The annual Evolution meeting (ASN, SSE, SSB) officially kicked off Monday (virtually)! If you are presenting, consider writing a short summary of your talk for the blog (as we have done in the past for in-person conferences). And if you're attending, we've got you covered here with a list of do-not-miss urban evolution talks! (As... Continue Reading →
Evolution 2021! Day 3
The annual Evolution meeting (ASN, SSE, SSB) officially kicked off Monday (virtually)! If you are presenting, consider writing a short summary of your talk for the blog (as we have done in the past for in-person conferences). And if you're attending, we've got you covered here with a list of do-not-miss urban evolution talks! (As... Continue Reading →
Evolution 2021! Day 2
The annual Evolution meeting (ASN, SSE, SSB) officially kicked off yesterday (virtually)! If you are presenting, consider writing a short summary of your talk for the blog (as we have done in the past for in-person conferences). And if you're attending, we've got you covered here with a list of do-not-miss urban evolution talks! (As... Continue Reading →
Evolution 2021! Day 1
The annual Evolution meeting (ASN, SSE, SSB) officially kicks off tomorrow (virtually)! If you are presenting, consider writing a short summary of your talk for the blog (as we have done in the past for in-person conferences). And if you're attending, we've got you covered here with a list of do-not-miss urban evolution talks! (As... Continue Reading →
CSEE2020: Variation in Pollinator-mediated Plant Reproduction Across an Urbanization Gradient
Recently, Ruth Rivkin shared some of her dissertation work with the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution (CSEE). Urban habitats are more fragmented and degraded than nonurban habitats, which can impact both the ecology and evolution of species interactions. Species interaction may be particularly sensitive to urbanization because the species involved may be responding to... Continue Reading →
CSEE2020: Human Influences on Darwin’s Finches
The Galápagos Islands are renowned for their unique, endemic biodiversity which inspired Charles Darwin to develop his theory of evolution by natural selection. In particular, Darwin’s finches are an iconic example of adaptive radiation due to natural selection, where ~18 species have evolved from a single, common ancestor. Adaptive radiations can occur when exploitation of... Continue Reading →
ABS2020: Using Acoustic Signals to Reduce Avian Collisions with Man-made Structures
As areas become more urbanized, fauna are continually exposed to novel anthropogenic structures and are forced to adapt. However, adapting is not always an option. For example, we see that individuals across various groups have not adapted to roads and train tracks (e.g., deer, bears, birds) and the outcome is fatal. Instead of creating barriers... Continue Reading →
IALE-North America 2020 Symposium: Landscape genetics as a tool for managing human-impacted landscapes
This summer the International Association for Landscape Ecology - North America (IALE-NA) hosted an annual meeting that was originally scheduled to be in person in Toronto, ON, Canada, but due to Covid-19 it was hosted online. This was my first online conference and I was a chair for a special symposium: Landscape genetics as a... Continue Reading →
SICB 2020: Artificial Light at Night and West Nile Virus in House Sparrows
As habitats become increasingly urbanized, wildlife are exposed to artificial light at night (ALAN). Greater exposure to ALAN can have detrimental effects on animal physiology, such as suppressing components of the host immune system. However, how these changes ultimately affect infectious disease dynamics remains poorly understood. Meredith Kernbach, a PhD candidate at the University of... Continue Reading →
SICB 2020: How is Light Effecting Behavior and Physiology of Anoles?
Urbanization is becoming a huge concern and many researchers at SICB 2020 wanted to study the effects it has on the surrounding wildlife. Laura Taylor, an undergraduate student at Trinity University, looked specifically at how urbanization and artificial light at night (ALAN) effected both the physiology and the behavior of anoles. Green anoles (Anolis carolinensis),... Continue Reading →
SICB 2020: Urban Lizards Lay Lower Quality Eggs
The decisions that a parent makes or conditions that a parent experiences can influence the survival and fitness of their offspring. These transgenerational effects, in which impacts of the environment on one generation impact subsequent generations, are widespread and can originate with both mothers and fathers. In organisms that make eggs, the environments mothers experience... Continue Reading →
Urban Evolution at SICB 2020
The annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) is here! From January 3-7 biologists will convene in Austin, Texas to share the latest and greatest from a broad range of research areas. Urban evolution talks have a strong showing at the meeting this year, and we would like to hear about... Continue Reading →
Entomology Conference 2019
Entomology 2019 I recently attended the Entomology Conference in St. Louis, Missouri and here are some of the highlights. I was part of the special symposium "What Everyone Ought to Know about Insect Biodiversity in the Urban Environment" where a number of scientists gave talks and posters about their research related to this topic. Biodiversity... Continue Reading →
Is your bird feeder clean enough to eat off of? Bird feeders may act as reservoirs for disease transmission
When was the last time you cleaned your bird feeder? Bird feeders are a common sight in the city. For many, they represent a chance to view nature from the comfort of their own home, with little else required but to go out each morning to fill the feeder in their pajamas. This gives city... Continue Reading →
Urban Ichs and Herps!
The annual Joint Meeting of Icthyologists and Herpetologists (JMIH) kicks off today in Snowbird, Utah. This is one of my favorite conferences so I'm sad I will not be attending this year. And unfortunately, none of our contributors are attending this meeting either this year (that I know of), so we will not be able... Continue Reading →