Derek D. Houston

Every reputable expert I know considers mRNA vaccine technology to be one of the most revolutionary advances in medicine in our lifetimes. Its inventors won the Nobel Prize in 2023. Shutting it down now is pointless self-harm to humanity.

Look at my dog, chasing something in his sleep (maybe the bear that's been hanging around the neighborhood)

Evolutionary Genomics, Assistant Professor, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Fall 2026 The University of Tennessee - Knoxville: Knoxville Academic Units: College of Arts and Sciences: Division of Natural Sciences & Mathematics: Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Open date: July 28, 2025 Description The Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EEB) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, seeks applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Evolutionary Genomics. We invite applicants whose research leverages modern genomic tools and statistical approaches to address fundamental questions in evolutionary biology. We are particularly interested in candidates working on functional and evolutionary genomics in any system—plant, microbe, or animal (including humans)—who bring innovative, integrative approaches to large-scale genomic data analysis. [more on description excluded due to character limit on bsky: please see ad at https://apply.interfolio.com/170735 ] Candidates must hold a Ph.D. in Biology, Genetics, Evolutionary Biology, Genomics, Bioinformatics, or a related field at the time of appointment and should demonstrate a strong record of scientific accomplishment, including peer-reviewed publications. Excellent communication skills and a commitment to effective and modern teaching practices are required. Applications will be reviewed beginning September 19, 2025, and will continue until the position is filled. This position has an anticipated start date of August 1, 2026. Interested applicants should submit via Interfolio (apply.interfolio.com/170735) a cover letter, curriculum vitae, two-page statement of research accomplishment and plans, two-page description of teaching experiences and interests, and contact information of at least three individuals who could write letters of reference. Please direct any questions to the search chair, Dr. Elizabeth Derryberry (ederryb1@utk.edu).

Tenure-track faculty job in Evolutionary Genomics in my department, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at U of Tennessee, Knoxville.

• Any system (even humans)
• Interdisciplinary, collaborative folks welcomed
• Review starts Sep 19, 2025
• Details at apply.interfolio.com/170735

#AcademicSky

Scientists discover a whole new type of ecosystem 30,000 feet deep In Pacific Ocean trenches, scientists found creatures that expand the limits of where we know life can live on Earth.

There are new still species to discover.

But entirely new ecosystems??

Introducing: A new deep-sea ecosystem discovered around cold-water chemical seeps in the Pacific Ocean. It's the deepest ecosystem ever found!

@dinograndoni.bsky.social has the story based on a @nature.com paper out today. 🦑

A ‘living fossil’ at risk: California’s white sturgeon population continues to decline Populations of the ancient bony fish have continued to decline across California, according to a new report. The sturgeon’s long life span makes it difficult to study, with researchers having to wait ...

A ‘living fossil’ at risk: California’s white sturgeon population continues to decline #cawater www.capradio.org/articles/202...

Streamside selfie of me with a facemask on to avoid inhaling chemical fumes

Spent a few days in the field volunteering with a Rio Grande cutthroat trout reclamation effort. This is my rotenone drip station outfit. Feels like being an evil supervillain poisoning a stream, but hey, the ends justify the means.

I've used this in various courses, but it seems to work especially well in taxonomy-based courses where many described species do not have their own Wikipedia article (but could!) - The Wiki Education staff are helpful, setting up a course is easy, and students get cool info out to the public.

As the new semester approaches (I know) and you're looking to update courses, consider having students do some assignments with @wikieducation.bsky.social. It's like assigning a review paper that is publicly viewable and informative, students generally enjoy it, and take pride in their work.

Thanks for posting this, @omearabrian.bsky.social! If anyone's wondering, yes, I am the grad student in question. Follow the iNat link and spread the word! Feel free to send any questions my way

I'm back home with my dad and have thoughts about being an Indigenous scientist and academic. I'm writing this in real time so it might get disrupted and will have typos.

I am fairly successful by academic standards. I have a tenure track job, wrote papers, have grant funding, mentor students.

Devonian ray-finned fishes were not particularly species rich, particularly compared to their lobe-finned cousins. This implies early actinopts might've also been anatomically monotonous. But a deep dive into their jaw anatomy w/ µCT reveals subtle but important structural diversity.

I love that several former students messaged me about this paper and its title :)

I keep seeing these headlines, and keep hoping you're doing ok, but keep not texting to check in because I'm a bad friend. Thinking of you though.

For something like that, the more they're exposed to it the better. I've had students who've been taught it in like 3 other classes tell me that it finally clicked in mine. My two cents.

Please share!
Our lab at LSU @lsuscience.bsky.social is looking for a student to join us in Spring or Fall 2026.
If you are interested in mountain birds and GENOMICS, and want to work on a project in Bolivian cloud forests, send me an email montanolab.com/join-us/

For the first time in my life, I missed a deadline for resubmission of a manuscript that was accepted with minor revision. It's now being treated as a new submission and is under review. I know that it's the fault of me and my coauthors but I just want it to be out. The self-inflicted wait is rough.

Overfishing drives over one-third of all sharks and rays toward a global extinction crisis The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is increasingly used to reveal the health of ocean biodiversity. Dulvy et al. assess 1,199 chondrichthyans and demonstrate the need for fishing limits on target...

Sharks out living dinosaurs but might not out living over fishing is so sad

Conservation and population research is so important. I just read a paper that said three chondrichthyan species are now critically endangered possibly extinct due to over fishing! #OceanChat

www.cell.com/current-biol...

Hope is so important in any story of conservation. If we are only telling the doom and gloom story, people will give up and think there is nothing that can be done. We need hope to know we can stop it from getting worse. #OceanChat

The basic science behind marine protected areas is that if you stop killing fish -- fewer fish will die

It has proven remarkably successful in many places

#oceanchat

Awww this makes me simultaneous sad and happy to see Doug posthumously on the author line

Catostomus murivallis , a new species of sucker (Cypriniformes: Catostomidae) from Wall Canyon Creek, Surprise Valley, in Northwestern Nevada, U.S.A. | Zootaxa

New species of sucker just dropped👍
mapress.com/zt/article/v...

Want to watch my Presidential Address from #Evol2025 where I share who I have learned from, how I hope to pay it forward, what I have learned from studying ants, and how it is all of our responsibility to create equitable and just futures for everyone? Watch here: www.youtube.com/live/vkBD3fg...

Ecological interactions and genomic innovation fueled the evolution of ray-finned fish endothermy Cetacean interactions, body size, and genomic innovations shaped endothermy evolution in ray-finned fishes in the Eocene-Miocene.

Evolution of endothermy in marine fishes is related to competition with cetaceans. This incredible paper is a masterpiece of phylogenetic comparative methods and a future classic for marine biologists

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

Taking over the NSF building to put in a private dining room, a gym, and FIVE?? parking spaces for the HUD secretary's use means displacing 1800+ staff who, as federal employees, have to pay for their own water cooler if they want one in the office

Grand Junction minor league baseball team embraces threatened Colorado fish by becoming the Humpback Chubs At first, the club didn’t want anything to do with the name. They even publicly called out the fan who suggested it. Then, they changed.

Grand Junction's minor league baseball team is helping to raise awareness for imperiled native fishes by temporarily playing under the pseudonym the Humpback Chubs. Going to have to get one of their t-shirts.
www.cpr.org/2025/06/25/m...

As historian David McCullough expressed in a 2003 interview: “Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That’s why it’s so hard.”

Protect transgender scientists Transgender and gender nonconforming (TGnC) people are a primary target of the Trump administration. Multiple executive orders seek to erase TGnC protections; mandate denial of gender identity; and ba...

Protect transgender scientists | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Biodiversity allows for sustainable fisheries, better nutrition | Cornell Chronicle To satisfy the seafood needs of billions of people, offering them access to a more biodiverse array of fish creates opportunities to mix-and-match species to obtain better nutrition from smaller…

Biodiversity allows for sustainable fisheries, better nutrition | Cornell Chronicle 🦑🌎🧪🐠

Really proud to have worked with my 14-year-old, Anjali, on this new and free kids' book on #evolution.

Published in time for the 100th anniversary of the Scopes Monkey Trial. Please check it out and share!

www.lsu.edu/mns/news-and...

Multiple Horizontal Transfers of Immune Genes Between Distantly Related Teleost Fishes Abstract. Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is less frequent in eukaryotes than in prokaryotes, yet can have strong functional implications and was proposed a

Policarpo et al. use phylogenetic and synteny data to identify 19 teleost-to-teleost horizontal gene transfers, involving genes linked to immunity or pore formation; this suggests eukaryote-to-eukaryote HGT has shaped teleost evolution.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf107

#evolbio #molbio #fish