Rachel Olson, PhD

Assistant Professor

Biology

University of Akron

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I am an assistant professor at the University of Akron. My research questions focus on form and function. I am broadly interested in functional morphology and biomechanics and utilize many different methods to answer my questions - such as 2D and 3D kinematics, XROMM, force and pressure analyses. I personally have been involved in dog sports since joining 4H as a child and have mostly focused on flyball. My participation in horse and dog sports has made me keenly interested in understanding performance in animal athletes, especially in regards to understanding injury risk. My research lab has diverse projects at any point in time, spanning sporting and working dogs, human anatomy, and comparative functional morphology of chewing and drinking in mammals.