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

🧪 postdoc in Toronto in a very cool lab!

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...

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

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:

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

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

We need about 300 more scientists before we let teachers loose on the database! Tell your colleagues, we need ya!

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.

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...

"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."

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...

Great discussion of when we should teach HWE in genetics classes. I don't have much to add, except that I actually prefer teaching the messy, variation based perspective (it's complicated) over the clean theory to students who might only take one genetics class. The thread feels like old twitter 🧪

This! And it's so frustrating to me because students are saying 'I use AI because it's better than I am.' Better at what? Certainly not anything we're meaning to assess.

Any advice for convincing a conservation authority (they make development decisions), to let me sample butterflies (IUCN: LC)? Their stance is that my sampling plan doesn't conserve butterflies. We're trying to understand how urbanization affects hybridization. We need high power to do this well.

Every PI who wants to have grad students in the lab in Canada should have to read this.

I know that there is a shortage of reviewers. And lots of people say they're going to review, and I guess never do? But please, don't have more than enough reviewers for a paper and then contact the slow ones after 17 days to tell them they needn't finish because enough people have #crankyReviewer5

📢New article: COVID-19 proved that Universities could make Post-Secondary Education more Accessible; They are just choosing not to #HigherEd 🧪🍁

I'm part of on campus interviews for a position at our department starting tomorrow. I can't believe how stressed *I* am. I have no idea how I kept my cool when I was interviewing. Is this just a memory response to having gone through it?

🎉 The overall winner of this year’s #DanceYourPhD contest is Sulo Roukka, who meshed lab experiments with dance moves under flashing lights as sequined lab mates analyzed hot chilies and mint with fancy footwork. Watch the winning work and learn more about the category winners: scim.ag/4lSpjCl

I finally read @s-m-aguillon.bsky.social 's NEE paper on allllll the reproductive barriers in swordtails, and loved it. We bumped our lab meeting discussing it to next week because we all want to take more time on it. Definitely a paper to teach speciation from. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We have an open 4-year PhD position in the Slotte lab at Stockholm University, to investigate genomic signatures of selection associated with pollination mode shifts. Full ad: su.varbi.com/en/what:job/... Apply by April 22, 2025 via the University application portal (link). Please repost! 🧪

🧪 Good morning #Canadian Academics. We know there'll be a federal election sooner rather than later Time to support candidates who support investments in research that make #CanadaStrong. Follow @core-coeur.bsky.social core-coeur.ca #VotonsRecherche #ResearchersVote 🧪

March Mammal Madness tournament action begins Monday with the WILD CARD! #2025MMM You can enjoy the play-by-play by following @mmmletsgo.bsky.social There is still time to get your bracket & play along! Players portal libguides.asu.edu/MarchMammalM... (use left panel for Educator & Student Portals)

I love this sentiment, but I honestly wouldn't participate. I spoke about my experiences in science in a meeting once and a white colleague came to my office and literally cried about how she was oppressed. I'd rather not go through that again. Instead of asking colleagues to retell trauma, ....

🧪🪶🐦‍⬛🎶🧠📊 New paper in G3 by David Wheatcroft, Niclas Backström, Ludovic Dutoit, S. Eryn McFarlane @erynmcfarlane.bsky.social, Carina F Mugal, Mi Wang, Murielle Ålund @muriellealund.bsky.social , Hans Ellegren & Anna Qvarnström @qvarnstromlab.bsky.social @animecol-uu.bsky.social #evolution #speciation

I love this! How to understand MCMC, but using hats.

My letter to ASM leaders that I sent is too long to be posted here, so I'm going to post highlights in case anyone else needs information for their letter. 🧵

Postdocs: University of Toronto (@uoft.bsky.social) has a fantastic #postdoc fellowship specifically for Black and Indigenous scholars worth $80K/year x 2 years. For more info see here: www.sgs.utoronto.ca/awards/provo....

If you're a non-UK scientist who wants to come to the UK for a postdoc, this year's Newton Fellowships are now open. You'll need a lab to host you (which could be me, but truly, could be any PI, so get in touch with someone you'd like to work with!) royalsociety.org/grants/newto...

Evolutionary Biologists worldwide should read this, and understand that what we see as documenting the world we live in, folks who want to take away basic human rights from people will see as threatening to their world view. This isn't just an American problem.

Sooooo if this whole "biological sex" EO is really happening, biologists are going to make as much noise about it as possible, right? Professional societies, universities, individual research groups? It's really incumbent on us (that's a "biologists us" here) to make a BIG FUCKING STINK

finally, since some folks have asked for starting points for how to talk about this, a short selection of stuff i've written on it, which also has links to even more resources. first, the blog post that kinda kicked off my career: www.jfmclaughlin.org/blog/trans-i...

Ecology/animal sciences folks should listen to @weouthere.bsky.social. I'm listening to the one with Hassan Bayyan and the inequality of volunteer/low paying jobs in science fields really shines in this episode. Short 🧵 creators.spotify.com/pod/show/weo...

Does anyone have examples of successful Vanier scholarships (www.vanier.gc.ca/en/home-accu...) in Biology that they would be willing to share with me? Or any insight on how this might differ in tone from a regular NSERC PGS-D? Thank you!! 🧪

Despite a boost to federal scholarships last year, stipends for most graduate students in Canada fall below the poverty line. My story for @natureportfolio.bsky.social 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Si vous venez par ici suite au sujet de France Inter, voici un kit de démarrage de chercheurs et chercheuses en écologie et biologie évolutive de France go.bsky.app/HM6CfJ5

Need something new for biology next term? I host the BioAudio podcast rather than use textbooks. Students love it and even help me make it. Free on apple, spotify etc. Feel free to use it. Have an idea? contact me to help make an episode. #womeninStem #academisky 🧪 bioaudio.buzzsprout.com/2234324

First day back after a much needed break. But also the first day that my kid was back at school. So, my opportunity for productivity was probably very high. My motivation to do *anything*? Not so much.

Ever thought of inheritance of wealth in animals that aren't social breeders AND are migratory? Read about inheritance of material wealth in collared flycatchers, in the special issue "Ecological and Evolutionary Insights from Very Long-Term Studies" in Ecology Letters🪶🧪🌍 @qvarnstromlab.bsky.social

Great thread of papers describing instances where the breeder’s equation has been compared to observed changes. Honestly, I’d love to see more of this generally - we make lots of inferences, and assume they apply to prediction. How well do these hold up to actual observed changes?

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I ended up adding missed assignments (except for the 'if you don't come with code to be critiqued, you can't be part of code critique day' 5%) to the final. Generally, folks who didn't hand things in (these were all to get feedback towards the final assignment), didn't do as well. This feels right.

I'm teaching a grad course for the first time, and there are a lot assignments that have never been handed in. So, other than that next year I will probably have some kind of late penalties (I hate these!), I'm trying to decide what to do. Should I email all of the students missing big assignments?

Please share broadly! We (Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto) are looking for a new faculty member! Deadline Dec 19. Those working on model organisms and using genomics, computational and systems approaches are strongly encouraged to apply! Reach out w/ Qs! jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...

We're advertising for a TT position at York University Biology in Animal Social Behaviour - Due Dec 15. www.yorku.ca/vpepc/facult... York is amazing and supportive, this job comes with lots of additional support and Toronto is a lovely place to be and live. Please spread widely and apply! 🧪

I really never anticipated how much of my job would just be trying to understand what the input formats are supposed to be, and trying to understand what the output formats are. I'm currently convincing myself that there's no way a software would output animals randomly with no labels. Right? RIGHT?

This! it makes me so cranky.

A really cool new paper about analyzing the contents of dinosaur poop to unravel ancient food webs. 🦕 💩 🧪 🪲 🪳 The coolest part, in my opinion at least? Perfectly preserved little beetles! See figure 2d 👇🏼 OA 🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41... Nature podcast 🎧: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

At least based on my schedule, it’s qualifying (comprehensive) exam season out there! Reminder to PhD students that at its core, this experience is meant to help and support you to develop a strong thesis, and move forward with a better proposal than you came in with