Thrilled to have my first thesis chapter published in @currentbiology.bsky.social! We combine genomics, gene editing, and performance experiments to reveal the genetic basis and functional consequences of hurricane-induced trait shifts in island lizards! Check it out: www.cell.com/current-biol...

Genomic targets of hurricane-induced selection on clinging performance in an island lizard

Vaughn et al. show that hurricanes drive parallel genomic selection signatures in island anoles. One candidate locus (hs6st1) is associated with rear toe length. CRISPR disruption reduces hindfoot ele...

cell.com

Hundreds of thousands of bats emerge from a large Mexican-free tailed colony in East Texas. The bats gave us a spectacular show with plenty of daylight left, emerging about 20 minutes before sunset 🦇

Peregrine falcon hunting bats (very successfully) in Houston tonight!

My buddy and bat scientist @arummel.bsky.social is studying how bat wings move in flight. Scientists often look at the 2d shapes of bat wings but her work shows it’s critical to consider the 3d shape while in flight. #SICB2026

IOB is gearing up for #BatWeek Oct 24-31st by featuring our co-author @arummel.bsky.social See Rice University's " #Bats, poaching and the pulse of the forest: Rice #researchers lead #biodiversity study in Tanzania" news.rice.edu/news/2025/ba... & read doi.org/10.1093/iob/... #science

Come join us at Rice!

Scott P. Egan@scottpegan.bsky.social · 11mo ago

The Dept. of BioSciences at #RiceUniversity, in Houston, Texas, invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position in Evolutionary Biology, with a preferred focus on organismal responses to environmental change. Please RT! Apply: apply.interfolio.com/173889

Wing pelage is suggested to have a functional role in bats — and it’s not just to make them cuter. Check out the publication below to learn more! #academia #academicSky #PhDSky #bats #science

Andrea Rummel, Ph.D.@arummel.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Super proud to share the first first-author paper from @ashockney24.bsky.social and our first official Rummel lab publication! Check it out here: nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Super proud to share the first first-author paper from @ashockney24.bsky.social and our first official Rummel lab publication! Check it out here: nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

NYAS Publications

Bats are the only mammals capable of powered flight, and while they retain the furry coat of other small mammals, their wings, the primary flight surface, are generally thought to be hairless. We ass....

nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Loved this write-up of our fieldwork in Tanzania this summer, led by grad student Annie Finneran and undergrad Caroline Pollan. I felt very lucky to join them to catch some bats there! news.rice.edu/news/2025/ba...

Possum in my trash can I REPEAT! Possum in my trash can.

Another active night at Buffalo Bayou watching the bat emergence. The bats come out before sunset, and so do the predators, with hawks catching them mid-air and herons plucking them from their roosts

Really nice write-up of our collaboration with San Jacinto College! We are working together to listen to 🦇🦇🦇around Houston. Shout out to @ashockney24.bsky.social for getting this project off the ground!

Alexandria Shockney@ashockney24.bsky.social · last yr.

Project Gotham is making news! I was first introduced to the excitement (and challenges!) of independent research in community college and now I’m a part of a program with @arummel.bsky.social and Tyler Olivier that provides that same opportunity to other students. A fulfilling, full-circle moment.

We had a truly spectacular emergence at Waugh Bridge last night! 🦇

Battle of the wings at Buffalo Bayou (the bat got away 😮‍💨🦇)

We got the cover of Nature Eco Evo for our anglerfish study!! Shoutout to our graduate student HoWan Chan for the slick image. Read to study here www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Nice bat emergence in Houston the other night, with a red-shouldered hawk on the hunt.

“We believe this rush to comply is a sign that universities are willing to become an institutional wing of the new segregationists.” www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...

Colleges must stand up to the new segregationists (opinion)

In rushing to comply with Trump’s executive actions, universities support a segregationist agenda, Subini Annamma and David Stovall write.

insidehighered.com

Grad student Kate checking out some bats in a local colony. Glamorous fieldwork!

Last week, a video of a rare black seadevil anglerfish spotted near the ocean surface made headlines because anglerfish typically live in very deep waters. Dr. @sternarchella.bsky.social joins us to discuss the video and recent research on anglerfish evolution.

Why The Internet Was Captivated By A Hideous Fish

A video of a gloriously creepy anglerfish inspired tears and poetry online. But why was this deep-sea dweller near the surface at all?

buff.ly

🚨BREAKING. From a program officer at the National Science Foundation, a list of keywords that can cause a grant to be pulled. I will be sharing screenshots of these keywords along with a decision tree. Please share widely. This is a crisis for academic freedom & science.

The Rummel Lab is almost ready for move-in! What a view 🥹

Army Blackhawk helicopters are crashing into passenger planes at DCA while the Secretary of Defense is on Fox News ranting about DEI

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2y ago

Pete Hegseth: "Diversity is not our strength"

This isn't mine at all, but the Magic School Bus TV cartoon, which inspired untold millennials including myself, originated as an NSF grant 🧪 www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/...

Alex Wild@alexwild.bsky.social · 2y ago

Post the amazing science things you have done with federal funding.

Helloooo? Horseshoe crab is that you?

NSF PRFB POSTDOCS: Pull the remainder of this funding cycle’s stipend, all remaining research funds, and all remaining travel funds (if you have them). Do it before 5PM today. Per instructions from multiple NSF POs. If you’re not already on the PRFB slack, DM me and I’ll send you an invite

I’m an NSF panel reviewer that was scheduled to meet today. Just got notice that all NSF panels were canceled today. I reviewed some innovative proposals in support of students. Devastating if these scholars don’t get to do this work. For the love of science & students I hope this is just a delay.💔

Looks like the following programs in #NSF BIO have been 'archived': BRC-BIO - new.nsf.gov/funding/oppo... BIO-LEAPS - new.nsf.gov/funding/oppo... PRFB - new.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

Building Research Capacity of New Faculty in Biology (BRC-BIO)

new.nsf.gov

The world is not fun right now. But! we are finally scanning the fishes that we caught in Okinawa last month and added a particularly special one to the dataset today. This is a rainbow runner. Its a common pelagic fish that has eluded us for years somehow. Its really pretty in life and as a scan.

Houston showing up to the snow day with the most creative sleds:

BONKERS to me that Elon's double nazi salute isn't the leading news story today. What in the fuck kind of world