| Contact: |
|
Address: |
Max Planck Institute
of Colloids and Interfaces
Department of Biomaterials
Research Campus Potsdam-Golm
14424 Potsdam, Germany |
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Phone: |
+49(0)331/567-9450 |
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Fax: |
+49(0)331/567-9402 |
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E-mail: |
mason.dean |
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Research Interests |
- Functional morphology and evolution of feeding in vertebrates, particularly fishes.
- Biomechanics and structural properties of materials, especially elasmobranch cartilage.
- Integrating science, experience and multimedia as a teaching/presentation methodology.
I am interested in form and function relationships in vertebrate musculoskeletal systems; these are especially intriguing in fishes, where many more "intermediate" tissue types exist than are found in mammals. At the MPI and in collaboration with Stanislav Gorb at the University of Kiel, I am working to understand the ultrastructure and micro-mechanics of the skeletons of sharks and rays, which are made entirely of cartilage yet support the very dynamic and long lives of these fishes. |
| Education: |
|
2009 |
Ph.D. in Biology University of California Irvine (UCI), Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. |
|
2006 |
Workshop on Cryomethods, Ultracryotomy and Immunolabeling, Cell Microscopy Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands |
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2009 |
M.S. in Zoology Dr. Philip J. Motta, Department of Biology, University of South Florida (USF) |
|
1997 |
A.B. with Distinction Department of Biology, Duke University |
|
1995 |
Semester study abroad Department of Biology, James Cook University (JCU), Queensland, Australia |
| Selected Honours and Fellowships: |
|
2009 |
Alexander von Humboldt Post-doctoral Fellowship – Max Planck Institute, Potsdam, Germany |
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2008 |
Josephine de Kármán Fellowship |
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2006 |
Best Poster Award for the Biological Sciences, International Microscopy Congress |
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2006 |
D. Dwight Davis Best Student Paper Award; Division of Vertebrate Morphology (SICB) |
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2005 |
Journal of Experimental Biology Traveling Fellowship (Max Planck Institute, Stuttgart, Germany) |
|
2004 |
Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award; USF |
| Professional Positions: |
|
2008 |
Teaching Assistant; Human Anatomy, Nursing Program - Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, UCI |
|
2006, 07 |
Instructor; Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy, UCI |
|
2003 |
Histologist; Skeletal Biology Laboratory (Dr. Tom Koob); Shriner’s Hospital for Children, Tampa, FL |
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1999-2006 |
Teaching Assistant; Departments of Biology (USF) and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (UCI) |
|
1998 |
Research Intern; Caribbean Marine Research Center (CMRC), Lee Stocking Island, Exumas, Bahamas |
| Publications: |
|
2009 |
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Dean, MN, LF Hale, CG Mull, SN Gorb & AP Summers (2009) Ontogeny of the tessellated skeleton: Insight from the skeletal growth of the round stingray Urobatis halleri. Journal of Anatomy. 215(3): 227-239 |
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Dean, MN, BO Swanson & AP Summers (2009) Biomaterials: Properties, variation and evolution. Integrative & Comparative Biology. 49(1): 15-20 |
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2008 |
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Dean, MN, SN Gorb & AP Summers (2008) A cryoSEM method for preservation and visualization of calcified shark cartilage (and other stubborn heterogeneous skeletal tissues). Microscopy Today. 16(6): 48-50 |
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Wroe, S, DR Huber, M Lowry, C McHenry, K Moreno, P Clausen, T Ferrara, E Cunningham, MN Dean & AP Summers (2008) 3d computer analysis of white shark jaw mechanics: How hard can a great white bite? Journal of Zoology. 276: 336-342 |
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Gerry, SP, JB Ramsay, MN Dean & CD Wilga (2008) Evolution of asynchronous motor activity in paired muscles: Effects of ecology, morphology and phylogeny. Integrative & Comparative Biology. 48(2): 272-282 |
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Huber, DR, MN Dean & AP Summers (2008) Hard prey, soft jaws, and the ontogeny of feeding mechanics in the spotted ratfish Hydrolagus colliei. Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 5: 941-952 |
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Dean, MN, JB Ramsay & JT Schaefer (2008) Tooth reorientation affects tooth function during prey processing and tooth ontogeny in the lesser electric ray (Narcine brasiliensis, Ölfers, 1831). Zoology. 111(2): 123-134 |
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2007 |
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Dean, MN & AP Summers (2007) News & Views: Fish feeding hardly a drag. Nature. 445(7130): 827-8 |
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Dean, MN, E Azizi & AP Summers (2007) Uniform strain in broad muscles: Active and passive effects of the twisted tendon of the ratfish, Hydrolagus colliei. Journal of Experimental Biology. 210: 3395-3406 |
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Dean, MN, JJ Bizzarro & AP Summers (2007) The evolution of cranial design, diet and feeding mechanisms in batoid fishes. Integrative & Comparative Biology. 47: 70-81 |
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2006 |
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Dean, MN, DR Huber & HA Nance (2006) Functional morphology of jaw trabeculation in the lesser electric ray Narcine brasiliensis, with comments on the evolution of structural support in the Batoidea. Journal of Morphology. 267: 1137-1146 |
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Dean, MN & AP Summers (2006) Cartilage in the skeleton of cartilaginous fishes. Zoology. 109(2): 164-168 |
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Sasko, DE, MN Dean, PJ Motta, & RE Hueter (2006) Prey capture behavior and kinematics of the Atlantic cownose ray, Rhinoptera bonasus. Zoology. 109(3): 171-181 |
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2005 |
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Dean, MN, CD Wilga & AP Summers (2005) Eating without hands or tongue - specialization, elaboration and the evolution of prey processing mechanisms in cartilaginous fishes. Biology Letters. 1(3): 357-361 |
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Lowry, D, AP Wintzer, MP Matott, LB Whitenack, DR Huber, MN Dean & PJ Motta. (2005) Aerial and aquatic feeding in the silver arawana, Osteoglossum bicirrhosum. Environmental Biology of Fishes. 73: 453-462 |
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Dean, MN, T Nietfeld & D Conklin (2005) Notes on the husbandry of the lesser electric ray, Narcine brasiliensis. North American Journal of Aquaculture. 67: 58-65 |
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2004 |
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Koob, TJ, MN Dean & MM Koob-Emunds (2004) Extracellular matrix composition in the rostral gel of Squalus acanthias: A non-cartilaginous skeletal element. The Bulletin, Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory. 43: 102-105 |
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Dean, MN & PJ Motta (2004) Anatomy and functional morphology of the feeding apparatus of the lesser electric ray, Narcine brasiliensis (Elasmobranchii: Batoidea). Journal of Morphology. 262(1): 462-48 |
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Dean, MN & PJ Motta (2004) Feeding behavior and kinematics of the lesser electric ray, Narcine brasiliensis (Elasmobranchii: Batoidea). Zoology. 107(3): 171-189 |
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2003 |
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Dean, MN (2003) Suction feeding in the pipid frog, Hymenochirus boettgeri: Kinematic and behavioral considerations. Copeia. 2003(4): 879-886 |
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