Teaching/Outreach

Current Course

IB303 Anatomy
Every Fall
This course will provide an overview of the diversity of body structure in vertebrate animals. The variation in body structure seen amongst vertebrates will be investigated from evolutionary, functional/biomechanical, and human health perspectives through lectures, in-class activities, and laboratory dissections. Through this course, students will develop a better understanding of the vocabulary of anatomy, the structural design of vertebrates, a basic understanding of the biomechanical underpinnings of these structures and how vertebrate structure, phylogenetic history and function combine to create the diversity of forms seen in nature.

IB434 Physical Principles of Biology
Every-other Fall
Examines the interaction between biological processes and the fundamental laws of mechanics. Covers general topics, such as structural analyses of anatomy, kinematics of movement, the behavior of organisms in fluids, and the importance of scaling, as well as specific topics, such as bird flight, fluid flow in cardio-vascular systems, and high speed predation. Lab culminates in student-designed, group projects to collect novel biomechanical data to answer questions about the organism of the students’ choice. 

Previously Taught

IB202 Physiology
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Biomechanics and Functional Morphology
University of Bristol, UK