Hedrick Lab :: Comparative Biomechanics

to the Hedrick lab at UNC!

Video of a Chimney Swift roosting flock from a recent Hedrick Lab paper. The birds have been highlighted using background subtraction to make them easier to see. Higher resolution video

The Hedrick lab studies animal locomotion and bioflight from a variety of perspectives. Take a look around to learn more about our research, the people working here, and software and data resources for other researchers.

Lab News:

New Hedrick Lab publication: Morphological evolution of bird wings follows a mechanical sensitivity gradient determined by the aerodynamics of flapping flight by Jonathan A. Rader and Tyson L. Hedrick was published in Nature Communications. Read it here or head straight to the data on Figshare

New Hedrick Lab publication: Combined effects of body posture and three-dimensional wing shape enable efficient gliding in flying lizards by Pranav C. Khandelwal and Tyson L. Hedrick was published in Scientific Reports Read it here or grab the data from FigShare.

Jonathan Rader successfully defended his PhD thesis! Congratulations Dr. Rader!

Pranav Khandelwal successfully defended his PhD thesis! Congratulations Dr. Khandelwal!

To see how consumer technology meets science in the jungle read Pranav Khandelwal’s piece on recording flying lizards in the field with GoPro cameras

More news....

New publication: Vibrational control: A hidden stabilization mechanism in insect flight by Haithem Taha and Mohammadali Kiani at UC Irvine in collaboration with Jeremy Greeter and Tyson Hedrick at UNC. See it here in Science Robotics or read a 3rd party summary.

New publication: Functional morphology of gliding flight II. Morphology follows predictions of gliding performance by Jonathan Rader and collaborators, published in Integrative and Comparative Biology

New publication: Functional morphology of gliding flight I. Modeling reveals distinct performance landscapes based on soaring strategies by Lindsay Waldrop et. al. in collaboration with Jonathan Rader and published in Integrative and Comparative Biology Read it here!

For a fun read check this Outside JEB piece on Pranav Khandelwal’s Draco study, then move on to the Endeavors magazine article study of flying lizards in their native habitat for some great visuals.

New Hedrick Lab publication: How biomechanics, path planning and sensing enable gliding flight in a natural environment by Pranav C. Khandelwal and Tyson L. Hedrick was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Read it here or grab the data from DataDryad.

Hedrick lab postdoc Dr. Aaron Corcoran started his new position as an Assistant Professor at University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.

New Hedrick Lab publication: Compound-V formations in shorebird flocks by Aaron J. Corcoran and Tyson L. Hedrick was published in the journal eLife. Read it here, and check out this overview video.

New Hedrick Lab publication: Gliding for a free lunch: biomechanics of foraging flight in common swifts (Apus apus) by Tyson L. Hedrick, Cécile Pichot, and Emmanuel de Margerie was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology Read it here, grab the dataset or read about the work in Inside JEB.

Hedrick lab postdoc Dr. Aaron Corcoran’s paper on stealth echolocation in bats was published in Animal Behavior. Read it here or watch a video about it!

Dr. Aaron Corcoran joined the Hedrick lab as a postdoctoral researcher!

Hedrick lab graduate student Jeremy Greeter completed his Ph.D.!

New Hedrick Lab publication: 3D trajectories and network analyses of group behaviour within Chimney Swift flocks during approaches to the roost by Dennis J. Evangelista, Dylan D. Ray, Sathish K. Raja and Tyson L. Hedrick was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Read it here, grab the dataset or read about the work in Science News.

Miller and Hedrick lab graduate student Shannon Jones completed her Ph.D. and has started a postdoctoral position at UNC!

Hedrick lab postdoc Dennis Evangelista started a tenure-track faculty position at the US Naval Academy! Congrats Dennis!

Hedrick lab PhD student Jeremy Greeter’s paper Direct lateral maneuvers in hawkmoths was recently published in the journal Biology Open! Read it here!

New Hedrick Lab undergraduate research publication: Field Flight Dynamics of Hummingbirds during Territory Encroachment and Defense by Katherine M. Sholis, Ryan M. Shelton and Tyson L. Hedrick was recently published in the journal PLoS ONE. Read it here!

Welcome