University of Texas at Austin
Dr.
More
My research background is diverse ranging from astrophysics
to biophysics, and addresses questions varying from plasma collimation to
polarized communication and camouflage.
My PhD was in laser plasma laboratory astrophysics in Professor at the
University of Texas at Austin where I used laser and electrical discharge
plasmas in magnetic fields to simulate astrophysical jets and magnetospheres in
the laboratory (Brady et al, 2009,2012; Physics
of Plasmas). Concurrently, while
finishing my PhD, I worked with Professor Molly Cummings on a project to
determine if the beetle Chrysina gloriosa
could visually sense circular polarization as they reflect circular
polarization from their exocuticle (Brady & Cummings, 2010; American Naturalist). After graduation I worked as a curator of
entomology at the University of Texas. I
later joined an ONR and NSF-funded project to quantify marine animal based
strategies of polarization camouflage.
For this project I wrote significant parts of the grants, built an
underwater full Stokes division-of-time video polarimeter and other polarization
measurement devices, designed and executed biological experiments involving
polarization, analyzed the data and calculated models based on that data. Using our video polarimeter we measured the
polarized reflectance of a silvery open-ocean fish and found a strong
correlation to a physics based model focused on the ideal polarized reflectance
for omni-directional camouflage (Brady et al., 2013, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), as well as in
situ measurements of open ocean fish camouflage (Brady et al., 2015; Science). We made histological investigations of the
origins of fish skin reflectance (Zhao et al., 2015; Journal of The Royal Society Interface). We also measured that a freshwater fish used
polarization signaling in reference to mate choice (Calabrese et al., 2014; Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences). See http://www.bio.utexas.edu/research/cummingslab for more details.
March 2016
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