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About

Dr. Garner is a functional morphologist and biomechanist with a fundamental interest in how diverse organisms interface with their environment. Specifically, Dr. Garner employs an interdisciplinary approach to study form-function-environment interactions in terrestrial and aquatic systems of animal attachment, combining expertise from several disciplines in both the life and physical sciences.  Dr. Garner received a B.Sc. in Biology, magna cum laude, from the University of Akron in 2016. He continued his education at the University of Akron by obtaining a Ph.D. in Integrated Bioscience with co-advisors Dr. Peter Niewiarowski and Dr. Ali Dhinojwala in 2021. Dr. Garner’s Ph.D. research focused on the interaction between form, function, and environment in the subdigital adhesive systems of geckos and anoles. Dr. Garner then completed a postdoctoral teaching fellowship at Villanova University in 2021 where he studied the functional morphology of sea urchin attachment with postdoctoral advisor, Dr. Alyssa Stark, and collaborator, Dr. Michael Russell.