📣 EvolDir is now managed by @eseb.bsky.social!
We are delighted to be taking the reins and express our gratitude to both Brian Golding who began this service to the community in the mid-1980s and to @rdmpage.bsky.social who ran this account until now 👏
You can now find evoldir here: evoldir.net
CIPRES is shutting down at the end of June: www.phylo.org .
It's been such a good resource for the phylogenetics community. Thanks to #NSF and Simons for funding it and for all the people who have worked to grow and sustain this for so long.
"Extending these deadlines denies timely access to essential government services and information, forcing people with disabilities to wait even longer for rights that should already be guaranteed."
Also congrats to Laura Duggan for doing this! She’s been a force for good in Medford and the local area for decades. I remember when she taught science in a juvenile detention facility and had her students do actual science fair projects to help their learning despite all the restrictions required.
New Sarah Bradlee Fulton statue being dedicated in Medford today, Patriot’s Day. (And yay for coverage in local journalism)
www.gottaknowmedford.com/statue-of-me...
American Council for the Blind on potential delay and other changes to the ADA regulations that had a deadline of Friday for many universities: www.acb.org/notice-title... . Watch for more info releasing today.
Remember regulations just set a floor: #Accessibility is good & important regardless
Washington Post article on STEM cuts at federal agencies. NSF tops it at -42%!
“Between January 2025 and February 2026, STEM and health employees at science-focused agencies saw nearly 15,000 jobs cut. The rate outpaced cuts among other federal workers.”
OPM data - Figure from Wash Post article 19 April. (Where US science has been hit hardest.)
NSF at -42%!
My mom holding an embroidery of a trilobite wearing a crown of flowers.
My mom - a geologist - gets out the embroidery that I made her every spring. Because trilobites wearing a crown of flowers are a harbinger of springtime.
#Embroidery
The eye of a Guttural Toad (Sclerophrys gutturalis with the reflection of a hut and the frame of glasses of John Measey. Palm trees are also visible in the reflection.
1 year ago, the supervisor of my M.Sc. thesis, Dr. John Measey died in a traffic accient in China. A few weeks ago, we published a study with John posthumously attributed last authorship. In fact, you can see John's refelction in the toad's eye in the study's figure.
Study: doi.org/10.1016/j.is...
Picture of a rubber mallet with SSB on it, on a table with a rasp, a file, and a sanding block
I still have (and use) the SSB ( @systbiol.bsky.social ) mallet Luke Harmon gifted me for being the “hammer of SSB” (sending “not angry, just disappointed” emails to our then-publisher who was having issues putting our papers in the right journal, with correct authors, etc.)
#ScientificPublishing
I’ll never forget reading an econ textbook in my PhD program that proudly claimed that theory was not necessary in studies because economists could just “use intuition.”
NAVIGATING UNCERTAINTY Individual Resilience and Collective Action in Evolutionary Biology LIGHTNING TALKS: 9:15 - 10:30 AM EDT Focus on the collective: what can our community do in a time of uncertainty? PROTHAMA MANNA, CLEMSON UNIV. MOHAMED NOOR, DUKE UNIVERSITY RUTH SHAW, UNIV. OF MINNESOTA JOSEPH GRAVES, NC A&T STATE UNIV. SCOTT EDWARDS, HARVARD UNIV. EMILY JOSEPHS, MICHIGAN STATE UNIV. ALISON DAVIS RABOSKY, UNIV. OF MICHIGAN WORKSHOP & BREAKOUTS: 11 - 12:30 PM EDT Focus on the individual: how scientists can respond constructively, creatively, and sustainably in the face of instability NELIA VIVEIROS, UNIV. OF COLORADO ANSCHUTZ MEDICAL CAMPUS
👋 👋 SSE members, I hope you'll join me May 21 for the virtual SSE Presidential Symposium:
Navigating Uncertainty: Individual Resilience and Collective Action in Evolutionary Biology
Pls RT to help get the word out!
@phylieu.bsky.social and I have another paper in our informal series, “we worry about diversification rates.” This time, how to get unbiased estimators of speciation & extinction, even when looking at small clades as part of MiSSE, CLaDS, etc. models.
Overview: brianomeara.info/posts/biasco...
You have to convince him it’s a “plant mimic of insect compound eyes (each kernel is a pseudo-ommatidium)” and then maybe he’ll go for it. Otherwise, it’s just tame mutant grass.
One week until the digital #accessibility deadline for many US colleges (and other institutions)
www.carnegiehighered.com/ada-title-ii...
This program transformed my career! Please apply.
@hhmi-science.bsky.social's #FreemanHrabowski Scholars Program offers early career faculty up to $10M over 10 yrs, plus salary & benefits. Postdoc? This year's competition has a program for you too. Applications open 11/3! bit.ly/4vhC0LA
Finally updated the search engine behind econlit-db to Meilisearch. Everything should be quite fast now -- under a second or two. Let me know if you have any bugs. paulgp.com/econlit-pipe...
The #ERC just announced new rules!
erc.europa.eu/news-events/...
If you got a B score before, you’re blocked for 2 years (instead of 1). A C score means 3-year exclusion.
This applies to the 2027 call for now, but I’d expect this to stick. Important for anyone planning to apply this round!
Come work with us!
Our REU renewal was funded!
We found out today so we are accepting applications now! Like right now!
Application review is going to happen swiftly as we know we’re are late in the typical cycle.
pa.msu.edu/undergraduat...
#reu #physics #astronomy #research
Nnedi wearing a katydid t-shirt
Division of Entomology doorway
Relatives of the lanternfly.
I got to spend some time in the Division of Entomology at Yale Peabody Museum today. The entomologists I met...I definitely found some of my people, 😃! Got to see so many insects up close that I have only dreamed of seeing in person (albeit...preserved). And my t-shirt was purely coincidental, lol!!
WANTED: Lead Collections Manager. Smithsonian NMNH Botany is looking for a Supervisory Museum Specialist to manage the United States National Herbarium and a top-notch collections team. For more information, visit USAJOBS (www.usajobs.gov/job/864499200). Applications due in two weeks (1 May 2026).
New blog post about R4.6 #rstats
www.jumpingrivers.com/blog/whats-n...
“Under new policy, every dissertation must have one chapter illustrating your skills in dealing with emails.”
Oh, wait, that’s why we have them schedule meetings with a bunch of faculty at once!
I’ve now registered for in person poster #70 and virtual talk #117 for #Evol2026. My guess is the numbers are assigned sequentially, so that might give a hint of engagement so far. Register today!
www.evolutionmeetings.org
I’ve now registered for in person poster #70 and virtual talk #117 for #Evol2026. My guess is the numbers are assigned sequentially, so that might give a hint of engagement so far. Register today!
www.evolutionmeetings.org
Just always index starting at 2. Regardless of language, the first element or two in a set is bad, like the first pancake. Life is happier if you just skip them. 😉
If you hear of a graduate student who is being railroaded by their advisor and their thesis committee is not doing their job (which is to evaluate, correct, and protects the student’s interest, not your colleague’s) you can claim it’s not really your problem.
But really you are part of the problem.
I love when new versions of the Eukaryotic tree come out, just casually reorganizing our understanding of the diversity of life.
I may study birds but showing students how incredibly animal/vertebrate-centric our understanding of biodiversity is has to be one of my absolute favorite things.
Virtual -- held in May -- is very cheap (and free for many in low income countries). The in-person one in June includes full access to the virtual as well.