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Andrew Sensenig, Ph.D.
Biography
Andrew’s focus areas are zoology and biomechanics. In particular, he is interested in the use of arthropods to address questions regarding animal motion. Andrew served as an instructor of the Jumpstart High School Animal Behavior and Physiology Program, College Park, MD from 2001-06. Prior to coming to Tabor, Andrew was a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Akron. The most significant finding from this work in a biomechanics laboratory was the relationship between spider web architecture and silk thread quality.
Andrew’s hobbies include birdwatching and raising rare breeds of poultry and pigs. Andrew was raised in Lancaster County, PA and attended Red Run Mennonite Church, Fivepointville as a child. Most recently, Andrew has attended Orrville Mennonite Church, OH. Andrew lived in Swaziland and Somalia in the 1980’s, where his parents served with Eastern Mennonite Missions. Andrew’s passion for global and local environmental issues is driven by his Christian conviction that God commands us to preserve his good creation.
Courses
- General Physics
- Environmental Science
- Entomology
- College Biology
Education
- Ph.D. 2009, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
- M.S. 2002, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
- B.A. 1996, Millersville University, Millersville, PA
Research
Post-doctoral Research Fellowship, 2009. Spider silk and web biomechanics in the Todd Blackledge laboratory. University of Akron, Akron, OH, 44325
Featured Videos
See some recent videos from Andrew’s research on the mechanics of prey capture by spider webs.
Featured Article
Click to view the abstract of Andrew’s latest publication.
Publications
Sensenig A., Kelly S.P., Lorentz K.A., Blackledge T.A. (2012). Radial silk absorbs most of the mechanical energy of flying prey. Proceedings of the Royal Society Interface. Accepted.
Sensenig, A. T., Agnarsson, I., Blackledge, T. A. (2011). Adult spiders use tougher silk: ontogenetic changes in web architecture and silk biomechanics in the orb-weaver spider. Journal of Zoology. 285:28-38.
Kelly S.P., Sensenig A., Lorentz K.A., Blackledge T.A. (2011). Damping capacity is evolutionarily conserved in the radial silk of orb weaving spiders. Zoology. 114:233-238.
Sensenig A., Agnarsson I., & Blackledge T.A. (2010). Behavioural and biomaterial coevolution in spider orb webs. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 23:1807-2029. (cover article)
Sensenig, A. T., Shultz, J. W. & Kiger, K. (2010). Hydrodynamic pumping by serial gill arrays in the mayfly nymph Centroptilum triangulifer. Journal of Experimental Biology. 213:3319-31.
Sensenig A., Agnarsson I., Gondek T. & Blackledge, T.A. (2010). Webs in vitro and in vivo: Spiders alter their orb web spinning behavior in the laboratory. Journal of Arachnology. 38:183-191.
Sensenig, A. T., Kiger, K. T. and Shultz, J. W. (2009). The rowing-to-flapping transition: ontogenetic changes in gill-plate kinematics in the nymphal mayfly Centroptilum triangulifer (Ephemeroptera, Baetidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 98, 540-555.
Agnarsson, I., Cecilia Boutry, Shing-Chung Wong, Avinash Baji, Ali Dhinojwala, Andrew T. Sensenig, & Todd A. Blackledge (2009). Supercontraction forces in spider dragline silk depend on hydration rate. Zoology 112(5), 325-331. *Journal cover.
Sensenig A.T., Shultz J.W. (2006). Mechanical energy oscillations during locomotion in the harvestman Leiobunum vittatum (Opiliones). Journal of Arachnology 34: 627-633.
Sensenig, A. & J.W. Shultz. (2004). Mechanics of elastic extension in the pedipalpal joints of scorpions and solifuges (Arachnida: Scorpiones, Solifugae). Journal of Arachnology 32:1-10.
Sensenig, A. T. & Shultz, J. W. (2003). Mechanics of cuticular elastic energy storage in leg joints lacking extensor muscles in arachnids. Journal of Experimental Biology 206,771-784.