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Research | Publications | People | Courses | Prospective Students Our Interests: Marine Ecomechanics The Gaylord lab conducts interdisciplinary research at the interface of biomechanics and marine ecology. Although the problems we tackle include a broad suite of topics and span multiple disciplines, most have some connection to one or both of two core questions: How do organisms with different sizes, shapes, and life histories cope with and/or benefit from their physical surroundings? How do aspects of the physical environment affect organisms' distributions and population characteristics over space and time? Within the context of these two basic questions, we often focus on organismal and ecological problems where progress has been thwarted due to challenges in understanding linkages between biology and fluid flow. For example, we have explored topics such as potential hydrodynamic controls on size and shape in marine organisms, functional consequences of particular seaweed and invertebrate body designs, processes driving physical disturbance in coastal habitats, the influence of ocean flows on species range boundaries, the mechanics of nearshore mixing and transport as they apply to propagule dispersal and population structure, and impacts of ocean acidification on disturbance ecology of key community members. In conducting this work, we typically employ some combination of field, laboratory, and theoretical approaches. For more details on specific examples of our research, follow the links below: Further information about certain research topics:
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