John Stinchcombe
@johnstinchcombe.bsky.social
Ecological and evolutionary genetics in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UofT. Dad, dog lover, unashamed coffee addict.
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
This is thoughtful and worth your time.
Ran Blekhman@blekhman.bsky.social · last wk.Everyone says AI will accelerate science. I don't think it will -- at least not in biology, and at least not soon. New post where I explain why, and how the productivity paradox can be resolved: blekhman.substack.com/p/why-ai-wil...
Still time to apply: Postdoc position in our lab together with @meauxjuliette.bsky.social to combine Ecological models with quantitative genetics. Become part of a great community of Ecological Genetics. jobportal.uni-koeln.de/ausschreibun...
jobportal.uni-koeln.de
4. The pushback on the outrage will be "A man is dead! How DARE you try to politicize this tragedy!
Got a well intentioned email that ended with “I work at odd hours. My working hours are not necessarily your working hours. Please respond when you feel you comfortably can.” Obviously that’s code for they don’t expect a response from me. Ever.
Come work with me! We are hiring a Research Program & Operations Coordinator to administer a new CREATE training program and support other EEB initiatives at U of T. Please circulate to great people in Toronto looking for an academic admin position: jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...
Research Program & Operations Coordinator
Research Program & Operations Coordinator
jobs.utoronto.ca
New study from my lab! Led by prior student Sasha Bishop, along w/ co-author @johnstinchcombe.bsky.social 🌸 We performed a resurrection study on morning glory and found that within 9 years, adaptive potential declined by 96%
A resurrection experiment reveals reduced adaptive potential in a common agricultural weed
Adaptive evolution is essential for populations facing rapid anthropogenic change, yet realized evolutionary responses often fall short of expectations. Us
academic.oup.com
Yuan, @bmsacchi.bsky.social Choudhury @johnstinchcombe.bsky.social & @stepheniwright.bsky.social highlight the use of eQTLs to investigate selection on gene expression and the evolution of conflict between sexes and life stages in dioecious species. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msag151 #societyjournal
Cis-regulation of gene expression between sexes and life stages in Rumex hastatulus
Abstract. The potential for conflict between sexes and life stages while sharing predominantly the same genome has important evolutionary consequences. In
doi.org
Balogun, Sztepanacz & Ness investigate the evolutionary forces that shape the transcriptome in 24 wild strains of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, finding that gene expression displays moderate heritability. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msag142 #societyjournal #algae #evolution
Stabilizing and directional selection shape the genetic variation of gene expression in the transcriptome of Chlamydomonas
Abstract. Gene expression has proven to be a source of evolutionary novelty and is important to phenotypic evolution. However, we still have a poor underst
doi.org
A giant in plant biology. Truly grateful for his research and influence.
James Hamrick Obituary - Marietta, GA
Celebrate the life of James Hamrick, leave a kind word or memory and get funeral service information care of National Cremation Services - Atlanta.
obituaries.nationalcremation.com
I am incredibly thrilled to announce that I will be starting as an Assistant Prof at Yale EEB in January 2027!! 🎉🎊 Stay tuned for student and postdoc openings, and please feel free to reach out to me if you are interested in eco-evo, range dynamics, species interactions, and global change! 🌐🌱🦠🧬
This fall I'm thrilled to be joining UMass Amherst (@umassamherst.bsky.social) as an assistant prof. My lab will study photosynthetic evolution, diversity & resilience, focusing on C4 photosynthesis, one of the most remarkably convergent traits in the biosphere. #PlantScience #Evolution #NewPI
SSB Prez Tracy Heath announcing awards! 2026 Ernst Mayr Award goes to Dr. Rowan French for the talk Function and macroevolution of exaggerated male antennae in longhorned beetles Watch the Mayr talks from virtual #evol2026 on YouTube: youtu.be/QMiKMC9ctjw?...
Interested in gene family evolution, mutualism, & gene expression ? Check out this talk by post-doc @damianmicroeco.bsky.social with @meafkhami.bsky.social Connections between gene family expansion and context-dependent expression in mutualism! Wed, 6/24, 4:15-4:30, Room 25B. #Evol2026.
#Evol2026 I’m launching a new research group at UNC Charlotte in January 2027. Prospective students, postdocs, and collaborators are welcome to get in touch: jacob.berv@charlotte.edu More at jakeberv.com, lab website coming soon.
The amazing Amanda Peake is presenting this work at #Evol2026. Go check it out, where she boils down several years of work into 15 minutes! Ecological Genetics II, 4:30 - 4:45, Room 24, Monday 6/22/2026.
John Stinchcombe@johnstinchcombe.bsky.social · 2mo agoWhy are leaves the shape that they are? What controls intraspecific, genetic variation in leaf shape? New from my lab, in collaboration with many others, led by PhD student Amanda Peake: mapping the leaf shape polymorphism in Ipomoea hederacea.
"I know there's a lot of concern about the proliferation of journals, slop in the in the literature — the best way to combat this is to publish in society-owned journals." — @asn-amnat.bsky.social President @beckyfuller82.bsky.social preaching the Gospel #Evol2026
Excited to share my new paper in Syst Biol! academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
The Effects of Hemiplasy and Maintained Polymorphisms in Fossil Clades
Abstract. One of the most transformative advances in molecular systematics over the past several decades has been our understanding of how population proce
academic.oup.com
How do you turn a purple flower white? Another from lab, led by @damianmicroeco.bsky.social and Emily Glasgow, with big contributions from Martin Henry, Margaret Li, and Amanda Peake. Mendelian Polymorphisms for the Win! #evolbio #plantscience
bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology@biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · 2mo agoA rare deletion of BZ1 in the ivy-leaf morning glory eliminates anthocyanin-based pigmentation. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.08.730875v1
Check out our new issue - including the Editor's Choice article by @jeromeburkiewicz.bsky.social et al! They show that despite phenotypic plasticity, flower morphology of the spotted jewelweed has evolved in urban habitats to better suit bumblebees, their main pollinators doi.org/10.1093/evle...
Why are leaves the shape that they are? What controls intraspecific, genetic variation in leaf shape? New from my lab, in collaboration with many others, led by PhD student Amanda Peake: mapping the leaf shape polymorphism in Ipomoea hederacea.
bioRxiv Plant Bio@biorxiv-plants.bsky.social · 2mo agoNewly arisen indel governs a leaf shape polymorphism in the Ivy Leaf Morning Glory (Ipomoea hederacea) https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.04.730136v1
Professor Joe Felsenstein FRS is elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. After initially working on population genetics theory of recombination, of migration, and of speciation, his main focus has been on phylogenetic inference. #RSFellows https://royalsociety.org/people/joseph-felsenstein-38106/
HUGE kudos to SSE leadership for spearheading collective action against OMB's proposed rule. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🧪 Societies matter!! Support them with your engagement, conference attendance, and choice of journals. SSE members: please consider signing these letters! SSE non-members: please consider joining ☺️
Gina Baucom@gbaucom.bsky.social · 2mo agoMember action is needed. Please read the email, review the proposed SSE response, and consider signing on before the June 15 deadline. **Importantly, submit your individualized comment to OMB by July 13!** Screenshots of the full message below. ⬇️
Its hard for me to critically evaluate this paper because its conclusions align so tightly with my world view: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
What leads to administrative bloat? A dynamic model of administrative cost and waste | PNAS
The functioning of complex systems depends on the coordination of diverse components, often supported by regulatory structures that incur costs. In...
pnas.org
New blog post: Evaluating Dr. Cuddy’s Claim that the Debunking of Power Posing is a Myth. daniellakens.blogspot.com/2026/05/eval... On an AI generated description of a non-existent study, incorrectly citing findings from studies, and the importance of scientific criticism.
Evaluating Dr. Cuddy’s Claim that the Debunking of Power Posing is a Myth
In this blog post I will analyse the arguments that Dr. Amy Cuddy provided in a blog post “The "Power Posing Was Debunked" Myth: What the Re...
daniellakens.blogspot.com
Don’t forget! Book reviews are free for authors, no publication fees, and free to read!
Evolution@journal-evo.bsky.social · 3mo agoTwo Book Reviews this issue: "The long and difficult history of the path between Darwinism and Lamarckism" by Günter P Wagner academic.oup.com/evolut/artic... "Evolution of adaptation’s evil Doppelgänger" by Erik I Svensson academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...
Current, former, and future Stinchcombe lab members who were in attendance @csee-sceemtgs.bsky.social tgs.bsky.social ... Fun to see the interaction b/w my very first UofT undergraduate research student from Fall 2005 and an entering PhD student for Fall 2026... Super fun meeting! #CSEE
