UBCZoology

SEEKING: Canada Excellence Research Chair in Ocean Ecological Modelling. Joint position at @UBCoceans and @UBCeoas. Associate Professor/Professor (Tenure) position. DEADLINE: SEPT 11, 2025! https://ubc.wd10.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/ubcfacultyjobs/details/Canada-Excellence-Research-Chair-in-Ocean-Ecological-Modelling_JR21451

SEEKING: Canada Excellence Research Chair in Ocean Ecological Modelling. Joint position at @ubcoceans.bsky.social and @eoas.ubc.ca. Associate Professor/Professor (Tenure) position.

DEADLINE: SEPT 11, 2025!
ubc.wd10.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/ubcfac...

Where you might spot fireflies lighting up summer nights across B.C. Find out what you need to know about the bioluminescent insects in B.C.

Forget the fireworks, why not check out the fireflies this long weekend?

Dr. Judith Myers (professor emerita @zoology.ubc.ca and @landfood.ubc.ca) discusses where to find these illuminated insects in B.C. (hint, it's not in Vancouver) via @viawesome.bsky.social

Wildlife show wide range of responses to human presence in U.S. national parks The presence of humans and human infrastructure in U.S. national parks has lasting effects on the behaviours of the large animals that call them home, according to a new study.

Zoologists look at the complex ways animals responded to the COVID Anthropause in US national parks: “Some species are just more wary of people than others ... while others have learned to associate humans with some benefit.” science.ubc.ca/news/2025-07...

What is the WORST danger to humankind? (It’s not what you think) The CRAM Podcast ~ Extraordinary Ideas Unleashed · Episode

Mosquitoes kill more humans than humans - but should we get rid of them permanently?

@zoology.ubc.ca prof Ben Matthews discusses what would be involved in eradicating mosquitoes and the potential consequences with The CRAM podcast: open.spotify.com/episode/7Dt1...

Research paper entitled "Assessing the ecological relationships of the orange-striped green sea anemone, Diadumene lineata, as a non-indigenous species in British Columbia, Canada

Several orange-striped green sea anemones surrounded by a pink sponge and detritus

Delighted to finally see the work from my honours thesis out in the world! Thanks, Chris Harley @zoology.ubc.ca, for supporting the ambitious amount of fieldwork that went into studying this tiny non-native anemone.

Read it here: doi.org/10.71161/ivb...

Orange is the new aphrodisiac—for guppies - UBC News A new UBC study reveals that the brighter the orange on a male guppy, the more virile it is, solving a long-standing evolutionary puzzle about their flashy colours.

Orange you glad to see me, baby? 🐟 🧬 ❤️

A new @zoology.ubc.ca study reveals that the brighter the orange on a male guppy, the more virile it is, solving a long-standing evolutionary puzzle about their flashy colours.

news.ubc.ca/2025/07/oran...

Orange is the new aphrodisiac—for guppies It turns out colour isn’t just a fashion statement for guppies. According to a new University of British Columbia study, the more orange the male guppy, the more virile it is.

It turns out colour isn’t just a fashion statement for guppies. UBC zoologists Drs. Wouter van der Bijl and Judith Mank found that the more orange the male guppy, the more virile it is. @zoology.ubc.ca

science.ubc.ca/news/2025-07...

Congratulations @science.ubc.ca @zoology.ubc.ca student @jesslli.bsky.social on an awesome writeup!

ECR Spotlight – Jessica Li ECR Spotlight is a series of interviews with early-career authors from a selection of papers published in Journal of Experimental Biology and aims to promote not only the diversity of early-career res...

@jexpbiol.bsky.social ECR spotlight of @science.ubc.ca PhD Candidate @jesslli.bsky.social talking about life as a graduate student: journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...

Opinion: Biodiversity is the foundation of a stronger B.C. — it's time we treated it that way Opinion: Unlike many other provinces, B.C. still has no stand-alone law that protects biodiversity but healthy ecosystems are the foundation of a resilient economy, healthy communities and long-term s...

B.C.’s economic strategy talks about reconciliation and climate adaptation as core tenets, and these must remain through turbulent times, says evolutionary biologist Dr. Sally Otto, @zoology.ubc.ca.

yhoo.it/3SFCB7Q

Remember all those Stanley Park coyote attacks? Blame the pandemic, says researcher UBC research reveals a correlation between pandemic restrictions and unprecedented coyote attacks in Stanley Park in 2020-21. Read more.

“The goal ultimately is to coexist,” said Dr. Sarah Benson-Amram, head of UBC’s urban wildlife project. @zoology.ubc.ca @forestry.ubc.ca

theprovince.com/news/stanley...

Are we in a sixth mass extinction? We’re in a biodiversity crisis, but it's tough to compare it to past periods of mass death.

“Many of the extinctions we think that humans are causing haven’t actually happened yet, says Dr. Sarah Otto of @zoology.ubc.ca. "These are the ‘living dead’ species whose population sizes are small, whose habitats are fragmented. There’s a lot of extinction debt.”

www.popsci.com/environment/...

New chapter by Ora E. Johannsson & Aleicia Holland on how anthropogenic activities modify the source, character and role of dissolved organic carbon in the black-water river, the Rio Negro, Amazonia.

Link: doi.org/10.1007/978-... in "The Future of Amazonian Aquatic Biota".

Today is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit people, also known as Red Dress Day. The day builds awareness to this ongoing crisis and honours the thousands of victims and their impacted families.

Which is smarter: a cat or a dog? Science has the answer but you're not going to like it | Countryfile.com Both cat and dog owner claim that their pet is the more intelligent animal – but who's correct? Fergus Collins weighs up the evidence.

Cats vs. dogs: which are smarter? 🐱🐶

Dr. Sarah Benson-Amram and Stanley Coren of @zoology.ubc.ca @arts.ubc.ca weigh in on BBC Country File: www.countryfile.com/animals/pets...

Join us today for the 2025 Botany Symposium! @ubcbotany.bsky.social @zoology.ubc.ca @science.ubc.ca

Biosciences Computing Manager Staff - Non Union Job Category M&P - AAPS Job Profile AAPS Salaried - Information Systems and Technology, Level D Job Title Biosciences Computing Manager Department Administrative Leadership | Dep...

We are looking for new manager for our computing unit! If you have experience in both biology and computers, this might be the perfect job for you! UBC is a lovely place, and Zoology is a fantastic, collaborative and kind department. Apply by May 4th at ubc.wd10.myworkdayjobs.com/ubcstaffjobs...

We congratulate the winners of this year's recipients of the Killam Teaching Prize in recognition of excellence in teaching:

Charissa Fung & Chin Sun, Zoology
Jason Hein & Eva Nichols, Chemistry
Abel Rosado, Botany

@chem.ubc.ca @ubcbotany.bsky.social @zoology.ubc.ca

🙌🏽 Congratulations to Charissa 🤩 and Chin 🤩!

Very well deserved 🥳

Pirarucu, Arapaima gigas

This air-breathing fish can take up CO2 via the gills and exhale it via the “lung”.

New publication by Chris Wood, Bernd Pelster & Adalberto Luis Val.

doi.org/10.1007/s003...

A Q+A with UBC’s new Dean of Science, chemist Mark MacLachlan Dr. Mark MacLachlan, Canada Research Chair in Supramolecular Materials and the new Dean of Science at UBC, discusses his path from small town-B.C. to UBC, his love of Hawaiian shirts, and the challeng...

Get to know new Dean Dr. Mark MacLachlan in this Q&A about his journey from small town B.C., his priorities for UBC Science, his love of Hawaiian shirts, and more ...

science.ubc.ca/news/april-2...

Join Us! | King Lab Are you interested in joining the King Lab? More information here!

Come join us at beautiful UBC! The King Lab is recruiting a Post-doc Fellow to develop mathematical theory on infectious disease evolution and emergence, together with Ben Ashby (SFU) #zoonoses #biodiversity www.zoology.ubc.ca/kinglab/join...

Dr. Mark MacLachlan

Dr. Mark MachLachlan has been appointed as Dean of the Faculty of Science for a five-year term, commencing April 1, 2025.

academic.ubc.ca/academic-com...

You are invited to attend our Science Education Open House on April 10 at 9:30 am as we celebrate teaching and learning projects across the Faculty of Science. Location: Earth Sciences Building, 1st floor lobby & atrium.
Register now: bit.ly/3QR4qZQ

Can we use social evolution to fight pathogens? @asgriffin.bsky.social and I review the evidence for 'cheat therapy' in bacteria and viruses...

🧪🦠 #socialviruses #evosky #virosky

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Exploiting social traits for clinical applications in bacteria and viruses npj Antimicrobials and Resistance - Exploiting social traits for clinical applications in bacteria and viruses

Excited to see review with @asherleeks.bsky.social out today in Nature Antimicrobials and Resistance. We compare application of social evolution to treatment of infection in bacteria and viruses: very different stories! rdcu.be/eftKw @biology.ox.ac.uk @erc.europa.eu @naturerevmicro.bsky.social

Dr. Sarah Otto of @zoology.ubc.ca says that while the avian flu virus hasn't shown much evidence of human-to-human transmission it was evolving rapidly to spread to other species like cows, and scientists are looking at parts of the virus that could attach to human cells.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Lengthy delays in H5N1 genome submissions to GISAID Nature Biotechnology - Lengthy delays in H5N1 genome submissions to GISAID

1/3 How long do you think it takes for highly pathogenic avian flu H5N1 sequences to be uploaded to GISAID after collection? How long should it be? In this commentary, we find a median delay of 228 days, with half the countries taking more than 6 months. rdcu.be/eeZGU @naturebiotech.bsky.social

Canada slowest in reporting bird flu at 618 days – but COVID shows we can do better The global average for countries to report genetic information about bird flu, crucial to tracking and preventing a human pandemic, was seven months, and Canada came in last, a new study has found.

Dr. Sarah Otto of @zoology.ubc.ca says there's an urgent need for Canada and other countries to speed up the pipeline from sampling an infected creature, analysis of the genetic information, and submission to a global scientific database.

science.ubc.ca/news/march-2...

With this paper, we are releasing a new Julia package, GenomicDiversity.jl, which was used to conduct analyses and make figures in the paper.

GenomicDiversity is officially registered as a Julia package, so can be easily installed like any other package.

github.com/darreni/Geno...

#julialang