Leif Ristroph

About

I’m an experimental physicist and applied mathematician who specializes in fluid dynamics, with a particular emphasis on fluid-structure interactions as applied to biological and geophysical flows. My biophysical work includes studies of the aerodynamics and stabilization of insect flight as well as the hydrodynamics of schooling and flow-sensing in swimming fish. Relevant to geophysical flows, I’m interested in problems ranging from instabilities of interfacial flows to the evolution of shape during fluid mechanical erosion.

Education

• Ph.D., Physics, Cornell University, USA, 2011
• M.S., Physics, Cornell University, USA, 2007
• B.S., Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, USA, 2005

Selected publications

• Stable hovering of a jellyfish-like flying machine
• Sculpting of an erodible body by flowing water
• Intrinsic stability of a body hovering in an oscillating airflow