Irschick and Colleagues Create a New Adhesive Inspired By Gecko Feet

Biology professor Duncan J. Irschick and his colleagues Al Crosby and Michael Bartlett from the Polymer Sciences Department have just published a paper in the journal Advanced Materials which shows how mimicking the anatomy of gecko feet creates a new dry adhesive ("Geckskin™") with unparalleled adhesion. A 4 x 4 inch pad of Geckskin™ can fasten about 700 lbs. to a smooth surface, such as glass, yet can be peeled off easily with one's fingers and reattached with no loss of adhesive ability. The material's design involved the creation of fake "tendon" and "skin" which are integrated with a pad that adheres to a surface using van der Waals forces, just like a gecko's foot does. This work is the first clear demonstration of the "up-scaling" gecko-style adhesion, and presents many exciting possibilities for human applications, ranging from construction to medicine.

The paper can be accessed here.

Some media coverage:

From Channel 40

From the Daily Mail

From Wired Magazine

Patek Stars in "National Geographic Wild" TV Show

See video

Biology professor Sheila Patek is featured throughout an episode of "National Geographic Wild" that examines the behavior and biomechanics of mantis shrimp. (Click the video icon to see the entire show). The show highlights field and laboratory research by Prof. Patek and by undergraduate and graduate students in her lab.

New Field Course: Amazon Aquatic Ecology

The Biology Department is pleased to announce Biology 596Z, Amazon Aquatic Ecology. This is a field course in the Brazilian Amazon, taught by Cristina Cox-Fernandes (cristina@bio.umass.edu). The Brazil trip will be in mid May, and the course will meet a few times prior to that for preparatory lectures. See below for a more complete description of the course.

Information Session for this trip: Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013 at 6:30 p.m., 319 Morrill, Science III

For some photos, see this slide.

Bezanilla Honored as Emerging Scholar of the Year

The January 5, 2012 issue of Diverse: Issues in Higher Education named Biology professor Magdalena Bezanilla as an Emerging Scholar of the Year for 2012. The journal profiles twelve scholars younger than 40 who are making a significant impact through teaching, research, and service. The honorees were selected from a pool of candidates recommended by scholars, department chairs, university public information officers, and others. The selection of Emerging Scholars is based on their research, educational background, publishing record, teaching record, and competitiveness and uniqueness of field of study.

New Funding for Gene and Genome Course

The Biology Department has recently received funds from the National Science Foundation to use its experience developed while implementing the Gene and Genome Analysis class (Biology 383H) in new partnership with Holyoke Community College (HCC). The Gene and Genome class is built around student-designed labs with just the right amount of instructor input to keep student teams engaged and progressing. The class allows students to work in teams to discover the functions of unique plant genes. The new funding will allow instructional methods developed in the UMass Gene and Genome course to be implemented at HCC. The overall goal is to leverage the individual strengths of the two institutions to develop new laboratory courses that focus on renewable energy.