W. Chris Funk
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fieldgenomics.bsky.social
W. Chris Funk
@fieldgenomics.bsky.social
Conservation genomics / biodiversity / climate vulnerability and resilience / Amphibians / Pacific Northwest / Rocky Mountains / Neotropics / Professor @CSU Dept of Biology / Diversity in science
http://funklab.colostate.edu/
https://www.amphibiagen.org
Reposted by W. Chris Funk
Congratulations to Joe Felsenstein on being awarded the 2026 Mendel Medal!
November 14, 2025 at 12:41 PM
This would be a dream team to work with!
November 7, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Please send me the PDF!
August 4, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Reposted by W. Chris Funk
Hey folks going to #evol2025 in Athens. The SSE #DEI committee is sponsoring a workshop on how to avoid bias in writing T&P letters. Registration is required and the workshop is open to all career stages! Please share and help spread the word @sse-evolution.bsky.social @evolmtg.bsky.social
May 24, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by W. Chris Funk
Congratulations to lab member Gabi Alves Ferreira who lead us in this fun project! She modeled how range shifts of neotropical frogs with climate change will change phylogenetic diversity and endemism in the new communities. So great to see this published #ProudPI 💪🐸 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Climate change is projected to shrink phylogenetic endemism of Neotropical frogs - Nature Communications
Climate change is a major threat to biodiversity. This study predicts that climate change will reshape Neotropical frog diversity, causing losses in phylogenetic diversity and phylogenetic endemism, w...
www.nature.com
April 19, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Totally messed up.
March 28, 2025 at 8:59 PM
I guess I didn't get the memo that every day isn't frog day.
March 20, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by W. Chris Funk
Amidst *everything* going on, I'm still proud to see my 2nd chapter of my PhD out in full in the latest special issue of @animalecology.bsky.social! doi.org/10.1111/1365... (1/4)
Quantifying intraspecific variation in host resistance and tolerance to a lethal pathogen
Our study highlights the importance of considering intraspecific variation in host tolerance and resistance to pathogens. We apply a multistate model as a new way to quantify host tolerance and resis...
doi.org
March 19, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Reposted by W. Chris Funk
These NIH applications have the same materials and the same scoring criteria. Panels were postponed more than a month. Hopefully enough time to make the common-sense decision to reclassify these as standard applications and give full consideration this cycle!

www.chronicle.com/article/nih-...
NIH Again Tosses Grant Applications for Program That Funds Minority Researchers
The agency, for the second time this year, has withdrawn applications for the F31 diversity fellowship, which is designed to “promote diversity in health-related research.”
www.chronicle.com
March 18, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Learn more about Shanelle's research on her website: shanellewiks.github.io
Shanelle Wikramanayake
shanellewiks.github.io
March 14, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Congratulations to my PhD student Shanelle Wikramanayake for being awarded a Rufford Small Grant and a HCI Michael Dee Grant to support her super cool research on the effects of fragmentation and climate change on rainforest lizards in her home country of Sri Lanka! #rainforest #ClimateChange
March 14, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Here' comes Saruman for our forests. I love PNW old growth forests more than any other habitat on Earth. Devastating.
March 2, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Reposted by W. Chris Funk
The National Science Foundation benefits communities in every state.
March 2, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Reposted by W. Chris Funk
"I’m feeling betrayed, gutted, lost, anxious, and furious."

Our story for @science.org—on the ongoing mass firing of federal employees and reactions in the scientific community.

www.science.org/content/arti...
Mass firings decimate U.S. science agencies
White House dismissals and rationale challenged by dismissed scientists and lawsuits
www.science.org
February 18, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Reposted by W. Chris Funk
New analyses of Italian wolves across time confirms they are genetically and morphologically distinct from other European wolves.
Also, there’s as tiny rebound of genetic diversity relative to the 20th century bottleneck. Conservation works! #consgen

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Museomics and morphological analyses of historical and contemporary peninsular Italian wolf (Canis lupus italicus) samples - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Museomics and morphological analyses of historical and contemporary peninsular Italian wolf (Canis lupus italicus) samples
www.nature.com
February 10, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Reposted by W. Chris Funk
Bluesky has not yet had any Rhombophryne testudo. Let’s fix that. I think it will do all of us some good. 🐸🟤
February 1, 2025 at 10:44 PM
...genetically diverse populations—also termed “genetic rescue”—is an effective way to boost genetic diversity and population sizes. To see it pop out as the top management action for offsetting genetic diversity loss in this global meta-analysis just puts an exclamation point on this conclusion.
January 29, 2025 at 6:05 PM
I was stunned that population supplementation was by far the most effective conservation management action for slowing down and counteracting the loss of genetic diversity. A lot of experimental and observational studies have shown that supplementing populations with individuals from larger, more...
January 29, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Congratulations to @robynshaw.bsky.social, @cegrueber.bsky.social, and too many other friends to list here on this important paper in @nature.com on the global extent of genetic diversity loss. It was a pleasure discussing it w/ Elizabeth Pennisi from @science.org.
www.science.org/content/arti...
Wide range of Earth’s species are showing a decline in diversity
The loss of genetic variation means species may be less resilient to climate change and other stressors
www.science.org
January 29, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Reposted by W. Chris Funk
Our long term project has finally been published - genetic diversity is lost worldwide, but we can also make a difference and conservation actions matters.
Find out more in the Science news here
www.science.org/content/arti...
#Consgen
Wide range of Earth’s species are showing a decline in diversity
The loss of genetic variation means species may be less resilient to climate change and other stressors
www.science.org
January 29, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Reposted by W. Chris Funk
Diversity is pretty neat actually.

#SundayFishSketch
January 27, 2025 at 1:18 AM
EXCITING BONUS: This paper presents the first published reference genome for the remarkable tailed frog (Ascaphus truei) from the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Along with its closest living relatives, New Zealand's Leiopelma, it forms a clade that represents the most basal lineage of all living frogs!
January 19, 2025 at 11:23 PM
What do evolution and adaptation have to do with predicting vulnerability to climate change? Find out in our new paper led by the amazing Dr. @brennaforester.bsky.social and featuring the WORLD'S COOLEST 🐸 just published in Molecular Ecology: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...!
#congen
January 19, 2025 at 11:16 PM