Christina Belanger, Ph.D

Compare and Contrast! The living species, Calliderma emma from deep-sea habitats throughout the Indo-Pacific! Are they the same genus? An interesting question! Could this genus been around since the Cretaceous? #echinoday

An historic black and white illustration of a paper nautilus floating on the ocean. There are boats, a city and hills in the background.

🎉 Huge news for BHL: The Field Museum is taking over the hosting of BHL’s website, servers & infrastructure, ensuring long-term stability and access for its 63+ million pages of open biodiversity literature. Learn more:
blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2026/02/tran...
#BHLTransition #ILoveBHL 🌍 📚 🧪

Figure 2.1 the variety of organisms with very different habits and habitats which may accumulate as fossils in one layer of sediment on the sea floor. Drawn by Miss Mary E. Pugh.

I don’t know what I like better: the bloat-and-float kangaroo(?) or the expression on the whale as it is taken down by a giant squid #FossilFriday

From: Ager 1963 Principles of Paleoecology

Extant mollusks Phalium bandatum (top left) from Nakayama, Japan; Cymbiola imperialis (top center) from the Philippines; Muricanthus radix (top right) from the Pacific coast of Panama; Pteria penguin (center) from Palau; Chama lazarus (bottom left) from Guam; and Fimbria fimbriata (bottom right) from Palau. CREDIT: Tracy J. Thomson

Early mollusks evolved a new skeletal feature every 2 million years. Since the Ordovician, that rate has slowed to one per 9 million years—suggesting that despite growing diversity, molluscan evolution has become substantially more predictable. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/IHSt50Ymv1s

SODCO at Texas A&M is hiring for the role of Chemistry Technician!

Learn more and apply at tamus.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/TAMU_External/job/SODCO-Chemistry-Technician_R-090805-1

📷 Erick Bravo, IODP JRSO

Flyer for My COAST Galveston PD. The text reads: My COAST. Galveston, Texas. April 19-22, 2026. Application deadline: February 27. Imagery: Decorative drawings of various marine life.

Reminder: Friday, February 27 is the application deadline for My COAST coming up in Galveston, TX! This unique hands-on PD is primarily focused around the Texas Gulf Coast but is open to all teachers who may benefit. Learn more and apply: forms.gle/2ScAWPWyPyQE... #edusky #iteachbio #scienceteachers

Happy #NationalEngineersWeek! 🔧

Celebrate the creativity & problem-solving power of #engineers by encouraging students to think like innovators!

In this activity, students explore #engineering through problem solving & experimentation about scientific ocean coring 🚢🌊
👉 bit.ly/bit-of-engineering

Over the years my marine geology career has drifted a bit away from its beginnings at foram(inifera) micropaleontology, but this episode was an amazing throwback. Even if you don't care for or haven't ever heard of forams, this ep. is worth it. Just imagine single-celled organisms the size of a 🏀!

In light of recent events and discussion, the Paleontological Society wants to make our position clear to all members and potential members. The Paleontological Society recognizes that sexual harassment and assault are all too common, and we support the survivors of sexual violence, especially those who have spoken out, often at great personal cost. By speaking out, they have made our community safer. Our Society does not tolerate sexual assault, sexual harassment, or sexual predators. We urge members to report crimes directly to the police. Within the Society, our Ethics Committee investigates complaints involving sexual misconduct, and on vote of Council, members can be expelled and non-members have and will be banned from joining. We urge all members to become allies, working together to keep our meetings, field trips, and field work safe. Here are some things you can do: 1. Become familiar with our Code of Conduct 2. Join others who have actively contributed to making our community safer and more inclusive. If you attend GSA or NAPC, take the GSA RISE or PS RISE training and wear your RISE button to the meeting. The RISE program enables us to take immediate action when harassment occurs at our meetings. 3. Know how to report sexual harassment to the Ethics Committee and share this information with survivors who want to make reports. No one should feel pressured to report, but when you are ready, we are here to listen. The Paleontological Society is committed to ongoing learning, accountability, and care for all members of our community. Together, we have the power to make our Society safer and more welcoming for ALL paleontologists. Signed by the Paleontological Society Executive Committee Rowan Lockwood, President Mark Patzkowsky, President Elect Anne Raymond, Past President Nicole Bonuso, Chief Financial Officer Jill Leonard-Pingel, Chief Information Officer

The Paleontological Society statement on recent events with alt text.

If you're an #EcoEvo #PhD candidate anywhere in the world looking for project funding, consider applying for the @asn-amnat.bsky.social Student Research Award.

Ten proposals for $2k in research funds will be awarded. Due 13 March 2026.

Please share widely! 🧪 #grants #ecology #evolution #behavior

I’ve probably imagined that something was a foram that wasn’t at some point….

211-0252/25-2N - Tenure Track Assistant Professor and Curator of Mollusca

Tenure Track Assistant Professor and Curator of #Mollusca at the Natural History Museum Denmark, University of Copenhagen: employment.ku.dk/tenure-track...

Happy Valentine's Day! A couple of romantic finds from our beaches to celebrate for all the fossil hunters and fanatics out there! #ValentinesDay2026

The billion-dollar case for sustaining palaeontology’s digital databases - Nature Ecology & Evolution The authors survey community palaeontological databases, documenting their contributions to science as well as their vulnerabilities, and provide recommendations for the future of open science databas...

🚨 Hot off the press: Our look into of the palaeontological database landscape and its sustainability into the future.

Palaeo databases are invaluable and continue to transform our research field - but they are vulnerable... (1/6) 🧪 ⛏️

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

SODCO invites you to a webinar on the new operational planning process for NSF drilling proposals. We will introduce new planning materials, outline how the operations plan will be constructed, and answer questions.

Learn more and register at sodco.org/operational-planning

Poster showing our profile picture (stylized logo of Scientific Ocean Drilling) over a set of five photos: a thin section, a row of cores, a microbiology lab, an ice sheet, and the derrick of the ship at sunrise.

Hello BlueSky! We’re here to bring you the latest opportunities and news in U.S. scientific ocean drilling and amplify the work of our community and partners. This account is managed by the U.S. Scientific Ocean Drilling Coordination Office (SODCO).

Nominations for Student Representative to the Paleontological Society (2026-2028) The deadline for consideration is March 1, 2026. The Role: Student Representatives serve as voices for student needs in the Society and play leading roles in student activities including organizing...

⚡Applications for Paleontological Society Student Representative (2026-2028) are open! ⚡ @paleosoc.bsky.social

It's a great way to be a part of the community and advocate for students! Applications due March 1.

forms.gle/6qg2BLWgEXVd...

Disc-shaped fossils with concentric grooves scattered through a limestone block.

Image of the apex of the Great Pyramid, taken from the base of the southeast corner. The layers of massive blocks of limestone composing the pyramid are clearly visible. The pyramid is set against a sunny blue sky.

I've seen fossils in some remarkable places, but this takes the prize: the benthic foram Nummulites in the base of the Great Pyramid of Giza. These massive blocks were quarried from the Eocene Mokkatam Formation when a relictual population of woolly mammoths still lived on Wrangel Island.

Front-page of the Eagle for 01-30-26, headline 'Students, Faculty Decry Censorship; Hundreds rally for academic freedom"

Today's front-page of the Bryan Eagle showcases the very large protest for academic freedom held on the Texas A&M campus by @tamu-aaup.bsky.social last night

Researchers from Europe are visiting this week, conducting experimental observations of foraminifera.
Seeing healthy specimens extend their long pseudopodia is reassuring.

Not a great stack, but it gives you an idea of the glorious architecture of a Lagena sp. Foraminifera.

#marineplankton 🦑 #protistsonsky

“The university later identified canceled courses as Introduction to Race and Ethnicity; Religions of the World; Ethics in Public Policy; Diversity in Sport Organizations; Cultural Leadership and Exploration for Society; and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Youth Development Organizations.”

#geoubcsic Drawing as a tool for representing and explaining complex structures in Foraminifera. Lería, M; Ferràndez-Cañadell, C. REVUE DE MICROPALEONTOLOGIE 90 [2026] doi.org/10.1016/j.revmic.2025.100889

🎬 “The Story of Stress” is out now!

A 27 minute documentary on #IODP Expedition 405 (JTRACK), filmed aboard D/V Chikyu during 4 months at sea off Japan’s Tohoku region.

Watch it now ➡️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoBN...

NSF seeks public input on its Fiscal Year (FY) 2026–2030 NSF Strategic Plan

The NSF strategic plan FY 2026-30 is available for public comment until Jan 27. Please make your voice heard! www.nsf.gov/od/updates/n...

Texas A&M cancels ethics course over race, gender policy The university said content of the graduate course, which was already underway, was not adequately disclosed, forcing the cancellation. The professor disagrees.

“No state or federal law prohibits discussion of race, gender or sexuality in college classrooms. State law does require public universities to post course syllabi online, but…professors have been required to submit them for administrative review before certain courses can proceed.”

Don't miss the opportunity to fund your research with a GSA Graduate Student Research Grant.

• Receive up to $3,000 for graduate (MS or PhD) research
• Over 40 topic categories accepted (see image #3)
• Deadline to Apply: 18 February 2026

🔗 Get started and apply now: geosociety.co/gradgrants

🧑🏽‍🔬🌊🤖 Hey undergrads! Get paid, hands-on experience in ocean science or engineering as a WHOI Summer Student Fellow! Applications are due on February 1—so start yours today!

📲Find program details and potential projects for summer 2026: whoi.edu/summerfellow

Cut and polished block of limestone (packstone/biomicrite), exposing many fusilinid foraminifera in cross-section, in various orientations. Across the short axis, they resemble small chambered cephalopod shells, with tightly spiraled chambers. Across the long axis, they resemble a grain of rice with concentric inner layers. Label: "Fusulinids (Triticites?) Lower Wolfcamp, Permian "Wolfcamp Hills" locality, northeast of Orogrande, New Mexico. Donated by William Lovejoy."

Glass vial with over a dozen gray, calcitic fossils roughly the size and shape of grains of rice. Label: "Fusulinids (Triticites?) Lower Wolfcamp, Permian "Wolfcamp Hills" locality, northeast of Orogrande, New Mexico. Donated by William Lovejoy."

#FossilFriday is also foram Friday, with some big-ass microfossils on deck! ⚒️🧪🦠

Fusulinid foraminifera are an extinct group of large single celled organisms that produced calcitic shells. Believed to have been photosymbiotic, they were common in shallow seafloor settings in the late Paleozoic.