Deadline: Applications will be accepted at any time until the position is filled.

Stream fishes that inhabit fast flowing, dynamic, erosive and highly energetic environments exhibit a wide diversity of body morphologies and behaviours. These are considered adaptations to extreme conditions, and include streamlined shape (to reduce drag), specially adapted body parts, e.g. paired fins and oral disks (to act as hydrofoils or points of attachment), and energy saving behaviours, e.g. selection of positions on the stream bed or use of flow refugia. Insight into the relationship between morphological and behavioural adaptation and function, and consequences for fitness is of interest to behavioural ecologists and evolutionary biologists. To understand why fish have evolved the diverse array of morphological and behavioural adaptations to fast flowing aquatic environments, there is a need to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to better understand how their performance and behaviour is influenced by hydrodynamics. This understanding is important for applied ecologists tasked with mitigating for the adverse impacts of the development of water resources, but can also be used by those that gain inspiration from nature to solve problems of design. Advancing understanding of fish adaptation and response to hydrodynamics to provide a pathway between biology/ ecology, fluid dynamics, and bioinspiration is the focus of this research. Using state-of-the-art hydraulics facilities (e.g. multiple-scale flumes) and associated apparatus (e.g. acoustic Doppler velocimetry, Particle Image Velocimetry, traditional flow visualization using high speed cameras) fish posture, locomotory kinematics, and behaviour in response to flow fields encountered will be quantified. Fluids flows around the fish body will be measured using both models and live fish to investigate how morphological features and posture influence hydrodynamics and the nature of behavioural response exhibited. 

We are looking for open minded candidates with a background in biology, engineering or physics that are excited by the opportunity to work at the interdisciplinary interface to answer questions related to the influence of hydrodynamics on evolutionary biology and behavioural ecology and application to bioinspiration.

If you wish to discuss any details of the project informally, please contact Paul Kemp, Water and Environmental Engineering research group, Email: p.kemp<στο>soton.ac.uk, Tel: +44 (0) 2380 59 5871.