The inter-disciplinary approaches that frame his teaching and scholarship flourish at Lewis & Clark in an environment that fosters creative thinking in curriculum development and innovative pedagogical approaches.
After earning a doctorate in Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley in 1995, Autumn remained at Berkeley for three years as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Office of Naval Research. In 1998, he joined the Biology faculty at Lewis & Clark in Oregon. In the “Autumn Lab,” he and his students explore the evolution of animal locomotion, and his research outside the classroom has taken Autumn to the Gobi, the Kara Kum, and the Taklimakan deserts.
In addition to authoring over sixty papers which peer-reviewed publications have cited over six thousand times-earning him a place on the Thompson/ISI lists as a highly cited author in Materials Science and Engineering-Autumn also received the Special Creativity Award from the National Science Foundation.
In his studies and travels, Autumn also developed his talents for photography, putting together an impressive portfolio of nature photography that he describes as “photographs of the natural world, at size scales from nano to landscape.” His photos have appeared worldwide in The New York Times, Discover, The World Book Encyclopedia, and numerous magazines, books, and papers.
Not surprisingly, like other creative thinkers, Autumn draws on all of his interests when he is teaching and learning-pulling from many fields of thought and bodies of research. He then models that interdisciplinary approach for his students.
THE PAYOFFS OF GENERATING NEW KNOWLEDGE
Unlike many scholars, Autumn has never seen research and teaching to be in conflict. Further, he insists research can be brought in with students at all levels. Though he acknowledges some of the work may come at the cost of some loss of content-if you contrast the heavy memorization required of many Biology majors-he also knows the payoff is far greater, in that students are not limited in being receivers of knowledge; instead, they are involved in generating new knowledge.
The result for the students, as Autumn sees it, is greater retention of concepts, as they embark on open-ended research projects rather than seeing “cookbook science” as a recipe for success. Certainly, there can be some fear and uncertainty, and even intimidation, when navigating this new academic terrain in a “research-based environment,” but they are simultaneously more likely to be excited about their work and invested in their findings.
Autumn further notes that many students who would not have excelled in a memorization-based class may flourish in this environment, and every student-regardless of their academic background-can appreciate how central research is to whatever field they are studying. Thus, he feels incorporating research and guiding students through the fundamentals of conducting research are beneficial for students of all backgrounds and abilities.
CREATIVITY AND ACADEMIC FREEDOM
This academic freedom in the classroom, of course, is a direct result of pedagogical freedom within the institution. At Lewis & Clark, Autumn notes that faculty are offered a great deal of room for innovation and creativity in their curriculum development. Even as a new faculty member to the college many years ago, when he was planning his own coursework he notes, “The content and the vehicle were totally up to me.” There is a definitive link between freedom and creativity in a “collaborative scholarly environment.”
Autumn has also observed the connections between creativity and academic freedom with students being far more likely to learn more in classes that offer hands-on lab experience with uncertain outcomes, rather than a curriculum pushing rote memorization. Noting that simple answers are often wrong, Autumn is intrigued by the enterprise of academia and its potential to remedy societal, political, and social ills.
Believing the world’s complexity can create a daunting challenge for many young students, Autumn suggests the students who see its interconnectedness are better enabled to tackle larger problems. Further, he recognizes that science will undoubtedly figure into the studies of all of our next leaders in a highly interdisciplinary, collaborative world model; he wants his students to be prepared to work together to see those changes through.
TECHNOLOGIES OF THE FUTURE:THE INTERDISCIPLINARY FUTURE OF RESEARCH
A new course project for Autumn, “Technologies of the Future,” is aimed at non-science majors and asks students to work in interdisciplinary teams. Designed with four teaching assistants and twenty-one students, the class-within the new Entrepreneurship program-will incorporate Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Math and Computer Science. Autumn’s goal is to empower non-science students to appreciate how to work with scientists.
Developed with W.M. Keck Foundation and Howard Hughes Medical Institute funding, the course focuses on the technical and entrepreneurial processes that lead to technological innovations, in addition to exploring the science behind those processes. Ultimately, students will develop a better understanding of the foundational science in newer technologies, before embarking on their own projects.
Bond Burley, a current student at Lewis & Clark, has worked with Autumn as a teacher’s assistant. He praises his mentor’s passion for scientific research, as well as his drive in instilling that same enthusiasm for research in his students.
Burley recognizes, from his work with Autumn, that the future of research is certain to be more interdisciplinary, requiring “the efforts of biologists, physicists, engineers, and chemists in order to further delve into the complexities of it all.” Burley sees the “Technologies of the Future” course as an opportunity for students to combine physics, engineering, computer science, and biological principles to “real world problems” while working toward solutions. Burley adds that Autumn furthers this pedagogical goal by reproducing “real-life situations of competitive research, deliverables, deadlines, and obstacles” to help his students prepare for any number of challenges.
Over a variety of courses under Autumn, Burley states that he’s learned far more than concepts of biology; instead, he’s recognized the “necessary struggle that requires perseverance and dedication” that is inherent in scientific studies. Speaking of Autumn, Burley states, “He empowers students to reach out into the unknown and try to find scientific explanations. His openness to new ideas for research experiments introduced by students allows them to apply the concepts and skills learned in previous biology courses that would not otherwise be shown in a typical ‘cookbook’ style experiment. He encourages creativity, real-time problem solving and acceptance of the unknown, not as a deterrent but as an invitation to investigate.”
Burley also believes that Autumn challenges himself-along with his students-to not accept the unknown as a permanent state. Burley adds, “He recognizes a gap in knowledge and makes open-ended statements like, ‘Hmmm, that’s interesting. We should find out. How would you approach learning more about that?'”
Melanie Morris, another current Lewis & Clark student, applauds Autumn’s ability to bring research to life through “captivating descriptions of what it’s like to actually be working on competitive research projects in a rapidly growing field.” She recognizes they are being pushed to do graduate-level work.
Morris notes, “This method is really daunting at first because it is far out of our comfort zones. For many lab courses, the professors usually know how an experiment should turn out-but, this is not so in Kellar’s lab. In this case, there really are no right answers. The lab is all about exploring the scientific process and learning to think on your feet to answer a scientific question.” Already, Morris recognizes that this innovative approach is allowing her to grow as a scientist.
GECKO GLUE OR DRY-ADHESIVE NANOSTRUCTURES
Autumn has founded the subfield of adhesive nanostructures/gecko adhesion and patented numerous designs for “gecko glue” or dry-adhesive nanostructures. Several years ago, while working with his students to first study gecko adhesion, Autumn was struck with the realization that the mechanics of gecko motion were regulated by gecko hair, which was sticky and shockingly strong. He learned that the adhesive properties of a gecko’s feet could support something far larger than a gecko.
Around this same time, Autumn also made the remarkable discovery that the nanogeometry of gecko feet made them self-cleaning. Once Autumn uncovered the mechanism for this self-cleaning, he and his team could model and test these removable adhesives, which led to nearly unlimited potential. Along with his colleagues in these studies, Autumn has applied for-and been granted-several patents, as he has worked through the various applications.
A STUDY OF GECKO FEET: ENGAGING A PHYSICS INTERN
Autumn enjoys employing several “brilliant undergrads” at Lewis & Clark in research where they have the opportunity to perform at the level of graduate students. Because he is fascinated by the “exciting work at interfaces of fields,” Autumn seeks out physics students, many of whom ultimately go on to further study in Biology.
Lewis & Clark graduate Madisen Holbrook was intrigued when she learned a Biology professor was seeking a physics student for an internship. She ended up working in the Autumn Lab for the rest of her time in college. Holbrook notes, “Even though many people believe Kellar’s lab is a biology lab, I can honestly say I never studied biology there. I learned about material properties like the complex modulus of materials, intermolecular forces including van der Waals forces, and the thermodynamic behavior of large populations of nanoscale contacts.”
As a student of physics, Holbrook learned that much of what Autumn uncovered about gecko adhesives contradicted the behavior found in most frictional systems. She explains that physics introduces the concept, for instance, that sliding a block on the ground faster will result in less friction. She sees Autumn’s work as “pushing the boundaries in frictional research” and significantly adding to the body of knowledge.
On a more personal note, she has been impacted by Autumn’s respect when discussing any work in the lab-as he treated her “as an equal” when discussing her research. Not only did this help her gain confidence as a researcher, but she was also motivated by the “freedom to explore” any projects that sparked her interest. She most credits Autumn for helping her to gain confidence as a researcher. She adds, “Kellar supported me and taught me that experiments don’t always go as expected; sometimes Mother Nature has other ideas.”
Holbrook also enjoyed that students were never asked to do “canned” experiments, and she used some of her time in the Autumn Lab to create demos for elementary-school children designed to spark their interest in science. She notes, “The demo showed how gecko toe hairs can be used to pick up a penny by using a plastic strip that had gecko toe hairs glued to it. It was a great visualization of how something so small and practically invisible can be used to lift a familiar object.”
GECKO-INSPIRED ADHESIVES: COLLABORATING WITH A STANFORD ENGINEER
On these gecko-inspired adhesives, Stanford Professor Mark Cutkosky notes Autumn is “among a very select group of biologists who-in addition to having a profound understanding of the biology of the animals they work with-can also engage in cutting edge research in applied physics and engineering.” He also shares that Autumn models what the Stanford Design Group calls “Design Thinking.”
As an engineer, Cutkosky believes Autumn’s comprehensive understanding of the adhesive mechanisms of the gecko makes Autumn an “ideal collaborator” who both comprehends and embraces the models of engineering. Cutkosky notes, “A number of our innovations in adhesive fabrication and climbing robots have grown directly out of conversations with him and in subsequent joint publications.”
Dr. Nick Gravish is now a Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences & Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. Having known Autumn for eight years, and worked with him as a research tech in the Autumn Lab, Gravish considers Autumn a close mentor.
Finding Autumn to be both “incredibly smart and humble,” Gravish believes he was fortunate to work with Autumn at such an early stage in his career, and he still benefits from interactions with this mentor who can “succinctly and quickly boil problems down to their core features of interest.”
Gravish believes Autumn’s drive and passion in producing such a prolific body of work on gecko adhesion has “inspired a decade of work by materials scientists and roboticists to try and emulate the unique properties that he discovered in gecko toe pads.” Gravish further notes that Kellar has made this impact while working at an undergraduate-only institution, a feat that highlights his incomparable abilities to mentor and train students and techs.
From his time at Lewis & Clark in the Autumn Lab, Gravish can immediately name four mentees who continued into academic research: Simon Sponberg, a professor at Georgia Tech; Jorn Cheney, a graduate student at Brown; Kristen Crandell at University of Montana; and Gravish himself. Gravish notes, “I think his legacy is apparent both in his body of research, and in the students he has mentored and sent off on their own paths in science.”
COLLABORATING WITH A UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE ENGINEER
Professor Walter Federle of the University of Cambridge, who studies adhesive mechanisms in a
