in Biomechanics was Citali Ramirez for “Seafaring with Added Cargo: Simulations of Swimming Blue Blubber Jellyfish with Prominent Oral Arms’

Congrats to you both! We are excited to receive new applications for SICB 2025. Please feel free to contact us (DCB officers) if you have any questions!

SICB 2025 Symposia

For SICB 2025, DCB is supporting 5 Symposia. Please feel free to reach out to the divisional Program Officer at dpo.dcb@sicb.org with any questions or ideas for future Symposia!

  1. “Fleshing it out: recent advances in form, function and motor control of biological hydrostats” organized by Peishu Li and Callum F. Ross
  2. “Integrative Organismal Biology at HBCUs: Highlighting the effectiveness of HBCUs in training the next generation of organismal biologists” organized by Stacy C. Farina and Joseph L. Graves Jr.
  3. “From Evolution to innovation: Bridging biology and engineering through bioinspired design” organized by Cassandra M. Donatelli and Karly E. Cohen
  4. “Identifying the physiological mechanisms that underlie phenotypic responses to rapid environmental change“ organized by Britt Heidinger, Gabrielle Names and Jennifer Grindstaff
  5. “Organismal Systems Biology” organized by Matt Fuxjager, Lynn B. Martin and Erica Crespi

Social Media

The social media landscape is ever changing. Though our Twitter and Facebook pages are still live, we are actively exploring new ways to keep in contact with our members. Please join our Linkedin page (https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12952547/).

Members’ Meeting Minutes

The minutes from our latest meeting can be found here.

Workshop Opportunity for early career biomechanists

The  workshop on phylogenetic comparative methods in evolutionary biomechanics will be hosted again this summer! The workshop will be from August 24-29 at the Owens Valley Station of the White Mountains Research Center. Review of applications will begin on April 15, 2024 and will be considered until all 15 seats are filled. For more information please contact go to the workshop website (https://moenlab.ucr.edu/workshop-pcms/) ot contact Rafael Bovo (rparell@okstate.edu).

Elections

This year DCB is holding elections for one position, Chair-Elect. This task is overseen by our 2024 Election Nominating Committee: Michael Granatosky, Audrey Biondi Kellogg, and Doug Altshuler. Thanks to the committee and to the candidates for their support of DCB! Both candidates’ biographies are listed below. Please don’t forget to vote!

DCB Chair-Elect Candidates

The ballot can be found here, and it will be open until June 20, 2024.

Jake Socha

Jake Socha wearing a hat with snakes on his head.
Jake Socha, candidate for DCB Chair-Elect.

Current Position: Samuel Herrick Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, Virginia Tech; Affiliate Professor, Departments of Biological Sciences and Mechanical Engineering.

Education: Ph.D. in Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago (1996-2002); B.S. in Physics and Biology, Duke University (1990-1994).

Professional Experience: Professor (2019-present), Associate Professor, (2014-2019), and Assistant Professor (2008-2014), Virginia Tech; Director, Biological Transport Interdisciplinary Graduate Education Program, Virginia Tech (2017-2022); Editorial Board Member, Biology Letters (2024-present); Editorial Advisory Board Member, JEB (2023-present); Associate Editor, Royal Society Open Science (2017-2022); Postdoctoral Fellow, Argonne National Laboratory (2004-2008); Postdoctoral researcher, Field Museum of Natural History (2003-2004); Teacher and Science Department Head, Centerville High School, Centerville, Louisiana (1994-1996); Corps Member, Teach For America (1994-1996).

SICB Activities: Membership Committee Member (2024-present); Program Officer (2020-2022); Program Officer-Elect (2018-2020); DCB Program Officer (2016-2018); Chair, ad-hoc committee on SICB student outcomes (2015-2016); Editor, SICB press releases (2015-2016), Editor and founder, SICB Student Journalism Program (2012-2016); Chair, DCB BSP program (2011-2016); Conference organizer, Southeast Regional SICB Meeting of DCB/DVM at Virginia Tech (2010, 2017, 2023); Chair, Public Affairs Committee (2010-2014); Member, Public Affairs Committee (2009-2010, 2015).

Other Memberships: AAAS, American Physical Society (APS)

Research Interests: Comparative biomechanics of locomotion in vertebrates and internal flow production in insects. Our lab addresses fundamental questions of how animals function mechanically, on topics ranging from gliding in flying snakes to tracheal ventilation, circulation, and liquid feeding in insects. We also dabble in bio-inspired engineering. Find our lab here: www.thesochalab.org.

Goals Statement: SICB has meant the world to me, and DCB is my home. I am running because I want to continue to give back through service. From experience, I have seen how leadership can make decisions that make a positive impact. As PO, I am happy to have done things like advocate to elevate the status of the Gans Award talk, pivot the conference to all-virtual in 2021, and help lead the return back to in-person in 2022. I also led the development of SICB+, which increased inclusivity and helped open access worldwide. Generally, I am open to innovation and implementing new ideas, but also shedding things that don’t work. I enjoy seeking feedback, hearing critiques, and finding solutions. As Chair of DCB, I would like to make sure that students are given priority, particularly through the Best Student Presentation program. I would like to make sure that the DCB social is a fun event, with a safe and welcoming atmosphere for everyone. And I would like to make sure that DCB members are aware of opportunities (particularly for early-career folks) through open communication. DCB is a thriving community, and I’d like to see it continue to thrive and grow.

Alyssa Y. Stark

Alyssa Stark headshot
Alyssa Stark, Candidate for DCB Chair-Elect.

Current Position: Associate Professor, Villanova University

Education: B.S. in Animal Biology, specializing in Animal Behavior, UC Davis (2006); Ph.D. in Integrated Bioscience, University of Akron (2014); Postdoctoral Scholar in Department of Biology, University of Louisville (2014 – 2017)

Professional Experience: Associate Professor (2023 – present); Assistant Professor, Villanova University (2017 – 2023); Project Manager, Biomimicry Research and Innovation Center, Akron OH (2013 – 2014); Biomimicry Consultant (2014 – current)

SICB Activities: SICB member since 2012; 2019 symposium co-organizer; session moderator (several); invited panel member of “Parenting in Academia” (2020); invited symposium speaker (2020); 2020 Carl Gans Award Winner

Other memberships: The Adhesion Society; The Biomimicry Network

 

Research Interests: I use an integrative approach to explore how environmental factors affect the performance, behavior, and morphology of biological organisms. Specifically, I integrate laboratory and field-based methods rooted in biology, with analytical and theoretical methods from physics, chemistry, and material science. Most of my work is focused on using geckos, ants, and sea urchins to explore questions about the functional morphology of adhesion. Additional areas of interest include biomechanics of locomotion and the functional properties of biological materials. With the help of collaborators, we also help to develop and refine bio-inspired designs, and biomimetic practices and education.

 Goals Statement: SICB was the first professional meeting I attended. In 2012, as a PhD student, I brought one undergraduate student and a poster with me and that was it! We did not know anyone at the conference, nor really how to be at one. By the end of the conference, I had met true leaders in my field, had conversations that changed my research trajectory, and begun to build a huge network of friends and colleagues that I have maintained and expanded upon every year since. I believe this is the true gift and magic of SICB, and I intend to not only preserve this in my role but enhance it. We, as a Society, face dynamic social and economic challenges inside and outside of academia. In my role, I plan to intentionally explore these challenges and work to adapt and even take advantage of them. While I consider SICB to be one of my two “home” societies, I have spent more time in service roles outside of SICB at the Adhesion Society (i.e., Division founder and Chair of the Bioadhesion Division; Member-at-Large; Session Chair (several); Symposium Organizer; Young Scientist Award Winner). Now, I am excited for the opportunity to apply my skills in service of SICB. As someone who works with both invertebrates and vertebrates, is rooted in integrative science, and straddles life in academia with consulting work and professional connections in industry, I bring a unique and valuable perspective to DCB and SICB as a whole.

DCB SPDAC Rep Nomination

DCB will be looking for a new SPDAC rep who will start in January 2025 (after the conclusion of SICB 2025 in Atlanta)! The rep can be either a graduate student or postdoc and must be able to commit to the following: 1) Attend the 2025, 2026, and 2027 SICB meetings in person and attend all DCB and SPDAC meetings and events at each, 2) Attend DCB and SPDAC virtual meetings throughout the year, 3) Assist with SPDAC activities (annual workshop, annual meeting booth, brochure creation, etc.) as assigned by the SPDAC chair, 4) Moderate the DCB Social media accounts, and 5) Respond to questions from DCB student/postdoc members and pass on suggestions to the other officers as necessary.

If you are interested, please fill out the google survey below and if you know someone who is interested, please pass this link along to them: https://forms.gle/a9Q7LFkjf8VfMMLs9. Do not hesitate to email chair.dcb@sicb.org and secretary.dcb@sicb.org or the current DCB SPDAC rep (Andrew Schulz: aschulz@is.mpg.de) with any questions.