Great news: I’m opening a research group to study behavior, ecology, and biomechanics of Opiliones and other arthropods from Central and North America, and beyond (?). We’ll be based at @UIC_BioS Contact me if you want to hear more! And feel free to spread the word. Pura vida!

Two new papers out now in the same issue of @ICB_journal ! (1) Shannon O'Brien & I reviewed the robustness of Opiliones to leg loss. (2) Along with collaborators, we proposed how animals use robustness and adaptive control to move in an uncertain world. academic.oup.com/icb/issue/6…

New paper out in Ethology! We studied if larvae of antlion use their defensive behaviors differently depending on the number of neighboring larvae. The project was part of a field ecology & conservation class in Costa Rica. @UIC_BioS @tropicalstudies shorturl.at/53dvW

Come work in our department!

So happy and proud of the research we did this summer and fall in the Chicagoland area! @noahskellyy @sageadelong

New paper out! This was a great international collaboration between engineers and biologists. We reviewed the bio-inspired design of hard-bodied mobile robots based on arthropod morphologies: doi.org/10.1088/1748-3190/ad… via @BioinspBiomim @UIC_BioS @thisisUIC

Open position available! Let me know if you have questions. @AnimBehSociety @RAEL_aracno @AAS_arachnology

New paper out today! We studied what factors allow 'baby spiders' (aka spiderlings) to improve their prey capture abilities. It's 'old' data from my Masters at @UniversidadCR but analyzed with fresh eyes and tools in collaboration with colleagues at @UWM. @UIC_BioS @thisisUIC

And that’s a wrap! Our Tropical Ecology and Conservation graduate course for Latin American students concluded with a huge success. Help us spread the word so this amazing opportunity keeps supporting the regional emerging leaders in the field. @tropicalstudies – at Costa Rica

In their section “outside JEB,” @J_Exp_Biol covered our 2023 paper on wolf spider biomechanics. We explored the environmental and morphological constraints of the locomotion in tropical highlands where temperatures fluctuate greatly daily. t.ly/sU898 @UIC_BioS – at Guanacaste, Costa Rica

This Spring, I am participating in a field class in Costa Rica. This class is offered by @tropicalstudies to graduate students from 6 Latin American countries. We visit 3 environments, conduct short research projects, and visit conservation and restoration projects. – at Heredia, Costa Rica

Today I saw three amazing science talks by three outstanding scientists! Mimi Koehl talked about marine larvae moving on turbulence, @TessaPatton talked about the genetic bases of bird reproduction, and @allie_q told us about frog resilience to pathogens. #SICB2024 – at Seattle, WA

Looking for recommendations: Colleagues, what fellowship/funding sources do you know of to support postdocs (particularly international scholars) in your US-based lab? Oh, and hopefully, the funding emphasizes behavior, ecology, evolution, and biomechanics. Thanks! – at Chicago, IL