The group’s collective objectives include:

• quantify bio-propulsive performance of model organisms using state-of-the-art experimental tools
• reconstruct the evolutionary path of extant species while considering the many competing pressures as well as phylogenetic inertia
• consider the role of plasticity in species capable of propulsion in complex environments or in multiple media, e.g. land/water, land/air or water/air
• transfer knowledge from above towards multi-mission optimization and evolutionary biology
• inform the design of unconventional robots and related technologies