The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience
Please welcome Dr. Leandra Hamann to Whitney Lab! She recently joined Dr. James Strother's Lab as a Postdoctoral Research Associate.
Leandra earned her B. Sc. in Biology from the University of Cologne, Germany, where she developed an interest in biomimetics and using biological principles in technological applications. She then obtained her M. Sc. in Bionics/Biomimetics from the Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences in Kleve, Germany. In her master's thesis at the Fraunhofer Institute of Environment, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT in Oberhausen, Germany, she started a literature review on suspension feeders to investigate their biomimetic potential for an innovative filtration system and reduce microplastic emissions. Afterward, she worked for three years as a research assistant at Fraunhofer UMSICHT on projects related to microplastics, marine litter, sustainability, and public outreach.
Because her interest remained high in the biomimetic approach to reduce microplastic emissions in washing machines, Leandra initiated a Ph.D. at the University of Bonn, Germany, to further review and investigate particle separation mechanisms in suspension feeders. Filter-feeding fishes were the major focus of her studies and she performed morphometrics, micro-CT scans, and behavioral studies to gain new insights into their filter-feeding mechanisms. The results were used to design, built, and test a bio-inspired filter module that showed a high filtration efficiency in a test environment.
Leandra is motivated by the challenge of working between biology and technology, the transfer of knowledge, and finding creative, bio-inspired solutions for technical problems, especially for environmentally relevant applications.
Outside the lab, Leandra enjoys spending time with friends, family, or her horse Mo that is on holiday in Germany during her time at Whitney. She also likes Spikeball, swimming, dancing, reading, and sewing.