These eye-catching insects offer a prime opportunity for scientists to dig deep into invasion ecology and evolutionary biology

Spotted lanternflies’ love of cities may be the secret to their invasion success

These eye-catching insects offer a prime opportunity for scientists to dig deep into invasion ecology and evolutionary biology

scientificamerican.com

Probably my favorite race of the year. Gives me goosebumps to think how far women have come in the last 50 years and grateful for pioneers like Kathrine Switzer when running this historic race - the 1st women’s only road race in the world in 1972!

Just registered for #JMIH2026 - come join me in New Orleans!!! Most of my lab will be there (minus Fallon, who will be presenting at SMBE instead!) and we will be giving talks and posters on urban anoles and wall lizards—ecology, genomics, microbiome, morphology!

Evolving nature-based solutions for urban resilience | Science: A wonderful collaboration across ecology, evolution, urban science, and urban design and planning www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Evolving nature-based solutions for urban resilience

Despite growing investments in nature-based solutions for urban resilience, their design often overlooks a fundamental biological process: evolution. Populations of organisms that sustain nature-based...

science.org

New paper by NYU Biology undergrad (now PhD student at U. Chicago) Shira Linsk! Shira combined on-the-ground sampling with @inaturalist.bsky.social data to better understand how moths are impacted by urbanization doi.org/10.1371/jour...

From concrete to canopy: Illuminating moth biodiversity in New York City’s urban jungle

Moths (Lepidoptera) are sensitive to anthropogenic threats and serve as valuable bioindicators. Despite the remarkable diversity and abundance of Lepidoptera globally, there is a lack of information o...

doi.org

Our March issue is out! www.nature.com/nrbd/volumes... Key topics: 💧Extreme events and river biodiversity (@jdtonkin.bsky.social) 🌇Urban eco-evolutionary dynamics (@kmwinchell.bsky.social) 🦋Butterflies and moths (Akito Kawahara) 📊Biodiversity model intercomparisons (@zurelllab.bsky.social) 🧪🌎

7 year streak on @duolingoverde.bsky.social ! 💪 Spanish level 120 (high B2), French level 48 (A2), German 17 and Portuguese 21 (A1). Spanish would probably be higher if I tested but I spend most of my time in French these days and use Spanish to refresh and practice

On the cover of @royalsociety.org and in the @nytimes.com! Our new paper on #spottedlanternfly led by PhD student @fallonmeng.bsky.social suggests evolution in urban environments is the secret behind this species invasion success www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/s...

Excited to share our new review in @natrevbiodiv.nature.com, coauthored w/allstar postdocs @vale-alaasam.bsky.social @annainthefield.bsky.social @anthonysnead.bsky.social Bridging island biogeography & evolutionary processes, we explore how eco-evo dynamics play out in the urban mosaic rdcu.be/e4tcj

Eco-evolutionary dynamics shaping biodiversity in the urban mosaic

Nature Reviews Biodiversity - The urban mosaic is a complex assimilation of habitats, biotic and abiotic factors with eco-evolutionary influence on local and regional biodiversity. In this Review,...

rdcu.be

New paper by my lab! PhD student @fallonmeng.bsky.social set out to use whole genome sequencing of Spotted Lanternfly from China & the US to better understand the invasion... and discovered that adapting to the city may be the key to their invasive success! royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...

The Church Evolution Lab (CEL@NYU) is hiring a postdoc! We have several new projects to study the genomic basis of biodiversity in model clades – especially Hawaiian Drosophila. apply.interfolio.com/179354 Come join our new group, you can study bugs and live in NYC! Feel free to share widely!

check out our new findings about the why spotted lanternfly are doing so well in invasion?! doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

Cities as evolutionary incubators for the global spread of the spotted lanternfly

Abstract. Habitat destruction and invasive species pose two of the greatest global threats to biodiversity. These factors do not operate in isolation, and

doi.org

Chris Simms@chrisnsimms.bsky.social · 6mo ago

The spotted lanternfly has spread across the United States with unrelenting speed — and now we have a clue as to why: living in cities seems to have helped these invasive insects evolve to be more resistant to stresses. 🧪 www.livescience.com/animals/inse...

Bumping this up one last time. I'm looking to hire graduate student(s) to work on an NSF-funded project to study elevational range shifts among dragonflies here in Colorado. @cudenverclas.bsky.social 🧪🌍🐙 Applications will be considered until Nov 1. See post below for more details

Mike Moore@moore-evo-eco.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Are you looking for a PhD position and want to spend your summers in the Rocky Mountains? My lab @cudenverclas.bsky.social is looking for 1 PhD student to work on a NSF-funded project to study elevational range shifts in Colorado! 🧪🌍🐙 Apply by Nov 1! Details here docs.google.com/document/d/1...

I love when my lab insists I go to the field with them. A perfect day catching urban species at a beautiful natural site. Hard to believe we never left NYC

Short hair Kristin is back! 18” donated to Wigs for Kids! www.wigsforkids.org

The NYU lizard colony (@kmwinchell.bsky.social) is now one step closer to being up and running! Today we finished these 56 lizard "condos" which can individually house 224 lizards! This has been a massive effort, and we are so excited to have reached this milestone🦎 We are so close to anoles at NYU!

I’m at #ESA2025! But just for today. I’m giving an inspire talk this afternoon on urban evolutionary ecology. Come find out what I think about when people ask me “if wildlife are adapting to cities, will evolution solve all our problems?”

super proud of lab alum Shira Linsk—featured in this story about NYU undergrads conducting "research that launched their careers". Shira completed TWO publication-worthy projects as an undergrad on #urbanecology & is headed to U Chicago for a PhD in ecology & evolution! www.nyu.edu/about/news-p...

7 New Grads on the Research Projects That Launched Their Careers

For these Class of 2025 alumni, working with a dedicated mentor and teammates made all the difference

nyu.edu

Wish I could be at #Evol2025 this year! I’ll be starting a new lab at NYU this fall, and will be recruiting at all levels. Please spread the word if you know anyone who wants to work on evo. genomics, phylogenies, and comparative development of inverts (like Hawaiian Drosophila!) shchurch.github.io

I am thrilled to announce that in January 2026 I will be starting my own lab at NYU Biology! Soon enough I will be recruiting postdocs and students! Please reach out if you are interested with a CV and description of your research interests, or if you know of people who could be interested! 🧬🗽 🦊

More Italian wall lizards (Podarcis siculus) - this time, in the Bronx!

Fun new things starting in the lab this summer as we dive deeper into the intersection of urbanization and invasion! This is an invasive wall lizard from NYC, a project being led by postdocs @annainthefield.bsky.social & @anthonysnead.bsky.social along with our summer REU students and NYU undergrads

The single-striped grass mouse can be found near cities, but our nighttime lights have negative impacts on this understudied grassland mammal from Africa. Floor Didden tells us about a recent study urbanevolution-litc.com/2025/05/18/a... #urbanecology #urbanmammals

Artificial light at night may make African mouse species vulnerable - Life in the City

When thinking about a city at night, chances are that you include some twinkling streetlights in your mental image. Billboards, streetlamps, and neon signs are no novel presence to city dwellers. Thes...

urbanevolution-litc.com

The tiny plant Draba verna grows out of cracks in sidewalks & roads. Nils tells us more about this resilient #urbanplant & invites us to appreciate the beauty growing between the pavement cracks more often urbanevolution-litc.com/2025/05/16/u... #urbanecology #urbanobservation

Urban acts of defiance: Tiny flowers thriving in concrete jungles - Life in the City

The harsh, brutal urban environment is increasing. In Europe, the Netherlands ranks as one of the countries with the lowest forest cover (10%), with wooden forests being replaced by concrete jungles. ...

urbanevolution-litc.com

Does it ever seem like your neighborhood birds & squirrels recognize you? They probably do! Jitte van Leeuwen explains how & why animals learn to recognize humans in order to thrive in the fast-paced city urbanevolution-litc.com/2025/05/15/t... #urbanecology #urbanevolution

They Know Who You Are: How City Animals Recognize People - Life in the City

Urban wildlife knows more about us than we think. Birds and mammals are able to read our behaviour and recognize individual humans.

urbanevolution-litc.com

Lisa de Haas tells us about a charismatic #urbanwildlife from North America: the chipmunk. Learn more about how the chipmunk is adapting to city life by taking it easy! urbanevolution-litc.com/2025/04/17/r... #UrbanEcology #UrbanEvolution #urbanmammals

Relaxing Chipmunks in Urban Areas - Life in the City

The eastern chipmunk is well adapted to the urban environment. They spend less time foraging and their reproductive succes is better.

urbanevolution-litc.com

So proud of graduating seniors Emerald Lin & Shira Linsk for both winning undergraduate research awards! @annainthefield.bsky.social did an amazing job mentoring Shira on TWO manuscripts on urban moth biodiversity! Emerald is off to work w/Audubon this summer & Shira to a PhD program this fall! 🔥🔥🔥

These pictures are from a few years ago, but I am SO excited to be starting up a whole project on the Italian wall lizards in Queens, Brooklyn, and on Long Island this May with @anthonysnead.bsky.social and @kmwinchell.bsky.social and some awesome undergrads 🦎☺️

Rose-ringed parakeets have become common in urban areas throughout Europe in the past 15 years. Thomas Griep explains why these beautiful birds are so successful in #urban ecosystems urbanevolution-litc.com/2025/04/04/h... #urbanecology #urbanevolution

How the Rose-Ringed Parakeet Conquered the Western World - Life in the City

“Dad, what are those birds? I’ve never seen them before” I remember asking my dad when I was younger. We were outside having a barbecue and for the first time, I noticed several green birds flying ove...

urbanevolution-litc.com

According to this post, I will be teaching at this thing. Apply today!

Josef Uyeda@pseudacris.bsky.social · last yr.

Deadline tomorrow, April 4th at 5:00pm! Apply & share!