Cold morning in Chicago.🥶

We've had a full year of Lunchtime Lectures on a wide range of topics, from woodland management to mountain lizards; tigers to hedgehogs; e-coli to 16th century botanical art. You can watch them here on our YouTube channel: buff.ly/wewQSNi

Sun showing through the mist on a cold morning at the Metra station.

The Arctic has changed dramatically in the past 20 years, a new report shows, as temperatures skyrocket and ice rapidly melts

Phylogeny, ecology, and allometry: hierarchical controls of insect elemental composition https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.11.693773v1

View of sunset sky from Clybourn Metra station in Chicago. Bold kick of cherry on the side.

Population-scale long-read datasets, involving sequencing and de novo assembly of multiple individuals within a species, are better at capturing the full spectrum of structural variants, but such datasets are rare outside of humans www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #biodiversity #genomics

Bruce Collette is a national treasure!🐟

🧪🐠 I am hiring a postdoc! Work will be on patterns of biodiversity across phylogenetic scales using teleost fishes as a model. Apply by end of Jan 2026 for full consideration apply.interfolio.com/179070 I encourage folks to reach out with any questions. Please Share!

New from #NearLab The role of ecology in allopatric speciation of darters in the Central Highlands, USA shorturl.at/YEmxH

Grasslands dawn #ArtAdventCalendar #Photography

Went to a Christmas reading of The Little Reindeer with Joaquin and @beckisuthers.bsky.social at the Crystal Lake public library. Full house. Joaquin did not want to leave. Always impressed w the great programming and resources there. Such a great place.

Nice winter day in Crystal Lake. Deer tracks visible in the snow.

NEWS from Ohio State Fish Division: You can now search our 6,000-tissue collection on our website! 🐟 mbd.osu.edu/collections/...

Joyful glimpses that bring back memories of better times. Maybe one day things will get better and we can imagine a positive future for our children again.

UF Biology is searching for an Asst Prof in Evolution, Ecology of Infectious Disease - spread the word! @ufresearch.bsky.social @ufgeog.bsky.social @sse-evolution.bsky.social explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...

Explore the evolution of man's best friend in a new @pnas.org Special Feature! 🐕 Organized by #NASmembers Elaine Ostrander and William Murphy, this collection reveals how dog genomes and behavior reflect domestication, ancestry, and hybridization: pnas.org/topic/580

Icicle party in Crystal Lake.

Our neighborhood stream in Winter.

Beautiful winter day in Crystal Lake.

Snowed again last night.

Hooray! It's finally out

Pretty winter day in Lincoln Park.

In Peru’s Datem del Marañón province, local communities are combining ancestral knowledge with scientific expertise to protect the peatlands that thrive in this part of the Amazon news.mongabay.com/2025/12/the-...

This is fascinating work: www.nature.com/articles/s41... #microbiomes

Scene in my home office this morning. I did not take these books out, my son must have. Galapagos book open, of course. One of the dogs was looking at the pictures with him though? Plus, what conservation genomics project is my 2yr old considering? Hmm..

Winter in Chicagoland.

Sorry for the language, but this is too good not to share. Exactly where my wife and I are now with our 2 year old. Thanks @beckisuthers.bsky.social for putting it on my radar!

Interesting article on a former coach of Ecuador's national soccer team. Directed the team decades ago but is still remembered. Article in Spanish. www.eluniverso.com/deportes/fut...

A fun book for the fish nerd on your #Fishmas list. 23 essays on Appalachian fishes. It covers a variety of topics including popular “game” fishes. But I especially appreciate the love for fish diversity, including native suckers, chubs, darters and more. #25DaysofFishmas

1,000 butterfly and moth genomes have been sequenced… and guess what they are using them for? Understanding how these insects will cope with climate change. 🌍🦋 phys.org/news/2025-11... #Biology #ClimateChange #AcademicChatter

Beautiful evening moon today taken from Crystal Lake, IL.

Not much accumulation yet in Crystal Lake, but looks like it’s gonna snow all day. ☃️

So happy to announce our new preprint, “A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes.” We cultured a novel amoeba from Lassen Volcanic NP (CA, USA) that divides at 63°C (145°F) 🔥 - a new record for euk growth! #protistsonsky 🧵

Putting on my hat as @asn-amnat.bsky.social ASN President for announcements, please share widely!!! 3. The ASN Distinguished Naturalist award is for a mid career investigator (<= 20 years from PhD). Go here to nominate someone: nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

"Spice of Autumn" oil on canvas 12x12 inches Nicki Ault 2025 #oilpainting #glowingsun #autumnart #landscapepainting #prairieart #dreamscapes #Canadianlandscape #canadianart

I have a story today about interoception--a kind of sixth sense that delivers information from within our bodies to our brains. nyti.ms/4rfTDtn

Devastating. Parents share emotional look inside empty bedrooms of children killed in school shootings. www.cbsnews.com/news/left-be...

This is Mac’s “ it’s Sunday so we’re going to get a pup cup, right?” Face. We adopted him as an adult. I sometimes think his previous owners were Jedis because he often stares at you like he’s trying to perform the Jedi mind trick to get what he wants. It worked this time. We got the pup cup.

We went to the bookstore to let my son browse, and I wound up getting a book of my own!

Stunning sky on our drive. :)

Whitefish are Disappearing. What Can We Do? #GreatLakes www.greatlakesnow.org/the-fight-to...

I am so proud to see Jack's work out: bringing paleoichthyology into the world of ontological phylogenetics. This work comprises some of the most thorough comparative anatomy I've seen, and is a testament to Jack's dedication to transparent, replicable, and translatable science. Way to go Dr Stack!!

Great video highlighting the value of natural history collections and the importance of preserving them for generations to come

Had not seen this book before. Thanks to the Quarterly Review of Biology for putting it on my radar. FYI, I was expecting a compilation of papers like in Foundations of Ecology. This is a summary of classic papers, does not include actual reprints, but still looking forward to reviewing selection.

Big doe in the yard last night.

This is brilliant! 🧪“The Monster Slash” By @ellecordova.bsky.social on IG She performs a song about the cuts to the government agencies that impact our daily lives.

In AIR-BORNE, I wrote about the reluctance many scientists had to acknowledge Covid can float to new hosts. Now it looks like something similar may be happening with bird flu, which may be blowing from farm to farm. Story in @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/bird...

Hi, it's me again I have these calendars. They are so pretty. @megstampede.bsky.social made them. They have a bunch of animals on them, like crows and humpbacks and cuttlefish and salamanders. Each month has facts about the animals AND actions you can take to help them Get one at Squidfacts.net!

My son sneaking in some playtime outside this morning before school. Last evolution session today. Final Exams start Wednesday. Looking forward to winter break. Have a great day everyone!