That’s a wrap for #SICB26! Thanks to new friends and old for lovely meetups and stopping by my poster to talk stinging cell evolution. Till next time @sicb.bsky.social!!

Now that shutdown is over, I'm looking forward to #SICB2026 in Portland, Oregon in January! Please check out Session 18: A Stinging Sense of Self: Cnidarian Cell Type Evolution on Sunday Jan. 4 at 10:00am! Also please reach out if you're interested in making lunch/dinner plans during the conference!

A Newsweek article on Turritopsis, featuring insights and commentary from Mike Layden, Christy Schnitzler, and Maria Pia Miglietta, explaining the importance of studying cnidarian species to advance our knowledge of regeneration and stem cell biology. A nice read! www.newsweek.com/the-immortal...

Hey KU students — we’re hiring! 🐍 Join us as a Herpetology Curatorial Assistant and help organize, prepare, and catalog specimens in the KU Herpetology Collection. Must be able to work 4 hrs/week & be comfortable handling fluid-preserved amphibians and reptiles. Learn more & apply ➡️ rockcha.lk/nzq

Interested in cell adhesion, evolution of multicellularity, or developing tools for emerging marine models? My lab at UM is hiring a postdoc, and the application is now open: 🔗 tinyurl.com/28jvu4aa If you know anyone looking for a postdoc, please pass this along!

One of ICB's frequently read papers Investigating the #evolution and features of regeneration using #cnidarians @aidemm.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/icb/... The ability to #regenerate can greatly vary between #animal groups and cell types... #science #biology #biologists

Drawing together findings from several projects over many years, we make a case that neural cell types in the Clytia larva have two embryological origins: i-cells and ectodermal. bioRxiv 2025.11.17.688882; doi: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

"Saving Science by the Sea" – a piece on the importance of marine laboratories in advancing biomedical science, including the beginning of the Meselson-Stahl collaboration that ultimately elucidated the process of DNA replication: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

We've updated our Hydractinia Genome Project Portal! The site includes genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic datasets, genome browsers, an interactive single-cell gene expression atlas, proteome-scale structure predictions, a custom BLAST interface, and more. Check it out! tinyurl.com/hydractinia

Every year around Thanksgiving, I see tons of grad students post heartbreaking messages on social media about how their loved ones don’t understand or support their decision to study what seems like something pointless or silly. Perhaps my American Scientist essay can help! 🧪🌎🦑 #SciComm

Major #Hype4Hydrozoa! 🪼

Kailua Beach, Hawai’i: The first time I laid eyes on a By-the-wind sailor, I stopped dead in my tracks, dusted the sand off my hands, grabbed my iphone and...

In our last thread, we left the jelly-enjoyers of Bluesky with a cliff hanger ending, in what one eager onlooker described as soap opera science 😜 ... wait no more, we are back! Grab your popcorn shrimp and come with us on a journey spanning more than... bsky.app/profile/iwan...

🪸 🪸 🪸 Postdoc position in my group at Bristol to study the role of venom in surviving environmental stress in corals! 🪸 Interested in venom biochemistry and coral ecology?Please apply by November 24! @bristolbiosci.bsky.social www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...

Happy #worldjellyfishday, everyone 🪼🪼🪼! Jellyfish (and their blooms) are a fundamental part of marine ecosystems, significantly contributing to carbon transport and storage. An ocean without jellyfish would not be a healthy ocean. @universitetsmuseet.bsky.social @unibergen.bsky.social

Our annual fundraiser is officially open from Nov. 3–Dec. 3, 2025! These funds directly support our grad students and their amazing work in the lab, the community, and beyond! To support our students, find us at Launch KU or follow the link below! launchku.org/campaigns/20...

Happy Halloween! 🎃 🦇 🧪

Very happy to see our paper published online natcomms.nature.com. Thank you to @wellcometrust.bsky.social for funding this work during my time with @robklose.bsky.social and David Booth! Thanks also to collaborators @garcialabms.bsky.social @alexdemendoza.bsky.social and the other authors!

🚨 My lab is hiring at all levels! Interested in animal origins & evolutionary cell biology? I'm recruiting a postdoc, PhD students & a research assistant to study the molecular evolution of cell adhesion using marine invertebrates + comparative genomics. 🔗: clarkelab.com/join/ Please repost!

ICB Issue 3 Shedding Light on Patterns of Unconventional Expression of Opsin #Genes in Hydra vulgaris Marina Stoilova, Natasha Picciani, @aidemm.bsky.social , Todd Oakley doi.org/10.1093/icb/... #cnidarians #jellyfish #anemones #cell #hydroid #science

I am looking for a postdoc! Please share with Evo-devo-neuro-sensory people who might be interested. We have multiple projects available so don't feel like you are not qualified to apply if you don't check every single box on the job ad! Apply here: explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...

Resharing - Less than two weeks left until applications are reviewed - Go apply and share with anyone who might be looking!

Good news! KU's IRACDA program was reinstated! We are now taking applications for postdocs. Please spread the word. sjobs.brassring.com/TGnewUI/Sear...

First, first-author paper alert! “Shedding Light on Patterns of Unconventional Expression of Opsin Genes in Hydra vulgaris” is out and open access in @sicbjournals.bsky.social academic.oup.com/icb/advance-... Keep reading for some highlights in the thread below! 🦑🧪

1. The philosophy of science sometimes gets an unearned reputation as a purely academic exercise that offers little by way of concrete tools for advancing research. This is wrong. And today, as we grapple with how AI is changing the nature of scientific activity, it's desperately wrong.

The lost jellyfish art of Ilona Richter, from Anita Brinckmann-Voss's 1970 book on jellyfish of the Mediterranean Sea... 🪼🧪🌿🌊

Every time I see these news stories I think of my best find on Depop yet

ha! excellent! #medusamonday h/t @drandrewthaler.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

If anyone was wondering, the NC Association of Educators estimates that teachers will spend $1,632 of their own money on their classrooms during the 2025-26 school year. Let's help her get that closer to $0.

A friend's fiancée is a public school science teacher in NC and has an Amazon wishlist for classroom supplies! According to the NC Association of Educators, NC is the second worst state in the US for teachers spending their own money for classroom items. www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/...

With many postdoc grants like the NSF PRFB, Ford Fellowship, and Hanna H. Gray fellowships disappearing, I am currently looking for grants that could fund incoming postdoctoral scholars. Here is a thread of some of them 🧵

Hey everyone! @sicb-diz.bsky.social is now here! Follow them for all your invertebrate science needs! 🧪🦑🌎

This sea anemone holds some serious stinging power around their mouth! 📷 Transgenic Nematostella where green marks developing and mature stinging cells, which are densely packed around the mouth. 🪸🧪🪸 #StunningStella #ToxinTuesday @stowersinstitute.bsky.social

In the cacophony of crap news, I recalled seeing this lil' bug. A good reminder that nature is beautiful. Here's a female Sylvan jumping spider, clearly dazzled (or maybe pissed off) at the spider-like eyes of my iphone cameras. Pick an issue, get involved, AND pay attention to the beauty all around

Thanks Luis! Come work with marine squishies and light sensing!

#PASEDB2025 First poster session! 😍 Amazing work from grad students, postdocs and faculty members! #evodevo #PASEDB2025 #PASEDB

🥳 Our amazing community reunited to talk about evodevo in our #PASEDB2025! Find yourself in this nice evodevo-ist people puzzle 🐟🪸🐌🐙🐚🪲🦋🐝 #evodevo #PASEDB2025 #PASEDB

📢 NEW GENOME ALERT In #G3journal, @aidemm.bsky.social and colleagues sequenced and assembled the genome of Bougainvillia—a jellyfish, not the plant!—with 28 eyes and identified 20 cnidarian opsins in the species. Read more: buff.ly/MSyC8Aa

There is also a version for students looking for PhD positions: go.bsky.app/EFj87fi

As requested - A Starter Pack of PIs in Biology (or related fields) who are recruiting PHD STUDENTS! If you would like to be added, feel free to ask! go.bsky.app/Bf4DRFm

Due to popular demand, I am creating starter packs for a) Biology PIs looking for PhD students and b) Biology PIs looking for POSTDCOCs! Please respond saying if which packs you would like to be added to (or if you want to be added to both).

Excited to share our study on sailing siphonophores, AKA bluebottles or man-o'-war! 🌊 we received hundreds of samples from scientists around the world, part of a huge effort to sequence genomes and test for multiple species 🧬 out today in @currentbiology.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.cu... 🦑🧪📌

Calling all lovers of Non-bilaterian EvoDevo!!💙 Our incredible invited speaker for the Non-Bilaterian Satellite symposia at the #PASEDB2025 Paulyn Cartwright @pcart.bsky.social University of Kansas Organizers: Athula Wikramanayake, Bill Browne & @natclarke.bsky.social

#Hype4Hydrozoa 🦑🧪

Long shot, but do I know any folks specializing in weird ocean non-animal blobs? What are these? 🌊🧪

@emilylau.bsky.social @ostratodd.bsky.social et al. show that bioluminescent luciferases in brittle stars and octocorals evolved in parallel from haloalkane dehalogenases, highlighting how gene function and genomic availability shape convergent evolution. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molb... #evolbio #molbio

#Hype4Hydrozoa @gelatinoussting.bsky.social

Do you synthesize or use biodiversity data? Or make it available for synthesis? LTER, NEON, EDI and GBIF are co-organizing a session (ID: 6799373) at the Living Data Conference in Bogotá, Colombia, October 21-24, 2025. www.livingdata2025.com/index.html

Learn more about our recent @science.org paper and our upcoming work in this segment on @pbsnews.org that aired tonight! m.youtube.com/watch?v=d8Ps...

Attention!! The @ku-eeb.bsky.social GSO is hosting a fundraiser this Thursday, May 8th. Please join us for dinner and order off the special menu to support graduate students!! @kubiology.bsky.social @kunewsservice.bsky.social