Lisa Whitenack, PhD

I'm recruiting a Ph.D. student for Fall 2026.

Interested in comparative studies and trait evolution in fishes?

Send me an email with a CV and research interests. Please take a look at my website (jcorush.github.io ) for more information about my research.

#hybridization #minnows #mudskippers

Live-streaming various marine mammal sounds - this could be perfect for background as I grade!

Cooool!

Pretty sure but now I’m doubting myself!

Beautiful orange and white nudibranch on a rock

Saw this beautiful nudibranch at Bird Rock, San Diego. No idea what species and iNaturalist tried to tell me it was an anemone. 🙄

Anyone on #Invertsky have an id for this beauty? 🧪

Doomscroll safety stop 🛑

Seeing this longhorn cowfish at the Birch Aquarium this week brought a smile to my face.

Like other boxfishes, they are fins-only swimmers because their scales fuse together, preventing the body from bending.

And they look like Zoolander
doing blue steel.

Ok carry on

RIGHT?! Stop trying to make tables happen, google sheets.

One of my all time favorite authors! If you haven’t discovered her work yet, please drop everything and pick up either “The Fifth Season” or “The City We Became” from your local bookstore.

I also found it useful for regular human anatomy class!

That’s great to hear!

Hey, if you’re thinking about comparative anatomy textbooks for the Spring semester, you should check out ours! Free, open access, and peer-reviewed!

I just finished Royal Gambit by Daniel O’Malley - it was fun!

Today while shopping, my 12yo casually dropped a 1.5 ft tall light-up plastic dinosaur wearing a Santa hat into our cart, assuming that I would buy it no questions asked. 🦖

They were not wrong.

It will go well with the 4 ft octopus holding ornaments that was already in the cart. 🐙

Photo of Lisa with a crocheted brain slug from Futurama on her head

Busted out my reliable brain slug for Halloween 🎃

Landscape image of an old observatory with a green copper roof among trees rich in autumn colors

This is yesterday’s postcard-perfect view from my office in our Center for Research and Teaching Excellence at Allegheny. I love the show that Mother Nature puts on in the autumn!

😮

Happy Mole Day!

I know I’m not the only comparative anatomy prof that has been shipped Mustelus instead of Squalus for lab. Is anyone working on a lab manual or online resource that has head muscles & digestive system images?

I can’t - I don’t have the capacity right now.

Center for Research and Teaching Excellence Cuts Ribbon in Joyous Celebration The official ribbon cutting for Allegheny’s new Center for Research and Teaching Excellence (CREATE) was celebrated with faculty, trustees, students and staff on Thursday, Oct. 16. CREATE lab is a new...

Being part of the team that has brought our Center for Research and Teaching Excellence to fruition has been an absolute delight! We’ve created a vibrant and welcoming space for our faculty.

Also, I got to use the giant scissors!

If anyone is curious, I found the bag of cats

Things I said at work today:

"Where did I put that bag of cats, I just had them earlier this week..."

"Sorry about the smell, I've got a lamprey"

"Can you please bring these chemicals up to the lab? I want to clear and stain Nemo."

"I've got chickens, cow, pig, horse, a goat, and 3 dinosaurs"

It’s frustrating. Due to some chronic conditions, there are wide categories of things I can’t or shouldn’t eat. And now something that works for my stupid physiology is going to be off the table.

Oh.

Chocolate plant-based protein shake with a banana and spoon of peanut butter has been my go-to work day breakfast for several years, since dairy has become a no-no for me. Protein helps keep my blood sugar stable, but I still need a carb kickstart with it (banana).

😞

Trump administration begins layoffs of federal workers amid government shutdown The Trump administration and Republicans have sought to blame Democrats for the government shutdown, and any negative fallout from it.

Vought posted on X that RIFs have begun. We have not heard of them impacting CDC, or if this is another bluff to induce more trauma and terror before a long weekend. Nevertheless, some tips to prepare if you get a RIF notice below 👇

www.cnbc.com/2025/10/10/t...

A gentle reminder for whoever needs it: you don't have to make yourself small for anyone. You are perfect, exactly the way you are.

300 high school and college students from 5 marching bands standing at attention on a football field

It’s band-tober, which means that marching band is our entire life right now. Tonight was a small show (4 HS bands and 1 college band), but the closer had them all playing Sweet Caroline together.

Music brings such joy in a timeline where it is tough to find.

Large 3D printed model of a dogfish skull with jaws and arches

Several students in a classroom working with large 3D printed shark skull models

My comparative anatomy students had a blast learning with these @3danatomystudios.com shark skull models this week!

Check out this rare faculty-curator position at OU:

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