Christofer Clemente

Dr Clemente is interested in the relationship between form, function and ecology of living and extinct animals. His earliest studies examined the relationship between vision and ecology in spiders. Later, at the University of Western Australia, Dr Clemente switched his focus to the evolution of locomotion. He studied morphology, metabolic rates and biomechanics and compared these to ecological characteristics and locomotory ability in a large group of lizards, the varanids. Dr Clemente similarly studied these traits in other lizard groups, including an extensive project examining the evolution of bipedalism in dragon lizards, showing lizards were essentially popping a wheelie. He later continued his research at the University of Cambridge, focusing on insect adhesion, examining the multitude of solutions insects have developed to overcome the problems of sticking to smooth surfaces. At Harvard University, Dr Clemente examined the vertebrate muscle system, specifically how muscle mechanics integrate with the environment dynamically, during locomotion. His research at the University of Queensland continued my research into lizard locomotion, with a focus on the design of biologically inspired climbing robots. He has combined many aspects of this research into his current role at the University of the Sunshine Coast and is particularly interested in the emerging field of Evolutionary Biomechanics.