Darren Irwin (he / him)
@darrenirwin.bsky.social
UBC Professor of Zoology; student of birds, genomes, evolution. Pro-democracy. Pro-sanity. Pro-humanity.
Just posted: a group paper describing major updates to my software pixy, for population genetic summary statistics. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... New since 2021: arbitrary ploidy, multiallelic sites, missingness-aware Watterson's θ and Tajima's D, Hudson's FST, multicore execution!
I'm looking for PhD student to join my lab at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (Fall 2027)! If you're interested in evolutionary genomics, conservation genetics, or biogeography, please reach out. I'll also be at #AOS2026 this week talking about sexual selection in small populations.
I am looking for PhD students and postdocs to join my lab at the University of Pittsburgh in Fall 2027. Anyone excited about urban evolution, hummingbirds, & community engagement, please reach out! And/or find me at #AOS2026 this week! More info here: www.valentina-alaasam.com
uchicago.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/External/job... The Kreiner and Carley Lab groups are hiring a shared Research Analyst to help lead wet lab protocol development and management. We're a fun group and would love to hear from you :) Get in touch with questions!
Research, Analyst
Department BSD E&E Carley Lab About the Department The Kreiner Lab (kreinerlab.com) and Carley Lab (carleylab.uchicago.edu) in the Department of Ecology & Evolution at The University of Chicag...
uchicago.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com
grateful to have received the lab's first NSF grant to study cyclical processes of speciation with new theory and tools (applied to Melanesian birds). ad to come, but I'll be looking for a postdoc with computational biology chops—please reach out! (and repost) www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/...
🧠🧬🦤 Excited to be at #ICN2026! We're recruiting a #postdoc to study the neural and molecular basis of migration. Projects could include field experiments, captive studies, and spatial/single-cell. Stop by poster 72 today or email! @zuckermanbrain.bsky.social #neuroethology delmorelab.com/recruitment
🪽🧬 Migration is one of the most spectacular behaviors in nature, yet we still know little about its molecular basis. Our new paper explores whether epigenetic variation contributes to migratory orientation in a songbird hybrid zone. doi.org/10.1098/rstb... tamuartsci.bsky.social columbia.bsky.social
Finally posted an ad for the postdoc position on my new NSF-funded project—come help build a new method to study plants' responses to environmental variation in space and over time, and figure out interesting ways to use it! Apply by 23 August to ensure consideration. Details: buff.ly/qTvaqvD
Avocados come in 2 varieties - A-types start each day female and switch to male midday. B-types do the reverse. In work just published from the last chapter of my PhD, we show this system evolved 40+million yrs ago and is regulated by alleles of 1 transcription factor www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Balanced polymorphism in a floral transcription factor underlies the ancient rhythm of daily sex alternation in avocado | PNAS
In avocado and certain wild relatives in Lauraceae, a highly synchronized daily rhythm of floral sex timing promotes cross-pollination between two ...
pnas.org
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Mitochondrial introgression in North American red-backed voles is facilitated by co-introgression at nuclear-encoded mitochondrial genes
Mitochondrial genomes encode for the proteins and RNAs that serve as the basis for aerobic respiration and energy production. Yet mitochondria depend on the nuclear genome for hundreds of additional g...
biorxiv.org
A old-timer's concern about science as a chronic social medium, leading to the advice to spend time alone with nature and ideas. waynemaddison.wordpress.com/2026/07/25/s...
Science like no one is watching
I grew up largely unwatched. As children, David and I would go out and play unsupervised, free-range. We would go down to the ravine to explore nature. It was fun, but more than that, I think it wa…
waynemaddison.wordpress.com
Magic traits, search costs, and the persistence of species in secondary contact Jack R. Farley, Darren Irwin bioRxiv 2026.07.23.740407 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Magic traits, search costs, and the persistence of species in secondary contact
When two populations come into secondary contact, assortative mating can act as a barrier to gene flow. However, when assortative mating is incomplete, associations between preference and cue loci can...
biorxiv.org
1. In an incredible new landmark review, the Health Council of the Netherlands has declared that gender-affirming care for trans youth works, reducing wait times is "morally urgent," and regret is rare. It is the latest of many Euro countries to advance care. Subscribe to support our journalism.
Landmark Official Dutch Review Recommends Trans Youth Care, Call For Expanding Treatment
The review finds that wait times must be shortened, that few people detransition, and that trans youth care has enormous benefits.
erininthemorning.com
Excited to say that I will be starting as the Curator of Ornithology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History this fall! I can't wait to work with the newly renovated collection and continue my research program back in the Great Lakes. (1/3)
This December (2026) I'll be starting my own research lab as a curator of ornithology at @amnh.org. We will seek to understand global avian biodiversity using evolutionary and conservation genetics, with the backing of the incredible AMNH ornithology collection. devonderaad.github.io
The binary definition of sex based on gamete size only makes sense at the level of gametes, not whole individuals. Even then it is pretty circular, depending on the historical-linguistic quirk of assigning isogamous gamete categories as "mating types" instead of "sexes".
Tim Janicke@timjanicke.bsky.social · 4w agoIn a new #Viewpoint we argue that the binary definition of #BiologicalSex based on gamete size is a scientifically robust framework that is entirely compatible with the diversity of sexual phenotypes and human gender identities. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Have you tested your smoke alarm lately? We recommend testing them once a week and you should have one installed per floor of your home.
Interested in joining a growing lab in LA? We’re hiring a postdoc!! Please spread the word to folks in your network and feel free to get in touch with any questions recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF11142
New #ornithology paper 🚨 Migration patterns and hybridization within the Asian stonechat complex in response to a major geographical barrier doi.org/10.1093/evle... Led by PhD candidate Tianhao Zhao, we studied #birdmigration routes & #genetics of individuals migrating E, W & across Qinghai-Tibet
Just in time for #SMBE2026, our new preprint is out: using 130 genomes spanning ~200 years, fitness data and simulations, we show that conservation rescued the Mauritius kestrel from extinction, but not from genomic erosion. 🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... #popgen #consgen #conservation
Our founder Dr. Jey the Science They @jeymccreight.bsky.social highlights the importance of checking citations in the latest Supreme Court ruling on trans participation in sports The opinion of one philosophy professor does not outweigh the scientific consensus of the whole field of biomedicine
I know there are trans people right now, wondering if anyone is going to stand up for their simple right to exist. Well, I am.
To the #Evol2026 folks, I am recruiting MSc/PhD students (with or without their own funding) - please send people my way if you know of anyone interested in blending ecology & evolution!
Interested in mtDNA variation in birds, butterflies, snakes, or others with ZW sex chromosomes? Then this preprint is for you: "The Driving W Hypothesis as an Explanation for Low Within-Population Mitochondrial DNA Diversity and Between-Population Mitochondrial Transfer": doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Interested in mtDNA variation in birds, butterflies, snakes, or others with ZW sex chromosomes? Then this preprint is for you: "The Driving W Hypothesis as an Explanation for Low Within-Population Mitochondrial DNA Diversity and Between-Population Mitochondrial Transfer": doi.org/10.1101/2025...
