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Curriculum Vitae


Aaron M Olsen

E-mail: aarolsen at gmail dot com

Research Interests

Education

Academic Appointments

2021-pres.Founder, 3D Anatomy Studios
2018-2021Anatomy Teaching & Research Postdoc, Brown University (Brainerd lab)
2016-2018NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, Brown University (Brainerd lab)
2009-2016Ph.D. student, University of Chicago (Westneat lab)
2010-2016Resident Graduate Student, Field Museum of Natural History
2012-2013NSF Moto-IGERT Fellow, University of Chicago
2009Research assistant, Hauck lab, University of Konstanz, Germany
2006-2008Undergraduate research assistant, Ward lab, University of Kansas

Grants, awards and fellowships

2017Best Dissertation Award, Biological Sciences, University of Chicago
2016-2018NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology ($138,000)
2016Smithsonian Predoctoral Fellowship (I declined this to accept the PRFB)
2011-2015NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
2012-2013NSF Moto-IGERT Research Award ($2000)
2011-2012University of Chicago Hinds Research Award ($1459)
2009DAAD Undergraduate Scholarship (4,485€)
2007K-INBRE Undergraduate Research Scholarship ($5,700)

Peer-reviewed publications

  1. Aiello BR, Olsen AM, Mathis CE, Westneat MW & Hale ME (2019). Pectoral fin kinematics and motor patterns are shaped by fin ray mechanosensation during steady swimming in Scarus quoyi. Journal of Experimental Biology. jeb.211466. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.211466.

  2. Olsen AM (2019). A mobility-based classification of closed kinematic chains in biomechanics and implications for motor control. Journal of Experimental Biology. 222:jeb195735. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.195735. Get via JEB, via ResearchGate.

  3. Coates MI, Tietjen K, Olsen AM & Finarelli JA (2019). High-performance suction feeding in an early elasmobranch. Science Advances. 5(9). eaax2742. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aax2742. Get via ScienceAdvances, via ResearchGate.

  4. Olsen AM, Hernandez LP, Camp AL & Brainerd EL (2019). Channel catfish use higher coordination to capture prey than to swallow. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 286(1901). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.0507. Get via Royal Society Publishing, via ResearchGate.

  5. Rico-Guevara A, Sustaita D, Gussekloo SWS, Olsen AM, Bright JA, Corbin CE, Dudley R (2019). Feeding in Birds: Thriving in Terrestrial, Aquatic, and Aerial Niches. In: Bels V., Whishaw I. (eds) Feeding in Vertebrates. Fascinating Life Sciences. Springer, Cham, Switzerland. Get via Springer, via ResearchGate.

  6. Aiello BR, Hardy AR, Cherian C, Olsen AM, Orsbon CP, Hale ME & Westneat MW (2018). A comparison of pectoral fin ray morphology and its impact on fin ray flexural stiffness in labriform swimmers. Journal of Morphology. 279(8):1031-1044. DOI: 10.1002/jmor.20830. Get via Wiley.

  7. Aiello BR, Hardy AR, Cherian C, Olsen AM, Ahn S, Hale ME & Westneat MW (2018). The relationship between pectoral fin stiffness and swimming behavior in Labridae: insights into design, performance, and ecology. Journal of Experimental Biology. 221(1). DOI: 10.1242/jeb.163360. Get via JEB, via ResearchGate.

  8. Olsen AM*, Camp AL* & Brainerd EL (2017). The opercular mouth-opening mechanism of largemouth bass functions as a 3D four-bar linkage with three degrees of freedom. Journal of Experimental Biology. 220:4612-4623. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.159079. Get via JEB, via ResearchGate.*Equal author contributions

  9. Westneat MW, Aiello BR, Olsen AM & Hale ME (2017). Bioinspiration From Flexible Propulsors: Organismal Design, Mechanical Properties, Kinematics and Neurobiology of Pectoral Fins in Labrid Fishes. Marine Technology Society Journal. 51(5):23-34. DOI: 10.4031/MTSJ.51.5.3. Get via Ingenta.

  10. Olsen AM (2017). Feeding ecology is the primary driver of beak shape diversification in waterfowl. Functional Ecology. 31(10):1985-1995. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12890. Get via Wiley, via ResearchGate.

  11. Delacy CR, Olsen AM, Chapman DD, Brooks EJ & Bond ME (2017). Affordable and accurate stereo-video system for measuring dimensions underwater- a case study using Oceanic Whitetip sharks (Carcharhinus longimanus). Marine Ecology Progress Series. 574:75-84. DOI: 10.3354/meps12190. Get via MEPS, via ResearchGate.

  12. Olsen AM & Westneat MW (2016). Linkage mechanisms in the vertebrate skull: Structure and function of three-dimensional, parallel transmission systems. Journal of Morphology. 277:1570-1583. DOI: 10.1002/jmor.20596. Get via Wiley, via ResearchGate.

  13. Olsen AM (2015). Exceptional avian herbivores: multiple transitions toward herbivory in the bird order Anseriformes and its correlation with body mass. Ecology and Evolution. 5(21):5016-5032. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1787. Get via Wiley (open access).

  14. Olsen AM & Westneat MW (2015). StereoMorph: an R package for the collection of 3D landmarks and curves using a stereo camera setup. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. 6:351-356. DOI: 10.1111/2041-210X.12326. Get via Wiley (open access).

Non peer-reviewed publications

Published Software

Press coverage of research

Teaching Experience

Invited Oral Presentations

  1. Olsen AM. What's going on (biomechanically) in a catfish head? Departmental seminar at University of Massachusetts Lowell; 2018 Sep 12; Lowell, MA.

  2. Olsen AM. Animals with highly mobile heads and what they can tell us about the evolution of motor systems. Departmental seminar at Stonehill College; 2017 Nov 10; North Easton, MA.

  3. Olsen AM. Animals with highly mobile heads and what they can tell us about the evolution of motor systems. Departmental seminar at Clemson University; 2017 Sep 29; Clemson, SC.

  4. Olsen AM & Brainerd EL. Uncovering mechanisms of mouth expansion in catfish using X-Ray Reconstruction of Moving Morphology. Paper presented in the Insights from Animal Biomechanics Symposium at the American Society of Biomechanics Annual Meeting; 2017 Aug 8-11; Boulder, CO.

  5. Olsen AM, Hernandez LP, Camp AL & Brainerd EL. Linking morphology and motion: Testing multibody simulations against in vivo cranial kinematics in suction feeding fishes using XROMM. Paper presented in the Cranial Biomechanics and Evolution Symposium at the American Association of Anatomists Annual Meeting; 2017 Apr 22-26; Chicago, IL.

Oral Presentations (10 most recent)

Mentoring

Travel Awards

2018Brown University BioMed Postdoc travel award ($650)
2017Brown University BioMed Postdoc travel award ($650)
2015University of Chicago BSD travel award ($500)
2015University of Chicago GRAD travel award ($750)

Refereed manuscripts (initial submissions, revised submissions)

Invited Lectures

Science Outreach

Societies and Committees

2011-pres.Society for Comparative and Integrative Biology (SICB), member
2014-2016Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE), member
2013-2014Field Museum Women in Science, Monthly seminar series committee
2013-2014Field Museum Women in Science, Summer internship committee

Volunteer Service

2010-2015Bird Division Volunteer, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL
2005-2008Spanish-English Medical Interpreter, Kansas City, Kansas
2005-2006Director and founder of KU Campus Garden Project, University of Kansas
2006-2007Youth Mentor (Refuerzo escolar), Murcia city government, Murcia, Spain

Undergraduate academic awards and honors

2009Graduation with university honors
2009Graduation Global Awareness Certification (GAP)
2008National IDeA Symposium Travel Stipend ($600)
2007Member KU Alpha chapter of Phi Beta Kappa
2006Andrew P. Debicki ISEP Scholarship ($2000)
2005CE Spahr Fund ($480)
2004KU Summerfield Scholarship ($12,000)
2004Thrivent College Scholarship ($4,000)

Languages coded

Languages spoken