Dr Jen Bright

Summary

I am broadly interested in the relationship between skeletal function and form throughout evolution, and the extent to which form can be used to predict function in extinct animals with methods like Finite Element Analysis (FEA). I am currently working as a BBSRC-funded postdoctoral researcher on the morpho-functional evolution of bird beaks and skulls, along with Emily Rayfield (University of Bristol), Sam Cobb (Hull York Medical School) and Jesús Marugán-Lobón (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid). This aims to address the extent to which morphological convergence and functional convergence in birds overlaps, and whether skull form is dictated more strongly by phylogeny or ecology. This will be done by using a combination of FEA and Geometric Morphometrics.

Biography

I completed my undergraduate degree in Geological Sciences at the University of Leeds, with an additional year at the University of California, Santa Barbara.  I did my PhD at Bristol with Dr Emily Rayfield, performing a validation study on Finite Element models of the domestic pig cranium, and recieved the 2011/12 Science Faculty Research Prize for my thesis.  I am now a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Earth Sciences, using Finite Element Analysis and Geometric Morphometrics to investigate the links between function and form in the skulls of extant birds.

In addition to my research responsibilities, I also act as spokesperson for and personal assistant to Prof. Leonard P. Annectens

Keywords

• Biomechanics
• Evolution
• Functional Morphology
• Finite Element Analysis
• Geometric Morphometrics

Memberships

Organisations

School of Earth Sciences

Academic staff

• Earth Sciences academic staff

Research groups

• Palaeobiology and Biodiversity

Research themes

• Evolution of Biodiversity and Morphology

Links

•   Academia.edu homepage

Recent publications

• Anderson, P, Bright, J, Gill, P, Palmer, C & Rayfield, E 2012, ‘Models in palaeontological functional analysis’. Biology Letters, vol 8., pp. 119 - 122
• Gröning, F, Bright, JA, Fagan, M & O'Higgins, P 2012, ‘Improving the validation of finite element models with quantitative full-field strain comparisons’. Journal of Biomechanics, vol 45., pp. 1498-1506
• Bright, JA 2012, ‘The importance of craniofacial sutures in biomechanical finite element models of the domestic pig’. PLoSONE, vol 7.
• Bright, J & Rayfield, E 2011, ‘Sensitivity and ex vivo validation of finite element models of the domestic pig cranium’. Journal of Anatomy, vol 219., pp. 456 - 471
• Bright, J & Rayfield, E 2011, ‘The response of cranial biomechanical finite element models to variations in mesh density’. Anatomical Record, vol 294., pp. 610 - 620
• Bright, JA & Gröning, F 2011, ‘Strain accommodation in the zygomatic arch of the pig: a validation study using digital speckle pattern interferometry and finite element analysis’. Journal of Morphology, vol 272., pp. 1388-1398

View complete publications list in the University of Bristol publications system

Courses

Dr Bright currently teaches 3 courses: