About

Adam Summers is a professor in the Department of Biology and in the School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences at the University of Washington. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he worked on new tissues from cartilaginous fishes. His post-doctoral work focused on the functional morphology of amphibians as a Miller Fellow at UC Berkeley. He was subsequently hired at the University of California - Irvine as an assistant and then associate professor with tenure in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology as well as Bioengineering. Currently, he runs the comparative biomechanics and biomaterials lab at the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Labs. His research encompasses the evolution and mechanical properties of cartilage and tendon, swimming mechanics of sharks, respiratory patterns of sharks and rays, and solid-solid interactions in aquatic organisms. His work has resulted in more than 90 publications and two patents. Summers has also contributed to public understanding of biomechanics through consulting on films and television, and for eight years, he authored a monthly column in Natural History Magazine titled ‘Biomechanics’, which brought the field to a wider audience. Additionally, he has collaborated with poets to create an exhibit of large-format prints of fish anatomy, viewed by over a million visitors at the Seattle Aquarium and soon at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Sociology
• Political Science
• Social Science
• Data science
• Engineering
• Social psychology
• Database
• Information Retrieval
• Psychology
• World Wide Web
• Medicine
• Medical education
• Data Mining
• Public relations
• Cartography
• Classical mechanics
• Physics
• Engineering ethics
• Biology
• Mechanics
• Civil engineering
• Computer graphics (images)

Selected publications

• Radiations and morphological divergence: complex craniofacial evolution in a diverse group of African electric fishes (Mormyridae)

  Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society · 2026-02-11

  article

  Abstract The Mormyridae is a species-rich clade of weakly-electric African fishes with ancient phylogenetic origins and high diversity in the shape of the head, snout, and oral jaws. We quantified the diversity of craniofacial morphologies using micro-computed tomography, geometric morphometrics, and phylogenetic comparative methods; then assessed phenotypic evolution in functionally relevant traits likely to be implicated in trophic specialization. We found high levels of phenotypic diversity across the group and documented multiple instances of phenotypic divergence and a single instance of within-family morphological convergence. A single subclade (designated C+ clade) that diversified over the past c. 15 Mya was found to encompass more than half of the mormyrid skull shape diversity. The results show primarily divergent patterns of evolutionary change, in which the phenotypic disparity of functionally distinct skull regions is hypothesized to be influenced by many environmental factors. The biogeographic, temporal, and phenotypic patterns of mormyrid diversification closely resemble expectations of a continental radiation, in which ecological trait diversity accumulates over broad geographic and temporal scales.

  PublisherDOI

• A new genus and species of clingfish from the Rangitahua Kermadec Islands of New Zealand (Teleostei, Gobiesocidae)

  The Catalogue of Life · 2026-02-16

  datasetOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Phylogenomics of poachers (Agonidae) and the evolution of armor in cottoid fishes (Perciformes: Cottoidei)

  Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution · 2026-01-24

  article
  PublisherDOI

• A New Genus and Species of Clingfish (Teleostei: Gobiesocidae) from Western Australia

  The Catalogue of Life · 2026-02-16

  datasetOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Hierarchical skeletal architecture and ecological tradeoffs in Pacific Northwest sea stars

  Research Square · 2026-02-03

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• A new genus and species of clingfish from the Rangitahua Kermadec Islands of New Zealand (Teleostei, Gobiesocidae)

  The Catalogue of Life · 2026-02-17

  datasetOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Friday Harbor laboratories: experimental biology at the water's edge

  Journal of Experimental Biology · 2026-03-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  The University of Washington's marine field station, the Friday Harbor Laboratories (FHL), has been a center for diverse biological research for over 100 years. The facility is a complete mini-campus with housing and dining facilities. Experimental biologists visit from all over the world to focus intensively on their research efforts, an endeavor that is made possible by state-of-the-art equipment and biologically diverse local habitats. FHL also offers courses and short workshops that use local marine organisms and common-use equipment to train the next generation of scientists in fields as diverse as natural history to evolutionary development of invertebrates to biomechanics of fishes. Particularly strong areas of focus over the long history of FHL include comparative biomechanics (of everything from seaweed to sharks), developmental biology, neurophysiology and other physiology, genomics and marine ecology. Recent interactions of FHL researchers with other specialists ranging from engineers to restoration practitioners keep FHL on the cutting edge of research.

  PublisherDOI

• A new generic name for the " Lepadichthys " lineatus complex with a rediagnosis of Discotrema, a senior synonym of Unguitrema, and comments on their phylogenetic relationships (Gobiesocidae: Diademichthyinae)

  The Catalogue of Life · 2026-02-16

  datasetOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• A new species of sea urchin associating clingfish of the genus Dellichthys from New Zealand (Teleostei, Gobiesocidae)

  The Catalogue of Life · 2026-02-16

  datasetOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• A New Genus and Species of Clingfish (Teleostei: Gobiesocidae) from Western Australia

  The Catalogue of Life · 2026-02-17

  datasetOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Collaborative Research: Research Infrastructure: MorphoCloud: A Cloud Powered, Open-Source Platform For Research, Teaching And Collaboration In 3d Digital Morphology And Beyond

  NSF · $178k · 2024–2028

• REU Site: Integrative Biology and Ecology of Marine Organisms

  NSF · $485k · 2013–2017

• Collaborative Research: Ontogeny, Mechanics and Function of the Tessellated Skeleton of Cartilaginous Fishes

  NSF · $103k · 2009–2011

• Collaborative Research: Ontogeny, Mechanics and Function of the Tessellated Skeleton of Cartilaginous Fishes

  NSF · $498k · 2006–2010

• MEETING: International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology, July 8-12, Barcelona, Spain

  NSF · $25k · 2013–2014

Frequent coauthors

• Mason N. Dean

  Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces

  38 shared

• Glenn I. Moore

  Australian Museum

  33 shared

• Thaddaeus John Buser

  Rice University

  33 shared

• Kevin W. Conway

  Texas A&M University

  32 shared

• Matthew A. Kolmann

  University of Louisville

  26 shared

• S Holzapfel

  Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

  26 shared

• RH Glazier

  26 shared

• Vivek Goel

  University of Toronto

  26 shared

Education

• Ph.D., new tissues from cartilaginous fishes

  University of Massachusetts at Amherst

• Other, functional morphology of amphibians

  UC Berkeley

Awards & honors

• 2025-2026 Rome Prize in Environmental Arts and Humanities