I study bats.
Specifically, I study their biomechanics. How do bats fly? How do bats land? How do bats crawl? To get at the answers to these questions, I use high-speed video, force-measuring platforms, and computational analyses. Below is a list of the scientific papers I've published. My full CV is here.
Iriarte-Díaz, J., Riskin, D. K., Breuer, K. S., and Swartz, S. M. (2012). Kinematic plasticity during flight in fruit bats: Individual variability in response to loading. PLoS One online doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036665. 
Riskin, D. K., Bergou, A., Breuer, K. S., and Swartz, S. M. (2012). Upstroke wing flexion and the intertial cost of bat flight. Proceedings of the Royal Society B online doi:10.1098/rsbp.2012.0346.
Swartz, S. M., Iriarte-Díaz, J., Riskin, D. K., and Breuer, K. S. (in press). A bird? A plane? No, it's a bat: an introduction to the biomechanics of bat flight. In Evolutionary History of Bats: Fossils, Molecules, and Morphology (ed. Gunnell, G. F., and Simmons, N. B.). Cambridge MA: Cambridge University Press.
Iriarte-Díaz, J., Riskin, D. K., Willis, D. S., Breuer, K. S., and Swartz, S. M. (2011). Whole-body kinematics of a fruit bat reveal the influence of wing inertia on body accelerations. Journal of Experimental Biology 214, 1546-1553.
MacAyeal, L. C., Riskin, D. K., Swartz, S. M., and Breuer, K. S. (2011). Vertical flight performance and load carrying in lesser dog-faced fruit bats (Cynopterus brachyotis). Journal of Experimental Biology 214, 786-793.
Riskin, D. K., Iriarte-Díaz, J., Middleton, K. M., Breuer, K. S., and Swartz, S. M. (2010). The effect of body size on the wing movements of pteropodid bats, with insights into thrust and lift production. Journal of Experimental Biology 213, 4110-4122.
Hubel, T. Y., Riskin, D. K., Swartz, S. M., and Breuer, K. S. (2010). Wake structure and wing kinematics: the flight of the lesser dog-faced fruit bat, Cynopterus brachyotis. Journal of Experimental Biology 213, 3427-3440.
Parsons, S., Riskin, D. K., and Hermanson, J. W. (2010). Echolocation call production during aerial and terrestrial locomotion by New Zealand's enigmatic lesser short-tailed bat, Mystacina tuberculata. Journal of Experimental Biology 213, 551-557.
Riskin, D. K., and Racey, P. A. (2010). How do sucker-footed bats hold on, and why do they roost head-up? Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 99, 233-240.
Riskin, D. K., Bahlman, J. W., Hubel, T. Y., Ratcliffe, J. M., Kunz, T. H., and Swartz, S. M. (2009). Bats go head-under-heels: the biomechanics of landing on a ceiling. Journal of Experimental Biology 212, 944-953.
Riskin, D. K., Willis, D. J., Iriarte-Díaz, J., Hedrick, T. L., Kostandov, M., Chen, J., Laidlaw, D. H., Breuer, K. S., and Swartz, S. M. (2008). Quantifying the complexity of bat wing kinematics. Journal of Theoretical Biology 254, 604-615.
Williams, W. O., Riskin, D. K., and Mott, K. M. (2008). Ultrasonic sound measurement as an indicator of acute pain in laboratory mice. Journal of the American Association of Laboratory Animal Scientists 47, 8-10.
Riskin, D. K., Parsons, S., Schutt, W. A. Jr., Carter, G. G., and Hermanson, J. W. (2006). Terrestrial locomotion of the New Zealand Short-tailed Bat Mystacina tuberculata and the Common Vampire Bat Desmodus rotundus. Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 1725-1736.
Carter, G. G., and Riskin, D. K. (2006). Mystacina tuberculata. Mammalian Species 790, 1-8.
Riskin, D. K., Bertram, J. E. A. and Hermanson, J. W. (2005). Testing the hindlimb-strength hypothesis: Non-aerial locomotion by Chiroptera is not constrained by the dimensions of the femur or tibia. Journal of Experimental Biology 208, 1309-1319.
Riskin, D. K. and Hermanson, J. W. (2005). Independent evolution of running in vampire bats. Nature 434, 292.
Riskin, D. K. and Fenton, M. B. (2001). Sticking ability in Spix's disk-winged bat, Thyroptera tricolor (Microchiroptera: Thyropteridae). Canadian Journal of Zoology 79, 2261-2267.
Riskin, D. K. (2001). Pipistrellus bodenheimeri. Mammalian Species 651, 1-3.
Fenton, M. B., Bernard, E., Bouchard, S., Hollis, L., Johnston, D. S., Lausen, C. L., Ratcliffe, J. M., Riskin, D. K., Taylor, J. R. and Zigouris, J. (2001). The bat fauna of Lamanai, Belize: roosts and trophic roles. Journal of Tropical Ecology 17, 511-524.
Fenton, M. B., Vonhof, M. J., Bouchard, S., Gill, S. A., Johnston, D. S., Reid, F. A., Riskin, D. K., Standing, K. L., Taylor, J. R. and Wagner, R. (2000). Roosts used by Sturnira lilium (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in Belize. Biotropica 32, 729-733.
Riskin, D. K. and Pybus, M. J. (1998). The use of exposed diurnal roosts in Alberta by the little brown bat, Myotis lucifugus. Canadian Journal of Zoology 76, 767-770.
Waldman, R. M., Song, A., Riskin, D. K., Swartz, S. M., and Breuer, K. S. (2008). Aerodynamic behavior of compliant wing membranes as related to bat flight. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Journal AIAA paper 2008-3716.
Willis, D. J., Kostandov, M., Riskin, D. K., Peraire, J., Laidlaw, D. H., Swartz, S. M., and Breuer, K. S. (2007). Modeling the flight of a bat (science visualization feature). Science 317, 1860.
Rypien, K. L., Anderson, J., Andras, J., Clark, R. W., Gerrish, G. A., Mandel, J. T., Nydam, M. L. and Riskin, D. K. (2007). Correspondence: Students unite to create state of the planet course. Nature 447, 775.
Swartz, S. M., Iriarte-Díaz, J., Riskin, D. K., Song, A., Tian, X., Willis, D. J. & Breuer, K. S. (2007). Wing structure and the aerodynamic basis of flight in bats. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Journal AIAA paper 2007-42.
