Media attention

The research in our lab has been fortunate to receive a great deal of National and International Media attention, and a few interesting examples are provided below. We adhere to the notion that researchers in any Scientific endeavor should be cognizant of how their work relates to broader issues in human society.

For all media personnel: Contact Duncan J. Irschick (413 545 1696; e-mail: irschick@bio.umass.edu)

Some fun ones!

Rapid radiation of performance and a novel structure: Recent work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that large-scale divergence can happen within human life spans. This work (the first author was former postdoc Anthony Herrel), examined how lizards intentionally introduced onto Croatian islands 36 years ago have rapidly evolved a new gut structure and biting ability in response to increased consumption of plant matter. This is the first documented example in which a major novel structure evolves over human spans, and casts a very different view of evolution than the "slow and gradual" ideas that are usually discussed.

You can read more about it in this press release from UMass Amherst, and also these stories from Science Daily and National Geographic News which each summarize the most exciting research coming out each week

A tale of genital mutilation, sex, and enhanced performance: This work examined an amazing story of how male spiders overcome an evolutionary constraint (overly large genitalia) by ripping one of them off, and hence, running much faster to chase after females!

This research with undergraduate Margarita Ramos and collaborator Terry Christensen (published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ) received media attention from a variety of sources, including an article in Natural History, Science News online, Science News magazine, Wissenschaft-online (a German online news group), NPR, the BBC, and the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC, click here for an interview on this topic).

Leaping lizards; MIght as well jump! Jumping is a dynamic event that requires large amounts of muscular power, and his difficult to control. Research in our laboratory showed that anole lizards have remarkable abilities to modify the angle of their jumps, and thereby greatly diminishing associated costs of jumping, such as excess height and duration. This research suggests a far greater degree of control than previously believed for dynamnic movements. You can read about it in this article Outside JEB

Tracks in the sand: animal movement, lizards, and sand-blowers: This research used sand-blowers to literally "wipe the desert clean" and allow us to then carefully track animal movements in a manner never seen before. This work by D. Irschick and Bruce Jayne was featured in this neat (great pix!) article in Natural History Riddles in the sand revealed by lizard researchers.

Adhesive power of gecko feet revealed : In 1996, D. Irschick, along with a team of researchers, was able to provide the first published accurate measurements of the amazing adhesive abilities of gecko feet using a custom kinetic force platform. This work was at the forefront of modern studies that have attempted to synthesize gecko hairs for a myriad of purposes. You can read more about this work, and the subsequent work that followed in this American Scientist article

For fun, you can also read here about some of the funnier turns of doing research in evolutionary biology, and getting involved in efforts to combat the rise of creationism

Media outlets that have covered our research: Natural History Magazine, BBC, National Geographic, Independent UK, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), The Columbus Dispatch, The Journal of Experimental Biology News and Views, National Geographic News, Physorg.com, NPR, Discovery Channel, Sciencecentric.com, Science News, ScienceDaily, Wissenschaft-online (a German online news group), ABC news, Baltimore Sun, Cincinnati Enquirer.  Consultant for Pixar Studios.

News organizations for which opinions have been solicited: (regarding other papers): Kentucky Mercury News, Twin Cities Pioneer Press, Dallas Star Telegram, Grand Forks Herald, The Charlotte Observer, Columbia Daily Tribune, Detroit Free Press, Portsmouth Herald, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, KCTV news, teenja.com, Miami Herald, diverssite.com