W. Andrew Barr
@wabarr.bsky.social
Assistant Prof at George Washington University. Paleoecology and human evolution. Creator of bioanthtree.org
My best writing advice.
September 30, 2025 at 7:13 PM
My best writing advice.
I am finally willing to admit I was wrong and revise my position. Growth is hard, but….I am just going to come out and say it.
Swedish Fish are actually pretty OK.
Swedish Fish are actually pretty OK.
April 7, 2025 at 7:13 PM
I am finally willing to admit I was wrong and revise my position. Growth is hard, but….I am just going to come out and say it.
Swedish Fish are actually pretty OK.
Swedish Fish are actually pretty OK.
March 28, 2025 at 2:18 PM
House continuing res will force DC Gov. (funded by taxes on DC residents, not fed. funds) to revert to FY24 spending levels, though we are halfway through FY25.
This means DC will be forced to cut $350+ million from our public/charter school budget, leaving more than 95,000 kids high and dry.
This means DC will be forced to cut $350+ million from our public/charter school budget, leaving more than 95,000 kids high and dry.
March 11, 2025 at 1:31 PM
House continuing res will force DC Gov. (funded by taxes on DC residents, not fed. funds) to revert to FY24 spending levels, though we are halfway through FY25.
This means DC will be forced to cut $350+ million from our public/charter school budget, leaving more than 95,000 kids high and dry.
This means DC will be forced to cut $350+ million from our public/charter school budget, leaving more than 95,000 kids high and dry.
Reposted by W. Andrew Barr
I am deeply saddened to have learned of the death, on Feb 5, 2025, of Elisabeth Vrba—a fantastically creative scientist and a warm, wonderful human being. She leaves us a legacy of original macroevolutionary thinking that is still fresh and illuminating.
February 10, 2025 at 6:46 PM
I am deeply saddened to have learned of the death, on Feb 5, 2025, of Elisabeth Vrba—a fantastically creative scientist and a warm, wonderful human being. She leaves us a legacy of original macroevolutionary thinking that is still fresh and illuminating.
pretty fun to see my recent paper (Barr and Wood, 2024) listed in this list of 100 significant paleoanthropology papers compiled in honor of the 100th year anniversary of the naming of Australopithecus.
100 years of Australopithecus
On 7 February 1925, Nature published a curious paper on a ‘missing link’ – the fossil of a form intermediate between apes and humans.
www.nature.com
February 7, 2025 at 4:04 PM
pretty fun to see my recent paper (Barr and Wood, 2024) listed in this list of 100 significant paleoanthropology papers compiled in honor of the 100th year anniversary of the naming of Australopithecus.
Reposted by W. Andrew Barr
Best grant writing advice I ever received:
"Write your proposal as if someone from a completely different field will search through it looking for 100 banned words"
"Write your proposal as if someone from a completely different field will search through it looking for 100 banned words"
February 4, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Best grant writing advice I ever received:
"Write your proposal as if someone from a completely different field will search through it looking for 100 banned words"
"Write your proposal as if someone from a completely different field will search through it looking for 100 banned words"
Feeling inspired after an awesome lab meeting this morning with a great group of undergrads, Masters and PhD students in my lab.
Just in case you needed a reminder that amazing things are happening in Washington DC, in addition to all the other things.
Just in case you needed a reminder that amazing things are happening in Washington DC, in addition to all the other things.
February 3, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Feeling inspired after an awesome lab meeting this morning with a great group of undergrads, Masters and PhD students in my lab.
Just in case you needed a reminder that amazing things are happening in Washington DC, in addition to all the other things.
Just in case you needed a reminder that amazing things are happening in Washington DC, in addition to all the other things.
I am very proud of my PhD student Nick Rosas for successfully defending his dissertation proposal! Lots of cool research on Middle Miocene bovids biogeography and ecology coming soon!
January 21, 2025 at 7:31 PM
I am very proud of my PhD student Nick Rosas for successfully defending his dissertation proposal! Lots of cool research on Middle Miocene bovids biogeography and ecology coming soon!
Once again, the seasons change, and this old meme feels 100% accurate.
December 2, 2024 at 1:52 PM
Once again, the seasons change, and this old meme feels 100% accurate.
Reposted by W. Andrew Barr
The rhinos we have and the ones we lost.
In the late Pleistocene, about two thirds of the worlds terrestrial megafauna went extinct. Rhinos fared better than average, but still, all the temperate and cold climate species are gone. Those that remain are endangered and in dire need of protection.
In the late Pleistocene, about two thirds of the worlds terrestrial megafauna went extinct. Rhinos fared better than average, but still, all the temperate and cold climate species are gone. Those that remain are endangered and in dire need of protection.
November 20, 2024 at 7:43 AM
The rhinos we have and the ones we lost.
In the late Pleistocene, about two thirds of the worlds terrestrial megafauna went extinct. Rhinos fared better than average, but still, all the temperate and cold climate species are gone. Those that remain are endangered and in dire need of protection.
In the late Pleistocene, about two thirds of the worlds terrestrial megafauna went extinct. Rhinos fared better than average, but still, all the temperate and cold climate species are gone. Those that remain are endangered and in dire need of protection.
Reposted by W. Andrew Barr
Paper led by my now-graduated PhD student Jesse Martin where we argue that the SK 54 cranium from Swartkrans in South Africa is Homo, not Paranthropus. www.scielo.org.za/pdf/sajs/v12...
November 20, 2024 at 9:26 AM
Paper led by my now-graduated PhD student Jesse Martin where we argue that the SK 54 cranium from Swartkrans in South Africa is Homo, not Paranthropus. www.scielo.org.za/pdf/sajs/v12...
Human evolution is not out of the woods yet!
Congrats to Enqu on this landmark paper! In it, we present a new model for predicting woody cover based on an Africa-specific soil dataset. Results show hominin sites were ~13% more wooded than previously predicted!
authors.elsevier.com/a/1k5a6_14mM...
Congrats to Enqu on this landmark paper! In it, we present a new model for predicting woody cover based on an Africa-specific soil dataset. Results show hominin sites were ~13% more wooded than previously predicted!
authors.elsevier.com/a/1k5a6_14mM...
November 14, 2024 at 2:55 PM
Human evolution is not out of the woods yet!
Congrats to Enqu on this landmark paper! In it, we present a new model for predicting woody cover based on an Africa-specific soil dataset. Results show hominin sites were ~13% more wooded than previously predicted!
authors.elsevier.com/a/1k5a6_14mM...
Congrats to Enqu on this landmark paper! In it, we present a new model for predicting woody cover based on an Africa-specific soil dataset. Results show hominin sites were ~13% more wooded than previously predicted!
authors.elsevier.com/a/1k5a6_14mM...
In my paper, coauthor Bernard Wood and I explore the potential impacts of a spatially limited fossil record on understanding human evolution. We do this using two "thought experiments", focusing on the Eastern African Rift Valley. (1/4)
August 22, 2024 at 1:43 PM
In my paper, coauthor Bernard Wood and I explore the potential impacts of a spatially limited fossil record on understanding human evolution. We do this using two "thought experiments", focusing on the Eastern African Rift Valley. (1/4)
postdoc on hominin postcranial morphology to work on the Woranso-Mille hominins with Yohannes Haile-Selassie et al! apply.interfolio.com/137850
December 11, 2023 at 7:53 PM
postdoc on hominin postcranial morphology to work on the Woranso-Mille hominins with Yohannes Haile-Selassie et al! apply.interfolio.com/137850
As true this year as every year.
December 7, 2023 at 4:17 PM
As true this year as every year.
what kind of person are you?
A) there is no more toothpaste
B) there's DEFINITELY at least one more squeeze in there!
A) there is no more toothpaste
B) there's DEFINITELY at least one more squeeze in there!
December 5, 2023 at 3:22 PM
what kind of person are you?
A) there is no more toothpaste
B) there's DEFINITELY at least one more squeeze in there!
A) there is no more toothpaste
B) there's DEFINITELY at least one more squeeze in there!
So proud of Kate Fish for successfully defending her dissertation proposal today. We are looking forward to exciting research on modeling biases in the fossil record!!
November 6, 2023 at 7:24 PM
So proud of Kate Fish for successfully defending her dissertation proposal today. We are looking forward to exciting research on modeling biases in the fossil record!!
any other biological anthropologists getting calls from the hospitality union in Los Angeles calling for a general boycott of the city and telling us not to go there for #AABA24?
October 25, 2023 at 6:11 PM
any other biological anthropologists getting calls from the hospitality union in Los Angeles calling for a general boycott of the city and telling us not to go there for #AABA24?
I was just making a map in QGIS and accidentally zoomed out on my digital elevation model base layer, and accidentally 'discovered' that Antartica has the highest average elevation of any continent! Genuinely very surprised.....no idea.
October 12, 2023 at 6:43 PM
I was just making a map in QGIS and accidentally zoomed out on my digital elevation model base layer, and accidentally 'discovered' that Antartica has the highest average elevation of any continent! Genuinely very surprised.....no idea.
Assistant prof of Bio Anthro - University of Wyoming
Asst Professor Anthropology
The Department of Anthropology at the University of Wyoming invites applications for a tenure-track faculty member at the rank of Assistant Professor to begin in August 2024.
eeik.fa.us2.oraclecloud.com
October 12, 2023 at 5:52 PM
Assistant prof of Bio Anthro - University of Wyoming
hey geometric morphometrics folks who use the R package geomorph. When I do a gm.prcomp, does the function automatically project the points into tangent space before doing the PCA? I assume so, but I wasn't able to 100% convince myself that it does while reading the help file. Thanks!
October 9, 2023 at 3:26 PM
hey geometric morphometrics folks who use the R package geomorph. When I do a gm.prcomp, does the function automatically project the points into tangent space before doing the PCA? I assume so, but I wasn't able to 100% convince myself that it does while reading the help file. Thanks!
Such an amazing lecture hall here in Aarhus for #ESHE2023. Feels like a church dedicated to human evolution.
September 23, 2023 at 1:19 PM
Such an amazing lecture hall here in Aarhus for #ESHE2023. Feels like a church dedicated to human evolution.
interesting and detailed 3D morphometric study of two hominin mandibles from Baringo from Clement Zanoli at ESHE 2023. The results show they are more likely Australopitheucs, Paranthropus and Homo aff. habilis, rather than Homo aff. ergaster as previously argued.
September 21, 2023 at 8:09 AM
interesting and detailed 3D morphometric study of two hominin mandibles from Baringo from Clement Zanoli at ESHE 2023. The results show they are more likely Australopitheucs, Paranthropus and Homo aff. habilis, rather than Homo aff. ergaster as previously argued.
congrats to Stine Keibel Blom on an excellent first conference presentation: "Signatures of incomplete lineage sorting in the phenotypes of great apes at the ESHE 2023 conference in Aarhus, Denmark!
September 21, 2023 at 7:57 AM
congrats to Stine Keibel Blom on an excellent first conference presentation: "Signatures of incomplete lineage sorting in the phenotypes of great apes at the ESHE 2023 conference in Aarhus, Denmark!