Our lab adopts a comparative and integrative approach to the study of exercise, metabolism and muscle function. Much of our work focuses on animals with unique or extreme metabolic and locomotor capabilities. Examination of these organisms, informed by ecological and evolutionary context, has the power to reveal what features of design and physiology enable their extreme energetic and physical performance as well as what the limits are to such performance.

Research extends from the lab to the field.  Field sites include the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, the Oak Ridges Morrain north of Toronto, Ontario Canada, Colima, Mexico, and the Atlantic dry forest of Sao Paolo, Brazil.

We adopt both lab-based and field-based approaches to the study of animal function. Our understanding is incomplete without the work done in both settings. Lab-based approaches permit us to rigorously control conditions to gain unprecedented insights into physiological mechanism. Field-based studies permit us to evaluate the complex interplay of animal and environment.

We're recruiting volunteer field assistants to help with field research on hummingbird energetics for the summer of 2014. Learn more here.

Interested in joining the lab? Click here.

© Kenneth Welch - 2014 - contact the webmaster