Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Kinsey Brock

Paolo Segre @paolosegre.bsky.social · 10h

Re-sharing this, with about a week left to apply. UW-Green Bay is hiring an ecologist with a strong statistical background. 🧪🌍🪶

Paolo Segre @paolosegre.bsky.social · 13d

Come work with us at UW-Green Bay! We're hiring an ecologist with a strong statistical background. 🧪🌍🪶

Assistant Professor - Biology

Current Employees and Students: If you are currently employed or enrolled as a student at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process. Pos...

wisconsin.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

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Tommy Siegel @tommysiegel.bsky.social · 15h

candy hearts, Beatles edition

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Javier Abalos @abalosaurus.bsky.social · 9d

🧪 New paper out! Growing up, wall lizards undergo a UV-visible “awkward phase” (who doesn’t?) that we can’t see—but they can. These ontogenetic color changes may mediate juvenile–adult interactions by delaying the onset of adult social signals. doi.org/10.1002/jez.... #colsci #lizard #ontogeny

Cryptic Ontogenetic Changes in the Ventral Coloration of a Color Polymorphic Wall Lizard (Podarcis muralis)

Wall lizards' ventral coloration undergoes cryptic ontogenetic color changes invisible without UV vision. We tracked wall lizards from hatching to one year of age. Spectrophotometry and visual modeli...

doi.org

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bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology @biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · 1d

Tip rate estimates can predict future diversification, but are unreliable and context dependent https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.06.680809v1

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Andrew @andrew-ecoathome.bsky.social · 4d

Introducing BIRDBASE, which aims to be the world's most comprehensive avian trait ecology database. Article links to open access paper, & data in Excel spreadsheet. phys.org/news/2025-09... #science #environment #ecology #eco #biology #bird #birds #birding #birdwatching #openaccess #datascience

BIRDBASE dataset tracks ecological traits for 11,589 species of birds

Çağan Şekercioğlu was an ambitious, but perhaps naive graduate student when, 26 years ago, he embarked on a simple data-compilation project that would soon evolve into a massive career-defining achiev...

phys.org

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Matthew Hahn @3rdreviewer.bsky.social · 2d

The most important paper in evolutionary biology I'd never heard of:

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www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California-Berkeley @mvzucb.bsky.social · 2d

MVZ scientists have described over 100 of the 738 salamander species using our very own collections! Today, our amphibian collection helps us answer questions about speciation, toxicology, and biogeography!

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Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California-Berkeley @mvzucb.bsky.social · 2d

🐸AMPHIBIANS🐸

With over 64,000 cataloged specimens, the amphibian collection at the MVZ is one of the most comprehensive of its kind and serves as a vital resource for understand biodiversity🌎, evolution, and conservation.

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Kate Laskowski @katelaskowski.bsky.social · 6d

Yo #teamfish, major dream job alert!

Justine A Smith @justineasmith.bsky.social · 6d

Job Alert! Assistant Prof of Fish Ecology at
@wfcbucdavis.bsky.social, with a focus on freshwater and anadromous coldwater fishes. This is a wonderful and supportive place to work. Please share with your fishy friends! recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07351

Assistant Professor of Fish Ecology

University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!

recruit.ucdavis.edu

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Julia Kreiner @jmkreiner.bsky.social · 2d

Human-mediated land-use and climate change occur simultaneously, but how do they interact to shape adaptive dynamics? Super excited to share the first paper from the Kreiner lab, led by postdoc extraordinaire @rpineau.bsky.social

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Andrea Murillo @andreamurillo.bsky.social · 3d

"Science communication isn't about dumbing it down, it's about meeting people where they are with curiosity, care and clarity."

Great read in Development, and I will definitely try some of these challenges to practice science communication. doi.org/10.1242/dev....

Speaking science in a fractured world: making truth land when facts alone cannot

ABSTRACT. Scientific misinformation is a defining challenge of our time. As public trust in science declines and falsehoods spread faster than facts, the scientific community must rethink its role in ...

doi.org

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Drug Monkey @drugmonkey.bsky.social · 4d

Another pause in graduate school admissions for 2026.
UCSD dept of math this time.

www.math.ucsd.edu/students/gra...

UCSD’s Department of Mathematics has paused PhD admissions -- we will not be able to admit new PhD students in Fall 2026.

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🪾santiago, phd 🐈‍⬛ @santiagokique.bsky.social · 4d

Even though it's crisis #192308 in our current time, I don't think it's sufficiently sunk in with ppl in the academic community that getting federal funding for your research will primarily depend on whether Trump political appointees find you and your work useful
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Changes at NIH Give Political Appointees Greater Power To Fund or Block Research - KFF Health News

The National Institutes of Health’s long-held standard of peer review for grantmaking has been subverted by President Donald Trump and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, who gave unprecedented power to po...

kffhealthnews.org

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N. Joris Fleck @njorisfleck.bsky.social · 10d

+++ Hissscord🐍 NEWS +++

Second call for joining our server! 🐸
Hissscord is open to everyone in the scientific herpetological community, from students to established researchers.

💬 DM me for an invite to the Discord channel, or reach out via email: hissscord[at]gmail.com

Please share!📣

N. Joris Fleck @njorisfleck.bsky.social · 19d

+++ Hissscord🐍 NEWS +++

Our new server is live! 🐍
A free space for young and experienced herpetologists to connect, collaborate, and get quick help.

💬 DM me here on Bluesky or elsewhere for an invite to the Discord channel!

Please feel free to share and repost!

#Herpetology #SEH2025 #Hissscord

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Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 5d

super cool study found human artifacts in Bearded vulture nests, incl. "weaponry like a crossbow bolt and wooden lance, decorated sheep leather, and parts of a slingshot....a shoe made from twigs and grass is ~675-years-old." link to paper: doi.org/10.1002/ecy..... www.popsci.com/environment/... 🧪🌍🦉

Multi-generational vulture nests hold 700 years of human artifacts

Crossbow bolts, sandals, slingshots, and more.

www.popsci.com

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Paul Dufour @pauldufour80.bsky.social · 5d

🚨 Master’s project!
Curious how birds find their way? 🧭🐦
Analyze decades of ringing data to study abnormal migratory routes and uncover what these deviations can reveal about the mechanisms guiding birds on their journeys. Drop me an email for details! #ornithology

www.vogelwarte.ch/de/wir/mitar...

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EvolDir @evoldir.bsky.social · 4d

UMass Boston seeks a tenure-track Assistant Professor in microbial ecology, starting September 1, 2026. Apply by December 1, 2025. Details: http://www.umb.edu/academics/csm/biology #job

Biology - UMass Boston

www.umb.edu

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Holly Moeller @mixotrophe.bsky.social · 5d

🚨GRFP DEADLINE ALERT!🚨 I missed this in my original solicitation read-through, so FYI 📣LETTERS ARE DUE BEFORE PROPOSALS📣 this year!

"Reference letters are due Friday, November 7 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET)."

www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

www.nsf.gov

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Kinsey Brock @doc-brock.bsky.social · 5d

GREAT talk, @elliecat.bsky.social ! 🐻

Reposted by Kinsey Brock

Dr. Arun Sethuraman @arunsethuraman.bsky.social · 9d

From one superb seminar on Friday to another today. So inspiring to hear from @elliecat.bsky.social about her work with grizzlies today!

Dr. Arun Sethuraman @arunsethuraman.bsky.social · 9d

Looking forward to the awesome @elliecat.bsky.social’s lecture today in our EEB seminar series! “Not All Bad News: Minor Genomic Impacts of Population Declines in Brown Bears” Noon Pacific in the Gold Auditorium, Shiley Biosciences Center. See ya there!

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Journal of Systematics and Evolution @journalsysevo.bsky.social · 5d

In this systematic performance evaluation of #STRUCTURE, the most popular #population clustering method, Xiao-Xu Pang and Da-Yong Zhang offer praise--but also caution.
Find out why!⬇️

doi.org/10.1111/jse....

#JSE #evolution #technology #systematics

A cautionary note on using STRUCTURE to detect hybridization in a phylogenetic context

Using simulations, we provide the first systematic evaluation of the performance of STRUCTURE under a variety of cross-species hybridization scenarios. We find that STRUCTURE performs well in identif...

doi.org

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Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 6d

🫠 CSU Administration Says It Will Hand Over Faculty and Staff Information to Federal Agency. www.calfac.org/csu-administ...

CSU Administration Says It Will Hand Over Faculty and Staff Information to Federal Agency - California Faculty Association

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)—an agency significantly reshaped by President Donald Trump—has initiated an antisemitism complaint

www.calfac.org

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ClutchScience (Jen Phillips) @clutchscience.bsky.social · 6d

Very nice reporting on the importance—and the vulnerability— of model organism databases

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Model organism databases face budget cuts and closures

Beyond the crucial data they contain, these digital archives have provided an important space for academic communities to exchange ideas and resources.

www.nature.com

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Rebecca Watson @skepchick.org · 6d

An official website of the United States government.

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Journal of Evolutionary Biology @jevbio.bsky.social · 6d

How do light and noise pollution impact selection on sexual signals? We tested mate attraction and bat predation on túngara frogs. Light and noise interact in complex ways, and light pollution shifts selection on male calling:

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

@andrewdcronin.bsky.social et al.

Noise pollution and artificial light at night alter selection pressures on sexual signals in an urban adapter

Abstract. Human-induced environmental changes can have major impacts on how individuals communicate. Species using sexual signals may experience especially

doi.org

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