Andrew Roger
andrewjroger.bsky.social
Andrew Roger
@andrewjroger.bsky.social
deep-time evolution, phylogenetics, anaerobic protists, the tree of Life. Science depends on vigorous respectful debate and evidence-based reasoning. This is my personal page and what I post here has nothing to do with my employer.
Reposted by Andrew Roger
#APSPM2026 is open to anyone curious about combining protein structure and evolution. Learn where to start in our workshops and discover how structure meets phylogenetics.

Feb 15 - 18, 2026
Brisbane, Australia
Register here: biosig.lab.uq.edu.au/strphy26/reg...
(in-person only)
October 30, 2025 at 12:55 AM
We just received an email from the Provost about a potential CUPE strike that mentioned: "our academic community is still navigating the impacts of the recent DFA labour disruption." I'm confused, wasn't it the Dalhousie Board that locked us out?
@dalfaculty.bsky.social @dalhousieu.bsky.social
October 20, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Reposted by Andrew Roger
New week, new tool: Find our Protein Domain Designer tool to generate publication-ready protein domain diagrams here: domaindesigner.farnunglab.com
September 29, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Reposted by Andrew Roger
I am extremely happy to see that our review on fossil tip-dating is out in early view in Systematic Biology! A huge thanks to all the authors of this massive project (@heckeberg.bsky.social, @basantakhakurel.bsky.social, Gustavo Darlim, and @hoehna.bsky.social)! academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
September 25, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Reposted by Andrew Roger
Massive investment in science in the upcoming Canadian budget would send a strong message that rationality and reason should lead the world, not charlatanism. People will return to science-based policies and health measures, and countries that have not given up will have a strong economic lead!
“Antiscience has gone beyond U.S. borders to Europe, Australia, and Africa. Defeating it will require unprecedented commitment and international cooperation, not only between scientific organizations, but also their host governments.”
🧪 #Disinformation #AntiScience
time.com/7317436/scie...
Antiscience Is an Existential Threat
The ideologically-motivated assault on science threatens us all.
time.com
September 18, 2025 at 1:47 PM
This is really interesting work!!
Douglas et al. challenge common amino acid substitution models that assume a constant coding alphabet over time. Their analyses indicate that ancient proteins dating from before the last universal common ancestor support a two-alphabet hypothesis.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf197

#evobio #molbio
Reduced Amino Acid Substitution Matrices Find Traces of Ancient Coding Alphabets in Modern Day Proteins
Abstract. All known living systems make proteins from the same 20 canonically coded amino acids, but this was not always the case. Early genetic coding sys
doi.org
September 16, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Reposted by Andrew Roger
Sounds familiar. Is this the same playbook used by the Dal BoG in the current labour dispute with @dalfaculty.bsky.social Dalhousie faculty members? What's the role of the NS govt? @keepdalstrong.bsky.social
“Why are they spending so much money to make the school beautiful...but not offering the very core, the purpose of what a community college is for?”
Great article breaking down the manufactured crisis in the Ontario college system:
www.thegrindmag.ca/the-manufact...
The Manufactured Crisis in Ontario Colleges
Are college finances really so bad that huge cuts are needed, or is Doug Ford up to something else? Ben McCarthy, a college contract faculty worker and OPSEU member, breaks it down.
www.thegrindmag.ca
September 15, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Reposted by Andrew Roger
I've written a short follow up to this post, addressing the possibility that Dalhousie is, in fact, hiding money from operations in the capital budget. I hope someone shows me I'm wrong.
September 15, 2025 at 3:10 PM
A very interesting post discussing: "Is Dalhousie diverting investment income to capital spending?" @dalhousieu.bsky.social @dalfaculty.bsky.social
mchugh-russell.ca/2025/09/15/i...
Is Dalhousie diverting investment income to capital spending? | Liam Mchugh-Russell
mchugh-russell.ca
September 15, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Here is a detailed and truthful account of what is going on with the Dalhousie labour dispute. @dalhousieu.bsky.social @dalfaculty.bsky.social #keepdalstrong www.reddit.com/r/Dalhousie/...
From the Dalhousie community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the Dalhousie community
www.reddit.com
September 12, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Reposted by Andrew Roger
"Here we are, with a legally-trained President once again electing to violate the duty to bargain in good faith as a tactic". Every member of the @dalfaculty.bsky.social wants to work. Stop this nonsense @dalhousie.bsky.social & bargain in good faith! #KeepDalStrong www.reddit.com/r/Dalhousie/...
September 12, 2025 at 10:41 AM
I teach phylogenetics in my BIOC 4010/5010 "Bioinformatics" course to students in the basic biomedical sciences. For those who wonder about the relevance of these 'evolutionary' techniques to medical research, this excellent seminar showcases their application in public health settings.
September 10, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Reposted by Andrew Roger
I’m hopeful this will finally be resolved, but am increasingly frustrated by the lose-lose position faculty are in.

In addition to the institutional damage, which impacts us all, every week delay means we’ll have to work twice as hard to cover the required material in fall term.

#KeepDalStrong
The Dal Board of Governors and the DFA has issued a joint statement:

“The Dahousie Board of Governors and the Dalhousie Faculty Association (DFA) met this morning to resume discussions. As of 11:00 pm, the Conciliator has directed the parties to return to the table at 1 pm Tuesday September 9.”
September 9, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Reposted by Andrew Roger
With several grant deadlines coming up in the next few days, @dalfaculty.bsky.social researchers remain locked out by @dalhousieu.bsky.social and won’t be able to submit. #keepdalstrong
September 10, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Reposted by Andrew Roger
Another day of #DalLockout2025 means another day of research lost. @dalfaculty.bsky.social members want to get back to work asap. @noreenkamal.bsky.social shares the impacts of the lockout on her research program and long term consequences that @dalhousieu.bsky.social faces #keepdalstrong
September 10, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Reposted by Andrew Roger
Global segment focusing on the impact of the @dalhousieu.bsky.social lockout on nursing. #keepdalstrong
September 10, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Reposted by Andrew Roger
It’s disappointing that some of these so called leaders are in the health care industry. Yet their failure to negotiate & faculty lockout has crippled our ability to advance biomedical research & educating health care professionals. They are causing lasting damage to @dalhousie.bsky.social
DFA is new to LinkedIn. Connect with us and read the article related to this image. Hint: Its about how a reputation that took 200 years to build has been destroyed in just 3 weeks. @KeepDalStrong
September 7, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Reposted by Andrew Roger
📢 MIG Seminar: Models and Truth in Phylogenomics

🗓️ Fri, Sep 19 | ⏰ 12 - 1 pm AEST
📍 Ian Potter Auditorium (G52), Kenneth Myer Building (144)
🎙️ Prof. Rob Lanfear (ANU)
💻 Zoom available

#Phylogenetics #Evolution #Bioinformatics #MIGseminar
MIG Seminar: Prof. Rob Lanfear, Australian National University
Title: Models and Truth in Phylogenomics Abstract: How do you estimate a good phylogeny? Phylogenetic trees form the backbone of much of ou...
events.unimelb.edu.au
September 5, 2025 at 4:36 AM
Reposted by Andrew Roger
Dalhousie leadership has made it clear that they want more precarious employment, even though it will make it very difficult to recruit and retain the outstanding highly-motivated teachers and researchers that do the heavy lifting of our academic mission.
#KeepDalStrong
@dalfaculty.bsky.social
The new “revised final offer” includes conversion of 8 LTA positions to permanent. For those keeping score at home, that is about 10% of the current number of LTAs, but how did they get to that number? The 5yr limit is a much more transparent way to allocate based on proven need. #keepdalstrong
When a DFA member has been on LTA for 5 yrs, the position is clearly meeting a long-term teaching need. LTAs are on the same pay as career-stream faculty, conversion costs @dalhousieu.bsky.social nothing. Yet, they said no, asked us to drop the proposal for "interest arbitration." #KeepDalStrong
September 4, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Reposted by Andrew Roger
I’m incensed. The lockout is crippling my research programme; a project over 2 decades in the making. Laying waste to the aggregate of our scientific expertise and research opportunities to fund the lab. They are reckless.

If Dal doesn’t support my expertise, another university might.
September 5, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Ren Thomas has a nice blog discussing Nous Group and Dalhousie @dalfaculty.bsky.social @dalhousieu.bsky.social : renthomas.ca/theres-a-nou...
There’s a Nous in Dal’s house – Ren Thomas
renthomas.ca
September 4, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by Andrew Roger
Want to know more about Nous Group activities @dalfaculty.bsky.social @dalhousieu.bsky.social #keepdalstrong? The Queens Coalition Against Austerity has a nice summary: qcaa.ca/resources/no...
Nous Group and UniForum
Resource List ResourceDescriptionExcerptDeb Verhoeven and Ben Eltham. “Nousferatu”: Are corporate consultants extracting the lifeblood from universities?Analysis of the ‘vampiric’ tende…
qcaa.ca
September 4, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by Andrew Roger
As soon as the senate reconvenes, we need a motion to investigate Nous contracting & cost, followed by a mechanism to review activities by the leadership that has harmed the academic mission of the university.
August 31, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Reposted by Andrew Roger
Hey, @dalhousie.bsky.social, are you listening to your faculty? They are the ones who teach the courses, supervise the research, and keep Dal running.
How are they supposed to do their work properly if they're feeling exploited and unsupported? My supervisor, Dr. Mita Dasog, deserves better.
August 29, 2025 at 7:42 PM