Be sure not to miss @e-v-griffith.bsky.social ‘s latest ICB blog 🙌

This week's #SICB spotlight is on
Division of #Ecology & #Evolution(DEE)

Ray Huey Award honorable mention awardee:

Jon Merwin -
#PhD candidate working at Drexel University for work on
Whole #genomes and community #science images reveal the #genetics of visual mimicry in #toucans

The first circumnavigation of the globe wasn’t done for kicks, it was done primarily in search of nutmeg.

Despite the economic importance of this plant, the history of how it got to the Spice Islands and the role people played in its biogeography hasn’t been clear.

Be sure and don’t miss this #podcast episode and this paper as well👍

#Hormones, performance and fitness: Natural history and #endocrine experiments on a #lizard (Sceloporus undulatus)
Henry B. John-Alder , et al
doi.org/10.1093/icb/...

Dr. Quinlan is a researcher, professor, and curriculum design expert. She is currently the Brenda B. Brodie Endowed Chair for the School of Education at North Carolina Central University. Prior to that she was a tenured Associate Professor of Science Education at Howard University for over 8 years. While at Howard, she was funded by the National Science Foundation to create culturally representative STEM curricula and products for the K-12 setting. Catherine was also PI for a US Department of Education project where she began a peer mentoring program for students in the introductory biology course. Catherine was a program consultant for the new National Geographic High School Biology Textbook which featured Black and other diverse scientist explorers for the first time in a textbook. She has been on the advisory board and a curriculum fellow for LabXchange’s Data Science Driven Science Education. She is CEO and Founder of Visibility In STEM which she trademarked along with her chapter series book for children titled, Keystone Passage.

Learn more about #SICB 's May lunch zoom guest
ICB author Catherine Quinlan
#researcher, #professor, & #curriculum design expert.
drcatherinequinlan.com/about/
& read
academic.oup.com/icb/article/...
Join us by emailing
sicbmedia@sicb.org to get the
link for May 5th at 12 noon est

I am a 3rd-year PhD candidate in Dr. Sarah Woodley’s lab at Duquesne University studying the gut microbiome and its impact on host immune function and development in tadpoles. At SICB 2026, I presented some exciting results that showed altered baseline immune gene expression in the guts of tadpoles raised in autoclaved (microbially depleted) or natural (microbially rich) pond water that correlated with measures of gut alpha diversity, suggesting differential immune priming by these two microbial communities. I also found that tadpoles raised in autoclaved pond water had more severe scoliosis than those raised in natural pond water, which was a surprise result that sparked a lot of conversation during the poster session!

#SICB

DEDE spotlight on Best student poster: Rosemary Westcott

for work on

Preparing for battle: Impacts of pond water on #tadpole #microbiome, immune priming, and development

Rosie is a third-year #PhD candidate in Dr. Sarah Woodley’s lab

I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Biology Department at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. My dissertation research incorporates both field and laboratory experiments with wild sparrow nestlings to investigate how disruptions to the gut microbiome and immune system affect host physiology.

#SICB student awardee spotlight is on
DEDE's
Best student talk runner-up:
Kristen Rosamond
for work on
Impact of gut #microbiome modulation on nesting house sparrow #physiology

parkerlab-umsl.com/people/grads...
.

Stay tuned for an ICB
blog about

irorotanshi.org ‘s work this Tuesday 🙌
@sesantana.bsky.social lab

#bats #biology

A started mural with an iris in the middle and pollinators emanating out from all sides, including a green June beetle, locust borer beetle, buckeye, and red throated hummingbird

That’s a wrap on week 1!

More mural next week.

You can support this project here givebutter.com/KenzoMural

#birdoftheday
Feature on SICBer Tosha Kelly
#scientist & #artist
Check out Tosha’s work
tosharkelly.wixsite.com/toshakelly/p...

April's #SICB zoom was a #book chat with SICBers - author
@biologycarly.bsky.social & interviewer @rchoover.bsky.social
on Carly's
www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/carly...
& if there is such a thing as silly #science & more
Listen to the full #interview:

youtu.be/vgtqYHW3pUM?...

#nonfiction

SICBer Jordan James Bond, interviews Simon Lailvaux @jerry-husak.bsky.social on their #podcast #Biology Exit Interviews.
@bioexitinterviews.bsky.social
& subscribe
www.youtube.com/@BiologyExit...
read Jordan's latest ICB blog: integrativeandcomparativebiology.wordpress.com/2026/03/24/u...

A big shout out to those who came out like
@kassthefish.bsky.social lab:)
for
@rchoover.bsky.social & @biologycarly.bsky.social 's YouTube filming.
If you missed out, watch for the link Friday.
Find out if there really is any silly #science & when do #scientists really take their 1st test.

Almost 3 hours til April’s SICB zoom #book chat with @biologycarly.bsky.social
& @rchoover.bsky.social
email
sicbmedia@sicb.org
By 11:30 am
before it starts at 12 noon est to get the link to
to join us. 👍

#science #biologists

Syeda Mehreen Tahir is a 5th year Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Biology at Arizona State University working with Dr. Jon Harrison and Dr. Arianne Cease. Her research focuses on nutritional immunology, examining how dietary protein-to-carbohydrate ratios shape immune function and disease outcomes. Using a multi-omics approach that integrates physiological assays, transcriptomics, and metabolomics, her work explores trade-offs between immune investment and pathogen susceptibility, with broader implications for host–pathogen interactions in variable nutritional environments. Mehreen is currently seeking postdoctoral opportunities and would be delighted to hear from potential collaborators or mentors at smtahir2@asu.edu.

This week's #SICB student awardee spotlight is on
Division of #Ecoimmunology and #Disease #Ecology
Best student talk: Syeda Mehreen Tahir
search.asu.edu/profile/3884...
for work on
High protein diet increases susceptibility of #desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria to Metarhizium bi

We are too😁🙌

We are so glad you presented at #SICB Portland & we hope everyone stays tuned this week on the @sicbjournals.bsky.social (ICB) blog for your #Art in Bio blog 🙌
( @martinebotany.bsky.social lab)
#botany #artist

https://integrativeandcomparativebiology.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/carly-anne-york-bravely-following-her-curiosity-a-book-review/

SICB's April lunch zoom is coming up with @biologycarly.bsky.social !

carlyanneyork.wixsite.com/website

on April 6th 12 noon est join us by emailing sicbmedia@sicb.org

to receive a link
Carly will be interviewed by #scientist & #writer @rchoover.bsky.social of
www.kassandraford.com/people

We will be featuring our #SICB student awardees over the next several weeks
This spotlight is on
Best #student poster: Yeaeun Park
entomology.osu.edu/our-people/y...
for work on
#Molecular cloning of putative NA+-K+-2Cl- cotransporter cDNAs in the #copepod Eurytemora carolleeae

Don't miss out on #SICB ers @jerry-husak.bsky.social & Simon Lailvaux's latest #science #podcast🙌
& read their recent guest's
#Phenotypic integration and independence: #Hormones, performance, and response to #environmental change
Ellen D. Ketterson et al
doi.org/10.1093/icb/...

#biologists

I love it when a native pollinator garden comes together! A visitor to our lantana this evening, the lined sphinx Hyles lineata.

​​We will be featuring our #SICB student awardees over the next several weeks at least once a week.
This week's spotlight is on
Division of Comparative #Physiology and Biochemistry
@sicb-dcpb.bsky.social
Caroline Terry of labs.wsu.edu/dowd/

labs.wsu.edu/dowd/

#copepod #metabolic #science

New Special Issue: Minorities in Shark Sciences. Browse and Bookmark

How is @misselasmo.bsky.social driving change in shark and marine science?

This special issue in Integrative & Comparative Biology shows programs that address science identity and systemic barriers for underrepresented minorities: oxford.ly/4t9XyrD

@sicbjournals.bsky.social

Not long now! Join us for #SICB 's monthly zoom taping.
In April we'll host a #book chat with @biologycarly.bsky.social
carlyanneyork.wixsite.com/website
&
R.C. Hoover who wrote a review of Carly Anne's book & will interview
integrativeandcomparativebiology.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/c...
#science

Deep-sea hermit crabs from the Parapaguridae family live 1,000+ meters deep! Unlike typical hermits, they often use soft “homes” made by anemones or zoanthids instead of shells. #marinelife Image from @schmidtocean.bsky.social

This week's #SICB student awardee spotlight is on

Steven Vogel Award for best poster:

Chloe Kaelin

for work on
Lake Malawi #cichlids outperform #neotropical #species in benthic feeding

& see

evescholars.wordpress.com/2025-cohort/...

#science #fish #biology

Ellen had some amazing stories when we talked to her!

Of course. Thank you for following 😌👍

Be sure to check out @lale-alpar.bsky.social , one of SICB’s latest followers. What incredible #art 🙌

ICB

UNlearn to RElearn

By Jordan James Bond

"When listening to Dr. Hernandez’s talk on #Indigenous #science, and later interviewing her, a resonant message emerged: the necessity of unlearning in order to relearn..."

read in full

integrativeandcomparativebiology.wordpress.com/2026/03/24/u...