The list of Ecology/Evolution/Marine Bio Labs recruiting grad students for Fall 2027 is live! PIs enter your position info here: forms.gle/MAGd4ohyPeoY... students (and PIs not recruiting) share the composite list: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... Please share widely! 🧪

New book "A Primer for Experimental Evolution" with coauthors Michael Rose, Margarida Matos, and Joe Graves. www.worldscientific.com/worldscibook... A compact primer for students and colleagues interested in planning and designing experiments to address questions in evolutionary biology.

My editorial in this week’s Science @aaas.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🧪

I am excited to present our newest report on a severe outbreak of transmissible cancer in clams in the Pacific Northwest, with a lot of unexpected twists. Led by Sydney Weinandt and Zach Child. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2611852123 1/14

Please share this gift article from The New York Times with friends, family, sceptics, and People who think that studying weird things is a waste of money. Then follow up with meaningful discussion about what I call 'free range science'. Free without subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/20/o...

If anyone is looking specifically to work on developing novel transgenesis and genetic control methods for screwworm, that is a plus. Apply!

For the second time this week I wish I could just run over to City People’s to pick something up. But alas, they didn’t make it after too many switched to buying things online. Support your local shops, folks. You never know when you will need to buy a replacement toilet flapper quickly!

A reminder... deadline June 30, 2026 Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution 👇

This article, with all the signs of having been written by AI, points out that a flexible nib is essential for Spencerian script, and then recommends 8 pens, 7 of which have no flex at all. It justifies this with nonsense like avoiding "ink wastage". We're headed toward a dead internet of AI slop.

Anyone have any advice when trying to email a new NIH PO for a new submission and they literally never reply (multiple emails over months)? When is it time to ask for help from POs you do know? Are there some POs that just never talk to scientists as a rule?

📣 POSTDOC position available in the Feschotte Lab at Cornell to work on #TRANSPOSONS! More details below. Pls send informal application or inquiry ASAP by DM or email to cf458_at_cornell.edu. Pls spread the word 🙏 #TEsky www.thefeschottelabatcornell.com

Julie Dragon announces a fourth type of transmissible cancer at ISEEC 2026! Brown bullhead transmissible melanoma. Two lineages so far identified in the northeast US. Seems to be more widespread and >100 years old. Paper under review.

Four current special issues and calls for papers related to cancer evolution/ecology and mathematical oncology (details also in the alt text for you to copy and search)

Head's up SSE members: Virtual Evolution is next week! Join us for the SSE Presidential Symposium on May 21 for talks from SSE leaders and past presidents on sustaining research, supporting trainees, navigating funding uncertainty, and strengthening evolutionary biology. Pls RT!

Applications now open for the Graduate Research Excellence Grants! These provide evolutionary biology research funds for early and advanced Master’s and PhD students. Proposals due May 18. www.evolutionsociety.org/content/soci...

Simons Foundation has a new contest for Ecology and Evolution Graduate Fellowships! Due June 30th. Good luck everyone! www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons...

My 9 year old has asked me to come present at her school science fair, after they asked kids to invite their parents if they did science. Here is her draft of my presentation. Let’s see if I can live up to it.

Scientists at the MBL are building and deploying innovative clam recruitment boxes across Massachusetts tidal flats. 🔗 Read the full story and see what they discovered: go.mbl.edu/clam

We’re hiring! Our department is recruiting for a tenure-track faculty position. We seek outstanding candidates working broadly in molecular microbiology, immunology, and host–pathogen interactions. Please share widely! @jnpruneda.bsky.social @rauchlab.bsky.social www.nature.com/naturecareer...

What's that old equation, 1 picture = 1,000 words? Great to have Megan Farmer's amazing drone shot atop my latest @npr.org story. Farmland, levee, wetland, river, all right there.

The Barrick & Lenski Labs in Dept of Microbiology, Genetics, & Immunology at Michigan State Univ seek a Research Assistant II to manage their research operations and participate in projects related to microbial evolution and synthetic biology. See details below. careers.msu.edu/jobs/researc...

Simons Graduate Fellowship Applications are open! If you're applying to Ph.D. programs in ecology and/or evolution this year, or if you're an incoming Ph.D. student who won't start your degree program until Fall 2026 or later, apply! www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons...

Last chance to register for our lovely conference, starting in Crete in three weeks! Deadline is TODAY. The registration form will remain active but if you miss the deadline then we cannot guarantee your place.

Screenshot from my Bluesky today.

In some embodiments, my brain comprises the belief that most of the words in a patent are completely redundant and unnecessary and I can’t believe I am having to wade through its logic, which, in some embodiments, is redundant and unnecessary.

If you live in Seattle and don’t know Ada’s technical books and coffee on 15th in capital hill, you need to go now—if only to know what you will be missing when they close in June. www.capitolhillseattle.com/2026/04/afte...

I literally came back on to repost this quote and found you did it first

Why do journalists keep repeating this line that scientists are all going to leave? They mention 95,000 science jobs lost in federal science alone, and then talk about countries hiring 10-12 people total! Why is this fake exodus a repeat headline and scientists loosing their careers en masse not?

🚨 STARFISH EMERGENCY 🚨 Is there anyone out here who has a boat & access to San Juan Islands of Washington??!! And is available this week. My friend who fights sea star wasting disease (SSWD), his project site has become ineligible and needs help finding another. DM me ASAP if can help!

If my grad student pulled this shit with me, they'd be out of the lab. Lies like that about methods to paper over your mistake are simply unacceptable. It did crap like this over and over.

Don't forget to register for this amazing webinar series!

Tell me what you think LLMs do well and I’ll tell you what you do not value.

Cool paper, turning evolutionary theory on its head - gene conversion overcomes the cost of asexual reproduction… Gene conversion empowers natural selection in a clonal fish species www.nature.com/articles/s41...

With @saramitri.bsky.social, @sonjalehtinen.bsky.social and L. Lehmann we’ve launched the UNIL Center for Theory in Ecology and Evolution @unil.bsky.social🇨🇭 To kick things off, we’re offering short visiting fellowships for theorists in ecology & evolution. Apply & pls RP 😀 tinyurl.com/2wem36zz

What if cancer, already one of the deadliest diseases known to the animal kingdom, suddenly became contagious? Among certain species it has. Now, it’s happening in the Salish Sea. Read the full story Eli Voorhies at the link below. salish-current.org/2026/02/19/c...

2nd- or 3rd-year PhD student? Applications for @hhmi-science.bsky.social's #GilliamFellows Program open 9/1! Robust dissertation support, an incredible community of scientists, tailored professional development (for you *and* your faculty thesis advisor), & so much more. Bookmark bit.ly/4qQArRh!

Researchers in the US might be having feelings about writing grants atm-I know I am! We still need to write them. In this Evolution Exchange, I again chat with Sam Scheiner, who summarizes how to write a competitive proposal. His advice is gold, and helpful regardless of funder. Pls RT!

Today in @science.org: We are pleased to present our last work entitled: "Concurrent L1 retrotransposition events promote reciprocal translocations in human tumorigenesis" by Zumalave et al. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

The impact is already hitting science agencies hard. The NIH—the world's largest public biomedical research funder—has had to rely on leftover stopgap funds. New grant awards have slowed to a trickle — exacerbating the effects of a record-long shutdown in October. (h/t @jeremymberg.bsky.social)

Study finds ChatGPT Health did not recommend a hospital visit when medically necessary in more than half of cases. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Applications are open for PREP Bio at the University of Oregon! A great opportunity for postbacs looking for additional research experience while preparing for graduate school. More here: cas.uoregon.edu/UO-PREP-Bio

Was it a coincidence that AMC was showing War Games today?

NIH reports on ESI support in FY2025 drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2026/02/22/n...

Alita Burmeister (@aburmeister.bsky.social) is looking to hire a postdoc (or potentially a PhD student) for projects on phage resistance and evolution. The position description is posted to the Eco-Evo Jobs wiki and also available on her lab's website (arburmeister.weebly.com).

Very beautiful story and thread

Thanks, Eli Voorhies, for writing up a piece about our work on transmissible cancers in clams and cockles in Puget Sound with James Dimond @wwu.edu , PSRF, and @suquamish.bsky.social salish-current.org/2026/02/19/c...

Great scientists (and great collaborators) over at Puget Sound Restoration Fund are spreading the word about a job posting for a Microalgae Production Lead or Technician at their conservation hatchery at NOAA’s Manchester Research Station on the Kitsap Peninsula. restorationfund.org/aboutus/join...

Methods Section Poll: A. 100% Passive voice (primers were used) B. 100% Active voice (we used primers C. Whatever, as long as it is clear (Inspired by team editing a manuscript that has a bit of both and arguing about whether it needs to be switched to consistently use one voice)

Fun news! @gcbias.bsky.social and I are teaching a 2-week online population genetics workshop this summer to raise money for the Center for Population Biology at UC Davis. We're trying to gauge interest -- please fill this out if you might be interested! And please share broadly!