Kenneth Welch

Teaching Interests

• BIOB32H: Animal Physiology Lab
• BIOD43H: Exercise Physiology

Research Interests

I am interested in muscle physiology, metabolism, energetics and locomotion. Fueling, powering and controlling movement are tasks that determine much regarding how an animal looks and lives. I often study animals with unique or highly specialized diets and locomotor styles, such as nectarivores and hovering fliers, as their extreme behaviours and physiology can permit insights into fundamental aspects of animal design and performance.

Keywords:

• comparative vertebrate physiology
• metabolism
• energetics
• hovering flight
• muscle physiology

Research Area: Physiology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, Conservation Ecology and Evolution

Current Research

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.