People

Principal Investigator

Dr. Christina Harvey

Assistant Professor · BIRD Lab Director · CALI Director · she/her

Mechanical EngineeringZoologyAerospace Engineering

Christina Harvey is an engineer and zoologist who seeks to understand the fundamental principles of biological flight. Her research combines biomechanics, aerodynamics, flight dynamics, and animal behavior to uncover biological principles and determine which of those principles may benefit engineering designs.

Her background bridges engineering and biology, with a BEng in Mechanical Engineering (McGill University), an MSc in Zoology (University of British Columbia), and a PhD in Aerospace Engineering (University of Michigan). That perspective shapes the BIRD Lab and the Center for Animal Locomotion & Innovation (CALI), where engineers, biologists, veterinarians, and computer scientists work together to answer questions no single discipline could solve alone.

Christina is an Amelia Earhart Fellow and a Packard Fellow. She is passionate about rigorous science, continually refining her mentoring and teaching through evidence and reflection, and building an open, collaborative research environment where curiosity comes first.

The team

🦉 Postdoc

🦢 PhD

🦜 MSc

🐥 Undergraduate

🕊️ Visiting

Faiza Alvi

PhD Researcher · she/her

Mech + Aero Engineering

Cota-Robles Fellowship

Avian airfoil geometry and aerodynamics.

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Joshua Booth

PhD Researcher · he/him

Mech + Aero Engineering

Maneuverability & agility in morphing-wing dynamics.

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Kaleb Bordner

PhD Candidate · he/him

Mech + Aero Engineering

ORAU Fellowship

Bird-informed morphing tail flight dynamics & control.

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Cooper Cook

PhD Researcher · he/him

Mech + Aero Engineering

Morphing aerodynamics · Photogrammetry

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Alex Fillman

PhD Researcher · she/her

Mech + Aero Engineering

Maury Hull FellowshipN&M Sarigul-Klijn Award

Avian tail range of motion and coupling

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Francisco Jackson

PhD Candidate · he/him/they

Mech + Aero Engineering

ORAU Fellowship

Aerodynamic study of bird perching through dynamic stall.

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Amanda de Barros Piffer

Visiting PhD Researcher · she/her

Veterinary Medicine

CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel)

Range of motion & and wing morphology.

Huanglun Adam Zhu

PhD Researcher · he/him

Mech + Aero Engineering

Bird-inspired sensory system for aerodynamic state perception