Derek Somo

I am interested in the physiological mechanisms enabling organism performance and survival in challenging environments. As humans, our bodies must tightly maintain a relatively narrow range of  internal conditions to function well, and even small, brief deviations from these conditions can have harmful consequences. In contrast, myriad organisms can experience comparatively huge internal variation and subsequently thrive in environments which vary in ways that would kill a human in minutes. These organisms offer insights into solutions available to biological systems to overcome a broad range of challenges to physiological performance and survival. The lessons we learn from comparative investigations can inform efforts to solve problems as diverse as human pathologies or species persistence in the face of climate change.

In my doctoral thesis I am investigating morphological, physiological, and biochemical adaptations in intertidal fishes that underlie survival in the oxygen- and temperature-variable intertidal environment. I combine whole-organism respirometry with physiological and biochemical assays in an evolutionary context to learn how physiological systems adapt to harsh, multifaceted environmental stresses.