About the speaker:

Dr. Frank Fish is a Professor of Biology at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, where he has been on the faculty since 1980 and is the director of the Liquid Life Laboratory. He received a B.A. in Biology from SUNY Oswego in 1975. He completed a M.Sc. in 1977 and a Ph.D. in 1980 from the Zoology Department of Michigan State University.

Dr. Fish has published over 180 research articles, government reports, patents, and book chapters. He is currently an associate editor for the journal Marine Mammal Science and he served on the editorial board of the journal Bioinspiration and Biomimetics.

Dr. Fish's research focuses on the energetics and hydrodynamics of aquatic locomotion by vertebrate animals, including marine mammals. His research has been funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR). Recent projects have included examinations of the evolution of swimming modes in aquatic mammals, energetics and maneuverability of aquatic animals, hydrodynamic design of biological control surfaces, biomimetic designs for propulsion, and swimming performance by marine animals for the development of bio-robots.

Dr. Fish has appeared on a number of television shows including the PBS series Evolution and the BBC production Walking with Prehistoric Beasts. His work has been highlighted in magazines, including Science, Science News, National Geographic, and Scientific American. He received the Society for Marine Mammalogy Award for Excellence in Science Communication and he was a finalist for the 2018 European Inventor Award.