Zero biology awards.

In June, the NSF announced it would award 500 extra Graduate Research Fellowships this year, bringing the total to 1,500 — still a sharp cut from the 2,000 awarded in 2024.

However, not a single NSF GRFP in June was awarded to someone studying in the life sciences.

www.science.org/content/arti...

Although 500 new NSF GRFPs were added in June, the total number of fellowships in 2025 remains ~500 fewer than in 2024. Some fields—like CS and Physics—still saw net increases in total awards.

But others, including Life Sciences & Psychology, have taken hits of 50% or more compared to last year.

#MolluscMonday: the wonderful ammonite lampposts of Lyme Regis.

Vaccination schedules on the CDC website have already started changing under RFK Jr. So we published a guide to the evidence-based vaccine recommendations in place *before* all 17 members of the advisory panel were abruptly dismissed by the new admin. www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-... 🧪

& that's a wrap for #Evol2025 ! Thank you to everyone who came to show your support and give constructive feedback for dusti 🐌 It was amazing meeting so many outstanding biologists in the field of evolutionary biology the past few days!

Some sights from the second day of our Texas sampling trip searching for Philomycus! We visited Buescher State Park, Lake Bastrop South Shore, Lake Sommerville, and College Station--lots of cool fungi 🍄

Some sights from around the UT Stengl Lost Pines Field Station, Lake Bastrop, and other hiking trails on our first day of sampling for Philomycus in Texas! Can you spot the hidden animals?

Also in other news, since beginning my master's at MSState last semester, I've decided to pursue a Ph.D instead! I blame the amazing biology department and my wonderful PI and lab for making me fall in love with phylogeography and slugs

Had a blast illustrating some slugs for the lab while I was away on break :-)
From left to right:
Blue-grey Taildropper (Prophysaon coeruleum)
Carolina Mantleslug (Philomycus carolinianus)
Red slug (Arion rufus)
Banana slug (Ariolimax columbianus)

A list of the number of chromosomes of ten different organisms…

Fruit fly = 8
Housefly = 12
Snail = 24
Frog = 26
American badger = 32
Red fox = 34
Cat = 38
Dolphin = 44
Human = 46
Pineapple = 50

* I, for one, welcome our future pineapple overlords

That's a great question, it'll probably be easier to see when we improve the set up! I don't think it's cardiovascular either

New title unlocked: slug radiologist
(MicroCT scan on slug!)

End of semester 'favorite animal' word cloud from my animal diversity class. Not strange at all how many of them love snails and slugs.