Alex Stewart
@aast242.bsky.social
PhD student @ UA EEB. Appalachian. Amphibian genomics and evolution. Salamander Guy. Bioinformatician. He/Him
Pinned
Alex Stewart
@aast242.bsky.social
· Dec 18
A time-calibrated salamander phylogeny including 765 species and 503 genes
Recent time-calibrated amphibian phylogenies agree on the family-level relationships among extant salamanders but had disparate sampling regimes and i…
www.sciencedirect.com
Do you need a salamander phylogeny? You're in luck! We put together the largest salamander phylogeny to date based on molecular markers and used more fossil calibrations than any other currently available trees. 765 salamander species! Check it out!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Alex Stewart
Two independent origins of XY sex chromosomes in Asparagus https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.05.674532v1
September 11, 2025 at 5:32 AM
Two independent origins of XY sex chromosomes in Asparagus https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.05.674532v1
Reposted by Alex Stewart
Excited to share the first paper from my PhD!
We looked at what traits help Aneides salamanders excel at climbing using museum specimens, CT scans, SEM, and more! No claws or toe pads, so how do they do it? In short, with long limbs, big feet and grippy toes! 🦎🧪
DM for PDF
doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
We looked at what traits help Aneides salamanders excel at climbing using museum specimens, CT scans, SEM, and more! No claws or toe pads, so how do they do it? In short, with long limbs, big feet and grippy toes! 🦎🧪
DM for PDF
doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
August 28, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Excited to share the first paper from my PhD!
We looked at what traits help Aneides salamanders excel at climbing using museum specimens, CT scans, SEM, and more! No claws or toe pads, so how do they do it? In short, with long limbs, big feet and grippy toes! 🦎🧪
DM for PDF
doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
We looked at what traits help Aneides salamanders excel at climbing using museum specimens, CT scans, SEM, and more! No claws or toe pads, so how do they do it? In short, with long limbs, big feet and grippy toes! 🦎🧪
DM for PDF
doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
Reposted by Alex Stewart
I would simply hire 5 actual real life graduate teaching assistants for classes
Every future imagined by a tech company is worse than the previous iteration.
Khan Academy CEO predicts AI in the classroom will be like 5 'amazing graduate students' assisting teachers
Founder and CEO Sal Khan believes AI agents will act like a team of grad students, helping teachers adjust lesson plans to improve student engagement.
www.businessinsider.com
June 25, 2025 at 7:08 PM
I would simply hire 5 actual real life graduate teaching assistants for classes
Reposted by Alex Stewart
Wake up, babe, a new phylogeny and classification of coelacanths just dropped. 🐟🧪
A deep dive into the coelacanth phylogeny
The discovery in 1938 of a living coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae, triggered much research and discussion on the evolutionary history and phylogeny of these peculiar sarcopterygian fishes. Indeed, coe...
journals.plos.org
June 7, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Wake up, babe, a new phylogeny and classification of coelacanths just dropped. 🐟🧪
Reposted by Alex Stewart
*ahem*
Kentucky, West Virginia, I’m gonna need you two to look at your voting, look at your Medicaid usage, look deep in your soul and get right with the Lord.
Y’all didn’t use to be like this, and your coal miner granddaddies are spinning in the ground.
Kentucky, West Virginia, I’m gonna need you two to look at your voting, look at your Medicaid usage, look deep in your soul and get right with the Lord.
Y’all didn’t use to be like this, and your coal miner granddaddies are spinning in the ground.
May 13, 2025 at 6:04 PM
*ahem*
Kentucky, West Virginia, I’m gonna need you two to look at your voting, look at your Medicaid usage, look deep in your soul and get right with the Lord.
Y’all didn’t use to be like this, and your coal miner granddaddies are spinning in the ground.
Kentucky, West Virginia, I’m gonna need you two to look at your voting, look at your Medicaid usage, look deep in your soul and get right with the Lord.
Y’all didn’t use to be like this, and your coal miner granddaddies are spinning in the ground.
Reposted by Alex Stewart
Excited to launch a new State Wildlife Grant on the newly-described Plethodon pauleyi. An impressive undergrad team’s habitat analysis from last fall is helping us locate new pops of this enigmatic species, w/ almost 20% of all of Virginia’s known individuals of the species recorded in the last week
May 9, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Excited to launch a new State Wildlife Grant on the newly-described Plethodon pauleyi. An impressive undergrad team’s habitat analysis from last fall is helping us locate new pops of this enigmatic species, w/ almost 20% of all of Virginia’s known individuals of the species recorded in the last week
dude what the fuck
BREAKING: NSF has frozen all grant funding, as of yesterday. It's unclear when they will resume funding awards, or why the pause has been put in place. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Exclusive: NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones
US science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with ‘agency priorities’.
www.nature.com
May 2, 2025 at 12:22 AM
dude what the fuck
Reposted by Alex Stewart
My NSF PRFB on the genetics of female polymorphism in hummingbirds was terminated yesterday.
I don't have much to say, I'm just sad. We've discovered so much, and could have gone so much further.
If anyone else is in the same boat, esp postdocs, please reach out, it would be good to connect.
I don't have much to say, I'm just sad. We've discovered so much, and could have gone so much further.
If anyone else is in the same boat, esp postdocs, please reach out, it would be good to connect.
April 26, 2025 at 12:06 PM
My NSF PRFB on the genetics of female polymorphism in hummingbirds was terminated yesterday.
I don't have much to say, I'm just sad. We've discovered so much, and could have gone so much further.
If anyone else is in the same boat, esp postdocs, please reach out, it would be good to connect.
I don't have much to say, I'm just sad. We've discovered so much, and could have gone so much further.
If anyone else is in the same boat, esp postdocs, please reach out, it would be good to connect.
Reposted by Alex Stewart
Yesterday I was awarded $10k in research funds, today the grant was terminated by NSF. Would love someone to explain how this is making America great again…
April 25, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Yesterday I was awarded $10k in research funds, today the grant was terminated by NSF. Would love someone to explain how this is making America great again…
Reposted by Alex Stewart
Really enjoyed speaking with @jackiefmogensen.bsky.social at @motherjones.com for this piece on Helene's impacts on #Appalachia. The story discusses our long-term river restoration work & how ongoing attacks on science by the Trump admin might impact regional conservation efforts.
An extinction is not typically a single catastrophic event, where, poof, a species is suddenly gone.
But the threats against the Eastern hellbender, decimated by Helene and now facing Trump, have been stacking up with frightening speed. @jackiefmogensen.bsky.social reports:
But the threats against the Eastern hellbender, decimated by Helene and now facing Trump, have been stacking up with frightening speed. @jackiefmogensen.bsky.social reports:
Legend has it this salamander came from hell. We’re about to send it back.
Climate disasters, human sprawl, and now Trump: This is how extinctions happen.
www.motherjones.com
April 21, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Really enjoyed speaking with @jackiefmogensen.bsky.social at @motherjones.com for this piece on Helene's impacts on #Appalachia. The story discusses our long-term river restoration work & how ongoing attacks on science by the Trump admin might impact regional conservation efforts.
Reposted by Alex Stewart
I’m so angry & heart broken. My NSF CAREER grant was stolen today; dream project supporting science teachers/students as climate justice action researchers, tackling urban heat. Truly transformative, the culmination of my life’s work, we won’t stop, not in this climate crisis. Gonna fight like hell!
April 19, 2025 at 5:37 AM
I’m so angry & heart broken. My NSF CAREER grant was stolen today; dream project supporting science teachers/students as climate justice action researchers, tackling urban heat. Truly transformative, the culmination of my life’s work, we won’t stop, not in this climate crisis. Gonna fight like hell!
Reposted by Alex Stewart
Muy buena oportunidad para estudiantes internacionales interesados en un doctorado en US.
eeb.princeton.edu/graduate/eeb...
eeb.princeton.edu/graduate/eeb...
EEB Scholars Program
The 2024 EEB Scholars Program application is now open and will close on June 15th, 2024.As part of efforts to increase the diversity and accessibility of graduate studies in ecology and evolutionary b...
eeb.princeton.edu
April 8, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Muy buena oportunidad para estudiantes internacionales interesados en un doctorado en US.
eeb.princeton.edu/graduate/eeb...
eeb.princeton.edu/graduate/eeb...
Reposted by Alex Stewart
In case this is helpful to someone out there: I'm moving to Ball State University this August, and I'll have a support for MS students over the next three years (RAs/TAs)
If your lab has talented students graduating this spring, I welcome them to reach out and talk about the opportunities.
If your lab has talented students graduating this spring, I welcome them to reach out and talk about the opportunities.
April 4, 2025 at 1:37 PM
In case this is helpful to someone out there: I'm moving to Ball State University this August, and I'll have a support for MS students over the next three years (RAs/TAs)
If your lab has talented students graduating this spring, I welcome them to reach out and talk about the opportunities.
If your lab has talented students graduating this spring, I welcome them to reach out and talk about the opportunities.
Reposted by Alex Stewart
Saying it’s ‘about hate,’ Beshear vetoes ban on DEI in Kentucky public higher education kentuckylantern.com/2025/03/20/s...
Saying it's 'about hate,' Beshear vetoes ban on DEI in Kentucky public higher education • Kentucky Lantern
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear issues expected veto of a Republican-backed bn on diversity, equity and inclusion in Kentucky’s public colleges.
kentuckylantern.com
March 20, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Saying it’s ‘about hate,’ Beshear vetoes ban on DEI in Kentucky public higher education kentuckylantern.com/2025/03/20/s...
Reposted by Alex Stewart
Colleagues, including my partner, with years of service at the agency. Some Permanent POs reclassified as Probationary. Exceptional scientists who were former professors at major institutions, and came to NSF to serve the community and ensure science thrives in the US.
February 18, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Colleagues, including my partner, with years of service at the agency. Some Permanent POs reclassified as Probationary. Exceptional scientists who were former professors at major institutions, and came to NSF to serve the community and ensure science thrives in the US.
Reposted by Alex Stewart
I'm giving away EVERY Masters set EVER! It's Masters Masters!
I'm giving TEN PEOPLE each one box of Masters from the entire history of Masters sets as a thank you!
Just donate in multiples of $4.00 to
@translifeline.bsky.social until Feb 15 at 11am PST!
Donate---> give.translifeline.org/tolarian
I'm giving TEN PEOPLE each one box of Masters from the entire history of Masters sets as a thank you!
Just donate in multiples of $4.00 to
@translifeline.bsky.social until Feb 15 at 11am PST!
Donate---> give.translifeline.org/tolarian
February 12, 2025 at 5:02 PM
I'm giving away EVERY Masters set EVER! It's Masters Masters!
I'm giving TEN PEOPLE each one box of Masters from the entire history of Masters sets as a thank you!
Just donate in multiples of $4.00 to
@translifeline.bsky.social until Feb 15 at 11am PST!
Donate---> give.translifeline.org/tolarian
I'm giving TEN PEOPLE each one box of Masters from the entire history of Masters sets as a thank you!
Just donate in multiples of $4.00 to
@translifeline.bsky.social until Feb 15 at 11am PST!
Donate---> give.translifeline.org/tolarian
Reposted by Alex Stewart
Rhiannon Hall @rhall01.bsky.social tackled a split poster for both chapters of her MS work: landscape genomics of two bumblebee species in North Dakota and occupancy modeling to understand bumble bee nest selection out at the Central Grasslands Research and Extension Center. 3/6
February 10, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Rhiannon Hall @rhall01.bsky.social tackled a split poster for both chapters of her MS work: landscape genomics of two bumblebee species in North Dakota and occupancy modeling to understand bumble bee nest selection out at the Central Grasslands Research and Extension Center. 3/6
Reposted by Alex Stewart
they’re PRIVATE
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the nation’s largest private funder of biomedical research, yesterday killed a $60 million program aimed at making universities’ STEM education more inclusive. scim.ag/3EtS0US
HHMI kills program aimed at boosting inclusivity in STEM education
“Inclusive excellence” program had committed $60 million to 104 institutions
scim.ag
February 7, 2025 at 1:16 AM
they’re PRIVATE
Reposted by Alex Stewart
My student's diversity F31 has been pulled from study section even though it's the SAME APPLICATION as regular F31s, normally reviewed together in the same panel. Throwing out all the applications from URMs while the ones from white/privileged students get to be reviewed is blatant discrimination.
The CSR comm I'm on just pulled all Diversity F grants from the current review cycle. These apps are reviewed alongside (and by the same criteria) as all other F grants. So, instead of helping these trainees, they will actually be punished by having their grant reviews delayed at least 1 cycle !?!?
February 7, 2025 at 3:31 AM
My student's diversity F31 has been pulled from study section even though it's the SAME APPLICATION as regular F31s, normally reviewed together in the same panel. Throwing out all the applications from URMs while the ones from white/privileged students get to be reviewed is blatant discrimination.
Bumping this because some issues with text formatting in the figures were fixed! The trees in the paper should be more legible now 😅
Do you need a salamander phylogeny? You're in luck! We put together the largest salamander phylogeny to date based on molecular markers and used more fossil calibrations than any other currently available trees. 765 salamander species! Check it out!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A time-calibrated salamander phylogeny including 765 species and 503 genes
Recent time-calibrated amphibian phylogenies agree on the family-level relationships among extant salamanders but had disparate sampling regimes and i…
www.sciencedirect.com
February 6, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Bumping this because some issues with text formatting in the figures were fixed! The trees in the paper should be more legible now 😅
Reposted by Alex Stewart
The entire archive of CDC datasets can be found here.
HUGE shoutout to data archivists- this work is important 👏🙌🏻
archive.org/details/2025...
HUGE shoutout to data archivists- this work is important 👏🙌🏻
archive.org/details/2025...
February 1, 2025 at 6:33 PM
The entire archive of CDC datasets can be found here.
HUGE shoutout to data archivists- this work is important 👏🙌🏻
archive.org/details/2025...
HUGE shoutout to data archivists- this work is important 👏🙌🏻
archive.org/details/2025...
Reposted by Alex Stewart
The dismantling of American Science continues. The Organismal Response to Climate Change grant call has been cancelled. The NSF Director is a disgrace
![Email text:
[EXT] Grants.gov
Opportunities Update
External Email
The following grant opportunities were created, updated, or deleted on Grants.gov:
NSF
National Science Foundation
25-504 - Organismal Response to
Climate Change
Deletion Comments: Opportunity deleted](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:misyogthncmyejlvlflkvjbh/bafkreibzievopgxfpflskzvszff3bgr6komy6htkril4e3zgiob3rtc3qi@jpeg)
February 1, 2025 at 6:53 PM
The dismantling of American Science continues. The Organismal Response to Climate Change grant call has been cancelled. The NSF Director is a disgrace
Reposted by Alex Stewart
I'm begging a major news org to cover the fact NSF is defying the courts to enact Trump's unconstitutional executive order
January 30, 2025 at 8:35 PM
I'm begging a major news org to cover the fact NSF is defying the courts to enact Trump's unconstitutional executive order