Chris Anderson
@cnanderson.bsky.social
I study evolution, ecology, & behavior and teach at a Hispanic Serving Institution. Interested in Broadening Participation in STEM. Greater Chicago Area. He/him.
Reposted by Chris Anderson
I will forever end essays/reviews/perspectives with “In this paper I settle the matter once and for all, by showing which elements of each side are correct.”
I remember really enjoying this paper on individuality. Some time since I read it though, and I see there's a bunch of new stuff I haven't read yet...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Plant individuality: a solution to the demographer’s dilemma - Biology & Philosophy
The problem of plant individuality is something which has vexed botanists throughout the ages, with fashion swinging back and forth from treating plants as communities of individuals (Darwin 1800; Bra...
link.springer.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:08 AM
I will forever end essays/reviews/perspectives with “In this paper I settle the matter once and for all, by showing which elements of each side are correct.”
Reposted by Chris Anderson
"Hiring professors with PhDs is meaningless if administrators are the ones deciding what gets taught,” he said. “Faculty will start asking not, ‘Is this accurate?’ but ‘Will this get me in trouble?’ That’s not education, it’s risk management.”
#HigherEd
#HigherEd
Leonard Bright, president of the Texas A&M Chapter of the AAUP said faculty were not consulted on the proposed changes, which he called “a direct violation” of their expertise + freedom to teach. “If that’s the case, there’s just going to be a further black eye on higher education here in Texas.”
Texas A&M to vote on banning “race and gender ideology”
The proposal appears to mark the first time a Texas university system offers definitions of what kind of instruction related to race and gender should not be permitted.
www.texastribune.org
November 11, 2025 at 12:57 AM
"Hiring professors with PhDs is meaningless if administrators are the ones deciding what gets taught,” he said. “Faculty will start asking not, ‘Is this accurate?’ but ‘Will this get me in trouble?’ That’s not education, it’s risk management.”
#HigherEd
#HigherEd
Reposted by Chris Anderson
Evolutionary biologists have been warning us for decades about the danger to humanity posed by fish men. Will we listen?
November 11, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Evolutionary biologists have been warning us for decades about the danger to humanity posed by fish men. Will we listen?
Reposted by Chris Anderson
A biologist at the American Museum of Natural History, Jonathan Coddington, cataloged a new genus of South American spiders in 1986.
Two things about the spider were unique:
they lived in caves & laid cubic eggs.
So he called them genus 'Plato', and that's the nerdiest thing I have read all year.
Two things about the spider were unique:
they lived in caves & laid cubic eggs.
So he called them genus 'Plato', and that's the nerdiest thing I have read all year.
November 11, 2025 at 12:10 PM
A biologist at the American Museum of Natural History, Jonathan Coddington, cataloged a new genus of South American spiders in 1986.
Two things about the spider were unique:
they lived in caves & laid cubic eggs.
So he called them genus 'Plato', and that's the nerdiest thing I have read all year.
Two things about the spider were unique:
they lived in caves & laid cubic eggs.
So he called them genus 'Plato', and that's the nerdiest thing I have read all year.
Reposted by Chris Anderson
In case you missed it, my last lecture on Oak Origins, from Miami University, is posted online. This iteration focuses on reproduction and migration, the oak tree of life, and the effects of oak diversity on fungal and insect diversity in the forest. Please share!
www.youtube.com/live/mRCrGFn...
www.youtube.com/live/mRCrGFn...
Belk Lecture on Oak Origins
YouTube video by Hefner Museum of Natural History
www.youtube.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:05 PM
In case you missed it, my last lecture on Oak Origins, from Miami University, is posted online. This iteration focuses on reproduction and migration, the oak tree of life, and the effects of oak diversity on fungal and insect diversity in the forest. Please share!
www.youtube.com/live/mRCrGFn...
www.youtube.com/live/mRCrGFn...
Reposted by Chris Anderson
Reposted by Chris Anderson
Fifty years ago right now, the Edmund Fitzgerald had left Superior, Wisconsin, gone through the ship canal, and was on the open lake. By 5PM, it had joined the Arthur M. Anderson, coming from Two Harbors.
November 9, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Fifty years ago right now, the Edmund Fitzgerald had left Superior, Wisconsin, gone through the ship canal, and was on the open lake. By 5PM, it had joined the Arthur M. Anderson, coming from Two Harbors.
Reposted by Chris Anderson
Check out my guy Tyler releasing his first owl. 😭😭😭 This is what it’s all about!
November 9, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Check out my guy Tyler releasing his first owl. 😭😭😭 This is what it’s all about!
Reposted by Chris Anderson
Girl Scouts in a Chicago Suburb hosted a food drive. But the girls encountered masked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents with weapons.
"ICE turned it into a scary and what felt like an unsafe environment for us to be out with these kids"
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
"ICE turned it into a scary and what felt like an unsafe environment for us to be out with these kids"
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Masked ICE agents put damper on Oak Park Girl Scout food drive: ‘It’s heartbreaking as a mom’
Federal immigration agents were confronted in Oak Park on Saturday morning by residents blowing whistles as local Girl Scouts collect food for local pantries, rattling some girls and their parents.
chicago.suntimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Girl Scouts in a Chicago Suburb hosted a food drive. But the girls encountered masked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents with weapons.
"ICE turned it into a scary and what felt like an unsafe environment for us to be out with these kids"
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
"ICE turned it into a scary and what felt like an unsafe environment for us to be out with these kids"
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Reposted by Chris Anderson
In September, we had an event where we brought in nine international participants. Out of nine total, one was detained in a back room without explanation. I don’t think people here realize what a dice roll it is, but people outside the U.S. certainly do
I have had other colleagues from Europe tell me they simply will not attend conferences in the US for the foreseeable future because they no longer feel welcome. They have seen the stories of travelers detained and don't want to hand their social media over to the current administration for approval
November 9, 2025 at 6:24 PM
In September, we had an event where we brought in nine international participants. Out of nine total, one was detained in a back room without explanation. I don’t think people here realize what a dice roll it is, but people outside the U.S. certainly do
Reposted by Chris Anderson
Oh dang that’s a good snail
snailposting!
(a snail I met in Borneo)
(a snail I met in Borneo)
November 9, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Oh dang that’s a good snail
Reposted by Chris Anderson
I recently moved my lab to Purdue University and am looking for graduate students. We are working at the interface of population genomics, quantitative genetics and functional genomics to understand how plants adapt to extreme environments. Reach out if you would like to discuss potential projects.
November 8, 2025 at 3:42 PM
I recently moved my lab to Purdue University and am looking for graduate students. We are working at the interface of population genomics, quantitative genetics and functional genomics to understand how plants adapt to extreme environments. Reach out if you would like to discuss potential projects.
Reposted by Chris Anderson
Reposted by Chris Anderson
Reposted by Chris Anderson
Reposted by Chris Anderson
The most beautiful wrong equation in history (1841) skullsinthestars.com/2025/11/07/t...
The most beautiful wrong equation in history (1841)
One of the topics of the history of science that has continued to fascinate me is the discovery of the principle of conservation of energy. As I discussed in my three-part series “Booms, Bloo…
skullsinthestars.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:06 PM
The most beautiful wrong equation in history (1841) skullsinthestars.com/2025/11/07/t...
Reposted by Chris Anderson
There are other fun flamingo adaptations:
1. They have an organ that excretes salt, so they can drink saltwater.
2. Adults secrete 'crop milk' to feed young. Because of the carotenoids in their diet, this red liquid looks like blood.
3. Same-sex couples raising chicks are common in large flocks.
1. They have an organ that excretes salt, so they can drink saltwater.
2. Adults secrete 'crop milk' to feed young. Because of the carotenoids in their diet, this red liquid looks like blood.
3. Same-sex couples raising chicks are common in large flocks.
July 6, 2024 at 3:34 PM
There are other fun flamingo adaptations:
1. They have an organ that excretes salt, so they can drink saltwater.
2. Adults secrete 'crop milk' to feed young. Because of the carotenoids in their diet, this red liquid looks like blood.
3. Same-sex couples raising chicks are common in large flocks.
1. They have an organ that excretes salt, so they can drink saltwater.
2. Adults secrete 'crop milk' to feed young. Because of the carotenoids in their diet, this red liquid looks like blood.
3. Same-sex couples raising chicks are common in large flocks.
We completed the last field day in my ecology class today. They’ll write their final assignment on inverts collected from dip netting and berlese samples from leaf litter. It’s formatted as a letter to the head ecologist at the forest preserve district. I’ve enjoyed this class this year.
November 7, 2025 at 2:44 AM
We completed the last field day in my ecology class today. They’ll write their final assignment on inverts collected from dip netting and berlese samples from leaf litter. It’s formatted as a letter to the head ecologist at the forest preserve district. I’ve enjoyed this class this year.
Reposted by Chris Anderson
It is one of the great joys of my life to work two offices down from one of my personal heroes, but it is an even greater privilege still to call @gregggonsalves.bsky.social a friend, and to take inspiration from him when there is nothing left to do but speak honestly about how we arrived here
November 6, 2025 at 8:34 PM
It is one of the great joys of my life to work two offices down from one of my personal heroes, but it is an even greater privilege still to call @gregggonsalves.bsky.social a friend, and to take inspiration from him when there is nothing left to do but speak honestly about how we arrived here
Reposted by Chris Anderson
The 2025 Bear Wars www.npr.org/2025/11/06/n...
Japan deploys the military to counter a surge in bear attacks
The deployment comes following a surge of bear attacks in Japan's northern Akita prefecture.
www.npr.org
November 6, 2025 at 12:29 PM
The 2025 Bear Wars www.npr.org/2025/11/06/n...
Reposted by Chris Anderson
“How did you receive the foreigner? And did you receive him and welcome him or not?”
Pope Leo XIV challenges us to reflect on the moral cost of policies that target deeply-root immigrants and families.
Pope Leo XIV challenges us to reflect on the moral cost of policies that target deeply-root immigrants and families.
November 5, 2025 at 5:05 PM
“How did you receive the foreigner? And did you receive him and welcome him or not?”
Pope Leo XIV challenges us to reflect on the moral cost of policies that target deeply-root immigrants and families.
Pope Leo XIV challenges us to reflect on the moral cost of policies that target deeply-root immigrants and families.
Reposted by Chris Anderson
Excited to read the book based on Berkeley's Sense and Sensibility and Science course (sensibility.berkeley.edu/index.php?ti...).
If you enjoyed Calling Bullshit, you'll find this a real treat.
Thanks, Saul!
If you enjoyed Calling Bullshit, you'll find this a real treat.
Thanks, Saul!
November 5, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Excited to read the book based on Berkeley's Sense and Sensibility and Science course (sensibility.berkeley.edu/index.php?ti...).
If you enjoyed Calling Bullshit, you'll find this a real treat.
Thanks, Saul!
If you enjoyed Calling Bullshit, you'll find this a real treat.
Thanks, Saul!
Reposted by Chris Anderson
A nice commentary by Contreras-Garrido & @vincentcastric.bsky.social on our & Liu, Wang et al's papers on the fascinating genetics & evolutionary turnover of wingnut tree mating systems
@currentbiology.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
@currentbiology.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Evolution: Disassortative mating going nuts
Reciprocal timing of the maturity of male and female flowers on distinct plants is
a powerful outcrossing-enforcing mechanism. Two new studies reveal surprising diversity
of genetic systems controllin...
www.cell.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:16 PM
A nice commentary by Contreras-Garrido & @vincentcastric.bsky.social on our & Liu, Wang et al's papers on the fascinating genetics & evolutionary turnover of wingnut tree mating systems
@currentbiology.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
@currentbiology.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...