Heather Liwanag

Languages

English

Education

B.S. Biology, University of California, San Diego
Ph.D. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz

Research Interests

• Comparative Physiology
• Thermal Biology
• Physiological Ecology
• Evolutionary Physiology
• Animal Behavior

Advising Interests

• Biology of vertebrate animals, especially reptiles and marine mammals
• Functional morphology
• Environmental physiology

Research

I am interested in the physiological adaptations of animals to their environment, and the evolutionary processes involved in those adaptations. Much of my research has focused on thermoregulation - the regulation of body temperature - in both endotherms and ectotherms. My lab manages Team Ellie, the Cal Poly northern elephant seal research team, as well as an ongoing sea otter foraging study in Morro Bay.