Adam P. Summers
a. Professional Preparation
Swarthmore College
Engineering
B.S. 1986
Swarthmore College
Mathematics
B.A. 1986
New York University
Biology
M.S. 1992
University of Massachusetts
Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
Ph.D. 1999
University of California, Berkeley
Integrative Biology
1999-2001
b. Appointments
Professor, Biology and School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences, University of Washington 2011 – present
Associate Professor, Biology and School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences, University of Washington 2009
- 2011
Associate Director, Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington 2009 - present
Assistant and Associate Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UC Irvine 2001 - 2009
Assistant and Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, UC Irvine 2004 - 2009
Miller Research Fellow, University of California, Berkeley 1999-2001
c. Publications
5 Publications most closely related to the proposed project
1) Gidmark, N.J., J.A. Strother, J.M. Horton, A.P. Summers and E.L. Brainerd (2011) Locomotory
transition from water to sand and its effects on undulatory kinematics in sand lances
(Ammodytidae). Journal of Experimental Biology 214:657-664.
2)
Gerry, S.P., A.P. Summers, C.D. Wilga, and M.N. Dean. (2010). Pairwise modulation of jaw muscle
activity in two species of elasmobranchs. Journal of Zoology. 281:282-292
3)
Nowroozi, B. N., J. A. Strother, J.M. Horton, A.P. Summers, and E.L. Brainerd (2009) Whole body lift
and ground effect during pectoral fin locomotion in the northern spearnose poacher (Agonopsis
vulsa). Zoology 112: 393-402.
4)
Dean, M.N., C.G. Mull, S.G. Gorb and A.P. Summers (2009) Ontogeny of the tessellated skeleton:
Insight from the skeletal growth of the round stingray Urobatis halleri. Journal of Anatomy
215:227-239. (Cover)
5)
Gorb, S.N., S. Niederegger, C. Y. Hayashi, A. P. Summers, W. Vötsch, and P. Walther (2006) Silk-like
secretion from tarantula feet. Nature 443:407.
5 Other significant publications:
1) Clark, A.J., E. Maravilla and A.P. Summers (2010) A soft origin for a forceful bite: motor patterns of
the feeding musculature in Atlantic hagfish, Myxine glutinosa. Zoology. 113:259:268 (cover)
2)
Horton, J. and A.P. Summers (2009) Morphology and material properties of acellular bone from a fish.
Journal of Experimental Biology 212:1413-1420.
3)
Tricas, T.C., S.M. Kajiura, and A.P. Summers (2009) Response of the hammerhead shark olfactory
epithelium to amino acid stimuli. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 195:947–954.
4)
Kleinteich, T., A. Haas, and A.P. Summers (2008) Caecilian jaw closing mechanics - integrating two
muscle systems. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 5:1491-1504.
5)
Porter, M.E., T.J. Koob and A.P. Summers (2007) The contribution of mineral to the material properties
of vertebral cartilage from the smooth-hound shark (Mustelus californicus). Journal of
Experimental Biology 210:3319-3327.
d. Synergystic Activities
Page 1
Summers Bio Sketch
1)
2)
3)
Outreach - Biomechanics columnist for Natural History magazine – 10 columns per year on topics of
my choosing. As of the June 2009 issue I have written 66 columns. The text of all columns is
archived at www.biomechanics.bio.uci.edu. One column was selected for inclusion in the Best
Science and Nature Writing of 2003 by Richard Dawkins, others have been used in national
standardized tests, and scholarly anthologies.
Rotating Program Director in Integrative Organismal Systems at the National Science Foundation
2008-2009. Director's Award for Program Management Excellence 2009.
Extensive interaction with engineering, paleontology and physiology communities, including invited
symposium presentations (2001, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2007), Alfred Sherwood Romer Prize from
the Society of Vertebrate Paleontologists and the George A. Bartholomew Prize from the Society of
Integrative and Comparative Biology for excellence in physiology.
4)
Editor of Zoology, Editorial board of the Journal of Morphology, Integrative and Comparative
Biology, and associate editor of the Quarterly Review of Biology; reviewer for Acta Zoologica
Sinica, Austral Ecology, Copeia, Environmental Biology of Fishes, Evolution, Journal of
Comparative Biochemistry Physiology, Journal of Experimental Biology, Journal of Herpetology,
Journal of Morphology, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries,
Marine Biology, Nature, Netherlands Journal of Zoology, Quaternary Research, Zoology, and the
Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences.
5) Scientific advisor to Pixar Animation Studio on ‘Finding Nemo’ – teaching fish biology to animators,
artists, computer graphics technicians, and story editors. I am credited in the film. Other recognition
for teaching and outreach includes the UC Irvine Academic Senate award for excellence in
undergraduate teaching in '05, and a university and a school wide award for teaching excellence.
e. Collaborators and Other Affiliations
Lara Ferry-Graham (Moss Landing Marine Lab)
David B. Wake (Univ. of California, Berkeley)
Cheryl Hayashi (Univ. of California Riverside)
Marvalee H. Wake (Univ. of California, Berkeley)
R.E. Hueter (Mote Marine Laboratory)
Cheryl Wilga (Univ. of Rhode Island)
Philip J. Motta (Univ. of South Florida)
Stephen Kajiura (Florida Atlantic University)
Timothy Rowe (Univ. of Texas, Austin)
Stas Gorb (University of Kiel, Germany)
Timothy C. Tricas (Univ. of Hawaii)
Advisors
Elizabeth L. Brainerd
Brown University
David B. Wake
Univ. of California, Berkeley
Marvalee H. Wake
Univ. of California, Berkeley
Thesis advisor and postgraduate-scholar sponsor
Jennie Beltrán – M.S. 2007 (URM)
Post-Docs
Reynier Jacinto – M.S. 2007 (URM)
Thomas Kleinteich ’10-12
Justin Schaeffer – Ph.D. 2007
Anja Kleinteich ’10-12
Marianne Porter – Ph.D. 2008
Stephen Kajiura, FAU ’02-03
Brook Swanson, Gonzaga ’04-‘05
Andrew Clark - Ph.D. 2009 (URM)
Tomasz Owerkowicz, '08 - '10
Mason Dean – Ph.D. 2009
Jaquan Horton - M.S. 2009 (URM)
Stephanie Crofts - 2007
Erin Winters Mist Paig - 2007 (URM)
Aaron Galloway - 2009
Joseph Bizzarro – 2009
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Summers Bio Sketch