Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Eryn McFarlane @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social · 3d

Yelling at the TV about random, useless, absolutely spurious stats is one of my great joys in watching baseball. Isn't this why we watch?

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Reposted by Eryn McFarlane

Rebecca R Helm @rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · 14d

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA

10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

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Eryn McFarlane @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social · 16d

I love a magic trait! I feel like @qvarnstromlab.bsky.social instilled the joy of these in me.

Evolutionary Journal of the Linnean Society @evojlinnsoc.bsky.social · 17d

Magic traits may assist sympatric #Ecological speciation, but few examples exist & evidence for their role is rare. Yet, this study found #pleiotropy affected soil preference & flowering time in #Hawea, consistent with speciation!

Check out the full paper 🌍🧪👇

Ecological speciation in sympatric palms: 5. Evidence for pleiotropic speciation genes using gene knockout and high-throughput phenotyping

Abstract. Theoretical models predict that sympatric, ecological speciation may be facilitated more readily when so-called ‘magic traits’ are present, linki

academic.oup.com

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Eryn McFarlane @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social · Sep 3

Right? It's delightful to be surprised like this.

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Eryn McFarlane @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social · Sep 3

This sounds so weird! I love it.

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Eryn McFarlane @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social · Aug 27

🧪 postdoc in Toronto in a very cool lab!

Stephen I Wright @stepheniwright.bsky.social · Aug 27

Please share broadly: I am looking for a postdoctoral fellow to work on a collaborative project on the temporal population genomics of invasive Capeweed (using contemporary and herbarium genomics), with ‪‪@shaky-dingo.bsky.social‬ and colleagues

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Reposted by Eryn McFarlane

Dr. K. Lotterhos @drk-lo.bsky.social · Aug 25

Today 14 scientific societies in #ecology #evolution and #marineScience are publishing the results of a survey that finds negative impacts of federal policies on food security, flood mitigation, infectious disease preparedness, and wildlife conservation: 🧪👩‍🔬 www.firsthandaccounts.org/impacts/2025...

This infographic describes the main results from a survey of members of 14 scientific societies. There is a pie chart showing that both academic (58%) and non-academic (42%) responded to the survey. It lists statistics: 85% of respondents reported uncertainty about the future; 71% reported federal training programs were "very" or "extremely important"; 83% reported negative impacts or irreparable harm on their field of science. There is a word cloud summarizing open-ended responses with the largest words "student research fund federal grant". Eight major themes in the responses are listed: disruption of research with societal important; concerns of closure of the USGS Bird Banding Lab; Early Career Bottleneck; Restricted Freedoms including travel and speech; Decline in Government Efficiency and Expertise; Concerns about Biased/Removed Data and Data Gaps; Concerns about the Ability to Meet Legal Mandates; and From Positive Impact to Irreparable Harm. There are icons for each participating society and a QR code for website and data availability.

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Eryn McFarlane @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social · Aug 25

I love city fieldwork. 17 colias samples today and back at my best for a late lunch and a student’s thesis to edit. #fieldwork #humblebrag

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Eryn McFarlane @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social · Aug 22

I've immediately passed this on to my lab and my co-instructors. Thank you for this.

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Reposted by Eryn McFarlane

Judith Mank @judithmank.bsky.social · Aug 22

Many of us are using LLMs in coding and scientific writing. They are very helpful tools, but we need to be thoughtful as we integrate them into our work flows to preserve accountability, voice and trust. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan.... An editorial at @evolletters.bsky.social for discussion:

Editorial: Accountability, voice, and trust - responsible use of GenAI in scientific publishing

Over the last few years, the development and rapid advancement of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatG

academic.oup.com

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Eryn McFarlane @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social · Aug 18

@hybridzones.bsky.social and @jenncoughlan.bsky.social - this looks super cool! Definitely on the to-read list.

bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology @biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · Aug 16

Introgression and Parental Conflict Underlie Repeated Occurrences of Postzygotic Isolation https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.12.669975v1

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Eryn McFarlane @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social · Aug 13

I need to say this loudly for those in the back. Shirley Chen was an undergraduate student in my lab. She is an incredible scholar, and so are many of the undergraduates that I get to interact with. Undergraduates are doing incredible research at @york-university.bsky.social.

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Eryn McFarlane @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social · Aug 13

We suggest a careful use of structural equation models to account for many mechanisms to test the relationship between the latent variables (diversity and disease) that we're really interested in.

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Eryn McFarlane @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social · Aug 13

Additionally, because there are so many component mechanisms involved in a net diversity-disease relationship, cancelling out is often considered more likely than a lack of relationship.

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Eryn McFarlane @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social · Aug 13

We found that, as they're usually stated, amplification and dilution are not falsifiable hypotheses. Often, when they're tested, there are ad hoc explanations that are brought in to protect these hypotheses. Null hypotheses are not taken as support for a lack of relationship.

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Eryn McFarlane @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social · Aug 13

Shirley Chen's paper from my lab on the dilution and amplification hypotheses regarding the biodiversity-disease relationship.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Reappraisal of the Dilution and Amplification Effect Framework: A Case Study in Lyme Disease

The biodiversity–disease relationship posits two hypotheses: the dilution effect (where there's a negative relationship between biodiversity and disease risk) and the amplification effect (where ther...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Eryn McFarlane

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · Aug 11

We need about 300 more scientists before we let teachers loose on the database!

Tell your colleagues, we need ya!

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · Aug 7

Scientists!

@skypeascientist.bsky.social matches scientists with classrooms, libraries, & more for virtual Q&As! It's easy and fun!

We are looking for 750 more volunteers by 8/15

If you're down to chat with 1-5 classrooms this semester, sign up here
www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html

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Eryn McFarlane @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social · Aug 11

I'm editing the proofs for my first undergrad student's first paper. I knew this was coming, but I have such a sense of joy, and also relief. I think this is the opposite of imposter syndrome, and it feels awesome.
I'll share the paper as soon as it's live.

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Eryn McFarlane @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social · Jul 28

What you’re describing using genAI for is basically to google faster when you’re looking for a solution to a problem you can clearly articulate, and could solve in a bunch of different ways. This does seem different (to me at least) than asking it to articulate the problem.

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Eryn McFarlane @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social · Jul 28

I agree that you answer no. Not to miss the point of what the journals are asking, but if you’re using Rstudio, it prompts you for arguments in a function, almost like autocomplete. Similarly, if you solve a bug using stackoverflow, you’re unlikely to cite it, even if you’d copied a snippet of code.

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Reposted by Eryn McFarlane

Liz Mandeville @lizmandeville.bsky.social · Jul 23

I'm thrilled to share more cool fish genetics, led by former MSc student Amanda Meuser, and with former student Amy Pitura and collaborator @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social. This one is about minnow hybrids!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Extensive multi-species hybridization between Leuciscidae minnow species

Anthropogenic disturbances can disrupt ecosystems and alter species population dynamics. Interspecific hybridization is common between genetically related organisms, especially once reproductive barri...

www.biorxiv.org

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Eryn McFarlane @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social · Jul 14

Thank you for putting this into words. I have the exact same feeling (why can't I just sit back and enjoy this!), and you've totally pinpointed where this comes from. Thank you!

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Reposted by Eryn McFarlane

Pedro Vale @pfvale.bsky.social · Jul 10

"The myth of meritocracy in science collapses under the financial sacrifices expected at every career stage. From unpaid internships and self-funded conferences to underpaid positions, these hidden costs disproportionately exclude those without generational wealth, compounded by race and gender."

Too poor to science: How wealth determines who succeeds in STEM

From student to researcher, a career in science can come with a high price tag. This Perspective explores how persistent financial barriers limit who can succeed in science, revealing how wealth shape...

dx.plos.org

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Reposted by Eryn McFarlane

Liz Mandeville @lizmandeville.bsky.social · Jun 30

Delighted to post some cool science - a collaboration with my former grad students Cassandre and Jill, and collaborator extraordinaire @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social!

doi.org/10.1093/jher...

A novel sex-associated genomic region in Catostomus fish species

Abstract. Genomic regions that influence sex are hypothesized to play a key role in evolutionary diversification, as sex determination mechanisms may promo

doi.org

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Eryn McFarlane @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social · Jun 30

I’m sorry, this doesn’t fit our criteria of a working ecologist or evolutionary biologist for the science feed.

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