Tessera

Katherine Corn 🌽

@kacorn.bsky.social

she/her | evolutionary biologist | kacorn.github.io Asst Prof in Biology at @wsupullman.bsky.social & Director, Conner Museum of Vertebrates macroevolution, functional morphology, fish | diversity in fish, diversity in STEM 🏳️‍🌈 #BLM #ProtectTransKids

86 Posts1292 Follower 694 Folgt

Jake Berv @jakeberv.bsky.social · 2w ago

Press release: news.umich.edu/ai-tool-reve... This was a huge project, requiring imaging of ~15,000 individual skeletons that were collected and deposited in collections such as @ummnh.bsky.social over > 150 years. Museum collections make this type of work possible and must be supported.

AI tool reveals climate shifts may have fueled bursts of bird evolution

University of Michigan researchers have used an AI tool to demonstrate that birds in the group Passeriformes evolved in rapid evolutionary bursts and that these bursts frequently coincided with climat...

news.umich.edu

Jake Berv @jakeberv.bsky.social · 2w ago

Happy to share this 'capstone' project from my time as a postdoc @umich.edu, where we show that hierarchically nested bursts of body-shape evolution may underlie much of perching-bird diversification over ~50 million years. Free access link here: rdcu.be/fuxB1

Rates of passerine body plan evolution in time and space

Nature Ecology & Evolution - A reconstruction of the evolutionary history of passerine body plans over the past ~50 Myr shows rare bursts of phenotypic innovation near the origin of major...

rdcu.be

Sunny Moraine @dynamicsymmetry.bsky.social · 4w ago

Whole thread, God this is so fucking enraging, we have absolutely failed this generation of students and as failures go I don’t see how that one can be forgiven

Jeff Sharlet@jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 2mo ago

At the end of the term I asked my college creative wriing students to submit anonymous thoughts on AI. No real surprises: Mood ranges from resignation to despair, capitulation from embittered erosion of standards to total, feelings of betrayal from deep to furious. 1/

Joe Brennan @biologyjoe87.bsky.social · last mo.

UC Davis Ecology & Evolution Grad Preview Program is accepting applications until July 20th! It's a fully virtual program where you are paired with a grad student mentor and learn about what grad school entails, how to apply, and what student life is like! Please share widely!

bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology @biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · last mo.

Macroevolutionary consequences of twin neck innovations in deep-sea dragonfishes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.21.733442v1

Ryan N. Felice @rnf.bsky.social · 2mo ago

New paper out today! @sternarchella.bsky.social and I review how modularity and integration influence adaptive radiations and diversification. Read it here: rdcu.be/fpcSX

Prosanta Chakrabarty @prosanta.bsky.social · last mo.

Y'all - the Smithsonian is hiring three new curators - herpetology, ichthyology, and ornithology! Notably, this is a 2nd fish curator position - i.e., not the same as the one advertised last month. So if you applied for that one apply again. www.usajobs.gov/job/873849000

Curator of Vertebrates

Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History currently has openings for three early-career Research Curators in Vertebrate Zoology, one each from the disciplines of ornithology, herpetology and ichthyology. The Department of Vertebrate Zoology seeks candidates with demonstrated expertise in, and a commitment to, collections-based research centered on systematics and evolution of birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fishes. This includes the ability to pursue an original approach to systematics and comparative analyses using, for example, morphology, development, and/or molecular data, and showing evidence of broader impacts or applications in evolutionary biology and/or collections-based ecology, as demonstrated by a record of peer-reviewed publications.

Candidates must have demonstrated the ability to establish an externally funded research program and to contribute to the growth and curation of the collections. Research in the Department is supported by the Museum’s shared laboratories, including the Laboratory of Analytic Biology and the Scientific Imaging facility, among others. The Department’s scientific collections are the largest in the world for fishes, amphibians, and reptiles, and the third largest for birds.

These federal positions will be filled at the GS-12 level, with a starting salary of $102,415, and excellent benefits. The positions are permanent and require a one-year probationary period.

The official announcement is posted on USAJOBS, where applications must be submitted.
https://www.usajobs.gov/job/873849000

Please be sure to read the announcement and instructions carefully, as the process of applying via USAJOBS is stringent and differs from applying for an academic position. This website offers helpful advice: https://serc.si.edu/careers/tips-applying-federal-jobs

Please contact the Search Committee Chair, Michael McGowen (mcgowenm@si.edu) or the Department Chair, Helen James (jamesh@si.edu) with any questions.

Katherine Corn 🌽@kacorn.bsky.social · last mo.

Really excited to share that Chris Martinez & my paper on ecological, functional, & evolutionary diversity produced by novel jaw joints in fishes is out at@evojlinnsoc.bsky.social! We show how modulation of these new joints can produce a wide range of functional opportunities doi.org/10.1093/evol...

Tyler King @tyleraking.com · last mo.

A new granite walkway. Refinishing the wall to glue those hideous gold accents. Trump claimed he was paying for all of it. He lied. They’ve been looting the National Parks.

THE PATHWAY THAT CONNECTS the
White House residence to the
Oval Office has long been paved in Tennessee flagstone. Every president since
Harry Truman made the 45-second commute, and made it without complaint, until Donald Trump. The dun rock would not do. Instead, Trump wanted polished African granite, carved in Italy, with a flamed-finish stripe-slightly raised, to prevent slips—running down the middle. As workers tore up the flagstone last March, a reporter asked Trump who was paying for the enhancements. "Paid for by me," he replied.

But that wasn't true. Budget documents from the National Park Service that I obtained show that the walkway replacement cost taxpayers $689,232, and is part of a $1.3 million project that included repairing adjacent stone and masonry and providing new hardware for nearby doors. A year earlier, in a separate
"Rush project at request of POTUS," the Park Service spent $347,503 to remove and replace the stucco on the colonnade wall, a project that cleared the way for Trump to affix gold frames and plaques mocking some of his predecessors.

Adrienne LaFrance@adriennelaf.bsky.social · last mo.

GREAT SCOOP from @michaelscherer.bsky.social: National Park Service projects are now being defunded to cover President Trump’s Washington renovation spree. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Jack Stack @jackstack.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Thread on today's paper, which is 3/4 from my dissertation on the evolution of fishes and using morphological data for phylogenetic analyses. Come with me, on a journey on phylogenetics and fishes. anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

An ontological morphological phylogenetic framework for living and extinct ray‐finned fishes (Actinopterygii)

The ray-finned fishes include one out of every two species of living vertebrates on Earth and have an abundant fossil record stretching 380 million years into the past. The division of systematic kno...

anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Katherine Corn 🌽@kacorn.bsky.social · 9mo ago

I am so proud to see Jack's work out: bringing paleoichthyology into the world of ontological phylogenetics. This work comprises some of the most thorough comparative anatomy I've seen, and is a testament to Jack's dedication to transparent, replicable, and translatable science. Way to go Dr Stack!!

Jack Stack@jackstack.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Very excited to share my exploration of the phylogenetics of early ray-finned fishes, out today in the Anatomical Record! Really busy day but I’ll have more info shortly. anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Jack Stack @jackstack.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Ray-finned fishes every million years or so @kacorn.bsky.social

The Onion@theonion.com · 10mo ago

Limbless, Slippery RFK Jr.: ‘Becoming An Eel Is A Sign Of Good Health’ https://theonion.com/limbless-slippery-rfk-jr-becoming-an-eel-is-a-sign-of-good-health/

Emily Troyer @fishfetisher.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Happy Anatomically Incorrect Invertebrate season to all who celebrate

A fake snail with a skull for a shell and bony body

Reid Rumelt @rumeltr.bsky.social · last yr.

Hello all! For my first post on this platform, I’m excited to share the first chapter of my dissertation, about using eBird and bioacoustics survey data to make species distribution models for Neotropical birds, which was published in @plosone.org today. journals.plos.org/plosone/arti... 🧵(1/8)

Combining acoustic survey and citizen science data yields enhanced species distribution models for tropical rainforest birds

A key goal in ecology is to develop effective ways to understand species’ distributions in order to facilitate both their study and conservation. Many species distribution modeling analyses have been ...

journals.plos.org

Katherine Corn 🌽@kacorn.bsky.social · last yr.

So hype for this lab to open up—Mason is so full of exciting ideas to advance evolutionary biology and create a great community in science!!

T. Mason Linscott@madmollusc.bsky.social · last yr.

I am thrilled to announce I'll be starting as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at New Mexico State University this Fall! I can't wait to work with some amazing colleagues and students amidst the sky islands of the SW! Woooo more ecophysiology, evolution, and snails!

Katherine Corn 🌽@kacorn.bsky.social · last yr.

So excited to see Jack's new paper out! Rogue taxa are such a challenge...great to see us moving forward on how to resolve these problems.

Jack Stack@jackstack.bsky.social · last yr.

Tree space and a new ray-finned fish out today! We delve into how methods to visualize the forest of phylogenetic tree space can be used to address the rogue taxon problem. Shout out to my co-authors and advisors Michelle Stocker and Michael Gottfried. ssbbulletin.org/index.php/bs...

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈@whysharksmatter.bsky.social · last yr.

NOAA is in the Trump administration's crosshairs. You know the important work they do, but may now know that It's the descendant of the Coast Survey, the nation's first scientific agency, founded in 1807 under Jefferson. I spoke with maritime historians to put NOAA's legacy in context. 🧪🦑🌎🐟

NOAA carries a two century legacy of America’s first government science agency

NOAA, the US government science and management agency in charge of sustainable fisheries, the national weather service, and ocean exploration, is in the crosshairs of the Trump administration and P…

southernfriedscience.com

Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽@needhibhalla.bsky.social · last yr.

This is a reminder for myself as well as anyone else who needs it: amidst all this chaos and confusion, pick your lane. Find something to do that will provide agency, educate those in your community and push back against what is happening

Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽@needhibhalla.bsky.social · last yr.

Y’all we are in this for a long haul. We’ve got navigate this anxiety and develop both a personal vision and collective vision of what our worlds will look like to motivate us, the people we lead and the people who lead us. We need to identify both short term and long term organizing opportunities

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D.@sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 2y ago

Re-upping these stickers because I think we all need the reminder Get one (and hey, some valentines while you’re there) at Squidfacts.bigcartel.com

A shrimp smokes a cigarette and drinks a martini and says the bastards don’t quit but neither do I

Katherine Corn 🌽@kacorn.bsky.social · 2y ago

On a personal note...in summer 2015 I was @fishguy.bsky.social 's NSF REU undergrad at Friday Harbor Labs. I presented that work at SICB & applied to PhDs... In summer 2025 I'm an REU mentor w/ my own lab at @wsupullman.bsky.social. What a trip this last 10 years has been. An NSF REU success story 🥳

Katherine Corn 🌽@kacorn.bsky.social · 2y ago

Folks: pls share! Apps are open for WSU's 2025 NSF REU in Resilience & Robustness of Aquatic Biosystems! DUE: Feb. 17 WHEN: May 25- Aug. 3 WHERE: Pullman, WA (gorgeous in summer) WHO: 10 UGs $: 7k each Come hang w/ a great group in our beautiful new aquatics facility! sbs.wsu.edu/aquaticslab/... #🧪

Katherine Corn 🌽@kacorn.bsky.social · 2y ago

Tara Goddard @drtaragoddard.com · 2y ago

I've gone from "Wikipedia is not a real source, students" to "I will defend Wikipedia with my life" in a short span of time. I don't know what we should do, I'll be looking to others for guidance on that, but I do know we have to defend every remotely democratic or open source tool we have now.

Molly White@molly.wiki · 2y ago

having succeeded in purchasing positions of influence inside the White House, the billionaires and tech VCs have now set their sights back on Wikipedia

Chamath Palihapitiya

@chamath
·
2h
Wikipedia lies.

Mainstream media lies.

They will contort the truth to make you believe in a bogeyman. In falling for it, you’re giving up your God given ability to think for yourself.

Katherine Corn 🌽@kacorn.bsky.social · 2y ago

🙃

Katherine Corn 🌽@kacorn.bsky.social · 2y ago

what do you mean "did I commit the script while it was working and before it broke again". of course not. what kind of good version control user do you think I am

simón(e) 🌑@simonedsun.bsky.social · 2y ago

Trans, intersex, and queer people will always exist because humans are biological creatures and biology - inevitably and always - creates variability and diversity. If there is any “biological truth,” it’s that a biological system will never conform to the strictures of human machinations.

Doc Impossible@impossiblephd.bsky.social · 2y ago

Trump signed an executive order that tries to write trans people out of existence today. It's mostly symbolic. It's still gonna make for a LOT of pain for the trans community--just probably not where you think it will. It's gonna be real bad for grant funding, which means medical research. A 🧵

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 2y ago

But he doesn’t! He has repeatedly shown that he doesn’t! Don’t wish for something different, remind listeners that he’s actually done this, and ask them to imagine him doing it to them. Play fucking hardball. Christ, this isn’t hard.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2y ago

Schiff: "I've been in Congress a long time approving aid after disasters. I never once even considered 'is this hurricane hitting a red or blue state?' ... we need the incoming president to view it that way."

Cyd Harrell @cydharrell.bsky.social · 2y ago

great article about the devaluation of absolutely anything where women achieve 50%. which is a thing.

screenshot from the article:

Other disciplines that have experienced male flight include:

Biology. While most STEM professions remain male dominated, 10 years ago biology became a 50/50 male/female split. By 2022, 62% of biology majors were women. Biology is now often considered the “easiest” of the STEM majors.

Interior Design. William Morris is considered the father of interior design. After finishing his education at Oxford, he began an architectural design school called “the Firm”— just for men. Many universities had interior design programs. Until women began to enter the design space, at which point it was relegated to a mere “hobby.” Since the influx of women, interior design programs have been pulled from almost all universities.

Teaching. In the 18th century, schooling in colonial America was reserved for the white and the wealthy. Most tutors were men who taught boys. By the middle of the 19th century, girls started becoming students and women became teachers. Consequently, men swiftly left the profession, the pay dropped and teaching was no longer considered a prestigious occupation.

Similar patterns of male flight have occurred in nursing, cheerleading, social work, architecture, gymnastics, library sciences and psychology.

Cheryl Rofer@cherylrofer.bsky.social · 2y ago

It's not just in regard to college enrollment that we don't talk about misogyny, it's pretty much everything. Many of us bloggers talked about Dobbs and the fury of women during the runup to the election. There was much less in the news and practically no notice in the polls.

Katherine Corn 🌽@kacorn.bsky.social · 2y ago

I am part of “shark people” and this is my favorite post of the week 🦈

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission@cpsc.gov · 2y ago

And before they get here, we love sharks. We respect sharks. Sharks are amazing. This is an effective visual, that's all. We don't want to hear from the shark people. This is a shark-friendly place.