Biomechanical Research on Fire Ants

Dr. David Hu and Dr. Alberto Fernandez-Nieves of the School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology are using fire ants from our Garden to study the mechanical properties of fire ant aggregations.  Their results are used to explain ant aggregation behavior and to develop self-healing materials.  They have published portions of their work in Nature Materials and in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Posted by Wayne Gardner

Wayne A. Gardner is a Professor of Entomology with UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.  He has served as Program Coordinator for the UGA Research and Education Garden since 1998.

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