Research

Environmental Fluid Mechanics Lab

Dr. Webster’s interests are in experimental fluid mechanics, focusing on environmental flows and on the influence of fluid mechanics on biological systems.  His contributions have been in three arenas: 1) illuminating the fluid mechanics processes related to sensory biology and biomechanics; 2) developing advanced experimental techniques and facilities; and 3) translating research results into bio-inspired design. Examples of innovative and creative contributions include turbulent chemical plume tracking by blue crabs, biologically-inspired design of a robotic tracker of turbulent chemical plumes, tomographic (3D) particle image velocimetry of zooplankton propulsion (krill, copepods, pteropods, daphnids), zooplankton aggregations around oceanic thin layer structure, and copepod-turbulence interactions.

Projects include:

1. Chemical Plume Tracking
   1. Bed Roughness and Blue Crab Tracking
2. Zooplankton Response to Turbulence
   1. Novel Apparatus to Simulate Oceanic Turbulence
3. Copepod Interaction with Thin Layer Structure
   1. Cue Hierarchy as a Search Strategy
   2. Survey of Species
   3. Vertical Thin Layer
4. Crab Larvae Interaction with Thin Layer Structure
5. Flow Fields around Free Swimming Zooplankton
   1. Copepod Flow Fields
   2. Krill Flow Fields
6. Tomographic PIV System
   1. Pteropod Swimming
   2. Pteropod Kinematics & Hydrodynamics
   3. Pteropods & Daphnids
7. Krill Locomotory Biomechanics
   1. Antarctica Krill Schools
   2. Krill Swimming Mode
   3. Krill School Transitions
8. Flow Characteristics in Coastal Estuaries
   1. Boundary Layer Modification by Clam Pumping