I’ve had the same editor since 1967. Many times he has said to me over the years or asked me, Why would you use a semicolon instead of a colon? And many times over the years I have said to him things like: I will never speak to you again. Forever. Goodbye. That is it. Thank you very much. And I leave. Then I read the piece and I think of his suggestions. I send him a telegram that says, OK, so you’re right. So what? Don’t ever mention this to me again. If you do, I will never speak to you again

Maya Angelou on the joys of being edited

Is a nickel a day enough to protect nature? I think we get so much more - fresh air, water, nourishment, jobs, inspiration, beauty - than a nickel a day. While "Canada's Strategy to Protect Nature" is a major $3.8B boost (yay!), it's still only a nickel a day per person in 🇨🇦

Check out media coverage on polar bear climate change adaptations paper published in Ecological Monographs by @colingarroway.bsky.social and colleagues!!

I think this is our lab's first paper in a proper ecology journal. We are now card carrying ecologists!

This graph shows exponentially increasing publications for the term genomic offsets from 2015 to 2024

Special Feature in AmNat @asn-amnat.bsky.social just out on Genomic Forecasting. "Collectively, the articles underscore both the promise and the limitations of genomic forecasting while [showing] predictive performance is context dependent" 🧬🧪👨‍🔬🖥️🌲🐋🌿 www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

No Pedigree, No Problem: Genomic Inbreeding Tracks Genetic Rescue With High Resolution With increasing habitat fragmentation and population isolation, inbreeding becomes a pressing concern for the persistence of wildlife populations. Detailed inbreeding monitoring is crucial for assess...

Very cool work based on an amazing long term study of bighorn sheep: No Pedigree, No Problem: Genomic Inbreeding Tracks Genetic Rescue With High Resolution - Mitchell et al: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Neither Conservative nor Liberal Canadian gov'ts understand how university research works. They think that a few top people are key, don't provide increased funding once these hotshots move in, so that more proposals are chasing the same $. Lots of 🇨🇦 talent unfunded and unseen. 🧪

Epigenetics in Captivity: Restoring Wild Phenotypes in Captive‐Reared Salmonids Captive rearing is a common practice for the stocking, conservation, and supplementation of fish species worldwide, but captive-reared fish can exhibit altered phenotypes leading to reduced fitness i...

My lab’s first publication is out now! MSc student Tia Attfield reviewed the current captive rearing literature in salmonids and provides perspectives on how epigenomics can help.

Huge thanks to all our co-authors for their expert insights!

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Sorry I missed it! Just back from fieldwork this afternoon

Introgression and parental conflict shape repeated occurrences of postzygotic isolation in Mimulus Postzygotic reproductive isolation is often thought to accumulate as a byproduct of neutral divergence. Yet it frequently evolves rapidly, in line wit…

I am SO THRILLED to share our first fully-lab lab paper!!!!!! Led by @hybridzones.bsky.social & @hagarsoliman.bsky.social, w/ a major assist from @pfschwarz.bsky.social!!!!!!!!!!!!! Read more below, if you're curious (you should be- it's AWESOME!!!!!!!)

link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Are warmer oceans good or bad for #fish? 🐟 The answer is a dangerous paradox. Our new paper in @natecoevo.nature.com shows how marine heatwaves may create “fake” fish gains that mask a large-scale crash. Read our findings here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

@mncn-csic.bsky.social #ClimateChange

Chronic ocean heating fuels ‘staggering’ loss of marine life, study finds Fish levels fall by 7.2% with as little as 0.1C of warming per decade, northern hemisphere research shows

Thank you to @theguardian.com for doing such a fantastic job communicating our findings to the public today. You can read their coverage here:
@mncn-csic.bsky.social
@miguelbaraujo.bsky.social
@csic.es

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Estimating global bee species richness and taxonomic gaps - Nature Communications Bees are crucial for the maintenance of healthy ecosystems, yet rigorous estimates of their species’ richness are lacking. This study estimates taxonomic gaps for bees around the world and provides a ...

New paper alert! "Estimating global bee species richness and taxonomic gaps" suggests that we have thousands of bee species left to describe and decades of taxonomic work ahead of us. We also provide the methods needed to apply more broadly :)
doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Screening, sorting, and the feedback cycles that imperil peer review The process of peer review is vital to contemporary science, but is also under enormous strain. This study uses mathematical models to dissect the threats to the long-term viability of peer review, su...

1. Kevin Gross and I have a new paper out today PLOS Biology.

We used economic models based around screening games and the market for unpaid labor to highlight a meltdown cycle threatening peer review.

‪
@eveliendegreef.bsky.social's latest is out in the @asn-amnat.bsky.social feature exploring the challenges of genetic forecasting😀

"Identifying Areas of Potential Risk Based on Future Genetic Adaptability in Three Arctic Whale Species"
doi.org/10.1086/738889 🧪🌎🧬🌐 #consgen #popgen #evobio

A comparison of protocols for isolating and extracting host DNA from caribou (Rangifer tarandus) fecal pellets - Conservation Genetics Resources Conservation Genetics Resources - Fecal samples are valuable for wildlife genetic studies where invasive tissue sampling is difficult, expensive, or negatively impacts welfare. However, fecal DNA...

Congrats to Samantha Barrette for publishing her honours thesis! 🎉👏 While are many ways to get host DNA from fecal pellets, the effectiveness of different approaches is rarely compared. We tackled this in caribou using a full factorial design and a new qPCR assay: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Degradation of fish food webs in the Anthropocene The decrease in body size driven by the selective species turnover is widely altering fish food web topology and function.

New paper out examining fish food web degradation in the Anthropocene. We show the structure of aquatic food webs are changing-- even when species richness doesn’t. These signals are strongly associated with decreases in body size within fish communities. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🌐🐠🐡🦈🐟

NEW PAPER (OPEN ACCESS): How could future climate scenarios may affect the distribution of dolphins and porpoises in the North Atlantic? Here, we modeled the current and future distributions of small cetaceans in the North Atlantic under 3 climate scenarios: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🧪🌎 #ConservationBiology #biodiversity

📣 We are hiring! Please share far and wide... I am seeking an Engagement Officer to support the emergence of a Canadian Biodiversity Observation Network (CAN BON). This position is a unique… | Andrew ... 📣 We are hiring! Please share far and wide... I am seeking an Engagement Officer to support the emergence of a Canadian Biodiversity Observation Network (CAN BON). This position is a unique opportunit...

📣 Join us - we’re hiring an engagement officer for the CAN BON 🍁 initiative!

An effort to transform Canada’s capacity to mobilize its knowledge about the changing state of nature.

See the job posting here👇
www.linkedin.com/posts/andrew...

The Importance of Effective Population Size in Conservation and Biodiversity Monitoring Effective population size (Ne) is a key concept in biology and conservation. Stripped to its bare essentials, it reflects how much genetic drift a population experiences, expressed as a number of ind...

We have compiled a special issue for @evolappjournal.bsky.social on Effective population size in Conservation and Biodiversity Monitoring, dedicated to the late Michael W. Bruford.
This SI is a must read for everyone who struggles with what "effective population size" means.
#consgen

Assistant professor in botany job description for University of Northern British Columbia

Come work with us! We are seeking a tenure-track botanist, preferably in the areas of non-vascular, systematics, physiology or cell. Happy to answer questions.

unbc.njoyn.com/CL/xweb/xweb...

🧪🌱 #botany

We are seeking to appoint four full-time field assistants to work on the Wytham Tit Project for 4-8 weeks in spring 2026. Two 8-week field assistants will join the nest monitoring team; duties for these posts will include (i) collecting standardised data from nest-box breeding populations of blue and great tits, (ii) catching and ringing parent birds, (iii) ringing nestlings, and (iv) inputting data collected in the field. These positions with run from approximately Tuesday 7th April to Monday 1st June. Successful candidates for these positions must have (or be qualified to obtain) a BTO permit to ring adult great tits and blue tits. A further two field assistants will be hired to support a project collecting behavioural (foraging) data for great tits breeding in the Wytham population. These roles will involve a significant amount of nightwork. Duties will include (i) setting up and calibrating electronic tracking equipment and nest box cameras in the field, (ii) mapping tracking equipment locations using GPS, (iii) helping with catching and ringing parent birds and fitting tracking devices, (iv) assisting with mistnetting to re-trap tagged parents, and (v) inputting data collected in the field. These positions with be approximately 7 and 4 weeks in duration, starting from 13th April and 4th May, respectively. Possession of a BTO ringing permit with misnet endorsement and driving license are highly desirable for these roles. All fieldwork will take place in Wytham Woods, near Oxford. All Successful candidates must be able to demonstrate skill and enthusiasm for biological research as well as experience of fieldwork under arduous conditions, and both lone work and working as part of a team. Due to the short-term nature of these posts, successsful applicants must already have the right to work in the UK. Salary & Accommodation: Field assistants will be paid at grade 5.2 (£17.37/hour). Contact eleanor.cole@Biology.ox.ac.uk

We are hiring at the Wytham Woods for the upcoming field season. 4 roles available. Please share with anyone who might be interested. #UKbirds #birdringing

Interested in genetic diversity-area relationships as a potential proxy for genetic diversity? Check out Chloé Schmidt's latest 😀
@chloology.bsky.social 🧪🌎🧬🌐
#consgen #popgen #evobio
with Sean Hoban, @debbiemleigh.bsky.social, & Walter Jetz
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Happy New Year CSEE Community ! 📣We are excited to announce that our January #ECO.EVO.EDU webinar on Mentoring Early Career Writers takes place on Jan 13th! CSEE Members: check your emails for more information + webinar link. (Please note: English event). csee-scee.ca/event/mentor...

Teaching and Mentoring Writers in the Sciences: An Evidence-Based Approach Scientific writing is hard (but my book can help) – but teaching scientific writing is even harder. Nearly all of us teach writing – sometimes in a formal classroom setting, sometimes as advisors t…

Over the holiday, while folks were on well-deserved breaks, our new book was released!

Mentoring writers is hard - we can make it easier for you. Please help spread the word - repost this, tell your colleagues, etc.

scientistseessquirre...
1/2

Please RT: we are looking for a PhD student to work on macrogenetics and quantitative genetics of South African proteas. Amazing collaborative project with @plantecology.bsky.social @debbiemleigh.bsky.social & others, embedded in @terra-cluster.org. Dream project if you love molecular biodiversity!

Do I know any journalists interested in covering a story about a highway and the last population of a frog? Please message me

I've slowly been reformatting notes from my population and conservation genetics course at Montana State University into a web book—a rough draft is now live here: elinck.org/popgen_conge...

Looking for an easy end-of-year gift?
CSEE memberships for your students ✔️ www. csee-scee.ca