Hello, my name is Erik Sathe and I am working as a postdoctoral researcher with Per Henningsson in the Animal Flight Lab at Lund University. I grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but I have lived in Berkeley, California for the past 7 years before I moved to Lund in November.
As an undergraduate at the University of St. Thomas (in Minnesota, not the Island) I discovered the field of functional morphology. Although I had always loved animals and nature, I had not realized my interest in animal form and function until I began studying the interactions between morphology, locomotor performance, and substrate while at St. Thomas.
Wanting to learn more about the mechanistic underpinnings that connect morphology and performance, I delved into the field of comparative biomechanics for my graduate studies. I joined the PhD program in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley where I studied gliding. I worked with arboreal lizards to explore how animals without wings control their speed and trajectory while gliding. I also used a robotic ornithopter to test the effect that simple wing-flapping has on gliding ability.
After years of working on gliding, I was interested in studying animals that are capable of fully powered flight. Here at Lund University, I will be working on manoeuvring flight in birds or bats. I will record the wing motions and their aerodynamic consequences of animals flying in the wind tunnel.
Outside of work, I enjoy exploring nearby parks. I also like birding and herping (looking for reptiles and amphibians). At home, I love listening to music (mainly folk, rock, and metal) and reading books, especially those in the fantasy genre.
I will be in Lund for two years, and I am excited to be a part of Lund University and to engage with the academic community!
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