Neil Shubin
@neilshubin.bsky.social
Paleontologist. Developmental Biologist. Anatomist. Polar wanderer. Telling people that they are fish since 2008.
I’m deeply honored to be President of the National Academy of Science at this critical time. Looking forward to our work together. All of us. Check out my video. m.youtube.com/watch?v=AM_B... 🧪
Meet Neil H. Shubin, the New President of the National Academy of Sciences
YouTube video by National Academy of Sciences
m.youtube.com
Science is entering a new era — one filled with both extraordinary opportunities and significant challenges. As he begins his National Academy of Sciences presidency, Neil Shubin reflects on this pivotal moment in a new interview with Issues in Science and Technology: https://ow.ly/NG8X50ZkLfg
“I Am an Unabashed Optimist About the Long-Term Future of Science.”
The new president of the National Academy of Sciences talks about learning to see as a scientist and communicating science in a noisy information landscape.
ow.ly
“We’re not just living longer; we’re living better.” #NASmember Amy Finkelstein's new study finds that older Americans are spending more of their later years in good health and less time with severe physical or cognitive limitations. Read more in TIME: time.com/article/2026...
People Are Living Better at the End of Their Lives, New Study Finds
People are living longer—and they're also spending their last years in better health, according to new research.
time.com
"Today, the work of the National Academies helps Americans stay safe, educated, and healthy while defining an agenda for future scientific discoveries," writes Neil H. Shubin in a new #ScienceEditorial. https://scim.ag/4oN1gGN
My editorial in this week’s Science @aaas.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🧪
The enduring pursuit of science in America
Imagine an American organization that convenes scientific experts not to advance any ideology or interest but to provide the nation with a clear understanding of complex problems. Imagine this body wo...
science.org
Thank you Noah! Great to see you.
Noah Whiteman@nkwhiteman.bsky.social · 3mo agoThat’s Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social up there being mobbed by fans at #Evolution2026 @sse-evolution.bsky.social after his Stephen J. Gould Award lecture! It was such an inspiring start to this meeting and I’m so glad the society selected him for this award.
In Cleveland? I’ll be giving a public lecture at 7pm Saturday as recipient of the Stephen Jay Gould Prize from the Society of the Study of Evolution. At the Hilton Downtown. 🧪 Drop by!
What is the evolutionary origin of the organizer? New work from @kremnyovs.bsky.social, @tclebedeva.bsky.social & Hejnol Lab @uni-jena.de reports the blastopore lip of the #ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi, a member of the evolutionary sister group to all other metazoans, exhibits organizer activity.
A blastoporal organizer in a ctenophore - Nature
Experiments using the comb jelly Mnemiopsis leidyi and the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis reveal that the emergence of a core signalling pathway may have been a key innovation enabling the transit...
nature.com
Starting soon!!! #Evol2026 -- Who else is excited!?!? A keynote from *the* @neilshubin.bsky.social? If that wasn't cool enough - Evolutionary Studies will have a booth! Maybe the greatest thing to happen to Cleveland in at least 4 years...
Evolutionary Studies at Vanderbilt@evolutionvu.bsky.social · 4mo agoHeading to #Evol2026 in Cleveland June 20-24! Stop by the ESI booth for swag and a spin on the prize wheel. 🎡 @evolmtg.bsky.social #Evolution #Vanderbilt
"Taking this job is a bet, or maybe a hope, that the best science will drive the conversation over the long run." Incoming NAS President @neilshubin.bsky.social spoke with @nytimes.com about the state of American science and his hopes for his 5-year term as president: www.nytimes.com/2026/06/12/s...
Neil Shubin on Trusted Science in a ‘Deeply Partisan Age’
nytimes.com
I first met Neil Shubin 30 years ago when he was digging for fossils of our fishy ancestors in Pennsylvania road cuts. Now he's becoming president of the National Academy of Sciences. We talked about taking the helm of the 163-year-old organization at this fraught moment. Gift link: nyti.ms/4giD3FX
nyti.ms
Introducing the undulating tripod gait, the walking strategy used by many fishes. We tracked the fishes, built a model, a robot, and found that 3 body segments, 2 fins, and friction are all it takes. No specialized anatomy required. Out today in Nature Communications www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here’s a clip of the conclusion of a recent talk I gave to the Science Philanthropy Alliance. We have a lot of work to do, but we can’t lose sight of the fundamentals… 🧪
I was honored to give the Prather Lectures— three talks in three days with time spent chatting with faculty, postdocs and students. This talk was in the room where I was a teaching fellow nearly 40 years ago. m.youtube.com/watch?v=nfaf...
our Inner Fish Revisited: New Insights into our Fishy Past
YouTube video by Harvard OEB
m.youtube.com
The inspiring energy of the #NAS163 Annual Meeting is still with us! ✨ We welcomed new #NASmembers, explored the future of ocean health, and celebrated major breakthroughs. Missed it? Full recordings of livestreamed sessions are now on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Id...
Neil H. Shubin to Give 2026 Prather Lectures, April 15, 16, and 17 🧪 🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd #evolution www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @harvardoeb.bsky.social @nasonline.org @harvardmuseums.bsky.social @museumofscience.bsky.social @debivort.bsky.social
Neil H. Shubin to Give 2026 Prather Lectures, April 15, 16, and 17 - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology
The Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (OEB) will host the 2026 Prather Lectures from April 15–17, featuring renowned evolutionary biologist Neil H. Shubin, Robert R. Bensley Distinguis...
mcb.harvard.edu
Congratulations to NAS President-Elect @neilshubin.bsky.social on winning @sse-evolution.bsky.social's Stephen Jay Gould Prize! The award honors individuals who have advanced public understanding of evolutionary science in the spirit of #NASmember Stephen Gould. evolutionsociety.org/index.php?mo...
Congratulations to the SSE Gould Prize winner, Dr. Neil Shubin! Dr. Shubin will present the Gould Prize plenary at the in-person Evolution meeting this June. Learn more about his work: www.evolutionsociety.org/news/display... @neilshubin@bsky.social #Evol2026
This remarkable set of genetic screens done both in the Nüsslein-Volhard & Driever & Fishman labs in Tübingen & Boston revolutionized our understanding of vertebrate development. This remembrance is worth a read-it was a long road, right up to the end 🧪 1/2 journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
The zebrafish issue of Development
In December 1996, a special issue of Development appeared that presented in 37 papers the results of two large screens for zebrafish mutants performed in Tübingen and Boston. The papers describe about...
journals.biologists.com
Zebrafish Rock!@zebrafishrock.bsky.social · 7mo agoPublished 30 years ago, 'The identification of genes with unique and essential functions in the development of the zebrafish, Danio rerio' by the Nüsslein-Volhard Lab highlighted the arduous work that took place during 'The Big Screen'. In total, 1163 mutants were described. #ZebrafishFunFacts 🧪
Neil H. Shubin has been elected as the next NAS President! A leading evolutionary biologist and science communicator, Shubin will succeed Marcia McNutt on July 1. The Academy also named Cherry Murray as International Secretary and elected new councilors. Read more: www.nasonline.org/news/2026_pr...
“‘Ends of the Earth’ is a love letter to ice: to the terrible beauty of its vast, austere expanses; to the ways it tests human ingenuity.” Marissa Grunes on Neil Shubin’s stories of polar exploration: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/neil-shubin-ends-earth-polar-climate-change-review/
.@neilshubin.bsky.social helped reveal one of evolution’s great transitions through the discovery of Tiktaalik, spending years tracing how fins became limbs and how our own bodies carry the imprint of ancient fish. He's been nominated to become the next president of the @nationalacademies.org
Deep underground at the automated stacks of the UChicago library.
