James C. Liao

James C. Liao

Assistant Professor of Biology

Biomechanics and Neurobiology of Fish Locomotion

Our lab is interested in the mechanisms of how fish interact with their environment. As the most speciose and basal of vertebrates, fishes provide a unique opportunity to study the morphological and neural substrates of behavior. Our research seeks to uncover the mechanisms of ecologically relevant behaviors through the lens of biomechanics, neurobiology, physiology and evolution. Our philosophy is to ask behavioral questions from a sound understanding of the natural history of the organism, apply the appropriate techniques to most directly and unambiguously test those questions in the laboratory, and then see if our findings explain our observations in the natural environment.

Jimmy Liao graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in biology at Wesleyan University. He earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in biology from Harvard University. He was a postdoctoral fellow and research associate with Joseph Fetcho at Cornell University. View CV