Published: 10 Jun 2015 | Last Updated: 10 Jun 2015 13:13:36

PhD student Michelle Reeve has taken to social media to discuss her current project through Biotweeps.

Biotweeps is an online platform with a combined blog, Twitter and Facebook presence, and each week a different biologist takes over the account to share their work. Previous users include Professor John Hutchinson and RVC alumni Dr Steve Portugal.

Last week Michelle managed Biotweeps, disseminating information on her research. This covered her focus on spider gait. More specifically Michelle is interested in the process of autotomy, where spiders self-amputate legs when under threat, and how they subsequently adapt their movement. Michelle also raised the topic of bio-inspired robots and explained how she intends to use her analysis of adapted spider gaits to inform the development of more efficient and robust legged robots.

This served not only to generate discussion among peers but also encouraged wider interaction with the topic, from posts regarding new spider species to a family who decided to undertake their own spider study. As Michelle explains " I am passionate about science communication, outreach and generally bringing science to the masses".