Dr Jen Bright

Dr Jen Bright

Lecturer in Zoology

Faculty and Department

  • Faculty of Science and Engineering
  • School of Natural Sciences

Qualifications

  • MGeol (University of Leeds)
  • PhD / DPhil (University of Bristol)

Summary

I got into science via Palaeontology, because I was always interested in how and why evolution changes the shapes of animals over time. I studied Geology as an undergraduate, but during my PhD on biomechanical finite element validation, I realised that palaeontology could benefit from more data about modern animals, and started to drift towards the Biological Sciences; it’s also much easier to study living dinosaurs (birds) than it is to study extinct ones! I joined the University of Hull as a lecturer in Zoology in 2019, albeit one with a disproportionately high number of rocks in their office.

I am the Programme Director for the Zoology degree, and module leader for Vertebrate Zoology (core for Zoology and Biology students, and optional for Marine Biologists). For final year Independent Research Project students, I offer projects investigating aspects of animal form and function. Depending on the project this may include learning geometric morphometrics methods or ways of measuring functional performance from skeletons or 3D computer models.

Recent outputs

View more outputs

Journal Article

The origins of mammal growth patterns during the Jurassic mammalian radiation

Newham, E., Corfe, I. J., Brewer, P., Bright, J. A., Fernandez, V., Gostling, N. J., Hoffmann, S., Jäger, K. R., Kague, E., Lovric, G., Marone, F., Panciroli, E., Schneider, P., Schultz, J. A., Suhonen, H., Witchell, A., Gill, P. G., & Martin, T. (2024). The origins of mammal growth patterns during the Jurassic mammalian radiation. Science Advances, 10(32), eado4555. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ado4555

Synthetic analysis of trophic diversity and evolution in Enantiornithes with new insights from Bohaiornithidae

Miller, C. V., Bright, J. A., Wang, X., Zheng, X., & Pittman, M. (2024). Synthetic analysis of trophic diversity and evolution in Enantiornithes with new insights from Bohaiornithidae. eLife, 12, Article RP89871. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.89871

Trophic diversity and evolution in Enantiornithes: a synthesis including new insights from Bohaiornithidae

Miller, C. V., Bright, J. A., Wang, X., Zheng, X., & Pittman, M. (2024). Trophic diversity and evolution in Enantiornithes: a synthesis including new insights from Bohaiornithidae. eLife, 12, Article RP89871. https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.89871.2

Innovation and elaboration on the avian tree of life

Guillerme, T., Bright, J. A., Cooney, C. R., Hughes, E. C., Varley, Z. K., Cooper, N., Beckerman, A. P., & Thomas, G. H. (2023). Innovation and elaboration on the avian tree of life. Science Advances, 9(43), Article eadg1641. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adg1641

Three-dimensional visualization of predatory gastropod feeding teeth with synchrotron scanning

Herbert, G. S., Hill, S. A., Pio, M. J., Carney, R., Carlson, A., Newham, E., & Bright, J. A. (2023). Three-dimensional visualization of predatory gastropod feeding teeth with synchrotron scanning. Journal of morphology, 284(10), Article e21633. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.21633

Research interests

I am broadly interested in the relationship between skeletal form and function throughout evolution, and the extent to which form can be used to predict function (or not…) in the feeding structures of extant and extinct animals. I am also interested in how the skeleton is constrained by non-functional factors, like evolutionary or developmental history. I look at these questions using birds as a study group, but because I’m probably more interested in the overarching themes than I am in the birds themselves (gasp!), I often find myself tinkering around in other animal groups where we could use the same computational methods to investigate a really interesting skeletal structure or evolutionary question. In particular, I use techniques like geometric morphometrics and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to try to understand form and function, respectively. An important aspect of this is ground-truthing finite element models with experimental bone strain and material properties data. For this, I team up with the Department of Engineering to conduct validation studies.

I am currently PI on a BBSRC project alongside Co-I Pete Watson (University of Leeds) and PDRAs Phil Morris and Vaishakh Raju, looking at the evolution of cranial kinesis in birds, and how to model the mechanics of this computationally using FEA and Multibody Dynamics Analysis.

Lead investigator

Project

Funder

Grant

Started

Status

Project

Understanding functional performance in bird skulls: advanced computational modelling to investigate cranial biomechanics and kinesis

Funder

BBSRC Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Counc

Grant

£438,622.00

Started

1 September 2023

Status

Ongoing

Co-investigator

Project

Funder

Grant

Started

Status

Project

Experiencing human-wildlife conflict management through playful learning

Funder

British Ecological Society

Grant

£3,460.00

Started

1 December 2024

Status

Ongoing

Postgraduate supervision

I work with PhD students interested in bird functional or morphological evolution, and/or finite element validation, and am currently supervising students working on bird cranial kinesis, bone mechanics, and evolution (Amber Wagstaffe, Callum Hill, and Sophie Pollard). I do not currently have projects to advertise, but am always keen to talk to prospective students about ways to work together to get funding for project ideas that they have.

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