The genome of white-throated sparrows harbors not one, but two(!), large chromosomal polymorphisms. 🐦🧬 We know lots about one of them, which is associated with the two plumage morphs. But we knew almost nothing about the second one... until now! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
This is awesome!
NSF Update
Funding curve overall. A little bit of progress in the past week, but only a little bit.
Now by Directorate...
1/11
February issue of @jevbio.bsky.social online now!
Read it here:
academic.oup.com/jeb/issue/39/2
📸 Juvenile Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei) perched on a branch.
Photo Credit: C. Ashlyn Crain.
“At NSF, the net reduction of 205 STEM Ph.D.s between 1 January and 30 November constituted 40% of its total pre-Trump Ph.D. workforce of 517, by far the largest percentage at any agency. STEM Ph.D.s also make up a larger percentage of the total workforce at NSF than at any other agency…”.
Hurricanes as a Source of Episodic Natural Selection on Lizards
from the pages of Rhody Today: URI’s Jason Kolbe studying hurricanes as a source of episodic natural selection Storm study shows adaptive selection in southeast lizards A new study led by URI’s Jason Kolbe examines adaptive selection…
Apply now for the NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at MLBS! mlbs.org/reuprogram
WHAT IS A GROUNDHOG?
What's their deal?
Why do they have their own holiday?
Beloved UCLA marmot expert Dr. Dan Blumstein chats large rodents, dens, scandals, butts, parenthood, romantic advice you should *not* take, why their blood boggles science, and aliases.
www.alieward.com/ologies/marm...
This story is absolutely wild. Did you know that avocados change sex over the course of a day? And that it's controlled by a single ancient balanced polymorphism? This is flat our crazy
This year has been brutal for science, especially early career researchers and those working with communities further marginalized by this administration. Please read the experiences of these scientists.
And when you’re done reading, find a way to fight back.
theconversation.com/this-year-ne...
The 2025 Headline of the Year Nominees
🧵
Carlson et al. build a mathematical model considering how genotype-by-environment interactions can maintain variation and parametrize their model to test its applicability to real mutualisms.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ.
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
There's a word for learning from evolution's inventions: bioinspiration. Here's my interactive story on the way animals and plants fuel technological creativity. Gift link: nyti.ms/4otNQyl
@raularayadonoso.bsky.social @kenrokusumi.bsky.social @anthonygeneva.bsky.social et al. compared the genomes of Anolis species, finding evidence of structural variation and signatures of selection associated with phenotypic diversity.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf196
#genome #evolution #anolis
Thank you, Virginia! It is the honor of my lifetime to be elected your next Governor.
Warning. ⚠️ If you are writing an NSF GRFP, new this year, you need official transcripts to apply. Beware. They will not review applications without official transcripts. ‼️
The November cover of Genome Biology and Evolution features @raularayadonoso.bsky.social @kenrokusumi.bsky.social @anthonygeneva.bsky.social et al., who studied how structural rearrangements and selection promote phenotypic evolution in Anolis.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf196
#genome #evolution
Fewer grad students means less science, but many STEM PhD programs in the US are cutting back on admissions this year due to federal funding uncertainties. Words by me for @nature.com:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@emsque.bsky.social @ucsdcooperlab.bsky.social @julieposselt.bsky.social 🧪
Hundreds of people gathered as Davidson College dedicated With These Hands: A Memorial to the Enslaved and Exploited on Thurs., Oct. 23. Visit the story to hear from the descendants of those whose labor helped build the college & listen to a poem written by author Clint Smith '10 for the dedication.
BREAKING: UVA rejects the Trump Administration's Compact.
Jane Goodall, ethologist and conservationist, has died. She was 91
This only happens to you once
"More professors in the United States have been fired for controversial views in the past week than any other week in all of American history."
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
I wrote:
“Jefferson dreamed of forging a grand, vibrant Athens on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Instead, in its third century, the United States seems a lot more like Sparta.”
newrepublic.com/article/1973...
Saw today for the first time a seriously brilliant way to cut wildlife roadkill: virtual fencing! These devices, installed every 25m for $10K km warn wildlife by detecting approaching vehicles and emitting a flashing light and a beep. Has cut deaths by 90%! #WildOz
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06...
Proposed cut to NSF Biology budget is 70%.
70%. Seventy.
Call your senators & reps nonstop. Give them numbers on NSF impact for state/district. tableau.external.nsf.gov/views/NSFbyN... explain this will decimate the economy if their districts, especially if it has a major research univ. 🧪
Great article about the stakes facing museums and other public entities telling inclusive narratives. Free article for you. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/u...
Go Dr. Baran! 🧪🐣
