Marianne Porter, PhD and PI:
My interest in biology has taken me from the mountain tops in northern Arizona, to bottom of the Grand Canyon, and to remote fishing camps in Baja. My study organisms have come from both the plant and animal kingdoms and also robotic fishes. My scientific interests include biomechanics and functional morphology, ecology, and physiology. Currently, my study organisms of choice are elasmobranchs (sharks, skates, and rays). I am interested in the mechanics of their cartilaginous vertebral columns and the resulting swimming styles seen among species. I also use bio-inspired robots and biomimetic structures to answer questions about skeletal material evolution and locomotion.
Postdoctoral scholars:
Dr. Darien Satterfield
PhD students:
Aubrey Clark (clarka2014@fau.edu):
Aubrey Clark finished her MS studying the morphology of shark olfactory organs. She had such a FABulous time, she decided to come back to address all the unanswered questions from her MS during her PhD. Olfactory organ morphology and shape is variable among species and Aubrey is working to understand the functional significance of this variation. Aubrey was an undergraduate at FAU has some amazing lab skills; she is one of the lead teaching assistants for the microbiology courses. Aubrey loves irony; her black dog is named Winter.
Jake Wood:
Claire Kozal (ckozal2026@fau.edu):
Claire joined the lab in Fall 2026! She is studying the kinematics and functional morphology of pelagic invertebrates. Claire has a pet bunny named Buttons and enjoys snorkeling, birdwatching, and playing the piano.
MS students:
Danielle Deutsch (ddeutsch2025@fau.edu):
Danielle joined the FAB Lab in Fall 2025. Danielle has been studying kinematics in various shark species using drone footage. Danielle aims to identify differences in swimming patterns and locomotor strategies among shark species with the use of machine learning.
Madison Estep (mestep2026@fau.edu):
Maddie joined the FAB Lab in Fall 2026! She is studying the stress markings of shark skin (dermal denticles) by linking viscoelasticity and morphology across various shark and ray species. Maddie enjoys playing viola in the FAU symphony, exploring the great outdoors, and collecting shark teeth in her free time.
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Post-Baccalaureate Researcher:
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Undergraduate researchers:
- Italo Teixeira – swimming
- Sofia Blanco – swimming
- Angel Mercedes – swimming
- Maria Bermudez – swimming
- Ayah Choudhry – swimming
- Philopateer Mankarious – noses
- Puja Perumalraja – noses
- Deanna Auger – noses
- Hayden Bell? – noses
- Raima Jafry – skin
Lab Alumni:
Dr. Jamie Knaub (PhD Dec 2026):
Jamie joined the Fab Lab in August 2020. She has been working on vertebral morphology to understand the mineralized structure of cartilaginous vertebrae and also bony vertebrae from marine mammals. Jamie has been spending a lot of timing dissecting and ct scanning. Jamie has cats that are very talkative and contribute to Zoom meetings.
Dr. Maddy Hagood (PhD Dec 2024):
Maddy Hagood is a PhD student studying shark skin. She is working to understand skin stretchiness and arrangement of the dermal denticles, the little pieces of mineral embedded in the skin that make it feel like sandpaper. Shark skin is fascinating because the arrangement and density of the denticles are so variable among species. Maddy is really interested in the keels found in some shark species (lamniformes) and is using histology and mechanical testing to understand their function. Maddy enjoys playing the ukulele and adopting all kinds of pets.
Dr. Lauren Simonitis (NSF PRFB) (https://www.laurenevesimonitis.com):
Dr. Simonitis is joining the lab in Fall 2022. The title of her project is ‘The Behavioral, Neurophysiological, and Physical Mechanisms of Ink as an Antipredation Strategy’.
Current position: Research and BioImaging Specialist at FAU Lab Schools https://labschools.fau.edu/research/research-staff/index.php
Dr. Beth Bowers:
Dr. Bowers is working on swimming kinematics projects while in the lab.
Current position: Research Scientist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center https://serc.si.edu/staff/beth-bowers
Ivan Heerdegen; MS 2022.
Ivan joined the Fab Lab in August 2020. Ivan has been studying the swimming kinematics of hammerhead sharks. They are looking at the kinematics during a number of behaviors: straight swimming, turning, foraging, swimming while processing foods, oh my! Essentially answering the question: can they walk and chew gum at the same time… swim and process squid. Ivan is a gifted artist and teacher.
Current position: Graphic Design/Scientific Writing at The Med Writers https://themedwriters.com/about/
Delaney Frazier (Post bacc researcher from Oct 21-Oct 23).
Shark vertebrae morphology and mechanical properties.
Dr. Danielle Ingle; PhD 2020.
Dr. Danielle Ingle investigated the structure and function of bone in the vertebral column of aquatic mammals like manatees, dolphins, and whales. She is excited about this research because bone is constantly changing in the body, it can tell us a lot about animal movement, development, and life and evolutionary history. She finds aquatic mammals especially fascinating because 50 million years ago, they moved and looked much like the four-legged animals around us on land, but over time slowly transitioned into the sleek, leg-less forms we see today. Danielle enjoys drum circles and traveling.
Current position: Grant Writer and Project Manager at Brockport Research Institute https://brockportresearchinstitute.com/bios/danielle-ingle
Dr. Katherine Galloway; PhD 2020.
Dr. Kate Galloway is investigated the mechanical properties and puncture performance of lionfish spines. She chose this research because lionfish are extremely invasive in South Florida, and are of particular interest to Florida communities. Lionfish biology was of little interest in past years until they became such a successful invasive predator. Through her dissertation work, Kate’s goal is to better understand lionfish biology and mechanics as a whole, and be able to compare the structure and function of lionfish spines to other materials found in nature. Kate enjoys traveling and twinning.
Current position: Assistant professor
Saint Anselm College https://www.anselm.edu/about/campus-directory/kate-galloway
Dr. Sarah Hoffmann; PhD 2019.
Everything you wanted to know about shark pectoral fins and 3D VROMM techniques.
Current position: research scientist
Shelby Creager, MS:
Shark skin is stretchy and denticles are important
Current position: Navy!
Undergraduate Alumni:
Savannah McDowell: Skin
Alice-Ann Brown: Swimming
Lorena Martins: Swimming
Maria Bermudez: Swimming
Karrington LeCoute: Blacktip swimming
Taisha Adras: Blacktip Swimming
Stephanie Abraham: Blacktip Swimming
Danielle Gomez: Blacktip Swimming
Aien Serrano: Blacktip Swimming
Olivia Masone: Blacktip Swimming
Isabella Urban: Blacktip Swimming
Selena Weather: Blacktip Swimming
Delaini Majetic: Blacktip Swimming
Shail Patel: Nose
Klaudia Jarek: Keels
Isabella Fernandez: Instron shark vertebrate
Sebastian Lopez: cetacean vert
Karina Ramos: Blacktip swimming
Shantel Pinnock: Blacktip swimming
Brynne Alcorta Ordonez: Blacktip swimming
Chloe Caires: Blacktip swimming
Emily Soleski: Blacktip swimming
Haille Hiemstra: Blacktip Swimming
Mavinee Privette: Blacktip swimming
Victoria Majeske: cetacean vert
Afrida Islam: Blacktip swimming
Madisan Biordi: shark olfactory and vertebral morphology
Emma Pawlik:shark vertebral morphology
Kyle Sagon: shark skin denticle morphology
Hannah Epstein:shark skin denticle morphology
Aisha Mirza:shark olfaction
Hannah Herbst: bio inspired designs
Dante Romero and Lenia Jordan: leopard shark swimming kinematics
Delaney Frazier: NSF Post Baccalaureate Researcher Oct 2021-Sept 2022, shark vertebrae materials testing and ct analyses, spiky parts of lionfish
Delanie Kirwan: predator – prey swimming kinematics, currently a science teacher
Ivan Heerdegen: mineralization patterns in shark vertebrae
Andrea Hernandez: epaulette shark walking
Matthew Warren: hammerhead hydrodynamics
Wilmer Lopez: shark pectoral fin morphology, currently Dr of veterinary medicine
Ayse Demercan: shark nose morphology
Noa Abiri: bioinspired needles and lionfish spine morphology
Joey Alexander: shark skin mechanics
Kai Lechet-Lam: shark skin morphology
Maria Uribe Mejia and Joshua St Juste Ellis: shark vertebrae mechanical properties
Sonoma Arnaldy: vertebral mineralization analyses using ct imaging
