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Posts by Matt Kustra

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Sperm can “age” independently of the male, when stored in male or female reproductive tracts. Our meta-analysis finds widespread evidence across animals (including abstinence in men). Important consequences for fertility, sexual selection, haploid selection!

doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

4 weeks ago 36 24 1 0
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Doctoral Researcher in Theoretical Evolutionary Biology (1-2 positions) The Department of Biological and Environmental Science is seeking to recruit Doctoral Researcher in sexual selection theory (1-2 positions) starting 1.9.2026, or as soon as possible after that for a m...

Are you looking for a PhD position, hoping to learn sexual selection theory from one of the true experts in the field? Lehtonen's work is awesome - Look at this and apply!
ats.talentadore.com/apply/doctor...

4 weeks ago 28 35 0 0
Screenshot of the registration page of the Gordon Research Seminar in Speciation 2027 at Lucca, Italy

Screenshot of the registration page of the Gordon Research Seminar in Speciation 2027 at Lucca, Italy

Applications to the Gordon Research Seminar in Speciation are now open! We encourage PhD students & postdocs from all geographies, backgrounds, disciplines to APPLY!

This 2d seminar in beautiful Lucca 🇮🇹 will be followed by a 5d conference open to the broader community.

www.grc.org/speciation-g...

1 month ago 15 14 1 0
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Looking forward to #Dros26 this week. My lab is recruiting and I would be delighted to chat with anyone interested in grad school/postdoc positions in evolutionary cell biology and developmental genetics. Please reach out if interested!

1 month ago 25 19 0 0

Hi friends! Please check Dr. Rosa Navarro’s interview: she is a Professor and PI at #UNAM and the current President of the Mexican Society for Developmental Biology 🪱 🧬 🧫

#LatinaxinDevBio #DevBio #DevelopmentalBiology @lasdb.bsky.social

Stay tuned as we highlight more #latinx scientists! 🫶

1 month ago 9 4 0 0
Rankings of Julia books on Amazon

Julia is quickly becoming the successor to Fortran, once the standard for high-performance computing in science, mathematics, and engineering. It’s powerful and fun to use. Get a solid foundation with a good book:

lee-phillips.org/amazonJuliaB...

#julialang #physics #programming #mathematics

2 months ago 3 2 0 0
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Warm waters undermine cryptic female choice Matthew C. Kustra, Louise M. Alissa, Michaela M. Rogers, Megan M. Molinari, Kelly A. Stiver, Susan Marsh-Rollo, Jennifer K. Hellmann, Suzanne H. Alonzo This is a plain language summary of a Functio…

Wouldn't be possible without my fellow co-authors. Here's the plain language summary! (3/3)

2 months ago 0 0 0 0

This results in nesting males having lower expected paternity at warmer temperatures. Our results highlight that considering the thermal sensitivity of female-sperm interactions will be essential for understanding how climate change will influence fertility, reproduction, and sexual selection. (2/3)

2 months ago 1 0 1 0
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Warm waters undermine cryptic female choice Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

New paper out in @funecology.bsky.social y.social: Warm waters undermine cryptic female choice! We find ovarian fluid only has a positive effect on sperm function at colder temperatures and that sneaker males have faster sperm than dominant nesting males at warmer temperatures. (1/3)

2 months ago 23 13 1 0
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Postdoctoral Fellow, Biological Sciences_Reitzel lab The Reitzel Lab at UNC Charlotte is seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Researcher to join our team investigating the molecular and genomic basis of immunity in cnidarians. This position offers the opportunity to work at the intersection of genomics, immunology, and evolutionary biology, contributing to cutting-edge research on host–microbe interactions in marine invertebrates.Duties and Responsibilities● Analyze large-scale sequence datasets to characterize gene expression and genomic variation.● Collaborate with graduate and undergraduate researchers in a dynamic team environment.● Contribute to publications, presentations, and grant proposals.● Engage in interdisciplinary research connecting genomics, microbiology, and physiology.Qualifications● Ph.D. in biology, bioinformatics, genomics, or a related field.● Demonstrated expertise in large sequence data analysis (e.g., RNA-seq, genome assembly, comparative genomics).● Strong computational and statistical skills for handling high-throughput datasets.● Excellent communication skills evidenced by peer reviewed publications and conference presentations● Strong collaboration skills.Preferred (but not required):● Experience in microbiology or animal physiology.● Background in marine invertebrate biology or immunology.Position Details● Start Date: Flexible, ideally before June 2026.● Funding: Guaranteed for 2+ years.● Environment: Collaborative lab with graduate and undergraduate researchers.● Location: University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

UNC Charlotte seeks a postdoc in Cnidarian genomics and immunity for an NSF-funded project. Requirements include a relevant PhD and expertise in sequence data analysis. More details: https://jobs.charlotte.edu/postings/66089 #postdoc

2 months ago 1 1 0 0
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Balanced polymorphism in a floral transcription factor underlies an ancient rhythm of daily sex alternation in avocado In avocado and certain wild relatives in Lauraceae, pollination occurs via a synchronized rhythm of floral sex timing between two hermaphroditic flowering types. A-type plants present female-phase flo...

Did you know there are 2 types of avocado varieties? A-types switch from female to male, B-types male to female, within a single day. This reciprocal sex alternation promotes cross-pollination and has a simple genetic basis. Read more in this recent preprint from the final chapter of my PhD thesis 🥑

3 months ago 104 49 4 2

Super excited that the bulk of my PhD work is now preprinted! Here we used whole-community competition, or coalescence, experiments to quantify selection acting on genetically diverged strains within larger communities. (1/n)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

5 months ago 102 48 3 2

My lab at Indiana University is searching for a *postdoc* and *technician* to contribute to our work studying the evolution of social behavior using fruit flies as a model system. Details below, feel free to email me with any questions! More info on our research: saltzlab.com

5 months ago 50 79 3 2

Conspecific sperm precedence evolves through reinforcement, primarily via sexual selection acting on sons. Our results highlight the importance of cryptic female choice in speciation and the need for future theoretical and empirical investigations into this process. (3/3)

6 months ago 2 0 0 0

We use simulation models to explore the circumstances under which conspecific sperm precedence can evolve and maintain reproductive isolation. We found that cryptic female choice can maintain reproductive isolation under many conditions, and population size can play an interesting role. (2/3)

6 months ago 1 0 1 0
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Cryptic female choice can maintain reproductive isolation Abstract. Sexual selection has long been considered an important mechanism of speciation. Despite growing empirical evidence that postmating sexual selecti

My latest paper, Cryptic female choice can maintain reproductive isolation, with @servedio.bsky.social and Suzanne Alonzo is now out in the October issue of @journal-evo.bsky.social ! (1/3)
academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...

6 months ago 22 9 1 0
Colored pencil drawing of a devil’s hole pupfish, which is a cute little dark blue guy with gray/black fins

Colored pencil drawing of a devil’s hole pupfish, which is a cute little dark blue guy with gray/black fins

For bounded, the devil’s hole pupfish #SciArtSeptember

6 months ago 17 4 0 0
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Had a great time writing this quick guide on male alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) with Suzanne Alonzo! Was a fun challenge to try and summarize everything that is so fascinating about male ARTs in ~1000 words.

8 months ago 4 0 0 0
summary of reproductive manipulation types

summary of reproductive manipulation types

Male-killing! feminization! parthenogenesis induction! cytoplasmic incompatibility! etc.Wolbachia & its friends do all sorts of reproductive manipulations. F Brenninger,
@romanzug.bsky.social
& I ploughed through existing equations for their spread...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/brv.70024

10 months ago 53 17 1 1
Text: Virtual Evolution 2025. Society for the Study of Evolution Hamilton Award Symposium. Thursday, May 29, 1:30 PM - 7:30 PM Eastern (GMT-4). 2025 Finalists: Meaghan Clark, Dylan DeBaun, Devon DeRaad, Simon Innes, Josh Knecht, Kip Lacy, Gina Lamka, Prothama Manna, Gemma Martinez-Redondo, David Peede, Gabriel Preising, Jeremy Summers, David Tian, Matthew Treaster, and Amanda Vieira da Silva.

Text: Virtual Evolution 2025. Society for the Study of Evolution Hamilton Award Symposium. Thursday, May 29, 1:30 PM - 7:30 PM Eastern (GMT-4). 2025 Finalists: Meaghan Clark, Dylan DeBaun, Devon DeRaad, Simon Innes, Josh Knecht, Kip Lacy, Gina Lamka, Prothama Manna, Gemma Martinez-Redondo, David Peede, Gabriel Preising, Jeremy Summers, David Tian, Matthew Treaster, and Amanda Vieira da Silva.

Congratulations to this year's Hamilton Award finalists! 🎉 Join us Thursday, May 29 to hear these outstanding student talks. See the full schedule on the meeting website: www.evolutionmeetings.org/program-over... @evolmtg.bsky.social

11 months ago 40 21 0 1

Check my article contribution for @qb3-berkeley.bsky.social about the Chichancanab pupfish radiation! 🐟😍

1 year ago 5 2 0 0
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Warm waters undermine cryptic female choice Reproduction is often more thermally sensitive than survival. Thus, understanding the thermal sensitivity of reproductive interactions is crucial given global warming. However, it is unknown how tempe...

Excited to share the preprint of my last PhD chapter, "Warm waters undermine cryptic female choice." We find that warm temperatures relevant to climate change reduce female influence on sperm velocity and expected paternity of preferred, dominant males in the ocellated wrasse.

1 year ago 7 5 0 0
https://evol.mcmaster.ca/brian/evoldir/PostDocs//GeorgiaTech.Speciation The Anderson Lab at Georgia Tech is seeking a postdoctoral researcher interested in the process of speciation. The expected focus of the successful candidate's work will be questions related to evolut...

I'm hiring a postdoc! Searching for a candidate interested in the process of speciation to come join me at Georgia Tech in Atlanta -- an exciting place with a growing core of eco-evolutionary researchers. Various skill sets will be applicable. Please share!

1 year ago 12 25 0 1

So cool!

1 year ago 1 0 0 0
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Microbes as manipulators of developmental life-history bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution

My first ever preprint!
@tylercarrier.bsky.social
and I hypothesized that reproductive manipulating microbes could shape the evolution of marine invertebrate developmental life-history. Using models, we provide insight into the conditions on when it is possible! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

2 years ago 3 1 0 0
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Microbes as manipulators of developmental life-history bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution

New preprint on how microbial manipulators—the aquatic relatives of Wolbachia—can serve as a mechanism to induce marine invertebrates to undergo transitions in developmental life-history.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

2 years ago 2 1 1 0

A new chapter of the CSH perspectives in biology special volume on #Speciation is out!

"Genetics and the Evolution of Prezygotic Isolation"

🧪

2 years ago 8 2 0 0
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I am an evolutionary ecologist that uses marine invertebrates—especially sea urchins and their echinoderm relatives—to study how microbial symbioses are essential to reproduction and development.

2 years ago 7 1 0 0

I'm finally getting around to doing my intro post. I'm a postdoc interested in the molecular interactions between the ejaculate and the female postmating, and their potential to contribute to reproductive isolation and speciation. 🧪👩‍🔬#HiSciSky #AcademicSky

2 years ago 8 1 0 1