Amanda Ackiss

Radiation with reproductive isolation in the near-absence of phylogenetic signal Phenotypic diversification and reproductive isolation may unfold in the near-absence of phylogenetic signal.

Been waiting on a hamlet phylogeny (Hypoplectrus spp.) They have a beautiful mating ritual where they loop around each other floating up - then go down switch sexes and do the dance again.

Also notable / 300+ genomes can’t resolve the relationships of 19 species!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

On the Lake Superior shoreline, tribal national park holds special meaning Frog Bay Tribal National Park opened in 2012 to restore reservation lands back to tribal ownership and ensure tribal members and outsiders alike can access the area for generations.

Frog Bay Tribal National Park along Lake Superior (established by Red Cliff Band in 2012) was the first of its kind. Other Tribes have since followed with similar parks.
#GreatLakes #Indigenous
www.wpr.org/news/lake-su...

Final read through of revisions and response to reviewer comments is done for the tilapia manuscript so look out for that here shortly! This was a hard one to pull together and Tom and I put it off for a while to do other things, so I’m glad to finally have it out of my hair.

Sex chromosome evolution Dates 6-10 October 2025 To foster international participation, this course will be held online

Join the online course "Sex Chromosome Evolution" from Oct 6-10, 11:00-16:00 Berlin time. Learn about genomic data usage in sex chromosome studies. More info: https://www.physalia-courses.org/courses-workshops/sexchr/ #course

Iconic whitefish on edge of collapse as Great Lakes biodiversity crisis deepens | Bridge Michigan Few fish are as synonymous with Michigan as whitefish. Pushed to the edge by invasive species, their struggle is the tip of a cataclysmic species collapse that could change our way of life.

"Like lobster to Maine and salmon to Alaska, whitefish is one of the signature animals in Michigan's history"

But after decades of slow decline, the fish are now on the brink of collapse in most of Lakes Michigan + Huron in part due to invasive mussels #GreatLakes www.bridgemi.com/michigan-env...

Today is 🪸 Coral Triangle Day! DYK the #Philippines is one of 6 countries in this global epicenter of marine biodiversity? I was lucky to see this pair of mating Olive Ridley #seaturtles during a survey of Iliana Bay (a.k.a. Iranun Bay) 🇵🇭 last April with BALYENA.ORG

Happy cottonwood-floofed penstemons in Michigan

Check out our new preprint where we identify a large haplotype block associated with climate and smoltification in Atlantic salmon 🐟

Social card to promote Canadian Science Publishing's newest blog post featuring Trevor Pitcher.

What do endangered fish, schoolkids, and a conservation video game have in common? Dr. Trevor Pitcher.

Meet the scientist blending lab work with storytelling, policy, and play to protect Canada’s freshwater species. Read his story on the #CSPBlog 💡▶️ buff.ly/jxWfLkl

@pitcherlab.bsky.social‬

It's unbelievable to me that the jobs of USGS scientists—who are essential to understanding and protecting fish and fisheries—are at risk. Their work is absolutely critical.

All of the USGS ecosystems folks I know are amazing scientists and humans. The Great Lakes and their fishes would be lost without them

Cooperative Research Units Program Unveils Two Informative Fact Sheets The Cooperative Research Units Program is excited to release two new fact sheets: “A Hawk’s View of 2024” and “10-Year Overview.” The fact sheets highlight our program’s success in training of the nex...

Fam — here’s a nice overview of the 43 nationwide Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Units, which have been a lasting model for wildlife research since the 1930s, created by wildlife science pioneers such as Aldo Leopold & Ding Darling. 🐟🦌🦆🦃🦎

Link: wildlifemanagement.institute/outdoor-news...

Virtual Rally to Save the Cornerstone of Conservation Science · National Wildlife Federation We need YOU as we rally in support of critical federal government services at risk of being lost forever. The U.S. Geological Survey Ecosystems Mission Area is responsible for many of the programs tha...

The USGS Ecosystems Mission Area, the foundation of the science that informs fish and wildlife management, disease response, and conservation policy across the U.S., is at risk. We're joining @nationalwildlife.bsky.social in a virtual rally on May 22 - register now: www.mobilize.us/nwf/event/79...

The USGS coop units are so essential to fish and wildlife management/conservation. I have been so lucky to work with these talented and dedicated researchers over the years, and am beyond sad and infuriated about these proposed cuts.

Thousands of layoffs to hit Interior, National Parks imminently Employees fear diminished capacity after RIFs are tacked on to existing mass exodus.

It looks like the Trump administration isn't going to wait for the FY26 budget to decimate the National Park Service and the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area.

Thousands of job cuts (1,500 in NPS and 1,000 in USGS) are planned via reduction in force within 10 days. Who benefits from this? Not Americans.

The search for Lake Superior ciscoes as described by W. Koelz in 1929 yields a surprising discovery: Shortnose Cisco (Coregonus reighardi), a presumed extinct species The Laurentian Great Lakes (LGL) formed following the retreat of the Wisconsin glaciation 15-9 ka and provided a vast volume of freshwater habitat for coregonines, which included a diverse endemic com...

A light in the midst of a lot of chaos and uncertainty in #GreatLakes science-

Using genetics and morphology, we discovered a fish that was once presumed extinct still swims in Lake Superior. #CiscoInferno🔥 🐟🧬
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Diversification of large-effect loci in a duplicated genomic region leads to complex phenotypes Whole genome duplication provides evolutionary opportunities to increase biological complexity and phenotypic diversity by selective retention of duplicated genes. We identify a small genomic region a...

Quick break from the doom and gloom for science! We're really proud of this one. We found that two major effect loci on duplicated versions of the same ancestral chromosome play a major role in run timing diversity across four species of salmon (pink, chum, sockeye, coho) shorturl.at/GISX2

This is includes the Great Lakes Science Center and would be absolutely devastating to #GreatLakes fishery science.

Apply for a Great Lakes Fishery Commission Student Travel Award. Two awards are available for up to US $1,500 each. Applications are due April 15, and awards are announced in early May. For more information: bit.ly/3E3BuuO

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"Just do a quick analysis."

If you're a bioinformatician, you've heard this before.

But here's the truth 👇

Congrats!! 🎉

One of the greatest honors I have ever had in my life! This is a very timely encouragement for me to further navigate my academic journey. I will always try my best to continue Dr. Bernatchez’s legacy. I hope this serves as a springboard that proples me to greater heights in the future!!!🙌

Wrapped up 2 weeks of overnight drift netting for larval Lake Whitefish on the Jordan River. Thankful for our phenomenal partners from the Little Traverse Bay Band & Sault Tribe, as well as my TNC colleagues. And thanks to Nick Mead and Leanne Chadwick for the great photos! #GreatLakes

Requesting Your Input: The Importance of NOAA in the Great Lakes The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is currently facing significant personnel and budget cuts. Current and projected impacts affect research efforts at NOAA’s Great Lakes Enviro...

NOAA is currently facing significant personnel and budget cuts to its Great Lakes offices and programs.

We would like to hear from individuals like you, who may be directly or indirectly impacted by NOAA’s research and work on the Great Lakes. This includes YOU! We need your story!

Applications for our postbaccalaureate program are only open for another 10 days. If you're a recent college grad who is interested in museum careers, but didn't get the opportunity in college to gain research experience, consider applying to work with us for 12 months! Please feel free to share

Are you a master's or Ph.D. student attending #IAGLR24? If both your research on large lakes and your institution are outside the U.S. and Canada, we encourage you to apply for the IAGLR International Travel Award. Deadline: February 10. To learn more:: bit.ly/4bcMfqs

Geneticist This position is a Geneticist, GS- 0440-11 working in Lamar, Pennsylvania for the R5-Lamar NFH and Northeast Fishery Center.<br> <br> <em>This is a term position expected to last 13 months but may be ...

Aquatic geneticist position in Lamar, PA at USFWS! #consgen

May have outed my preferred ‘ology by taking photos of a black sea bass carcass while everyone else was ogling the migratory flocks of sky fishes 😄

Opted outside to celebrate the New Year with snow geese, blue skies, and 40 mph winds at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Happy 2025 all!

Evolution of fast-growing piscivorous herring in the young Baltic Sea - Nature Communications The Atlantic herring is one of the world’s most abundant vertebrates and a typical plankton feeder of major ecological importance. This study shows that a piscivorous (fish-eating) ecotype of herring ...

An intriguing new evolutionary story has just dropped, from my friend and colleague Leif Andersson: a discrete population of large predatory herring in the Baltic Sea, apparently in the process of evolving into a new species. 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...