Monthly Archives: May 2016

Seminar this week, David Furbish from Vanderbilt

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Fluid Dynamics Seminar: David Furbish, Vanderbilt University

Title: Flow and bedform dynamics in rivers and experiments: The bed instability problem

Date: Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Time: 1 pm
Location: ITS Conference Room, 472 Willamette Hall

David Furbish is a professor at Vanderbilt University in Earth and Environmental Science. His work involves the application of fluid mechanics and statistical mechanics to problems in geomorphology, hydrology, and ecology. This work combines theoretical, experimental, computational and field-based components aimed at understanding the dynamics of Earth surface systems spanning human to geomorphic time scales.

Summary:

A nice philosophical introduction to David’s approach to science may be found on his website:

“…in learning how to describe the behavior of mechanical systems, mostly we are initially exposed to deterministic examples. We study Newton’s laws as these pertain to simple particle systems, and then move on to the behavior of solids and fluids treated as continuous materials. The formalism is unambiguous, and describing the behavior of a well constrained system is in principle straightforward. Indeed, much (although not all) of the legacy of geophysics resides in the determinism of continuum mechanics. Perhaps it is therefore natural that we might envision that a mechanistic description of the behavior of a system implies that such a description ought to be, or perhaps only can be, a deterministic one. Such a perception represents a lost opportunity. The most elegant counterpoint example is the field of classical statistical mechanics — devoted specifically to the probabilistic (i.e., non-deterministic) treatment of the behavior of gas particle systems in order to justify the principles of thermodynamics — yet which is no less mechanical in its conceptualization of this behavior than, say, the application of Newton’s laws to the behavior of a deterministic system consisting of the interactions of a few billiard balls or the players of the solar system, or involving the motion of a Newtonian fluid subject to specific initial and boundary conditions.”
Please contact Leif Karlstrom if you would like to schedule a meeting with David.

This weeks seminar, James Strother from Oregon State University

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Who: Jim Strother from the Dept. of integrative biology at OSU

When/where: Wed. May 11 at 1 pm in the ITS Conference Room, 472 Willamette Hall

Title: How to breathe underwater: the fluid dynamics of ventilation in fishes

More on Jim’s research on his website:

The Strother Lab examines how physiology, biomechanics, and neurobiology shape the interaction of aquatic animals with their environment.

Our current research is focused on understanding the mechanisms of respiratory exchange, using zebrafish as a model system. Respiratory exchange is a highly complex and multiscale process governed by the fluid dynamics of ventilation, the diffusion of solutes through the respiratory membranes, the transport of solutes by the cardiovascular system, and sensing and regulation by the nervous system. To disentangle these dynamics our lab utilizes a wide range of methods, including imaging, in vivo physiological experiments, computational modeling, and behavioral studies.

Hope to see you there!

 

Seminar this week, Mimi Koehl from UC Berkeley – note change of location

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Fluid Dynamics Seminar: Mimi Koehl, University of California at Berkeley

Title: Swimming and crawling in a turbulent world

Date: Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Time: 1 pm
Location: 331 Klamath (note change from usual location)

Mimi Koehl is a professor at UC Berkeley in integrative biology, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, fellow of the AAAS, and a recipient of a McArthur Award.

Summary:

“I study the physics of how organisms interact with each other and their environments. My goal is to elucidate basic physical rules that can be applied to different kinds of organisms about how body structure affects mechanical function in nature. I combine techniques from fluid and solid mechanics with those from biology and ecology to do experiments in the field as well as in the laboratory.

We have been using this approach to address a variety of questions, including how microscopic creatures swim and capture food in turbulent water flow; how marine larvae recruit into benthic habitats; how being multi-cellular affects swimming, feeding, and predator avoidance in protozoan ancestors of animals; how morphology affects aerodynamic performance of extinct ancestors of flying insects and birds; how wave-battered marine organisms avoid being washed away; how hydrostatic organisms change shape and move through their habitats; and how suspension-feeding aquatic animals capture particles and how olfactory antennae catch odors from water moving around them.”

More information: Mimi’s website

Please contact Kelly Sutherland if you would like to schedule a meeting with Mimi during her visit.

http://pages.uoregon.edu/ksuth