Alyssa Hernandez, PhD

ABOUT ME

“Insects are the most versatile of evolutionary innovators. Pick an insect at random, and chances are there is something about the way it feeds or defends itself, or reproduces, that is unique”. 

-Thomas Eisner, For Love of Insects

I'm currently a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. I recently received my PhD in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, where my research focused on plant-insect interactions and adaptive functional morphologies utilized for attachment. This included how the diversity seen in the physical structures of leaf beetle tarsi can be influenced by ecology and locomotive needs. With this interest in morphology and biomechanics, I wanted to use any postdoctoral research to explore additional tools that could investigate diversity within biological organisms. At my current position in the Harvard Microrobotics Lab, I am working at the interface of biology and robotics, building robots that draw inspiration specifically from insects and exploring how we can use physical models as a tool for understanding biological processes.