2020

Spring Cutting by Daniel Flynn

Predicting Shifts in Nature's Lifecycles

October 19, 2020

In nature, the timing of recurring annual lifecycle events affects many aspects of the ecosystem and ecology. In trees the timing of a leaf’s developing bud dictates the length of the growing season and carbon cycling, it mediates competition among plants and controls interactions with pests and pathogens.

The timing of spring buds developing in woody plants – trees, shrubs – is mainly controlled by environmental cues...

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OEB 119

Students in OEB 119: Deep Sea Biology are “going to sea” virtually!

September 28, 2020

The oceans contain 97% of Earth's water, and host the most disparate ecosystems on the planet. OEB 119 provides an introduction to deep ocean habitats, macrofauna and microorganisms. And this semester, Professor Peter Girguis is taking students to the ocean online! Prof. Girguis has led multiple cruises as Chief Scientist with Schmidt Ocean aboard the R/V Falkor.

Enjoy a video about OEB 119 created by the Derek Bok Center:

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Mansi Srivastava

Mansi Srivastava Receives Smith Family Foundation: Odyssey Award

September 18, 2020

Congratulations to Mansi Srivastava awarded the Smith Family Foundation: Odyssey Award for her project, "Comparing Development and Regeneration to Uncover Mechanisms for Maintaining Regenerative Ability in Adult Animals.” 

The new Smith Family Foundation Odyssey Award was created in 2017 to fuel creativity and innovation in junior investigators in the basic sciences.  The Award supports the...

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Artist rendering what the shrimp-like Cambrian species may have looked like. Illustration by Xiaodong Wang

Micro-CT lets scientists see telling 3D details in arthropod evolution

September 14, 2020

For the past five years, Prof Javier Ortega-Hernández and Prof. Yu Liu, Yunnan University, China have collaborated to learn more about arthropod evolution by using micro-CT scanning to create 3D models of fossils and view details that would be impossible to see otherwise. Their work was recently covered by the Harvard Gazette...

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JEB Cover Photo by Roy and Marie Battell

Mallard ducks' vertical takeoff requires different hindlimb kinematics and muscle function

September 10, 2020

Mallard ducks are capable of performing a wide range of behaviors including nearly vertical takeoffs from both land and water. The hindlimb plays a key role during takeoffs for both; however, the amount of force needed differs in fluid and solid environments. In a new paper in the Journal of Experimental Biology, recent graduate Kari Taylor-Burt (PhD '20) and Prof. Andrew Biewener hypothesize that hindlimb joint motion and muscle shortening are faster...

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Anju Manandhar

Anju Manandhar Receives 2020-2021 Simmons Award

August 31, 2020
Congratulations to PhD candidate Anju Manandhar (Holbrook Lab) recipient of the 2020-21 Simmons Award from Harvard Center for Biological Imaging for her project, "Structural and Mechanical Characterization of Stomatal Movement".