RESEARCH FOCI
Form-function-mechanics relationships - Integration and coordination of movements - Muscle contraction and tendon elastic action - Ecological diversification - Evolutionary transitions - Feeding

 MISSION STATEMENT
In the Konow Lab, we seek an understanding of how biological movements, as seen during feeding and locomotion, arise from mechanical interactions between contracting muscles, springy tendons and jointed skeletons. By combining tools from biomechanics, functional morphology and muscle physiology we present a program with relevance to students interested in organismal biology, ecology and evolution, as well as in biomedical or health-care careers. Our current projects focus on food processing (chewing). The specific aims range from determining how changes in movement patterns impact ecological transitions, to how muscle-tendon mechanics change through the life of organisms, with direct implications for questions in human health.