Biological Adhesion, Functional Morphology, Behavior, and Biomimetics

I am a PhD candidate in the Integrated Bioscience Program at the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. I am currently studying lizard adhesion and adhesive locomotion under conditions relevant to their ecology with co-advisors Dr. Peter Niewiarowski (Department of Biology) and Dr. Ali Dhinojwala (Department of Polymer Science). Specifically, my research involves incorporating knowledge and techniques from adhesion science and biology to enhance our understanding of both biological and synthetic fibrillar adhesion, especially under non-ideal conditions (e.g., rough, wet, and dirty surfaces). Please feel free to learn more about me, my research interests, or contact me if you have any questions.

Recent News

• University of Akron Interdisciplinary Symposium - Niewiarowski/Dhinojwala Lab Tiered Mentoring student, Alex Pamfilie, and I presented our ongoing research at The University of Akron Interdisciplinary Symposium (UA-IS). Check out the first two posters in the video below! First, I talk about the work we are doing with anoles and their adhesive toe pads. Second, Alex discusses our work with geckos and […]
• Perspective accepted for publication in Integrative and Comparative Biology - Earlier this year, I was invited by Integrative and Comparative Biology (ICB) to write a perspective piece to be featured alongside published manuscripts from one of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology’s (SICB) Annual Meeting Symposia. The symposium, entitled “The path less traveled: Reciprocal illumination of gecko adhesion by unifying material science, biomechanics, ecology, […]
• New paper published today in Designs! - I was involved in a collaborative course at the University of Akron where we investigated how to facilitate user interaction with Julian F.V. Vincent’s BioMimetic Ontology (BMO). To accomplish this, we integrated the BMO with a semantic translation tool, the Engineering-to-Biology Thesaurus designed by Jacquelyn K.S. Nagel. Later, we developed a web-based user interface that […]
• New paper published today in Acta Herpetologica - Today, our most recent paper investigating the effect of partial claw clipping on brown anoles was published in Acta Herpetologica! Check it out here!

All website photos courtesy of: Austin M. Garner, Sarah Han, or Mena Klittich.