Samantha Gartner, B.S.

I am currently a postdoctoral scholar at Brown University in the Ecology, Evolutionary, and Organismal Biology department. My main interests surround functional morphology, muscle and ligament physiology, and biomechanics of fish feeding. My current research surrounds understanding the evolution and function of cranial ligaments in wrasses (Labridae) and birds (Aves). 

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I studied at the University of Chicago for my PhD in the Westneat lab. My dissertation title is "Evolution of biomechanical novelties and the mechanical properties of cranial ligaments in wrasses and parrotfishes (Family: Labridae)". In my dissertation, I investigated the influence of the four-bar linkage shape on the shape of the wrasse skull and the mechanical properties of cranial ligaments in suction feeding and biting wrasse species. 

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I completed my undergraduate research at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) in Spring 2017. During my time, I worked with Northern Elephant seals, Mirounga angustirostris, at Año Nuevo State Park, three octopus species in Calvi, Corsica, France, and a mangrove community in Baja California, Mexico. I also conducted an independent project on the organ topology of eels entitled "Effects of diet and intraspecific scaling on the viscera of Muraenid fishes" (Zoology, 2020). 

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In my free time I try and spend as much time outside as possible. I love to scuba dive, hike, photograph, eat, and travel to different places. I also love to attend sports games featuring my favorite Boston teams: Red Sox, Patriots, and Bruins. 

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@gartnersamantha

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“It's not about what it is, it's about what it can become.” 
― Dr. Seuss, The Lorax