Christian Brown

Assistant Professor of Zoology

Natural Sciences & Mathematics

Biography

KWC Courses:
ZOO 316 – Vertebrate Zoology (fall)
ENSC 220/221 – Environmental Science (fall)
BIO123 – Introduction to Organismal Biology Ecology and Evolution (spring)
BIO105/106 – Concepts in Biology (spring)

My research interests include the movements of vertebrates, especially salamanders, ranging from fine-scale biomechanics of locomotion to dispersal at the ecosystem level. Much of my work examines the life history of amphibians in the broader context of ecological and evolutionary theory with the goal of increasing awareness for conservation. I am a wildlife biologist for international documentaries, mostly filming salamanders in the redwoods.

Mentoring and inspiring STEM students is a passion of mine. I have developed effective teaching practices through instructing a variety of post-secondary courses: Introductory Biology, Physiology, Vertebrate Anatomy, Vertebrate Zoology, Vertebrate Natural History, Biological Methods, Ecology, and more. I also served as graduate mentor to STEM majors at the University of South Florida through the STEM Academy (NIH) and mentored STEM students K-12 as an outreach instructor for the Museum of Science and Industry (Tampa).

One aspect of science that I really enjoy is scientific writing. In addition to writing journal articles, book chapters, and documentary scripts, I am working on my first children’s book to communicate scientific themes to the younger generation. In my spare time, I am a writing consultant to PhD candidates applying for grants and completing their dissertations. I also serve as an assistant editor for the journal Integrative and Comparative Biology and stay active in the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB).

The Brown Lab Research Interests

*Seeking ambitious undergraduate researchers to join the lab, please email me!

Biomechanics
Locomotion
Dispersal & Distribution
Ecomorphology
Fluid Dynamics
Passive Control of Distal Extremities
Natural History
Herpetofauna

Nature Documentary Features:

NBC/BBC Studios, Making of The Americas, Aired April 20, 2025
NBC/BBC Studios, The Americas; Episode 9, Aired April 13, 2025
Humblebee Films & Sky Nature, Airborne; Episode 2, Aired December 2024
PBS, Deep Look; Skydiving Salamanders, Aired August 27, 2024
Nat Geo Wild, America the Beautiful; Season 1 Episodes 2 and 3 , Aired May 4, 2018
Discovery (Canada), Daily Planet; Jumping Salamanders, Aired January 18, 2018
BBC, Wild West: America’s Great Frontier; Episode 3: Restless Shores, Aired October 23, 2016

News/Media Coverage:

Blinder, C. (2025). These salamanders get around on lakes of blood. Science
Henton, K. (2025) A bizarre tree-dwelling animal from California…. BBC Wildlife Magazine
Lentink, D. (2022). How wingless salamanders fly. Nature
Stokstad, E. (2022). Watch salamanders skydive… Science
Gamillo, E. (2022). Wandering salamanders skydive from…Smithsonian Magazine
Bakalar, N. (2022). It’s not a bird or a plane. It’s a skydiving salamander. New York Times
Additional news features: National Geographic, The Guardian, Daily Mail, IFL Science, more

Selected Publications – Undergraduate Mentees are Underlined

Book Chapter:

Brown, C.E. (IN PRESS). Leaping and Gliding in Arboreal Amphibians. In M. C. Granatosky, S. L. D. Toussaint, & D. Youlatos (Eds.), The Functional Morphology and Biomechanics of Arboreal Locomotion in Tetrapods (pp. TBD). Springer Nature. 10.20944/preprints202507.0990.v1

Research Articles:

Brown, C.E., W.P. Goldenberg, O.M. Hinds, M.K. O’Donnell, and N.L. Staub. (2025). Vascular and osteological morphology of expanded digit tips suggest specialization for dexterity in the wandering salamander (Aneides vagrans). Journal of Morphology, 286(1), e70026.

Ortega-Jimenez, V., Jusufi, A., Brown, C.E., Zeng, Y., Kumar, S., Kim, B., Challita, E., Pavlik, Z., Priess, M., Umhofer, T., Koh, J-S., Socha, J., Dudley, R., and Bhamla, S. (2023). Air-to-land transitions: from wingless animals and plant seeds to shuttlecocks and bio-inspired robots. Bioinspiration and Biomimetics, 18: 051001.

Brown, C.E., and A. Kirk. (2023). Characterizing airflow over wandering salamanders (Aneides vagrans) through computational fluid dynamics. Journal of Morphology, 284(5), 21583.

Brown, C.E., E.A. Sathe, R. Dudley, and S.M. Deban. (2022). Gliding and parachuting by arboreal salamanders (Genus: Aneides). Current Biology, 32(10), R453-R454.

Aretz, J., C.E. Brown, S.M. Deban. (2021). Vertical locomotion in the arboreal salamander Aneides vagrans. Zoology, 316, 72-79. *Undergraduate mentee as 1^st author

Brown, C.E., and S.M. Deban. (2020). Jumping in arboreal salamanders: a possible trade-off between takeoff velocity and in-air posture. Zoology, 138(2020), 125724.

Achievements

Education

B.S. Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Murray State University
M.S. Biology, California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt
Ph.D. Integrative Biology, University of South Florida