Cinnamon Pace, Ph.D.

I am interested in a broad range of topics in comparative physiology, functional morphology, and biomechanics. Throughout my career, I have examined these topics through the prism of animal locomotion. Movement is a vital way in which many animals interact with their environment. Therefore, studying movement, and how it is influenced by both organismal and environmental factors, is a powerful way to gain insight into evolutionary processes and the relationship between morphology, physiology, and ecology.

While I am interested in the movements of all animals, my work has been focused on amphibious fishes. Throughout the fish phylogeny there are several independently derived species that leave the water and locomote in the terrestrial environment. The unusualness of a fish that moves on land, combined with the whole suite of adaptations that accompany the development of this ability, make amphibious fishes very interesting model organisms, especially for questions concerning comparative physiology and the relationship between structure and function.