Katherine Corn 🌽
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kacorn.bsky.social
Katherine Corn 🌽
@kacorn.bsky.social
1.3K followers 670 following 84 posts
she/her | evolutionary biologist | kacorn.github.io
Asst Prof in Biology at @wsupullman.bsky.social & Director, Conner Museum of Vertebrates

macroevolution, functional morphology, fish | diversity in fish, diversity in STEM 🏳️‍🌈

#BLM #ProtectTransKids
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kacorn.bsky.social
Katherine Corn 🌽 @kacorn.bsky.social · Jul 18
I am OVER THE MOON that our paper is out at Am Nat today!

We find phylogeny & biogeographic contingency shape functional diversity in cichlid radiations.

It's my first as co-first author, & Chris Martinez was an A+ co-lead. We had an amazing team-I am so proud of this work!

doi.org/10.1086/731477
gif depicting a suction feeding strike of the cichlid fish Boulengerochromis microlepis. The fish swims towards its prey, expands its jaws, and sucks in a small prey item. An image of a figure from the manuscript. The figure depicts a principal components analysis as a scatterplot demonstrating the axes of diversity of feeding kinematics among cichlids fishes. The Neotropical cichlids are very diverse, and access unique regions of kinematic space, while the distribution of kinematics among Lake Tanganyikan cichlids fully encompasses the younger radiation of Lake Malawi cichlids, and likewise, the distribution of kinematics of Lake Malawi cichlids fully encompasses the younger radiation from Lake Victoria.
Reposted by Katherine Corn 🌽
jackstack.bsky.social
Thread on today's paper, which is 3/4 from my dissertation on the evolution of fishes and using morphological data for phylogenetic analyses. Come with me, on a journey on phylogenetics and fishes.
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
An ontological morphological phylogenetic framework for living and extinct ray‐finned fishes (Actinopterygii)
The ray-finned fishes include one out of every two species of living vertebrates on Earth and have an abundant fossil record stretching 380 million years into the past. The division of systematic kno...
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:22 AM
kacorn.bsky.social
I am so proud to see Jack's work out: bringing paleoichthyology into the world of ontological phylogenetics. This work comprises some of the most thorough comparative anatomy I've seen, and is a testament to Jack's dedication to transparent, replicable, and translatable science. Way to go Dr Stack!!
November 19, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Reposted by Katherine Corn 🌽
jackstack.bsky.social
Ray-finned fishes every million years or so @kacorn.bsky.social
theonion.com The Onion @theonion.com · Sep 26
Limbless, Slippery RFK Jr.: ‘Becoming An Eel Is A Sign Of Good Health’ https://theonion.com/limbless-slippery-rfk-jr-becoming-an-eel-is-a-sign-of-good-health/
Limbless, Slippery RFK Jr.: ‘Becoming An Eel Is A Sign Of Good Health’
September 26, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Reposted by Katherine Corn 🌽
fishfetisher.bsky.social
Happy Anatomically Incorrect Invertebrate season to all who celebrate
A fake snail with a skull for a shell and bony body
October 4, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Reposted by Katherine Corn 🌽
rumeltr.bsky.social
Hello all! For my first post on this platform, I’m excited to share the first chapter of my dissertation, about using eBird and bioacoustics survey data to make species distribution models for Neotropical birds, which was published in @plosone.org today.

journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

🧵(1/8)
Combining acoustic survey and citizen science data yields enhanced species distribution models for tropical rainforest birds
A key goal in ecology is to develop effective ways to understand species’ distributions in order to facilitate both their study and conservation. Many species distribution modeling analyses have been ...
journals.plos.org
July 8, 2025 at 8:46 PM
kacorn.bsky.social
So hype for this lab to open up—Mason is so full of exciting ideas to advance evolutionary biology and create a great community in science!!
madmollusc.bsky.social T. Mason Linscott @madmollusc.bsky.social · Apr 9
I am thrilled to announce I'll be starting as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at New Mexico State University this Fall!

I can't wait to work with some amazing colleagues and students amidst the sky islands of the SW! Woooo more ecophysiology, evolution, and snails!
April 9, 2025 at 8:46 PM
kacorn.bsky.social
So excited to see Jack's new paper out! Rogue taxa are such a challenge...great to see us moving forward on how to resolve these problems.
jackstack.bsky.social Jack Stack @jackstack.bsky.social · Apr 2
Tree space and a new ray-finned fish out today! We delve into how methods to visualize the forest of phylogenetic tree space can be used to address the rogue taxon problem. Shout out to my co-authors and advisors Michelle Stocker and Michael Gottfried.

ssbbulletin.org/index.php/bs...
View of A New Lower Permian Ray-Finned Fish (Actinopterygii) From South Dakota and the Use of Tree Space to Find Rogue Taxa in Phylogenetic Analysis of Morphological Data
ssbbulletin.org
April 3, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Reposted by Katherine Corn 🌽
whysharksmatter.bsky.social
NOAA is in the Trump administration's crosshairs.

You know the important work they do, but may now know that It's the descendant of the Coast Survey, the nation's first scientific agency, founded in 1807 under Jefferson. I spoke with maritime historians to put NOAA's legacy in context. 🧪🦑🌎🐟
NOAA carries a two century legacy of America’s first government science agency
NOAA, the US government science and management agency in charge of sustainable fisheries, the national weather service, and ocean exploration, is in the crosshairs of the Trump administration and P…
www.southernfriedscience.com
February 19, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Reposted by Katherine Corn 🌽
needhibhalla.bsky.social
This is a reminder for myself as well as anyone else who needs it: amidst all this chaos and confusion, pick your lane. Find something to do that will provide agency, educate those in your community and push back against what is happening
needhibhalla.bsky.social Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · Feb 15
Y’all we are in this for a long haul. We’ve got navigate this anxiety and develop both a personal vision and collective vision of what our worlds will look like to motivate us, the people we lead and the people who lead us. We need to identify both short term and long term organizing opportunities
February 19, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Reposted by Katherine Corn 🌽
sarahmackattack.bsky.social
Re-upping these stickers because I think we all need the reminder

Get one (and hey, some valentines while you’re there) at
Squidfacts.bigcartel.com
A shrimp smokes a cigarette and drinks a martini and says the bastards don’t quit but neither do I
January 27, 2025 at 11:02 PM
kacorn.bsky.social
On a personal note...in summer 2015 I was @fishguy.bsky.social 's NSF REU undergrad at Friday Harbor Labs. I presented that work at SICB & applied to PhDs...
In summer 2025 I'm an REU mentor w/ my own lab at @wsupullman.bsky.social.
What a trip this last 10 years has been. An NSF REU success story 🥳
January 27, 2025 at 6:38 PM
kacorn.bsky.social
Folks: pls share! Apps are open for WSU's 2025 NSF REU in Resilience & Robustness of Aquatic Biosystems!
DUE: Feb. 17
WHEN: May 25- Aug. 3
WHERE: Pullman, WA (gorgeous in summer)
WHO: 10 UGs
$: 7k each
Come hang w/ a great group in our beautiful new aquatics facility!
sbs.wsu.edu/aquaticslab/... #🧪
January 27, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Reposted by Katherine Corn 🌽
drtaragoddard.com
I've gone from "Wikipedia is not a real source, students" to "I will defend Wikipedia with my life" in a short span of time. I don't know what we should do, I'll be looking to others for guidance on that, but I do know we have to defend every remotely democratic or open source tool we have now.
molly.wiki Molly White @molly.wiki · Jan 21
having succeeded in purchasing positions of influence inside the White House, the billionaires and tech VCs have now set their sights back on Wikipedia
Chamath Palihapitiya @chamath · 2h Wikipedia lies. Mainstream media lies. They will contort the truth to make you believe in a bogeyman. In falling for it, you’re giving up your God given ability to think for yourself. Shaun Maguire @shaunmmaguire Wikipedia has been ideologically captured for years It's important that this is finally coming to light The most extreme bias is probably against Israel Foundation AI models are being trained on this biased data as if it's ground truth Elon Musk @elonmusk · 3h Defund Wikipedia until balance is restored! Elon Musk @elonmusk · 3h Since legacy media propaganda is considered a “valid” source by Wikipedia, it naturally simply becomes an extension of legacy media propaganda!
January 21, 2025 at 11:48 PM
kacorn.bsky.social
🙃
kacorn.bsky.social Katherine Corn 🌽 @kacorn.bsky.social · Dec 3
what do you mean "did I commit the script while it was working and before it broke again". of course not. what kind of good version control user do you think I am
January 22, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Reposted by Katherine Corn 🌽
simonedsun.bsky.social
Trans, intersex, and queer people will always exist because humans are biological creatures and biology - inevitably and always - creates variability and diversity.

If there is any “biological truth,” it’s that a biological system will never conform to the strictures of human machinations.
impossiblephd.bsky.social Doc Impossible @impossiblephd.bsky.social · Jan 21
Trump signed an executive order that tries to write trans people out of existence today.

It's mostly symbolic.

It's still gonna make for a LOT of pain for the trans community--just probably not where you think it will.

It's gonna be real bad for grant funding, which means medical research.

A 🧵
January 21, 2025 at 3:03 AM
Reposted by Katherine Corn 🌽
kevinmkruse.bsky.social
But he doesn’t! He has repeatedly shown that he doesn’t!

Don’t wish for something different, remind listeners that he’s actually done this, and ask them to imagine him doing it to them.

Play fucking hardball. Christ, this isn’t hard.
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Jan 12
Schiff: "I've been in Congress a long time approving aid after disasters. I never once even considered 'is this hurricane hitting a red or blue state?' ... we need the incoming president to view it that way."
January 12, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Reposted by Katherine Corn 🌽
cydharrell.bsky.social
great article about the devaluation of absolutely anything where women achieve 50%. which is a thing.
screenshot from the article: Other disciplines that have experienced male flight include: Biology. While most STEM professions remain male dominated, 10 years ago biology became a 50/50 male/female split. By 2022, 62% of biology majors were women. Biology is now often considered the “easiest” of the STEM majors. Interior Design. William Morris is considered the father of interior design. After finishing his education at Oxford, he began an architectural design school called “the Firm”— just for men. Many universities had interior design programs. Until women began to enter the design space, at which point it was relegated to a mere “hobby.” Since the influx of women, interior design programs have been pulled from almost all universities. Teaching. In the 18th century, schooling in colonial America was reserved for the white and the wealthy. Most tutors were men who taught boys. By the middle of the 19th century, girls started becoming students and women became teachers. Consequently, men swiftly left the profession, the pay dropped and teaching was no longer considered a prestigious occupation. Similar patterns of male flight have occurred in nursing, cheerleading, social work, architecture, gymnastics, library sciences and psychology.
January 1, 2025 at 5:52 PM
kacorn.bsky.social
I am part of “shark people” and this is my favorite post of the week 🦈
cpsc.gov U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission @cpsc.gov · Jan 2
And before they get here, we love sharks. We respect sharks. Sharks are amazing. This is an effective visual, that's all. We don't want to hear from the shark people. This is a shark-friendly place.
January 3, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by Katherine Corn 🌽
sergioperez.bsky.social
“The past was alterable. The past never had been altered. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia.”

George Orwell, 1984
juddlegum.bsky.social Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · Dec 29
Today, defending Musk, Trump claimed he "always" has supported H1B Visas. But on June 22, 2020, Trump issued an executive action suspending H1B Visas because he said the program was taking jobs from American workers

trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential...
Proclamation Suspending Entry of Aliens Who Present a Risk to the U.S. Labor Market Following the Coronavirus Outbreak President-elect Trump told The Post Saturday he supports immigration visas for highly skilled workers, appearing to side with Elon Musk in the roiling intra-MAGA debate on the issue. “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them,” Trump said by phone, referring to the H-1B program, which permits companies to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations.
December 29, 2024 at 1:59 AM
Reposted by Katherine Corn 🌽
jopabinia.bsky.social
Every night, some crustaceans migrate upwards, up to 1000m from the twilight zone, to feed. They poop on the way down, transferring nutrients to deeper waters.

Other species or larval stages maintain depth in the water column by riding gelatinous zooplankton!

#Crustmas 🧪🦑
Phyllosoma (larval stage of a spiny or slipper lobster) riding a jellyfish in Kona, Hawaii. It is transparent with a broad flat head shield, and long long limbs (neither of which are so extreme in the adult). Photo by Steven Kovacs https://twitter.com/ngfl3333/status/1567251570454151170 Copepod Calanus finmarchicus, seen in lateral view. It's a bit blobby and transparent, with long antennulae posed under the body. The abdomen (urosome) is pointed upwards and looks red. https://www.feednavigator.com/Article/2019/04/09/Norwegian-plankton-developer-braced-for-growth Antarctic krill Euphausia superba. In natural hovering position - the red organs produce the bioluminescence - the hepatopancreas is filled with green phytoplankton, the food of krill, the straight gut in the back is filled with the empty shells of phytoplankton - in the front you see the compound eyes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_krill#/media/File:Antarctic_krill_(Euphausia_superba).jpg
December 20, 2023 at 5:11 PM
Reposted by Katherine Corn 🌽
altmetric.com
THREAD

This Is The Story Of The The Pernicious Rise of AI-Generated Papers and their Online Impact

An Incomplete History Told In The Voice of Documentarian Adam Curtis
1/31
Adam Curtis Title Card: We Too Are Trapped In A System. Text over a background of a large office building
December 19, 2024 at 9:10 PM
Reposted by Katherine Corn 🌽
jamesbriscoe.bsky.social
Continuing the peer review discussion: @katherine-brown.bsky.social on principles for effective peer review:
1) Be respectful to authors
2) Request reasonable revisions
3) Focus on whether data support the conclusions
4) Be transparent about expertise limits

thenode.biologists.com/peer-review-...
Peer review - why we need it and what we need - the Node
Hopefully some of you will have seen the recent editorial in Development on our approach to peer review. If you haven't read it yet, please do take a
thenode.biologists.com
December 17, 2024 at 7:16 AM
Reposted by Katherine Corn 🌽
minouette.bsky.social
Day 15 #ArtAdventCalendar: The third #InsertAnInvert2024 prompt for deep sea month is abyssal - the lightless, extreme pressure and low oxygen zone 4 to 6 km below the surface. 🧪🐡 So I made a lino block print of a charming Grimpoteuthis octopus, one of a genus of pelagic cirrate (finned) octopods 🧵
My lino block print of a charming Grimpoteuthis octopus, one of a genus of pelagic cirrate (finned) octopods known as the dumbo octopuses. The fins reminded scientists of ears on the elephant in Disney’s 1941 film Dumbo. Hence their common name dumbo octopuses. The print is 9.25” by 12.5” on delicate ivory Japanese washi paper with visible margin, number, title and signature. The background is black. The octopus is reddish on top, then dark blue, with brown legs are spiralled up and drawn in close to its body.
December 15, 2024 at 12:42 PM