Faculty by Research Areas
S. Tonia Hsieh
Assistant Professor
Ph.D. Harvard University, 2005
417 Carr
Box 118525
Gainesville, FL
32611-8525
Fax: (352) 392-3704
sthsieh@zoology.ufl.edu
Research Interests
My research focuses on understanding the mechanics and control of locomotion through the complex, natural environment in an ecological and evolutionary context. I am particularly interested in the remarkable phenomenon of morphological convergence and what functional mechanisms drive its repeated occurrence in the animal kingdom. The field of biomechanics is inherently interdisciplinary, and recent advances in technology and techniques have further facilitated the integration of biology with the applied sciences. I use tools common in engineering and computer science to analyze the mechanics and motion of a system, and then integrate these techniques with field work and systematics to ground the results in a manner relevant to the organism’s natural history. Recent projects have examined:
- how basilisk lizards run across water
- how material properties of a surface affect locomotor mechanics in lizards
- the terrestrial locomotor mechanisms in a clade of amphibious blennies (a marine fish)
- correlations of musculoskeletal morphology with ecomorphological groupings in anole lizards.
Students Currently Supervised
I will be joining the Zoology faculty in the fall 2008. If you are a potential post-doc or student interested in joining the lab, please contact me by email.
Representative Publications
Autumn, K, Hsieh, S.T., DM Dudek, J Chen, C Chitaphan, and RJ Full. 2006. Dynamics of geckos running vertically. The Journal of Experimental Biology. 209:260-272.
Hsieh, S. T. 2006. A three-axis optical force plate for studies in small animal locomotor mechanics. Review of Scientific Instruments 77, 054303.
Hsieh, S. T. and Lauder, G. V. 2004. Running on water: three-dimensional force generation by basilisk lizards. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 101, 16784-16788.
Hsieh, S. T. 2003. Three-dimensional hindlimb kinematics of water running in the plumed basilisk lizard (Basiliscus plumifrons). The Journal of Experimental Biology 206, 4363-4377.
Autumn, K., Liang, Y. A., Hsieh, S. T., Zesch, W., Chan, W. P., Kenny, T. W., Fearing, R., Full, R. J. 2000. Adhesive force of a single gecko foot-hair. Nature 405, 681-684.