Brooke E. Flammang

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Brooke E. Flammang
B. Flammang Headshot.png
Dr. Flammang, 2023
Born
Brooke Elizabeth Flammang

Alma mater
Known for
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions

Brooke E. Flammang is an American biologist at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. [1] She specializes in functional morphology, biomechanics, and bioinspired technology of fishes. [2] Flammang is a discoverer of the radialis muscle in shark tails. She also studies the adhesive disc of the remora, and the walking cavefish, Cryptotora thamicola . Her work has been profiled by major news outlets including The New York Times , The Washington Post , Wired , BBC Radio 5 , Discovery Channel , and National Geographic Wild . She was named one of the "best shark scientists to follow" by Scientific American in 2014. [3]

Contents

Education

Flammang received her M.S. in marine science from Moss Landing Marine Laboratories at California State University Monterey Bay where she was in the Gregor Cailliet lab studying the distribution and reproductive ecology of deepsea catsharks from the family Scyliorhinidae of the Eastern Pacific. [4] She completed her Ph.D. in biology and a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University, where she worked with George V. Lauder on a variety of projects, such as fluid dynamics and volumetric imaging of fish locomotion, bioinspired robotics, and bluegill sunfish and shark functional morphology and locomotion. [4] [5] [6]

Academic career

Flammang was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (2010–2013) and a faculty member in the Division of Continuing Education (2009–2014) at Harvard University. She subsequently was an assistant professor at Lasell College's Department of Science and Mathematics (2013–2014) as well as a visiting scholar at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University (2013–2014). She has served as assistant professor in the Federated Department of Biology at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (2014–2021) and currently serving as associate professor (2021–Present). [1] She also holds appointments as a Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology Associate of Ichthyology [7] and as a graduate faculty member at Rutgers University.

Research

Flammang discovered the radialis muscle in shark tails while at the Friday Harbor Laboratories for a summer course with Adam Summers, Beth Brainerd and Karel Liem. [8] Her current research focuses on the remora adhesive disc, from describing its function and morphology to understanding the hydrodynamics and mechanism of its attachment. [9] [10] [11] She also works on the walking cavefish, Cryptotora thamicola , to understand the unique morphological adaptations found in walking fishes. [12] [13] Her work has been profiled by the New York Times , [12] the Washington Post , [14] Wired , [12] [15] You're the Expert radio show, [16] BBC Radio 5 , [17] CBC Radio , [18] Discovery Channel , [19] and National Geographic Wild [20] She was named one of the "best shark scientists to follow" by Scientific American in 2014. [3]

She has made advances to the use of 3D Particle Image Velocimetry for understanding the fluid dynamics of locomotion in fish. [21] Her lab focuses on functional morphology and comparative biomechanics, along with bioinspired robotics, the evolution of tetrapods, and the fluid dynamics of swimming. [2]

Most cited papers

Awards

Flammang is the principal investigator for a National Science Foundation (NSF) Rules of Life RAISE grant [26] to address the evolution of terrestrial locomotion. [27] She has been recognized by the Journal of Experimental Biology as an Early Career Researcher of note, [17] and was awarded the Dorothy M. Skinner Award in 2013 by the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. In 2017, she was awarded the Carl Gans Award by the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. [17] She was the 2019 recipient of the Bioinspiration and Biomimetics Steven Vogel Young Investigator Award. [28] as well as the 2019 recipient of the NJIT CSLA Rising Star Research Award. [29]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fin</span> Thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure

A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fins are also used to increase surface areas for heat transfer purposes, or simply as ornamentation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hagfish</span> Family of eel-shaped, slime-producing animal

Hagfish, of the class Myxini and order Myxiniformes, are eel-shaped jawless fish. They are the only known living animals that have a skull but no vertebral column, although hagfish do have rudimentary vertebrae. Hagfish are marine predators and scavengers. Hagfish defend themselves against predators by releasing copious amounts of slime from glands in their skin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Remora</span> Family (Echeneidae) of ray-finned fish

The remora, sometimes called suckerfish, is any of a family (Echeneidae) of ray-finned fish in the order Carangiformes. Depending on species, they grow to 30–110 cm (12–43 in) long. Their distinctive first dorsal fins take the form of a modified oval, sucker-like organ with slat-like structures that open and close to create suction and take a firm hold against the skin of larger marine animals. The disk is made up of stout, flexible membranes that can be raised and lowered to generate suction. By sliding backward, the remora can increase the suction, or it can release itself by swimming forward. Remoras sometimes attach to small boats, and have been observed attaching to divers as well. They swim well on their own, with a sinuous, or curved, motion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gymnotiformes</span> Order of bony fishes

The Gymnotiformes are an order of teleost bony fishes commonly known as Neotropical knifefish or South American knifefish. They have long bodies and swim using undulations of their elongated anal fin. Found almost exclusively in fresh water, these mostly nocturnal fish are capable of producing electric fields to detect prey, for navigation, communication, and, in the case of the electric eel, attack and defense. A few species are familiar to the aquarium trade, such as the black ghost knifefish, the glass knifefish, and the banded knifefish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bluegill</span> Species of fish

The bluegill, sometimes referred to as "bream," "brim," "sunny," or, as is common in Texas, "copper nose", is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands east of the Rocky Mountains. It is the type species of the genus Lepomis, from the family Centrarchidae in the order Perciformes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal locomotion</span> Self-propulsion by an animal

Animal locomotion, in ethology, is any of a variety of methods that animals use to move from one place to another. Some modes of locomotion are (initially) self-propelled, e.g., running, swimming, jumping, flying, hopping, soaring and gliding. There are also many animal species that depend on their environment for transportation, a type of mobility called passive locomotion, e.g., sailing, kiting (spiders), rolling or riding other animals (phoresis).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fish locomotion</span> Ways that fish move around

Fish locomotion is the various types of animal locomotion used by fish, principally by swimming. This is achieved in different groups of fish by a variety of mechanisms of propulsion, most often by wave-like lateral flexions of the fish's body and tail in the water, and in various specialised fish by motions of the fins. The major forms of locomotion in fish are:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cursorial</span>

A cursorial organism is one that is adapted specifically to run. An animal can be considered cursorial if it has the ability to run fast or if it can keep a constant speed for a long distance. "Cursorial" is often used to categorize a certain locomotor mode, which is helpful for biologists who examine behaviors of different animals and the way they move in their environment. Cursorial adaptations can be identified by morphological characteristics, physiological characteristics, maximum speed, and how often running is used in life. There is much debate over how to define a cursorial animal specifically. The most accepted definitions include that a cursorial organism could be considered adapted to long-distance running at high speeds or has the ability to accelerate quickly over short distances. Among vertebrates, animals under 1 kg of mass are rarely considered cursorial, and cursorial behaviors and morphology are thought to only occur at relatively large body masses in mammals. There are a few mammals that have been termed "micro-cursors" that are less than 1 kg in mass and have the ability to run faster than other small animals of similar sizes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mudskipper</span> Subfamily of fishes

Mudskippers are any of the 23 extant species of amphibious fish from the subfamily Oxudercinae of the goby family Oxudercidae. They are known for their unusual body shapes, preferences for semiaquatic habitats, limited terrestrial locomotion and jumping, and the ability to survive prolonged periods of time both in and out of water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shark anatomy</span>

Shark anatomy differs from that of bony fish in a variety of ways. Variation observed within shark anatomy is a potential result of speciation and habitat variation.

Myomeres are blocks of skeletal muscle tissue arranged in sequence, commonly found in aquatic chordates. Myomeres are separated from adjacent myomeres by connective fascia (myosepta) and most easily seen in larval fishes or in the olm. Myomere counts are sometimes used for identifying specimens, since their number corresponds to the number of vertebrae in the adults. Location varies, with some species containing these only near the tails, while some have them located near the scapular or pelvic girdles. Depending on the species, myomeres could be arranged in an epaxial or hypaxial manner. Hypaxial refers to ventral muscles and related structures while epaxial refers to more dorsal muscles. The horizontal septum divides these two regions in vertebrates from cyclostomes to gnathostomes. In terrestrial chordates, the myomeres become fused as well as indistinct, due to the disappearance of myosepta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cavefish</span> Fish adapted to life in caves

Cavefish or cave fish is a generic term for fresh and brackish water fish adapted to life in caves and other underground habitats. Related terms are subterranean fish, troglomorphic fish, troglobitic fish, stygobitic fish, phreatic fish and hypogean fish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aquatic locomotion</span>

Aquatic locomotion or swimming is biologically propelled motion through a liquid medium. The simplest propulsive systems are composed of cilia and flagella. Swimming has evolved a number of times in a range of organisms including arthropods, fish, molluscs, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Undulatory locomotion</span>

Undulatory locomotion is the type of motion characterized by wave-like movement patterns that act to propel an animal forward. Examples of this type of gait include crawling in snakes, or swimming in the lamprey. Although this is typically the type of gait utilized by limbless animals, some creatures with limbs, such as the salamander, forgo use of their legs in certain environments and exhibit undulatory locomotion. In robotics this movement strategy is studied in order to create novel robotic devices capable of traversing a variety of environments.

George V. Lauder is a Professor of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sucker (zoology)</span> Specialised attachment organ of an animal

A sucker in zoology is a specialised attachment organ of an animal. It acts as an adhesion device in parasitic worms, several flatworms, cephalopods, certain fishes, amphibians, and bats. It is a muscular structure for suction on a host or substrate. In parasitic annelids, flatworms and roundworms, suckers are the organs of attachment to the host tissues. In tapeworms and flukes, they are a parasitic adaptation for attachment on the internal tissues of the host, such as intestines and blood vessels. In roundworms and flatworms they serve as attachment between individuals particularly during mating. In annelids, a sucker can be both a functional mouth and a locomotory organ. The structure and number of suckers are often used as basic taxonomic diagnosis between different species, since they are unique in each species. In tapeworms there are two distinct classes of suckers, namely "bothridia" for true suckers, and "bothria" for false suckers. In digeneal flukes there are usually an oral sucker at the mouth and a ventral sucker posterior to the mouth. Roundworms have their sucker just in front of the anus; hence it is often called a pre-anal sucker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fish jaw</span>

Most bony fishes have two sets of jaws made mainly of bone. The primary oral jaws open and close the mouth, and a second set of pharyngeal jaws are positioned at the back of the throat. The oral jaws are used to capture and manipulate prey by biting and crushing. The pharyngeal jaws, so-called because they are positioned within the pharynx, are used to further process the food and move it from the mouth to the stomach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fish fin</span> Bony skin-covered spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish

Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that displace water and generate thrust thrust to help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the spine and are supported only by muscles.

Batoids are a superorder of cartilaginous fish consisting of skates, rays and other fish all characterized by dorsoventrally flattened bodies and large pectoral fins fused to the head. This distinctive morphology has resulted in several unique forms of locomotion. Most Batoids exhibit median paired fin swimming, utilizing their enlarged pectoral fins. Batoids that exhibit median paired fin swimming fall somewhere along a spectrum of swimming modes from mobuliform to rajiform based on the number of waves present on their fin at once. Of the four orders of Batoidae this holds truest for the Myliobatiformes (rays) and the Rajiformes (skates). The two other orders: Rhinopristiformes and Torpediniformes exhibit a greater degree of body caudal fin swimming.

Elizabeth L. Brainerd is an American biologist who has contributed to our understanding of the evolution of breathing. and the biomechanics of vertebrates. She is one of the inventors of XROMM, a technique for making 3D movies of internal structure that combines CT scanning with biplanar x-ray movies. She is one of the authors of Great Transformations in Vertebrate Evolution.

References

  1. 1 2 "Brooke Flammang-lockyer - Biological Sciences". Federated Department of Biological Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Flammang Lab". New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  3. 1 2 Shiffman, David (August 8, 2014). "The Best Shark Biologists and Conservationists to Follow During Shark Week". Scientific American. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  4. 1 2 "Brooke Flammang - Google Scholar Citations". Google Scholar. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  5. "fluid loco lab: publications". New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  6. "Fish Biomechanics & Hydrodynamics (Including Shark Skin Function)". People.fas.harvard.edu. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  7. "MCZ Associates". Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ), Harvard University. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  8. Flammang, Brooke E. (1 March 2010). "Functional morphology of the radialis muscle in shark tails". Journal of Morphology. 271 (3): 340–352. doi:10.1002/jmor.10801. PMID   19827156. S2CID   7550907.
  9. Flammang, Brooke (1 April 2015). "Functional Morphology of the Remora Adhesive Disc". The FASEB Journal. 29 (1 supplement): 865.9. doi: 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.865.9 .
  10. Nadler, Jason H.; Flammang, Brooke E.; Beckert, Michael (1 November 2015). "Remora fish suction pad attachment is enhanced by spinule friction". Journal of Experimental Biology. 218 (22): 3551–3558. doi: 10.1242/jeb.123893 . PMID   26417010. S2CID   14543035.
  11. Beckert, Michael; Flammang, Brooke E.; Anderson, Erik J.; Nadler, Jason H. (1 October 2016). "Theoretical and computational fluid dynamics of an attached remora (Echeneis naucrates)". Zoology. 119 (5): 430–438. doi:10.1016/j.zool.2016.06.004. PMID   27421679.
  12. 1 2 3 Zimmer, Carl (2016-03-24). "Researchers Find Fish That Walks the Way Land Vertebrates Do". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  13. 1 2 Soares, Daphne; Julie Markiewicz; Suvarnaraksha, Apinun; Flammang, Brooke E. (24 March 2016). "Tetrapod-like pelvic girdle in a walking cavefish". Scientific Reports. 6: 23711. Bibcode:2016NatSR...623711F. doi:10.1038/srep23711. PMC   4806330 . PMID   27010864.
  14. Feltman, Rachel (March 24, 2016). "This weird little fish can walk up waterfalls". The Washington Post. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  15. Pennisi, Elizabeth (30 November 2011). "THE SECRET OF SUPER-FAST SHARK SWIMMING". Wired. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  16. "You're the Expert – Sharks and Remoras – 47:42". radiopublic.com. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  17. 1 2 3 "Early-career researchers: an interview with Brooke Flammang". The Journal of Experimental Biology. 221 (1): jeb174318. 10 January 2018. doi: 10.1242/jeb.174318 . PMID   29321290. S2CID   31466630.
  18. "Fish with pelvis built for walking discovered in Thailand". CBC News. March 28, 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  19. Emspak, Jesse (July 23, 2017). "The Monofin: Will High-Tech Tail Help Phelps Beat a Great White Shark?". Live Science. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  20. Tennenhouse, Erica (October 9, 2018). "These freaky fish use their fins to 'walk' across the seafloor". National Geographic Wild. Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  21. "Particle Image Velocimetry Systems for Quantitative Flow Measurements of Bio-Locomotion". Tsi.com. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  22. Lauder, George V.; Flammang, Brooke E.; Tangorra, James L.; Esposito, Christopher J. (1 January 2012). "A robotic fish caudal fin: effects of stiffness and motor program on locomotor performance". Journal of Experimental Biology. 215 (1): 56–67. doi: 10.1242/jeb.062711 . PMID   22162853. S2CID   1759189.
  23. 1 2 3 4 "Google Scholar". Scholar.google.com. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  24. Flammang Brooke E.; Lauder George V.; Troolin Daniel R.; Strand Tyson E. (23 October 2011). "Volumetric imaging of fish locomotion". Biology Letters. 7 (5): 695–698. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2011.0282. PMC   3169073 . PMID   21508026.
  25. Flammang, Brooke E. (20 May 2019). "Functional morphology of the radialis muscle in shark tails". Journal of Morphology. 271 (3): 340–352. doi:10.1002/jmor.10801. PMID   19827156. S2CID   7550907.
  26. "NSF Award Search: Award#1839915 - RoL: FELS: RAISE: A Phylogenomically-Based Bioinspired Robotic Model Approach to Addressing the Evolution of Terrestrial Locomotion". National Science Foundation. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  27. "First Steps: Scientists launch evolutionary study to explore the origins of fish that walk". Louisiana State University. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  28. "Steven Vogel Young Investigator Award - Bioinspiration & Biomimetics - IOPscience". iopscience.iop.org. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  29. "NJIT CSLA Annual Awards". csla.njit.edu. Retrieved 2021-10-27.