Ben Sonnenberg (he/him)

White-breasted nuthatch!
#birds

Seed dispersal disruption limits tropical forest regrowth | PNAS Identifying linkages between biodiversity loss and climate change is required for understanding the scope of these interconnected challenges and de...

🦜Animal loss is stalling tropical forest recovery

A new study shows that when seed-dispersing animals decline, tropical forests regrow slower, cutting carbon gains by over 50%.

Biodiversity loss is a climate issue.

🔗 www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...

#SciComm #Biodiversity #ClimateCrisis 🧪

Are you an early-career biologist or ecologist who would benefit from an invited seminar? Would you like to come to UMaine next fall or spring to give a talk? Leave a brief comment with some info about what you do. I'm co-hosting our seminar series again, and am filling out our rosters.

Early morning light on this Red Crossbill. Such strange little orange/red pirates but so charismatic. #birds

Please repost. For those who might have missed it, our School has three ongoing positions advertised. The work environment here at Monash is top notch: supportive, collegiate and inclusive. And Melbourne is an awesome city to live in. Deadline fast approaching. Get cracking on those applications!

Therapy bird pic required for the last week.
Here is a Lewis's Woodpecker from southwest Oregon.
thanks #birds

A winter flashback with Dr. Jamie M. Cornelius, researching how animals respond to unpredictable environments by employing heart rate transmitters in nomadic red crossbills (Loxia curvirostra), allowing for live physiological monitoring under field conditions! Photos by @sonnenbird.bsky.social

Black tern foraging near its nest in central Oregon.
#birds

Amazing summary of the work from the Pravosudov lab!
#birds

YouTube video by Selection shapes diverse animal minds Social drivers of cognitive evolution: the importance of strategic decisions

Next up is co-organizer Alex Thornton @cornishjackdaws.bsky.social talking about social drivers of cognitive evolution @royalsocietypublishing.org. youtu.be/yb4iSyPPaaI?...

YouTube video by Selection shapes diverse animal minds A circuit view of evolving cognition by Dr Stephen Montgomery

Selection shapes diverse animal minds: We recorded the talks at our @royalsocietypublishing.org discussion meeting last year to share with those who couldn’t be there. Our first speaker is Stephen Montgomery (Bristol University) @ebablab.bsky.social. youtu.be/BzmRZlhTcrc?...

The Liberal Misinformation Bubble About Youth Gender Medicine How the left ended up disbelieving the science By Helen Lewis

“We often ask parents, ‘Would you rather have a dead son than a live daughter?’” Johanna Olson-Kennedy of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles once explained to ABC News. Variations on the phrase crop up in innumerable media articles and public statements by influencers, activists, and LGBTQ groups. The same idea—that the choice is transition or death—appeared in the arguments made by Elizabeth Prelogar, the Biden administration’s solicitor general, before the Supreme Court last year. Tennessee’s law prohibiting the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to treat minors with gender dysphoria would, she said, “increase the risk of suicide.” But there is a huge problem with this emotive formulation: It isn’t true. When Justice Samuel Alito challenged the ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio on such claims during oral arguments, Strangio made a startling admission. He conceded that there is no evidence to support the idea that medical transition reduces adolescent suicide rates.

The "misinformation" in question here is that gender-affirming care reduces suicides among youth. It merely reduces depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicidal ideation.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

A male Cassin's finch in the southeast pine forests of Oregon.
#birds

This is figure 1, which shows classifying Critically Endangered species.

A Review in Nature Reviews Biodiversity assesses the geographical and taxonomic distribution of Critically Endangered species, their threats, current and required conservation actions, and strategies to facilitate effective, coordinated conservation. go.nature.com/46e8JY6 🧪

In ovaries collected from mice and nonhuman primates (NHPs), MNGC penetrance increases with reproductive age (left panel). Transcriptomic profiling of MNGCs reveals the top gene categories as degradation, energy production, and immune processes (right panel top left section). Further, MNGCs are closely associated with T-cells (right panel top right section). Additional transcriptomic analysis segregates MNGCs from macrophages and stromal cells. While stromal cells serve as controls and do not overlap with macrophages or MNGCs, macrophages and MNGCs share expression of macrophage marker F4/80. However, the authors identify Gpnmb as a unique, putative marker of ovarian MNGCs (right panel bottom section). Created in BioRender

Reproductive #aging is associated with declining #fertility and increasing #inflammation. @spangas.bsky.social &co explore a @plosbiology.org study that uses cutting-edge tech to characterize the role of multinucleated giant cells in #ovarian aging 🧪 Paper: plos.io/3T84WE0 Primer: plos.io/3HXKN1b

reposting this job as part of the MIND platform. Work with my colleague @neuroak.bsky.social and our large group in this new @braincanada.bsky.social funded platform at @westernu.ca @schulichmeddent.bsky.social with a 15.2T MRI and lightsheet microscopy 🧪 in 🐭

How many trainees were supported by your award? Enter your answer 14.What was the reason given for your grant’s cancelation? Enter your answer 15.Is there anything else you would like to share with the Committee? Enter your answer 16.Are you comfortable with the Committee publicly sharing the information you provided? If you select “ask me first,” please be sure you have provided an email address or phone number. Yes No Ask me first

🧪 Attention those with terminated grants, including for NSF, NASA, EPA, NIH, etc:

Let Congress know about the impact of terminations via this form: democrats-science.house.gov/grantcancela...

Only Dem staff on the House Science Committee will have access (unless if you explicitly state otherwise).

Western tanager this weekend on the Integrative biology student camping trip to southeast Oregon! Gorgeous #birds.

Improving Performance, Accountability and Responsiveness in the Civil Service The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing a rule to increase career employee accountability. Agency supervisors report great difficulty removing employees for poor performance or misconduc...

🚨 Action alert: Two days left!!

Help protect NSF/NIH from political interference.

👎 A new rule (Sched. F) would allow for replacing career program officers with political appointees.

➡️ Action: Object here by THIS FRIDAY. Comments can be brief and/or anonymous. Helps future litigation.

Fun surprise this morning!

O the places that fieldwork can take you.
A large group of crossbills were visiting a private driveway for grit and salt (notice the licks here).
Despite the color, this is a male (golden/orange) type 2 crossbill. #birds #fieldwork

A gorgeous male red crossbill
- a Type 5 from Wyoming for you #birds nerds

New study from long term reproductive chickadee data!
Honored to be a part of the project!

Jackie and Shadow's third eaglet hatches into Big Bear's famous feathered family More than 99,000 people were watching live on the Friends of Big Bear Valley Youtube livestream as the chick worked through the hatching process.

More than 99,000 people were watching live on the Friends of Big Bear Valley Youtube livestream as the chick worked through the hatching process. via @laist.com

Pinyon Jay for cheer.
#birds

Slacker!!

Gorgeous male red crossbill foraging on some very old cones.
#birds and #fieldwork

Welp, made it back after successfully netting the male crossbills we were after.
Already missing the snow and views.

We are experiencing an assault on science unparalleled by anything I’ve seen in my life. It’s not one issue or another anymore, the entire institution is under attack by the most powerful individuals in the country.

This Friday, where will you be?

standupforscience2025.org