John J. Jacisin III

“Why Are We Funding This?” Long-standing myths about “silly science” have contributed to the reckless slashing of government-supported research.

Every year around Thanksgiving, I see tons of grad students post heartbreaking messages on social media about how their loved ones don’t understand or support their decision to study what seems like something pointless or silly.

Perhaps my American Scientist essay can help!

🧪🌎🦑 #SciComm

New paper alert! (My first!)

This is a benchmark paper on all NPS fossils within the State of Utah through 2024. Loads of illustrations by me and pic by coauthors and collaborators. Open access, free to download! Thanks to all who made this possible!

giw.utahgeology.org/giw/index.ph...

Nice 3-year teaching+research postdoc at NYIT!
careers-nyit.icims.com/jobs/4126/po...
The human anatomy teaching experience is tremendously valuable; for people in our fields (e.g., morphology, biomechanics, palaeontology) it opens up great faculty job opportunities! And the NYIT faculty are great.

I'm delighted to share the latest publication involving my lab - out now in PNAS:

Geochemists & Paleontologists across the globe joined forces to confirm the preservation of molecular #biosignatures in #fossil organic matter - and explore signals associated with photosynthesis.

A’ho! 🪶🙌🏽🇺🇸

YouTube video by Great Lakes Now Why Gars Deserve a Week of Their Own | Great Lakes Now

It's #GarWeek! Celebrate these living fossils by learning all about what makes this freshwater species known as "trash fish" so special in our latest conversation with @solomonrdavid.bsky.social.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw84...

Were Dinos On Their Way Out Before The Asteroid Hit? Maybe Not Two new studies suggest that, contrary to longstanding beliefs, dinosaurs were not on the decline before the Chicxulub asteroid impact.

What do we know about the last surviving dinosaurs, living right before the asteroid? And is Nanotyrannus a tiny tyrannosaur species or juvenile T. rex?

Lindsay Zanno & I talk through the big questions with Ira Flatow on today's @scifri.bsky.social !

www.sciencefriday.com/segments/din...

Our collaborative genome project is now published!

The #FindThatLizard Scholarship is accepting applications until 12/10.

We fund girls, women, and gender non conforming persons pursuing herpetology🦎🐍🐸🐢

I can’t wait to read your application! earynmcgee.com/findthatliza...

Project | E5 Doctoral Training Partnership | E5 Doctoral Training Partnership The project advertisement

Interested in fossils? Brains? Reptiles?

Want to study how reptile (particularly squamate) brains and senses changed over time?

Want to be part of an international team studying the evolution of cognition?

Then apply for our Univ of Edinburgh PhD project!

e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk/project?item...

Shaken to hear Mark Norell passed—good friend, trusted colleague, giant in our field. Coincidentally, I got the news as I was working on my talk for the Intl. Symp. on Asian Dinosaurs in Fukui later this month. Here's my slide on Mark’s impact on Asian dinosaur science. It hurt to add 1957–2025. 😥

I just heard the news that vertebrate paleontologist Mark Norell passed away. When I was a kid, I eagerly followed the latest discoveries by him & his team. Although I did not know Mark well, he was always helpful during my research visits to the AMNH. His biggest kindness, though, was early on. 1/2

We lost Mark Norell today. Dinosaur hunter extraordinaire. The coolest dude alive. My PhD supervisor.
Wherever you are, raise a glass of your favorite lager or single malt, as it is what Mark would want.

USGS Unveils New National Geologic Map In a significant advancement for geoscience, the U.S. Geological Survey has released the most detailed national-scale geologic map of the country to date, offering a unique regional view of geology at...

incredible new national geological map for the U.S. just got released, mobile functional too, meaning you can get incredibly detailed geological information on the go, pretty fuckin' rad
www.usgs.gov/news/nationa...

Anat (me) wearing a white hat with red OU logo, jean jacket with a snake design, and a huge smile! Lupines and daises are in the background.

I'm beyond excited to announce that I will be joining the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Oklahoma as an Assistant Professor in January 2026!

Belasen Lab @ou.edu coming soon 🐸 ❤️

Trump Has Cut Science Funding to Its Lowest Level in Decades The lag in funding extends far beyond D.E.I. initiatives, affecting almost every area of science: chemistry, computing, engineering, materials and more.

Instead of restoring American greatness, MAGA is destroying it.

Science funding slashed in half. Earth science (my discipline) by 80%! Biology studies halted because some politician thinks 'biodiversity' is woke.

Get used to slower economic growth, less innovation

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

A New Form of Verification on Bluesky - Bluesky We’re introducing a new layer of verification — a user-friendly, easily recognizable blue check. Additionally, independent organizations can verify accounts directly through our Trusted Verifiers feat...

Hey @bsky.app can you please allow universities to verify their faculty? That would go a long way to promoting trust. I hope your list of verified people is not just sports stars and pop idols.
bsky.social/about/blog/0...

Add me as well, please!

Colonial history and global economics distort our understanding of deep-time biodiversity - Nature Ecology & Evolution Analysing the global distribution, source and authorship of fossil research over the past 30 years, the authors find that researchers in high- or upper-middle-income countries hold a monopoly over pal...

When @mauritiantales.bsky.social and I began leading this study, we never thought it would get 10 citations let alone the 200 it reached his week!

But what started almost 5 years ago as a lockdown data project has taken us on an unimaginable rollercoaster... (1/n)

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Congratulations!!!

These Iguanas Got Carried Away and Ended Up in Fiji, 5,000 Miles From Home Genetic evidence suggests that the reptiles somehow managed millions of years ago to make an ocean crossing from North America to Fiji.

My latest for @nytimes.com! Almost every iguana in the world is found in the Americas -- except for four species that live in the South Pacific, 5000 miles away. So how on earth did they get there?

Well, y'all seen that movie "Flow?"

🧪🦎

Coauthors include @ashieldsestrada.bsky.social (recent UT PhD!), @allyboville.bsky.social (newly minted PhD candidate at UT@), and @jjjacisin3.bsky.social (incoming prof at UW Green Bay!) and many more not on bluesky

This was a super fun collaboration with LOTS of students including folks from South America, led by UT Austin grad student Céline Carneiro, and co-senior authored by my postdoc mentor @kzutaustin.bsky.social and me!

Make sure to peep our positionality statement <3

Toward a Global Science of Conservation Genomics: Coldspots in Genomic Resources Highlight a Need for Equitable Collaborations and Capacity Building Advances in genomic sequencing have magnified our understanding of ecological and evolutionary mechanisms relevant to biodiversity conservation. As a result, the field of conservation genomics has gr...

Where are the global cold spots in genomic resources for amphibians and reptiles? And what can we do to ensure international collaborations are equitable?

Check out our new Molecular Ecology paper, hot off the presses!

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

I'm also looking for any suggestions/materials to help me teach evolution, herpetology, paleontology, or animal behavior -- all courses I hope to teach and develop. Please message me to suggest things or request my email!

I have some good news: I have accepted a tenure -track position at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay as their first paleontologist! I would love to connect with scientists, and especially paleontology/herpetology/wildlife folks in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, etc.

Apply now for SVP’s Futures Award! 🦕

This award ($5,000 USD) is intended to support a summer research experience for current undergraduate students (incl. community colleges) who are Black, Indigenous, and/or members of other racial or ethnic minority groups!

Link: vertpaleo.org/svp-futures-...

Voices: I lost my job because of Trump’s mass layoffs. What are Utah’s political leaders doing to stand up for people like me? “Now, rather than paying income taxes in Utah and continuing to work sustaining the health of the federal lands that fuel Utah’s economy, I am applying for unemployment in Utah,” writes Dr. M. Allison...

I just found out that one of my former interns also lost their job last week. She is a perfect example of the kind of person you want doing science for our country, and now her work has been tossed to the side, like so many others - it’s sickening.

www.sltrib.com/opinion/comm...

Glossary of tetrapod tracks Glossary of fossil tetrapod tracks

Announcing the rather epic 'Glossary of tetrapod tracks' in Palaeontologia Electronica. Three years of work led by Jens Lallensack, and with Guiseppe Leonardi (author of the original '87 Glossary).

We hope it will be useful for anyone working on tracks

palaeo-electronica.org/content/2025...