Kevin Bennett
@kevinfpbennett.bsky.social
Postdoc, Penn State University. Research affiliate, Smithsonian's NMNH. Evolution. Hybridization. Plumage color. Sexual selection. Birds.
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
Super excited to release this virtual field / lab experience called "VRmivora":
davetoews.com/vrmivora/
It's free to download via SideQuest for a Meta VR headset:
sidequestvr.com/app/44760/vr...
Thanks to all involved, especially the Center for Immersive Experiences: immersive.psu.edu
🦉🧪
davetoews.com/vrmivora/
It's free to download via SideQuest for a Meta VR headset:
sidequestvr.com/app/44760/vr...
Thanks to all involved, especially the Center for Immersive Experiences: immersive.psu.edu
🦉🧪
VRmivora
This VR experience—created by Penn State and the National Science Foundation—drops you into a young forest to find wood-warblers. Explore the landscape as you find and identify wood-warblers, which…
davetoews.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Super excited to release this virtual field / lab experience called "VRmivora":
davetoews.com/vrmivora/
It's free to download via SideQuest for a Meta VR headset:
sidequestvr.com/app/44760/vr...
Thanks to all involved, especially the Center for Immersive Experiences: immersive.psu.edu
🦉🧪
davetoews.com/vrmivora/
It's free to download via SideQuest for a Meta VR headset:
sidequestvr.com/app/44760/vr...
Thanks to all involved, especially the Center for Immersive Experiences: immersive.psu.edu
🦉🧪
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
1/9 New in @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado8005
How does genetic architecture constrain evolutionary trajectories? To address this question, we inferred the genetic architecture of convergent plumage coloration and its evolutionary history in wheatears.
How does genetic architecture constrain evolutionary trajectories? To address this question, we inferred the genetic architecture of convergent plumage coloration and its evolutionary history in wheatears.
A mosaic of modular variation at a single gene underpins convergent plumage coloration
The reshuffling of genomic variation from multiple origins is an important contributor to phenotypic diversification, yet insights into the evolutionary trajectories of this combinatorial process and ...
www.science.org
October 17, 2025 at 5:50 AM
1/9 New in @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado8005
How does genetic architecture constrain evolutionary trajectories? To address this question, we inferred the genetic architecture of convergent plumage coloration and its evolutionary history in wheatears.
How does genetic architecture constrain evolutionary trajectories? To address this question, we inferred the genetic architecture of convergent plumage coloration and its evolutionary history in wheatears.
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
For decades, human genome editing has been limited to small, localized modifications.
Today, in a new paper published in @science.org , researchers from Arc's Hsu lab show that bridge recombinase technology is capable of large-scale genomic rearrangements in human cells.
Today, in a new paper published in @science.org , researchers from Arc's Hsu lab show that bridge recombinase technology is capable of large-scale genomic rearrangements in human cells.
September 25, 2025 at 6:27 PM
For decades, human genome editing has been limited to small, localized modifications.
Today, in a new paper published in @science.org , researchers from Arc's Hsu lab show that bridge recombinase technology is capable of large-scale genomic rearrangements in human cells.
Today, in a new paper published in @science.org , researchers from Arc's Hsu lab show that bridge recombinase technology is capable of large-scale genomic rearrangements in human cells.
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
🐦🔬 Recruiting PhD students! 🌎🧬
I’m looking for 1–2 PhD students to join our team starting Fall 2026 at the Sam Noble Museum & University of Oklahoma.
Our research: 🐦 birds • 🌍 biogeography • 🌴 Neotropics • 🧬 population genomics • 🌱 speciation
👉 Learn more: www.moncriefflab.org
Please share!
I’m looking for 1–2 PhD students to join our team starting Fall 2026 at the Sam Noble Museum & University of Oklahoma.
Our research: 🐦 birds • 🌍 biogeography • 🌴 Neotropics • 🧬 population genomics • 🌱 speciation
👉 Learn more: www.moncriefflab.org
Please share!
Moncrieff Lab | Bird Evolution
The Moncrieff Lab is a research lab based at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History on the campus of the University of Oklahoma. Research in the lab involves museum specimens, fieldwork, and...
www.moncriefflab.org
August 25, 2025 at 11:58 PM
🐦🔬 Recruiting PhD students! 🌎🧬
I’m looking for 1–2 PhD students to join our team starting Fall 2026 at the Sam Noble Museum & University of Oklahoma.
Our research: 🐦 birds • 🌍 biogeography • 🌴 Neotropics • 🧬 population genomics • 🌱 speciation
👉 Learn more: www.moncriefflab.org
Please share!
I’m looking for 1–2 PhD students to join our team starting Fall 2026 at the Sam Noble Museum & University of Oklahoma.
Our research: 🐦 birds • 🌍 biogeography • 🌴 Neotropics • 🧬 population genomics • 🌱 speciation
👉 Learn more: www.moncriefflab.org
Please share!
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
Does anyone have a recommendation for a good review / synthesis of the evolution of DNA sequencing technologies over the last 40-50 years? Looking for something to read as a lab group with folks who are newer to the field. TIA
August 21, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Does anyone have a recommendation for a good review / synthesis of the evolution of DNA sequencing technologies over the last 40-50 years? Looking for something to read as a lab group with folks who are newer to the field. TIA
Saw this and thought to myself "Oh no we got scooped!" Nope. This is the preprint of our manuscript. Fun collab with Laura Céspedes Arias.
Diversification and divergence in Myioborus warblers: insights into evolutionary relationships and plumage genetics https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.12.669906v1
August 16, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Saw this and thought to myself "Oh no we got scooped!" Nope. This is the preprint of our manuscript. Fun collab with Laura Céspedes Arias.
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
#AOS2025 don't miss @kevinfpbennett.bsky.social's talk at 11:15am on Wednesday in the Genomics 2 session (Ballroom C). We're cooking up some cool stuff with @mbtoomey.bsky.social on warbler carotenoid processing enzymes! 🦉🧪
August 11, 2025 at 1:21 PM
#AOS2025 don't miss @kevinfpbennett.bsky.social's talk at 11:15am on Wednesday in the Genomics 2 session (Ballroom C). We're cooking up some cool stuff with @mbtoomey.bsky.social on warbler carotenoid processing enzymes! 🦉🧪
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
This looks like an amazing tool
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Phyling: phylogenetic inference from annotated genomes
Phyling is a fast, scalable, and user-friendly tool supporting phylogenomic reconstruction of species phylogenies directly from protein-encoded genomic data. It identifies orthologous genes by searchi...
www.biorxiv.org
August 6, 2025 at 8:50 PM
This looks like an amazing tool
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
Yes our learning management system is ClassWorks, but to manage your roster you have to go to Socrates. But students register through Einstein+. And to enter grades you have to go to Gradify. Except if the student is graduating, then you have to use Gradly. Oh and classrooms are managed through Bluo
July 21, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Yes our learning management system is ClassWorks, but to manage your roster you have to go to Socrates. But students register through Einstein+. And to enter grades you have to go to Gradify. Except if the student is graduating, then you have to use Gradly. Oh and classrooms are managed through Bluo
New paper published! How does a mid-size river impact gene flow and population structure, including when there is an adaptive sexual trait present on one bank but not the other? With Peri Bolton, Robb Brumfield (@limpkin.bsky.social), Jerry Wilkinson, and Mike Braun.
doi.org/10.1093/evol...
doi.org/10.1093/evol...
Impact of a putative riverine barrier on genomic population structure and gene flow in the presence of sexual selection
Abstract. Gene flow connects populations and facilitates the exchange of alleles, impacting speciation and adaptation. In western Panama, lekking golden-co
doi.org
July 8, 2025 at 7:09 PM
New paper published! How does a mid-size river impact gene flow and population structure, including when there is an adaptive sexual trait present on one bank but not the other? With Peri Bolton, Robb Brumfield (@limpkin.bsky.social), Jerry Wilkinson, and Mike Braun.
doi.org/10.1093/evol...
doi.org/10.1093/evol...
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
Genetic parallelism underpins convergent mimicry coloration across Lepidoptera https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06.26.661542v1
June 28, 2025 at 4:34 AM
Genetic parallelism underpins convergent mimicry coloration across Lepidoptera https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06.26.661542v1
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
Nothing pairs better with red wine and lamb than getting tenure. Thanks @psubiodept.bsky.social (and all the colleagues, mentors and mentees along the way)!
May 10, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Nothing pairs better with red wine and lamb than getting tenure. Thanks @psubiodept.bsky.social (and all the colleagues, mentors and mentees along the way)!
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
For the past 10 yrs I have trained students and collected mark-recap data from non-breeding birds at #konza. Today we pulled up stakes… removed as much evidence this ever happened as possible. Bittersweet. Nature gave me this gift.
May 4, 2025 at 11:32 PM
For the past 10 yrs I have trained students and collected mark-recap data from non-breeding birds at #konza. Today we pulled up stakes… removed as much evidence this ever happened as possible. Bittersweet. Nature gave me this gift.
Timeline cleanse raccoon.
April 25, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Timeline cleanse raccoon.
!!
I'm excited to release what I've been cooking up the past few months at @arcinstitute.org
BINSEQ is a family of binary file formats for sequencing data built with paired records and parallel processing in mind with big performance gains (2x-40x) over gzip-fastq with similar storage
BINSEQ is a family of binary file formats for sequencing data built with paired records and parallel processing in mind with big performance gains (2x-40x) over gzip-fastq with similar storage
BINSEQ: A Family of High-Performance Binary Formats for Nucleotide Sequences https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.08.647863v1
April 16, 2025 at 3:15 PM
!!
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
Sketch, capture and layout phylogenies www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧬🖥️🧪 github.com/husonlab/phy...
April 3, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Sketch, capture and layout phylogenies www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧬🖥️🧪 github.com/husonlab/phy...
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
Not really my announcement to make--I am but a lesser co-author--but IQ-TREE 3 has just been released!
(Most credit to Minh Bui and @roblanfear.bsky.social and their labs)
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
(Most credit to Minh Bui and @roblanfear.bsky.social and their labs)
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
IQ-TREE 3: Phylogenomic Inference Software using Complex Evolutionary Models
ecoevorxiv.org
April 10, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Not really my announcement to make--I am but a lesser co-author--but IQ-TREE 3 has just been released!
(Most credit to Minh Bui and @roblanfear.bsky.social and their labs)
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
(Most credit to Minh Bui and @roblanfear.bsky.social and their labs)
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
Interesting…
Robust Phylogenetics https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.01.646540v1
April 2, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Interesting…
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
(getting my most bogus, indefensible claim out of the way) arguably,
March 4, 2025 at 7:48 AM
(getting my most bogus, indefensible claim out of the way) arguably,
Awesome study. Looking forward to digging in.
A decade-long study by Barron et al. shows that female birds with attractive mates have lower breeding costs and make more young. Their attractive sons also produce more offspring. Male environment, not genes, drives these multigenerational benefits.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent
www.journals.uchicago.edu
February 27, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Awesome study. Looking forward to digging in.
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
Our work (by Drew DeHaas) on an extremely simple yet efficient binary genotype format - designed to facilitate scalable bioinformatics tool development. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
IGD: A simple, efficient genotype data format
Motivation While there are a variety of file formats for storing reference-sequence-aligned genotype data, many are complex or inefficient. Programming language support for such formats is often limit...
www.biorxiv.org
February 12, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Our work (by Drew DeHaas) on an extremely simple yet efficient binary genotype format - designed to facilitate scalable bioinformatics tool development. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
not my indifferent ass concluding with a call for further study
February 11, 2025 at 9:45 AM
not my indifferent ass concluding with a call for further study
(in a whisper) bcftools
the world is burning and I'm just sitting here trying to do my job updating some variant calling teaching material and my god the absolute state of the gatk documentation.
February 6, 2025 at 12:03 AM
(in a whisper) bcftools
The administration is flailing around, trying to scare government employees into taking a legally dubious "buyout." And if they go through with it, they end American dominance in science.
NSF to lay off nearly half of its staff in the next two months. www.politico.com/news/2025/02...
Science funding agency threatened with mass layoffs
National Science Foundation staff heard the plans at a meeting Tuesday.
www.politico.com
February 5, 2025 at 12:23 AM
The administration is flailing around, trying to scare government employees into taking a legally dubious "buyout." And if they go through with it, they end American dominance in science.
Important thread for people understandably upset about the situation at NSF. Don't be too quick to assume bad motives. Open defiance could get everyone fired, and courts are likely to step in soon.
Some additional #NSF thoughts. As always, these thoughts are mine alone. But here goes, It seems the damage this situation has already caused to the research enterprise in the US may be catastrophic (and irreparable?).
January 31, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Important thread for people understandably upset about the situation at NSF. Don't be too quick to assume bad motives. Open defiance could get everyone fired, and courts are likely to step in soon.