Catherine Marler
@cmarler.bsky.social
My lab studies oxytocin and cooperation, hormonal and neurochemical effects on communication, social bonding, behavioral synchrony and division of labor, and we dabble in neuroplasticity and the immune system. Science is fun! Animal behavior is my passion.
Pinned
Reposted by Catherine Marler
🍂 🏛️ 👿 🧪 US Congress Bill to Prohibit Funding for Research with China
Proposal bars funding for US scientists working with Chinese partners or training Chinese students; bill is retroactive - interactions in previous 5 yrs could cause ineligibility for future Federal funding
Proposal bars funding for US scientists working with Chinese partners or training Chinese students; bill is retroactive - interactions in previous 5 yrs could cause ineligibility for future Federal funding
This has gotten surprisingly little attention — it's not even on the front page of @science.org right now — but it's really hard to describe what the SAFE Research Act would do to US science and scientists without sounding insane
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
November 15, 2025 at 11:44 AM
🍂 🏛️ 👿 🧪 US Congress Bill to Prohibit Funding for Research with China
Proposal bars funding for US scientists working with Chinese partners or training Chinese students; bill is retroactive - interactions in previous 5 yrs could cause ineligibility for future Federal funding
Proposal bars funding for US scientists working with Chinese partners or training Chinese students; bill is retroactive - interactions in previous 5 yrs could cause ineligibility for future Federal funding
Reposted by Catherine Marler
🤩🤩🤩 go NSF, go NSF, go!!!
NSF is open again!
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
November 14, 2025 at 3:02 AM
🤩🤩🤩 go NSF, go NSF, go!!!
BREAKING: NSF will be relocating to the "Randolph Building," about half a mile from its current location in Alexandria, where they will co-locate with the US Patent and Trademark Office. The lease will begin January 1, 2026.
Below is a transcription of an email shared with me by NSF staff.
Below is a transcription of an email shared with me by NSF staff.
November 14, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Reposted by Catherine Marler
Reposted by Catherine Marler
"phonic lips" 🤯
"Though whales don’t “speak” with their mouths, they produce these vowels with an anatomy surprisingly similar to humans. Within their heads is a set of phonic lips and an air sac that they use to precisely manipulate sound..."
currently.att.yahoo.com/news/article...
"Though whales don’t “speak” with their mouths, they produce these vowels with an anatomy surprisingly similar to humans. Within their heads is a set of phonic lips and an air sac that they use to precisely manipulate sound..."
currently.att.yahoo.com/news/article...
Exclusive: Sperm whale speech has human-like 'vowels'
The mammals' mysterious clicks contain a stunning level of complexity, a new study shows.
currently.att.yahoo.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:52 PM
"phonic lips" 🤯
"Though whales don’t “speak” with their mouths, they produce these vowels with an anatomy surprisingly similar to humans. Within their heads is a set of phonic lips and an air sac that they use to precisely manipulate sound..."
currently.att.yahoo.com/news/article...
"Though whales don’t “speak” with their mouths, they produce these vowels with an anatomy surprisingly similar to humans. Within their heads is a set of phonic lips and an air sac that they use to precisely manipulate sound..."
currently.att.yahoo.com/news/article...
Great opportunity for behavioral neuroscientists looking for a funded PhD position!!!
Fully funded Ph.D. Opportunity - Behavioral Neuroscience @ TCU (Fall 2026)
We study how social environments and experiences shape brain function and behavior.
How to apply: through TCU’s Experimental Psychology Ph.D. program (graduate.catalog.tcu.edu/colleges/eng...).
Deadline: Jan 1, 2026
We study how social environments and experiences shape brain function and behavior.
How to apply: through TCU’s Experimental Psychology Ph.D. program (graduate.catalog.tcu.edu/colleges/eng...).
Deadline: Jan 1, 2026
November 6, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Great opportunity for behavioral neuroscientists looking for a funded PhD position!!!
Reposted by Catherine Marler
Sandwich guy update! (It’s at the end) www.youtube.com/live/jjFct5f...
LIVE: Trump Shock BOUNTY SCHEME is BLOWN WIDE OPEN
YouTube video by MeidasTouch
www.youtube.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Sandwich guy update! (It’s at the end) www.youtube.com/live/jjFct5f...
Reposted by Catherine Marler
Are humans really the only rational animals? Our NEW PAPER 🎉 out in @science.org suggests otherwise! In a large collaboration led with my joint first author @hanna-schleihauf.bsky.social, we show that “Chimpanzees rationally revise their beliefs” 🧵
Chimpanzees rationally revise their beliefs
The selective revision of beliefs in light of new evidence has been considered one of the hallmarks of human-level rationality. However, tests of this ability in other species are lacking. We examined...
www.science.org
October 30, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Are humans really the only rational animals? Our NEW PAPER 🎉 out in @science.org suggests otherwise! In a large collaboration led with my joint first author @hanna-schleihauf.bsky.social, we show that “Chimpanzees rationally revise their beliefs” 🧵
Reposted by Catherine Marler
As NSF GRFP is in the news, PLEASE spread the word about the new EGFP program they have for past GRFP honorable mentions. Universities in eligible states can apply to get funding for HMs in the same amount as GRFP. My impression is that many depts don't know this exists and so don't apply.
September 30, 2025 at 7:15 AM
As NSF GRFP is in the news, PLEASE spread the word about the new EGFP program they have for past GRFP honorable mentions. Universities in eligible states can apply to get funding for HMs in the same amount as GRFP. My impression is that many depts don't know this exists and so don't apply.
Reposted by Catherine Marler
Looking for enthusiastic candidates with training in behavioural ecology and experience in bird fieldwork. MSc also required!
Please share!🙏
🚨 PhD Oportunity in Avian Behavioural Ecology in Spain
The BirdBond Project (MNCN & IREC) studies how pair bonds form, change & affect reproduction/survival in the spotless starling 🐦
🚨 PhD Oportunity in Avian Behavioural Ecology in Spain
The BirdBond Project (MNCN & IREC) studies how pair bonds form, change & affect reproduction/survival in the spotless starling 🐦
September 21, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Looking for enthusiastic candidates with training in behavioural ecology and experience in bird fieldwork. MSc also required!
Reposted by Catherine Marler
First neurons didn’t appear overnight. We trace their roots to ancient secretory cells - showing how lifestyle & behavior shaped the evolution of first synapses.🧠🌊 #Evolution #Neuroscience
Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E
@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E
@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
The evolutionary origins of synaptic proteins and their changing roles in different organisms across evolution
Nature Reviews Neuroscience - Recent studies have shed further light on the evolutionary origins of chemical synapses, In this Review, Colgren and Burkhardt explore how ancient proteins were...
rdcu.be
October 27, 2025 at 6:48 PM
First neurons didn’t appear overnight. We trace their roots to ancient secretory cells - showing how lifestyle & behavior shaped the evolution of first synapses.🧠🌊 #Evolution #Neuroscience
Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E
@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E
@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
Reposted by Catherine Marler
This is the end. Gotham is falling. Ra's al Ghul has won. Sad day for our democracy, if I may say so.
Talk about an in-flight meal.
For the first time, researchers have captured rats hunting bats by grabbing them from the sky. Learn more: https://scim.ag/3Jqldmn
For the first time, researchers have captured rats hunting bats by grabbing them from the sky. Learn more: https://scim.ag/3Jqldmn
October 27, 2025 at 11:24 PM
This is the end. Gotham is falling. Ra's al Ghul has won. Sad day for our democracy, if I may say so.
Reposted by Catherine Marler
Former head of NSF bio, provides invaluable insight into what reviewers are really looking for (and what they're not), how storyboarding helps develop a clear and cohesive proposal, key questions reviewers seek to answer, and what drives funding decisions.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
#academicsky
substack.com/home/post/p-...
#academicsky
"What Grant Reviewers Actually Look For (and What They Ignore)"
A close colleague of mine at a major US research university begins the process of preparing a grant proposal by creating something he calls a “storyboard”.
open.substack.com
October 27, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Former head of NSF bio, provides invaluable insight into what reviewers are really looking for (and what they're not), how storyboarding helps develop a clear and cohesive proposal, key questions reviewers seek to answer, and what drives funding decisions.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
#academicsky
substack.com/home/post/p-...
#academicsky
Reposted by Catherine Marler
🚨 Recruiting 12 PhD students for a new NSF-funded program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences! This program is for U.S. students who received an Honorable Mention on the NSF GRFP within the last 3 years. @uafairbanks.bsky.social
www.uaf.edu/cfos/academi...
www.uaf.edu/cfos/academi...
EMERGE Alaska | College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences
www.uaf.edu
October 24, 2025 at 8:04 PM
🚨 Recruiting 12 PhD students for a new NSF-funded program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences! This program is for U.S. students who received an Honorable Mention on the NSF GRFP within the last 3 years. @uafairbanks.bsky.social
www.uaf.edu/cfos/academi...
www.uaf.edu/cfos/academi...
Reposted by Catherine Marler
Congratulations to Rebekah Rashford and team, it’s finally out! We tagged early life stress-activated neurons in VTA and found that chromatin those cells was much more open, even into adulthood, and that open CREs predicted greater gene expression in response to stress later in life
rdcu.be/eLa9z
rdcu.be/eLa9z
Persistent open chromatin state in early-life stress-activated cells of the VTA
Scientific Reports - Persistent open chromatin state in early-life stress-activated cells of the VTA
rdcu.be
October 15, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Congratulations to Rebekah Rashford and team, it’s finally out! We tagged early life stress-activated neurons in VTA and found that chromatin those cells was much more open, even into adulthood, and that open CREs predicted greater gene expression in response to stress later in life
rdcu.be/eLa9z
rdcu.be/eLa9z
Reposted by Catherine Marler
“I have hope, faith, that America will defeat and overcome this fascist menace, this authoritarian mania, this MAGA cult, & save our freedoms.”
Watch @mehdirhasan.bsky.social's remarks at the ‘No Kings’ rally in DC where he called out Trump for destroying democracy: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylbr...
Watch @mehdirhasan.bsky.social's remarks at the ‘No Kings’ rally in DC where he called out Trump for destroying democracy: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylbr...
‘We Are The Majority’: Watch Mehdi’s Rousing Speech at the No Kings Protest in DC
YouTube video by Zeteo
www.youtube.com
October 18, 2025 at 7:36 PM
“I have hope, faith, that America will defeat and overcome this fascist menace, this authoritarian mania, this MAGA cult, & save our freedoms.”
Watch @mehdirhasan.bsky.social's remarks at the ‘No Kings’ rally in DC where he called out Trump for destroying democracy: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylbr...
Watch @mehdirhasan.bsky.social's remarks at the ‘No Kings’ rally in DC where he called out Trump for destroying democracy: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylbr...
Reposted by Catherine Marler
New faculty job opening at @zuckermanbrain.bsky.social @columbiauniversity.bsky.social
Come be our colleague!
Application deadline: November 22
apply.interfolio.com/176153
Come be our colleague!
Application deadline: November 22
apply.interfolio.com/176153
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
October 21, 2025 at 3:29 PM
New faculty job opening at @zuckermanbrain.bsky.social @columbiauniversity.bsky.social
Come be our colleague!
Application deadline: November 22
apply.interfolio.com/176153
Come be our colleague!
Application deadline: November 22
apply.interfolio.com/176153
Reposted by Catherine Marler
TT faculty job opening in #Neuroscience!
We are looking for a colleague to join us in our fantastic Biology Department and Neuroscience Program at Brandeis. We are a group of *very* collaborative, supportive, and productive scientists (& humans!) so please apply
academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30961
We are looking for a colleague to join us in our fantastic Biology Department and Neuroscience Program at Brandeis. We are a group of *very* collaborative, supportive, and productive scientists (& humans!) so please apply
academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30961
Brandeis University, Biology Department
Job #AJO30961, Assistant Professor in Biology and Neuroscience Program, Biology Department, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, US
academicjobsonline.org
October 22, 2025 at 11:28 PM
TT faculty job opening in #Neuroscience!
We are looking for a colleague to join us in our fantastic Biology Department and Neuroscience Program at Brandeis. We are a group of *very* collaborative, supportive, and productive scientists (& humans!) so please apply
academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30961
We are looking for a colleague to join us in our fantastic Biology Department and Neuroscience Program at Brandeis. We are a group of *very* collaborative, supportive, and productive scientists (& humans!) so please apply
academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30961
Reposted by Catherine Marler
Cool new paper on how neurons in my favorite bird's brain encode time. Congrats Millie and Max!! @milliejohnston.bsky.social , @crowbrain.bsky.social
I'm delighted to share that, together with @crowbrain.bsky.social our paper on time estimation in crows is now published in @natcomms.nature.com
We found that crows not only keep track of time, but individual neurons prefer different time durations 🐦⏱️🧠
Check it out:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
We found that crows not only keep track of time, but individual neurons prefer different time durations 🐦⏱️🧠
Check it out:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A neuronal correlate for time interval estimation in the crow’s telencephalon - Nature Communications
It is unknown how birds estimate time using brains organized differently from mammals. Here, the authors show that neurons in the crow NCL encode duration categories, supporting abstract, cue-independ...
www.nature.com
September 11, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Cool new paper on how neurons in my favorite bird's brain encode time. Congrats Millie and Max!! @milliejohnston.bsky.social , @crowbrain.bsky.social
Reposted by Catherine Marler
A 2024 study found that ants best humans at tests of collective intelligence.
Learn more on #WorldAnimalDay: https://scim.ag/42nMvQJ
Learn more on #WorldAnimalDay: https://scim.ag/42nMvQJ
October 4, 2025 at 6:19 PM
A 2024 study found that ants best humans at tests of collective intelligence.
Learn more on #WorldAnimalDay: https://scim.ag/42nMvQJ
Learn more on #WorldAnimalDay: https://scim.ag/42nMvQJ
Reposted by Catherine Marler
New paper on precise tool use learning in carrion crows @currentbiology.bsky.social. We show that—like New Caledonian crows—expert carrion crows pay close attention to the working end of their tool, suggesting tool integration into their peripersonal space. 🧵 & vids! 👇
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
September 11, 2025 at 10:15 AM
New paper on precise tool use learning in carrion crows @currentbiology.bsky.social. We show that—like New Caledonian crows—expert carrion crows pay close attention to the working end of their tool, suggesting tool integration into their peripersonal space. 🧵 & vids! 👇
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Catherine Marler
Researchers gave female canaries testosterone, which causes them to sing. Two-photon in vivo imaging reveals that songs emerge due to changes in brain cell function rather than by increasing the size of a key brain region, as was once thought. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/pn1750XhFL5
October 24, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Researchers gave female canaries testosterone, which causes them to sing. Two-photon in vivo imaging reveals that songs emerge due to changes in brain cell function rather than by increasing the size of a key brain region, as was once thought. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/pn1750XhFL5
Reposted by Catherine Marler
Social relationships are powerful predictors of fitness across social animals. But *why*?
In our new @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social paper, we outline testable predictions for why relationship quality and quantity adaptively vary across socio-ecological contexts.
tinyurl.com/55dnkeh7
In our new @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social paper, we outline testable predictions for why relationship quality and quantity adaptively vary across socio-ecological contexts.
tinyurl.com/55dnkeh7
October 16, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Social relationships are powerful predictors of fitness across social animals. But *why*?
In our new @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social paper, we outline testable predictions for why relationship quality and quantity adaptively vary across socio-ecological contexts.
tinyurl.com/55dnkeh7
In our new @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social paper, we outline testable predictions for why relationship quality and quantity adaptively vary across socio-ecological contexts.
tinyurl.com/55dnkeh7
Reposted by Catherine Marler
Trans people are now functionally banned from the University of Virginia, the seventh university to do so.
Breaking News: The University of Virginia struck an agreement with the White House to remove the threat of a federal investigation, part of a Trump pressure campaign. It's the first public university to do so. nyti.ms/3Wgo2JR
October 22, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Trans people are now functionally banned from the University of Virginia, the seventh university to do so.
Reposted by Catherine Marler
The NIH institute director firing last Friday is very bad.
I made a video explainer about why.
Stay for last post, w link to @science.org story from @jocelynkaiser.bsky.social
1/4
🧪
I made a video explainer about why.
Stay for last post, w link to @science.org story from @jocelynkaiser.bsky.social
1/4
🧪
October 23, 2025 at 4:02 AM
The NIH institute director firing last Friday is very bad.
I made a video explainer about why.
Stay for last post, w link to @science.org story from @jocelynkaiser.bsky.social
1/4
🧪
I made a video explainer about why.
Stay for last post, w link to @science.org story from @jocelynkaiser.bsky.social
1/4
🧪