This may be the most important paper ever published about NIH funded research. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Enter the 2026 @sicb-spdac.bsky.social sticker contest! Stickers will be available at the SPDAC booth at the #SICB2026 meeting. Enter submissions by November 3 as PDF or PNG files (>600 dpi; no AI designs). 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place will receive Visa gift card prizes: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

The lab’s research on house sparrows & Eurasian tree sparrows is featured in Chapter 2 of David Stipp’s new non-fiction book, “Why Rats Laugh and Jellyfish Sleep: And Other Enchanting Stories of Evolution," available September 23: www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/david... 🤩🐦📖🧪

"Once you get to the top, you get to ski all the way back down the mountain!" Read @lsubiosci.bsky.social PhD student @jacobcarignan.bsky.social's interview with Quantitative Ecologist Michelle Stantial about her ski mountaineering hobby: thelattinlab.com/beyond-the-b...

A very nice article from @lsuscience.bsky.social about @marquisehenry.bsky.social and his @hhmi.org Gilliam Fellowship! Geaux Marquise!! 💜💛 www.lsu.edu/science/news...

I’m so so proud of rockstar PhD student @marquisehenry.bsky.social who is one of this year’s class of @hhmi.org Gilliam Fellows! @lsubiosci.bsky.social @lsuscience.bsky.social @lsu.bsky.social

"I got all my friends and family to come out and see me being Anne of Cleves! That was great." @lsubiosci.bsky.social PhD student @ezekielbmartin.bsky.social interviews @westernu.ca Biology Professor @bethmacshack.bsky.social about her show choir hobby: thelattinlab.com/beyond-the-b...

"This campaign wasn't written by biologists...I have to come up on the fly with a reason why it makes sense to somebody who knows about genetics." @lsumns.bsky.social PhD student @harveyyamanda.bsky.social interviews Quinn McCallum about his RPG & miniatures hobbies: thelattinlab.com/beyond-the-b...

"I've snapped tendons in my hands, which meant long recovery periods...those moments taught me patience." @urigso.bsky.social Oceanographer Kelton McMahon talking about his rock climbing hobby with @lsubiosci.bsky.social PhD student Yasodha Gamage on our class blog: thelattinlab.com/beyond-the-b...

I had an awesome morning at the #postersatcapitolLA25 event today! I really enjoyed chatting with Louisiana’s best and brightest undergrad researchers @lsu.bsky.social & 11 other LaURA organizations on how their important work helps their local communities, our state, country & world 🥹🧪

"I had the choice of getting a driver’s license for a moped or a sailboat, and of course I went for the boat." Read more about @lsubiosci.bsky.social PhD student Jackson Ferber's interview with @katharinahoff.bsky.social about her sailing hobby here: thelattinlab.com/beyond-the-b...

I urge everyone to read Unbreaking’s new page on everything the govt is doing to destroy & diminish medical research funding. It’s the best thing I’ve read on this topic: @lizneeley.bsky.social & co have such done an incredible job. unbreaking.org/issues/medic...

As I know from when my students try to do it, using ChatGPT to write your scientific reports is not the best idea www.nytimes.com/2025/05/29/w...

The lab was recognized for outstanding research & teaching at this year's @lsuscience.bsky.social awards! Danna Masri won the Undergraduate Research Award from @lsubiosci.bsky.social, former PhD student Melanie Kimball the Distinguished Dissertation Award, & I received a Graduate Teaching Award ❤️

"Everybody who has a voice can sing. One of the big takeaways is that anyone can do it; we are all born with this natural ability to sing." Read @lsuvetmed.bsky.social PhD student Kimia Nourozi's interview with @prolactingrl.bsky.social‬ about her hobbies here: thelattinlab.com/beyond-the-b...

Our new collaborative paper (led by former undergrad Kenedi Lynch) found very high avian malaria rates in Louisiana wild turkeys, suggesting the parasites may be one reason turkeys have declined locally @lsubiosci.bsky.social: meridian.allenpress.com/avian-diseas... 🦟🦃🔬🧪

A new paper from the lab led by Blake Dusang & @marquisehenry.bsky.social builds on past work & finds not all "neophobia" tests measure the same trait. Specifically, responses to novel objects & novel environments were not consistent within individuals: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Three lab members presented their research on physiology and behavior at the LSU Discover Day conference a few weeks ago, and they all did a fabulous job! @lsudiscover.bsky.social @lsubiosci.bsky.social 👩🏻‍🔬🐦🦎🧫🧪

Congratulations to Sara Wang, who just defended her PhD dissertation in Oceanography on how ocean temperature variation affects foraging & physiology in 2 Peruvian seabirds! Sara ran feather corticosterone assays in my lab & I really enjoyed being on her committee @lsu.bsky.social 🥰🪶🧪

Science Writing Tip of the Day: “and/or” reads very awkwardly. It’s almost always better to just pick one and go with that instead! ✍️💻🧪

73% of mothers with kids under 18 are in the workforce. More than flowers or brunch, working moms need: -Paid family leave -Equal pay -Universal childcare (But get your mom flowers, too)

For example: “The goal of this study was to elucidate the role of host immunity in parasite evolution” ❌👎 “The goal of this study was to clarify the role of host immunity in parasite evolution” ✅👍 It’s just so much better! ✍️💻🧪

Science Writing Tip of the Day: “Clarify” is almost always better than “elucidate” ✍️💻🧪

Make your voice heard – join the tri-society Week of Action for NSF! Call and write congress, and tell colleagues, friends, and family about the importance of NSF funding. Find how to get started in our Media Tool: shorturl.at/i7WfU

Three amazing @lsubiosci.bsky.social undergraduate researchers, Ilea Kuo, Hermione Lam, and Danna Masri, defended Senior Honors Theses from the lab this year! They will all be going on to medical school, and I know their research experiences will make them excellent evidence-based physicians 🥹🩺🥼🧪

The winners of this year’s “Dance Your PhD” contest from @science.org @aaas.org are extremely fun: www.science.org/content/arti...

Spotted on a recent walk around the LSU lakes 🐢

We previously showed corticosterone is involved in neophobia (novelty avoidance) in house sparrows; my students @marquisehenry.bsky.social & Melanie Kimball's new paper found this effect does not appear to be mediated via low-affinity glucocorticoid receptors: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/NMYI9B...

Congratulations to all the NSF GRFP awardees, though I was very sad to see the numbers of fellowships this year reduced by >50%

Did you know there is a leaf cutter ant native to the southeastern US? Atta texana, the Texas leaf cutter ant, is found from Louisiana to Mexico, and can form massive colonies of millions of ants! Like tropical leaf cutter ants, they use plant material to “farm” a fungus that they eat 🍄‍🟫 🍃 🐜

Baby longleaf pines are so cute and silly! I was happy to see these lil’ guys on our hike as I’m also reading Janisse Ray’s excellent “Ecology of a Cracker Childhood” (which features them prominently) 💚

Another highlight from yesterday’s hike in the Kisatchie National Forest: dwarf sundew carnivorous plants! (This one has captured a teeny tiny beetle.)

Wild azaleas are blooming in Kisatchie National Forest! They look & smell so good 😍

NOTE! Few days left for applying to this postbacc opportunity @tropicalbotany.bsky.social @invertevoeco.bsky.social @jembrown.bsky.social @clattin.bsky.social @lsuscience.bsky.social @lsumns.bsky.social

Are you ready? #2025MMM

A few of my lab members & I helped out at Kids' Day at the Museum at the @lsumns.bsky.social a few weeks back, teaching local 4th-6th graders about neurobiology and the kinds of research we do in our lab @lsubiosci.bsky.social @lsuscience.bsky.social ❤️💪🧪

It’s Mardi Gras weekend y’all! I was excited to see that my @lsubiosci.bsky.social colleague Naohiro Kato’s biodegradable (and plantable!) beads will likely be rolled out for next year’s parade season 💜💛💚 lsu.edu/blog/2025/02...

Anytime a scientist character shows up in a book, movie, tv show, or podcast, there is a 99% chance they will turn out to be actually evil & deranged & unethical. Not only is this boring & lazy storytelling, it probably doesn’t help the public’s perception of science & scientists. Just saying.

Today in things no one asked for: massive firings at the National Science Foundation. Don’t worry, I’m sure China will happily step in to fill the role of “world leader in scientific research” that the US is abandoning 🫠

>5000 people lost their jobs yesterday, including over 1000 each at the CDC and NIH. The scientists and administrative staff who lost their jobs were using research to make people healthier and improve people’s lives 💔 www.science.org/content/arti...

Capping indirect costs in research grants at 15% would not make things more “efficient.” It would destroy the scientific enterprise and devastate universities like LSU grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

So disappointing. The irony is that innovative STEM education programs benefit all students regardless of race, culture, or gender

NEW PAPER: what is the gut microbiome’s role in malaria resistance in wild sparrows? Gut microbiome diversity doesn't differ between infected and resistant birds, but Lactobacillaceae are more prevalent in resistant sparrows. ➡️ https://nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jav.03330

If you would be willing to share a long (NSF style) or short (Sigma Xi style) grant proposal from the last 10 years with me & the grad students in my Sci Comm class for our annual "mock panel" review assignment please let me know! We keep the proposals confidential. Thanks for considering! 🔬🧪

New work from Kevin Pham from the Wada lab (with some receptor help from me) suggests light at night causes metabolic disruption in zebra finches in the lab, increasing body mass and glucose concentrations with limited impacts on corticosterone secretion: authors.elsevier.com/c/1kKnH3oGhZ...

The #SICB Division of Botany needs a new Student/Postdoc Representative to work with their Division & @sicb-spdac.bsky.social to coordinate student/postdoc events for the annual meeting & during the academic year. If you know any students or postdocs who might be interested, please let me know!

Happy New Year everyone! I’m looking forward to another year of awesome science @lsubiosci.bsky.social with these amazing people (this is from our lab holiday party) ❤️💚🎁🧪

Meeeee! 🙋‍♀️ #sicb2025

Two undergraduate researchers in our lab graduated today! Congrats to @lsubiosci.bsky.social students Ella Cochran and Blake Dusang, who will be much missed and are sure to be brilliant at whatever they do next @lsuscience.bsky.social @lsu.bsky.social ❤️🥹🧪

Warmer springs can increase hatching asynchrony in birds, & in the lab's new paper (led by former @lsubiosci.bsky.social PhD student Keegan Stansberry) we found asynchrony has persistent negative effects on free-living European starling nestlings, esp the smallest "runts": doi.org/10.1002/jez.... 🪺🧪