Hello, Bluesky! We're the IUCN SSC Parasite Specialist Group, a part of the Species Survival Commission! We're just starting to understand the important roles parasites play in their ecosystems, and our goal is to determine the threats wildlife parasites face and to conserve rare and unique species!

You probably have a general idea of what a tick looks like, but did you know that there are three distinct families of ticks, each with their own appearance, habitat, and adaptations? These families are the Ixodidae (or hard ticks), Argasidae (or soft ticks), and the Nuttalliellidae. (1/4)

Using this new textbook to prepare disease ecology lectures, it’s just fabulous! Smooth and clear writing, excellent topics highlighted, and beautiful figures and layout throughout. If you have any interest at all in wildlife pathogens and disease ecology, GET THIS BOOK. Seriously.

If you're a person who shops on Amazon, I've just seen that the paperback version of our textbook is on sale for $35! Buy it and read about scientists chasing wombats with nets and plunging into frigid cave water to search for bats. www.amazon.com/Emerging-Zoo...

Upon learning that yesterday would be my last day as a program officer at the National Science Foundation, I shared this parting message with my colleagues. The next few months will be frenetic and stressful for them. Here are some things that you can do to help them with the mission ahead. (1)

Devastating for scientists and their research, and everyone who benefits from that research. I’m not sure if everyone outside academia is aware that a delay or “pause” in grant funding often means the researchers themselves are lost from the field, along with their expertise.

I had so much fun meeting Mike, chatting about snake parasites, and visiting Snake Road for the first time. Check out the podcast episode to hear our fireside chat.

NSF makes you say who you got conflicts (coauthored) with. We (really just Jordan Matelsky) just built you a tool for that. Literally one click: bib.experiments.kordinglab.com/nsf-coa

If you read and enjoyed our book, Emerging Zoonotic and Wildlife Pathogens, we'd love to have more reviews on Amazon to help more readers find the book. Whether you write a review or not, I have lots of disease-themed stickers, so email if you'd like to receive some snail mail!