Professor of Locomotor Biomechanics, Royal Veterinary College, university of London

Alan is a Veterinary Surgeon with a BSc in Physiology and a PhD on the mechanical basis of tendon injury. His research focuses on how animals deliver economical and high-performance locomotion in the context of their environment. His team has developed novel sensor systems and wildlife collars using GPS and inertial sensors which have been extensively deployed on wild African carnivores and herbivores to deliver insights into animal locomotion, ranging and behaviour.

The gemsbok (Oryx gazella) of the Namib-Naukluft Park dune system live deep in the complex maze of sand dunes, surviving without drinking water and navigating between isolated patches of succulent vegetation. They have never been tracked in detail (to our knowledge) and little is known of their ranging behaviour or locomotor performance. Alan’s team and a team of Namibian collaborators want to explore the complex and multi-factorial specialisations of gemsbok that enable them to survive in and exploit their extreme ecological niche.

@GobabebRSH