Mónica Páez-Vacas

A photo of a threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), a small, elongate fish with iridescent green color along the back and translucent fins.

Dynamics of infection and immunity over 50 years as marine stickleback adapt to freshwater
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Pranav Sriramulu et al.
📷: Gilles San Martin

Having Sir David Attenborough narrate a story based on our findings on the dyeing poison frog was something that I never imagined, even in my wildest dreams. Now it’s happening, in the new BBC series “Parenthood” (Episode on Freshwater)! 🤩 www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Zih...
📸: Screenshot from trailer

Catching Biodiversity in the Wind: How a Simple Dust Cloth Revolutionizes Airborne eDNA Monitoring Post provided by Meng Yao Biodiversity is disappearing at an alarming rate worldwide. To protect it, we first need to monitor it—but tracking species traditionally requires significant time, expert…

Go check out our new post on the Methods Blog!

Find out how a simple dust cloth might revolutionize airborne eDNA monitoring 🧬 🌍 🧪

buff.ly/BhIKcKq

a canva graphic that says "How it works Step 1: Go to SkypeAScientist.com Step 2: Click “Sign Up” then “Scientist Sign Up Form” Step 3: Tell us about yourself Step 4: Get matched with a classroom Step 5: Connect with the teacher Step 6: Make a kid’s day isn't that great? @SkypeAScientist"

Scientists!

@skypeascientist.bsky.social matches scientists with classrooms, libraries, & more for virtual Q&As! It's easy and fun!

We are looking for 750 more volunteers by 8/15

If you're down to chat with 1-5 classrooms this semester, sign up here
www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html

Map of Bioko Island with photos of male (Phase J, green) and female (Phase F, orange) forest reed frogs (Hyperolius tuberculatus) and the crater lake habitats at which the study was conducted.

A project that started during my PhD: why is the Forest Reed Frog (and #reedfrogs in general) sexually #dichromatic. More questions than answers but it looks like sexual niche partitioning is not the explanation 🐸🏝️🎨 big thank you to my coauthors for their patience! academic.oup.com/iob/article/...

Biodiversity conservation requires integration of species-centric and process-based strategies | PNAS Conservation science and policy are geared primarily toward the preservation of species and habitats, with priority often given to the rarest, most...

Conservation needs to focus better on maintaining & enhancing the processes that allow ecosystems to function & adapt in a rapidly changing world

In our new paper we explore key processes - such as evolution, movement & biotic interactions - metrics, & how to conserve them
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Reconsidering space-for-time substitution in climate change ecology - Nature Climate Change Ecologists often leverage patterns observed across spatial climate gradients to predict the impacts of climate change (space-for-time substitution). We highlight evidence that this can be misleading n...

New paper out on the dangers of using patterns across spatial climate gradients to predict what will happen with changing climate. That includes species distribution modeling. Space-for-time substitution can be misleading in sign, not just the magnitude of effects.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Introduction to Biodiversity Genomics Course
📅 Nov 24–28, 2025 | 📍 Mendoza, Argentina
In-person course for Latin Americans starting with genomic data analysis.
📝 Pre-registration open
🔗 biodiversitygenomicslatam.weebly.com
@joanameier.bsky.social @evoargentina.bsky.social

Our paper, led by Eva van der Heijden, shows the work of an international team combining phylogenomics, hybridisation tests, population and comparative genomics and pheromone analyses to resolve the taxonomy and evolution of two rapid radiations of glasswing butterflies. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Check out our new special feature: Monitoring and Restoring Gene Flow in the Increasingly Fragmented Ecosystems of the Anthropocene www.pnas.org/topic/574 #biodiversity #evolution #ecology #popgen #ClimateEmergency

So very excited for the magnum opus of my #PhD to finally be out in @pnas.org. 🎉🎉 We demosntrate that mutualistic co-mimicking tropical butterflies not only converge in light microhabitat but, as a consequence, have also converged in visual system morphology! 1/n😀
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Scientific illustrators and artists are irreplaceable!! Check out these prints:

Supporting scientists who study and work abroad

Studying or working abroad comes with many challenges but also great opportunities. What can help early-career researchers navigate this journey? Check out my answer (and those of other researchers) in this @science.org piece: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #NextGenSci

Between hype and hope: De-extinction is a tool, not a panacea for the biodiversity crisis With recent claims of dire wolf resurrection, de-extinction has refueled public imagination and scientific controversy. This piece critically examines…

Between hype and hope: De-extinction is a tool, not a panacea for the biodiversity crisis
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Meet Estefany Caroline Guevara-Molina
iobopen.com/2025/06/30/m...
IOB coauthor of
Heat-Induced Hatching: Clarifying Effects of Hydration and Heating Rate on #Behavioral #Thermal Tolerance of Red-Eyed #Treefrog Embryos
Estefany Caroline Guevara-Molina et al
doi.org/10.1093/iob/...

#science #bio

ICB A Systems Approach to #Homeostasis: What #Euryhaline #Fish Teach Us About Organismal #Stress Responses
Mauro, Velotta , @cam-g.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1093/icb/...
#ecology #biology #physiology #osmoregulation #environment #evolution

I've wanted to write this article for years. About my and other's struggles to even survive sometime in #academia. Thank you to the amazing editors at @plosbiology.org that gave me the forum to write this piece. #science

What are people's thoughts on covering HW equilibrium in intro bio? Is it really necessary, or could it be left to upper-level genetics or evo classes?

It would’ve awesome if you consider having a virtual meeting (as Evolution does), for all those researchers working in mega diverse countries to be included in the conversation too.

Beyond latitude: thermal tolerance and vulnerability of a broadly distributed salmonid across a habitat temperature gradient Abstract. Salmonid fishes are a focal point of conservation physiology due to their high value to humans and ecosystems, and their susceptibility to declin

Beyond latitude: thermal tolerance and vulnerability of a broadly distributed salmonid across a habitat temperature gradient, Conservation Physiology, Volume 13, Issue 1, 2025, coaf030, doi.org/10.1093/conp...

Chapter XII: Award Administration Disputes and Misconduct

On NSF Grant Terminations- even if your termination letter says that you cannot appeal, there is a legal basis for you to appeal within 30 days in PPAPG www.nsf.gov/policies/pap... and in Uniform Guidance 200.340 www.ecfr.gov/current/titl.... Appeal and send a message!

Thread with an email being sent to @asn-amnat.bsky.social @sse-evolution.bsky.social @systbiol.bsky.social members today calling for a Tri-society week of action for NSF:

Dear members:
The tri-societies (ASN, SSE,SSB) are running a ‘Week of Action for NSF’. Your engagement is crucial.

Rapid Response Bridge Funding Program In the face of recent abrupt shifts in federal funding for education research, including large-scale terminations of National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant awards, we have developed a rap...

The Spencer Foundation is offering rapid response bridge funding for those who lost NSF research grants.

www.spencer.org/grant_types/...

There are some very good folks involved with Colossal and the biotech is cool. But I agree - the so-called de-extinction work is irrelevant to practical conservation and distracts from what should be MUCH bigger priorities. It’s totally Frankenstein. And the $10B valuation seems totally 🥜

The global distribution patterns of alien vertebrate richness in mountains Nature Communications - Among contemporary threats to mountain biodiversity, biological invasions have been understudied. This large-scale synthesis on alien vertebrates in global mountains delves...

📢Our new paper on alien vertebrates in the world's mountains is now out @naturecomms.bsky.social. Using data on 700+ spp across ~3,000 mountains we explore their distribution patterns,flows across realms, presence in protected areas, and the factors driving these trends.
🐟🐸🦎🦜🦝⛰️
👉 rdcu.be/ebidu

Military base threatens Galápagos Islands

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

Amphibian Declines Increase Malaria In Costa Rica And Panama New studies quantify how intact ecosystems improve human health

Thanks to @jdrakephd.bsky.social for highlighting the importance of #amphibians in the services they provide to humans www.forbes.com/sites/johndr... #malaria #disease #frogs #tropical 🐸🧪🌎🦟

Stewardship underpins sustainable foraging Foraging wild plants and mushrooms can be both beneficial and detrimental to biodiversity. We examine the role of stewardship practices, which are grounded in care, knowledge, and agency, in fostering sustainable use of wild species. These practices are…

Online now: Stewardship underpins sustainable foraging

The Idiot's Guide to Effective Population Size This is a reference manual for the elegant, yet hideously complex concept of effective population size (Ne), inspired by a classic, self-published manual of automotive repair ‘for the compleat idiot’...

Robin Waples' reference manual for the elegant, yet hideously complex concept of effective population size (Ne) #biodiversity #genomics #conservation #evolution onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Genetic diversity is key to restoring nature — Coalition for Conservation Genetics Find out how genetic diversity can be integrated into the EU’s Nature Restoration Regulations.

🚨New #policy research! A recent study explores how the #conservation of #GeneticDiversity can be integrated into the EU’s Nature Restoration Regulations & why safeguarding genetic diversity is key to ecosystem resilience🌿
Read more here: www.coalitionforconservationgenetics.org/resources-da...