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thomsanger.bsky.social
Thom Sanger
@thomsanger.bsky.social
960 followers 1K following 39 posts
Associate Professor at Loyola University Chicago Evolution and development of lizards focusing on the face and genitalia Teaches classes on animal diversity, the evolution of sex, and science communication anolisevodevo.space
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Reposted by Thom Sanger
andreamurillo.bsky.social
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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sciencevs.bsky.social
Science Vs @sciencevs.bsky.social · 7d
This moment from our latest episode with science writer @edyong209.bsky.social is 🔥

We asked Ed — how do we talk up the benefits of science in the face of government cuts? He told us that's the wrong approach. 🧪

Listen wherever, or watch on Spotify 👇

open.spotify.com/episode/7Evh...
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Reposted by Thom Sanger
jexpbiol.bsky.social
Journal of Experimental Biology @jexpbiol.bsky.social · 28d
Water anoles take a bubble of air down when they submerge, which they breathe like a tiny scuba tank, and now @lindseyswierk.bsky.social & co reveal that the reptiles may also be using the bubble like a gill, to breathe oxygen directly from the water

journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...
A submerged water anole (Anolis aquaticus) with a bubble of air held on its head. Photo credit: Lindsey Swierk.
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aaronhgriffing.bsky.social
Aaron Griffing @aaronhgriffing.bsky.social · 13d
I was collecting #quail #embryos this morning and found an individual with albinism! Look at the lack of pigment in the retinal epithelium! Reminds me of finding a leopard #gecko embryo with the same condition during my PhD.
Two quail embryos. The individual on the left has dark pigment in it's eye while the individual on the right has no visible pigment in the eye. Two leopard gecko embryos. The individual on the left has dark pigment in it's eye while the individual on the right has no visible pigment in the eye.
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Reposted by Thom Sanger
joshuasweitz.bsky.social
Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 14d
New from #SCIMaP - analysis of the White House’s Proposed FY 2026 National Science Foundation Budget.

Take-home: Slashing NSF by >50% will lead to ~$11 billion in economic loss and extensive job loss and reduced training opportunities in communities nationwide.

Report: osf.io/e8rnc

a 🧵
Economic loss from the White House's NSF FY 2026 Proposed Budget
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holyanole.bsky.social
Bonnie Kircher @holyanole.bsky.social · 15d
@a-weberling.bsky.social & I characterize oogenesis from initiation in the germinal bed to ovulatory follicles for the first time in the brown anole, a powerful reptile model for evo-devo & functional genetics!
Full preprint here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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sicbjournals.bsky.social
SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · 23d
Read ICB's latest #editorial
on #Communicating #Science with New Purpose

@thomsanger.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1093/icb/...

"The #scientific enterprise of the United States is facing challenges on a scale that many living #scientists have never encountered..."

#communication #scicomm #PhD
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thomsanger.bsky.social
Thom Sanger @thomsanger.bsky.social · 27d
Thanks. In terms of the most fun read, my students enjoy Alan Alda's If I Had This Look on My Face... I think that the biggest punch per page comes from parts 1 and 3 of Win Every Argument by Mehdi Hasan. I think that they appreciate that the lessons and examples transcend science communication.
thomsanger.bsky.social
Thom Sanger @thomsanger.bsky.social · 28d
Link to the full editorial: academic.oup.com/icb/advance-...
Communicating Science with New Purpose
Synopsis. The scientific enterprise of the United States is facing challenges on a scale that many living scientists have never encountered. After nearly a
academic.oup.com
thomsanger.bsky.social
Thom Sanger @thomsanger.bsky.social · 28d
My short editorial is just a primer, the beginning of a much longer conversation. I encourage everyone to read those books to better understand how to effectively communicate with purpose and impact. I use those books in class, and my students love them.
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thomsanger.bsky.social
Thom Sanger @thomsanger.bsky.social · 28d
I will unpack this in blog posts for @sicbjournals.bsky.social down the road. In the meantime, the approaches I discuss are motivated by books such as Win Every Argument, Championing Science, Made to Stick, Don't be such a Scientist, and If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on my Face.
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thomsanger.bsky.social
Thom Sanger @thomsanger.bsky.social · 28d
The way scientists communicate technical information among ourselves is largely ineffective at reaching non-technical audiences. By describing considerations of effective/persuasive communication, I aim to lower barriers for fellow scientists to experiment with new communication strategies.
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thomsanger.bsky.social
Thom Sanger @thomsanger.bsky.social · 28d
I am one of a growing number of voices encouraging the scientific community to engage with people and policymakers outside of our typical professional circles. Our professional organizations, including @sicb.bsky.social, also need to engage with new audiences by making their science accessible.
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jacquelyngill.bsky.social
Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 29d
A student told her professor “President Trump’s laws state that there are two genders,” and that the lesson was “illegal” for contradicting that. It’s not. Executive orders are not laws.

Compliance with authoritarianism will not protect universities. Either we stand up for our missions or we fall.
asociologist.bsky.social
Dan Hirschman @asociologist.bsky.social · 29d
Texas A&M’s President just removed a dean and department head from their positions after they supported a professor whose lesson on gender was challenged by a student. www.kbtx.com/2025/09/09/a...
A&M Dean removed following student complaints over curriculum
The Department of Justice has also acknowledged the situation and said it would be investigating.
www.kbtx.com
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dev-journal.bsky.social
Development @dev-journal.bsky.social · 29d
Issue 16 is complete!

On the cover: Embryonic eye of an anole lizard stained for nuclei and F-actin. The image was acquired at the 2025 MBL Embryology course by Arthur Boutillon and was the Editor's choice from the Node image competition.

thenode.biologists.com/vote-for-you...
Cover: Embryonic eye of an anole lizard stained for nuclei (DAPI, blue) and F-actin (Phalloidin, orange), imaged by spinning disc confocal microscopy and processed using ImageJ. The image was acquired at the 2025 MBL Embryology course by Arthur Boutillon and was the Editor's choice from the Node image competition.
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jameststroud.bsky.social
James T. Stroud @jameststroud.bsky.social · Sep 5
Come and be our new Chair of Biology at @gtsciences.bsky.social! We are growing an incredibly exciting ecology and evolution group here at GT and would love a visionary eco-evo minded person at the helm to help us do that. Please spread the word!

biosciences.gatech.edu/chair-search
Chair Search
Chair, School of Biological Sciences Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta The School of Biological Sciences of the Georgia Institute of Technology (“Georgia Tech”) invites applications for the pos...
biosciences.gatech.edu
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danpaluh.bsky.social
Dan Paluh @danpaluh.bsky.social · Sep 2
Our new paper is out in Royal Society Open Science! The metamorphic transition of the frog mouth: from tadpole keratinized mouthparts to adult teeth doi.org/10.1098/rsos...
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jcatchen.bsky.social
Julian Catchen @jcatchen.bsky.social · Aug 26
Our EEB department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is hiring an assistant professor in evo-devo. See go.illinois.edu/EEBAsstProf for details. Please share!
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thomsanger.bsky.social
Thom Sanger @thomsanger.bsky.social · Aug 21
@agunderson.bsky.social Awesome stuff! From the paper:
- Brown anole lizards are the most lead-tolerant vertebrates known to science. Field-collected animals have the highest blood lead levels ever recorded for a free-ranging vertebrate.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...?
Unprecedented lead tolerance in an urban lizard
Lead (Pb) is an extremely toxic heavy metal pollutant pervasive in many environments with serious health consequences for humans and wildlife. We foun…
www.sciencedirect.com
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gretchentg.bsky.social
Gretchen Goldman, PhD @gretchentg.bsky.social · Aug 14
My new @science.org editorial on the role of scientists in defending democracy is out today. As authoritarianism takes hold in the US, we must fight for the democratic principles that enable a free society and scientists have a key role. I hope you'll join us.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Scientists’ role in defending democracy
The United States’ democratic leadership, commitment to freedom of expression, and investment in the pursuit of knowledge have long enabled its preeminence in science and technology. Yet today we are ...
www.science.org
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carlzimmer.com
Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · Aug 14
Yesterday I discovered that ChatGPT's PhD-level expertise didn't extend to bird anatomy. This morning I thought, perhaps I was being too hard on the half-trillion-dollar company. Birds are a little weird, anatomically speaking. Let's try something more familiar. A mammal. Behold.
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thomsanger.bsky.social
Thom Sanger @thomsanger.bsky.social · Aug 14
Amazing lizard development coming from @a-weberling.bsky.social . Antonia continues to expand our knowledge on basic developmental processes by studying non-traditional organisms.
a-weberling.bsky.social
Antonia Weberling @a-weberling.bsky.social · Aug 11
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Preprint Alert
Ever thought that humans & chameleons look alike?
We follow chameleon development from fertilisation to oviposition & uncover the process through which they form an epiblast lumen that exhibits striking similarity to human embryos
#devbio #evodevo

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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rrbehringer.bsky.social
Richard Behringer @rrbehringer.bsky.social · Mar 26
12 examples of how developmental biology research led to fundamental discoveries for biomedical research. There are many more! Download ppt & jpg versions on @socdevbio.bsky.social website. Use & modify as needed. Poster formats are also posted to print & hang in your lab!
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nanthwal.bsky.social
Neal Anthwal @nanthwal.bsky.social · Aug 6
The Tucker group @ccrb27.bsky.social is looking for a new postdoc to look at the interplay between the microbiome and the developing vomeralnasal organ. www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/121845-...
Postdoctoral Research Associate
www.kcl.ac.uk
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Reposted by Thom Sanger
ljrissler.bsky.social
Leslie Rissler @ljrissler.bsky.social · Jul 22
“More than 140 employees of the National Science Foundation have signed a letter denouncing what they described as efforts to undermine one of the country’s main science funding agencies. … Out of fear of retaliation, all but one of the employees’ signatures are redacted.”
Amid Fear of Retaliation, N.S.F. Workers Sign Letter of Dissent
www.nytimes.com
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