Swimming to the Top

Despite growing up in the Arizona desert, Marianne Porter, Ph.D., loved everything about the water. She was a competitive swimmer, whose curiosity about the mechanics of swimming piqued over the years – not only with how people swim, but fish too.

Porter went on to study zoology and biology, receiving her doctorate degree from the University of California, Irvine in 2007.

Now, Porter, an assistant professor of biological sciences in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, is the first faculty member in FAU’s biological sciences department to earn the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) coveted early career award.

Porter’s research revolves around hypotheses on sharks swimming abilities and how different types of sharks maneuver throughout the oceans. During her research she discovered that different species of shark have unique ways of moving their vertebral columns to create motion and speed throughout the ocean. But what she’s discovered is that the stiffness of the vertebrae within the shark really didn’t have the entire story on why Mako sharks are faster than Nurse sharks, for example. In fact, Porter willingly points out that most of her hypotheses have been wrong, and her NSF grant will help her answer questions like this. The funding will also be used to do research on shark’s skin, which plays a big role in the maneuvering of the shark throughout the ocean.

“One of the really great things about FAU is Atlantic is right in the title, so for someone who studies fish and loves the ocean, and loves swimming, being located here at FAU, is amazing,” Porter said. “There are many few places on Earth that offer me the opportunities that I have at FAU for doing my research and exploring things.”