Yu Zeng Ph.D. (曾昱)

Hi, I’m Yu Zeng 曾昱, a biologist based in the University of South Florida at Tampa, Florida.

Research

My research investigates the function and evolution of novel biomechanical systems (such as legs, wings, tails and tongues), trying to understand why they are efficient and how they are built, often at organism-environment interface and in predator-prey interactions.

• Flight, gliding, and controlled aerial behaviors (in insects and other arthropods)
• Feeding biomechanics (salamanders, chameleons, and tadpoles)
• Maneuverability (whole-organism, body parts, colonial)
• Biomaterial (genesis and evolution of hagfish slime thread)

Education

I received my Ph.D. in Integrative Biology from University of California at Berkeley (advised by Robert Dudley & David Wake).

Reviewed for

• Bioinspiration & Biomimetics
• Biotropica
• eLife
• Frontiers in Ecology & Evolution
• Integrative and Comparative Biology
• Integrative Zoology
• iScience
• Journal of Experimental Biology
• Journal of Insect Sciences
• Journal of Comparative Physiology
• PeerJ
• Physical Review Letters
• PLOS ONE
• Scientific Reports
• Zoomorphology

Recent updates

• Winning USF Lighting Talk Contest — 2025-11-06
• Reuters TV interview on ballistic tongues — 2025-10-09
• interview with WMNF radio — 2025-09-17
• feature by CTV news of Canada — 2025-09-08
• new paper on ballistic tongues — 2025-08-28

More news →