ECR Spotlight is a series of interviews with early-career authors from a selection of papers published in Journal of Experimental Biology and aims to promote not only the diversity of early-career researchers (ECRs) working in experimental biology but also the huge variety of animals and physiological systems that are essential for the ‘comparative’ approach. Jessica Taylor is an author on ‘ Kinematics and energetics of the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) when jumping from compliant surfaces’, published in JEB. Jessica is a technician in the lab of Professor Gregory Sutton at the University of Lincoln, UK, investigating grasshoppers jumping from compliant substrates: how their kinematics and energetics are affected when jumping from a diving board-like platform.
Jessica Taylor
How did you become interested in biology?
My interest began at GCSE level. I was super keen to learn about human anatomy, movement, how muscles worked, and I wanted to be able to name and describe every muscle in the human body (still a work in progress – turns out, there's quite a few!). I was also keen to learn about psychology, particularly in animals, completing my undergraduate degree in Animal Behaviour and Welfare. I became interested in so many avenues of animal biology – parasitology, cognition, anatomy, nutrition, the list goes on, but biomechanics stuck.
Describe your scientific journey and your current research focus
I took Biology at A Level where my teachers had very little faith in me, and in line with their predictions, I got a D in my exams. I also never wanted to go to university, but I was pushed to apply anyway. The University of Lincoln welcomed me to study Animal Behaviour and Welfare, where I began to understand what I enjoyed learning about and what I didn't. I jumped straight back into physiology studies for my dissertation project as an undergraduate, and my supervisor for this project became my PI for my MSc in Biology. This project focused on investigating grasshopper energetics and kinematics during jumping. My supervisor who became my PI then became my line manager, when I took on my current position as his lab technician where I have been fortunate enough to write this paper alongside my technician duties.
How would you explain the main findings/message of your paper to a member of the public?
Humans jump using muscles. Grasshoppers, on the other hand, jump using a combination of muscles and springs which allows them to jump at much greater distances and speeds compared to humans (relative to body mass). We can compare this to using our muscles to throw an arrow, versus using a bow to store elastic energy in the string to fire the arrow: the arrow travels at much greater distances and much faster using a spring-actuated bow compared to just using our muscles to throw it.
This is all well investigated in the literature but in reality, grasshoppers often hop from springy surfaces, like grass – it's in their name. Grasses, leaves, branches all have a compliant nature and yield under the grasshoppers' mass. This means there's an interaction between the jumper and the substrate from which it jumps, and little is understood about how the kinematics and energetics of the grasshopper is affected by these more complex conditions.
I used high speed cameras to capture footage of grasshoppers jumping from a diving board-like platform, where energy was transferred from the jumper to the board at take-off. The primary focus of this research was to investigate how kinematics of the grasshopper were affected when jumping from this compliant platform, and to see if any energy lost to the platform could be returned to the grasshopper prior to leaving contact with the board. We found that, under certain conditions that depend on the compliancy and mass of the diving board, grasshoppers could maintain their high take-off velocities and jump trajectories. This means that grasshoppers have likely adapted to the compliant world they inhabit.
What do you like to do in your free time?
Research fulfils my core value of curiosity, but my free time is spent fulfilling other values such as vitality and adventure. I'm keen to have something exciting to look forward to, and as a climber, this usually involves a helmet, a rope and a preference for somewhere with stunning views in the mountains. If I'm not on my travels, I'll be in an aerial studio hanging upside down from whatever equipment I can get my hands on. It's important for me to get out, move my body and reenergise myself, especially when research and work inevitably get stressful.
What are you grateful for?
I'm grateful that I get to make my small contribution to science amongst a huge community of researchers. Not too long ago, my partner almost lost his life taking a fall during the descent of a 3000 m alpine peak and with no signal to call rescue, I had to rescue him myself. I have never felt this level of innate stress and fear before, but the accident has put everyday stress into perspective for me. While day-to-day stress will never be entirely removed, it has made me grateful for all the challenges I have and am yet to face in my research career.
Jessica Taylor's contact details: Joseph Banks Laboratories, University of Lincoln, Green Lane, Lincoln LN6 7DL, UK.
E-mail: [email protected]
