NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2018

Aiello Brett R, Poland OH

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2018, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will utilize biological collections in innovative ways. Animals have a remarkable ability to maintain stability when faced with unexpected perturbations, which occurs through both passive (mechanical) and active (neural) mechanisms. In flight, passive stabilization relies on the animal's body and wing morphology, while active stabilization also relies on the nervous system to adjust flight. This research integrates museum collections with approaches from biology and physics to develop a better understanding of how different variables work to enhance flight stability using moths as a model system. This research has the potential to impact the future design of engineered devices based on biological design principles. Museum specimens belonging to the diverse group of moths, Bombycoidea, are used to quantify body and wing morphology, and phylogenetic analyses are used to study their evolutionary dynamics and impact on speciation. The fellow utilizes comparative models of dynamic flight stability (typically used in physics and aerospace engineering) as functions of morphology and kinematics to determine how stability evolves in relation to these traits. The fellow also quantifies the mechanical response to visual stimuli in different species to test whether the sensorimotor system is tuned to interspecific differences in stability. Through this research, the fellow receives training in integrating museum collections with interdisciplinary methods from physics, engineering, and biology. To advance discovery while promoting teaching, training, and learning, the fellow acts as a key advisor for a group of interdisciplinary undergraduates at the host institution as they conduct independent research on the relationship between maneuverability and wing morphology. Further, to broaden participation, the fellow and the undergraduate team conduct a lesson at the G.I.R.L.S summer camp at the host institution that uses the museum collections, a wind tunnel, and a 3-D printer to examine the relationship between wing morphology and aerodynamic performance. Finally, the collection of images generated by the fellow are being deposited in public databases, complementing existing efforts to digitally preserve museum specimens. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.