Lucas Eckert
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lucaseckert.bsky.social
Lucas Eckert
@lucaseckert.bsky.social
PhD candidate at McGill University 🍁
Evolutionary ecology and genomics 🐟
www.lucaseckert.ca 🌱
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Hi everyone! I’m a PhD candidate at McGill University, studying the ecology and genomics of rapid adaptation of stickleback in Alaska 🐟

Excited to meet some new people and hear about cool research!
Reposted by Lucas Eckert
This is a fantastic new preprint, one of the first papers from our replicated whole lake experimental evolution study with stickleback.

alaskastickleback.com
October 18, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Reposted by Lucas Eckert
Submissions page for #stickleback collection "Celebrating three decades of stickleback research in the Canadian Journal of Zoology" is up!

Deadline is March 30, 2026 🐟
cdnsciencepub.com/topic/cjz-st...
cdnsciencepub.com
October 14, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Reposted by Lucas Eckert
Work led by Marius Roesti, "A species interaction kick-starts ecological speciation in allopatry" now published - Varying degrees of divergence associated with presence/absence of a single interacting species predicts strength of prezygotic RI in freshwater stickleback www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
A species interaction kick-starts ecological speciation in allopatry | PNAS
Adaptation to different environments is thought to play a key role in speciation. However, speciation typically begins in allopatry, where reproduc...
www.pnas.org
October 14, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Reposted by Lucas Eckert
Please share broadly: I am looking for a postdoctoral fellow to work on a collaborative project on the temporal population genomics of invasive Capeweed (using contemporary and herbarium genomics), with ‪‪@shaky-dingo.bsky.social‬ and colleagues
August 27, 2025 at 12:09 PM
What can #herbarium collections tell us about genetic responses to global change? A lot!! 🌿

Check out our viewpoint, out now in @newphyt.bsky.social - genetic monitoring, extinctions, adaptation, GEAs, and more! ⬇️

doi.org/10.1111/nph....
Using herbarium collections to study genetic responses to global change
Earth's c. 406 million herbarium specimens represent a largely untapped resource of genetic data that could transform our understanding of global plant populations. Advances in DNA sequencing have ma...
doi.org
August 11, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Reposted by Lucas Eckert
Dynamics of infection and immunity over 50 years as marine stickleback adapt to freshwater
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Pranav Sriramulu et al.
📷: Gilles San Martin
August 7, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Reposted by Lucas Eckert
July Editor's Choice article: "Parental care drives the evolution of male reproductive accessory glands across ray-finned fishes"

Lucas Eckert, Jessica S Miller, John L Fitzpatrick, Sigal Balshine, Benjamin M Bolker

academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...

@lucaseckert.bsky.social @bbolker.bsky.social
July 25, 2025 at 6:36 AM
So crazy to see my first ever publication on the cover of @journal-evo.bsky.social! Obviously it’s all thanks to Sigal, @bbolker.bsky.social, and our amazing coauthors

Please check it out! Parental care drives the evolution of reproductive accessory glands in fishes: doi.org/10.1093/evol...
July 21, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Lucas Eckert
Our latest Editor's Choice led by Isaac Eckert @laura-pollock.bsky.social @mcgill.ca reminds us of the power of our natural history collections and #herbariums 🌱

Read it Free Access for the next month: buff.ly/d4BfrbB

#PlantSci #Botany #PlantNiche
buff.ly
July 10, 2025 at 1:19 PM
In case you missed my talk at #CSEE2025, you can explore your own collaborative networks and see a little summary on my website!

www.lucaseckert.ca/side-project...
July 10, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Today! 430! Don’t miss it! #CSEE2025
I’ll be at #CSEE2025 talking about patterns of collaboration in the Canadian eco/evo research community 🇨🇦

If you’re a eco/evo prof in Canada, odds are you were one of my data points… so come check it out! Wednesday - 4:30 - Science in action

@csee-sceemtgs.bsky.social
July 9, 2025 at 11:30 AM
I’ll be at #CSEE2025 talking about patterns of collaboration in the Canadian eco/evo research community 🇨🇦

If you’re a eco/evo prof in Canada, odds are you were one of my data points… so come check it out! Wednesday - 4:30 - Science in action

@csee-sceemtgs.bsky.social
July 5, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Reposted by Lucas Eckert
📸 #CSEE2025 Photo Contest

Submit your best shots on Bluesky, X, or Instagram using #CSEEinFocus and tag us or submit here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

📅 Open until July 1st!
Recently back from fieldwork - so I might as well submit some pics to #CSEEinFocus @csee-sceemtgs.bsky.social
June 23, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Recently back from fieldwork - so I might as well submit some pics to #CSEEinFocus @csee-sceemtgs.bsky.social
June 18, 2025 at 12:54 PM
This map ⬇️ is from a challenge I designed that encourages people to go out and observe the major group of taxa 🐟🍄🐍🪲🦫🪻 that is unusually under-represented in their county 🇨🇦
A series of 🏆 Challenges 🏆 were designed by graduate students, researchers, avid iNat users, conservation practioners, and more throughout Canada to highlight species and places that deserve a little more attention:
pollocklab.github.io/blitz-the-gap/
May 27, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Lucas Eckert
One week until Blitz the Gap (www.blitzthegap.org) starts - a Canada-wide event to fill biodiversity data gaps with iNaturalist! @laura-pollock.bsky.social
Blitz the Gap 2025
www.blitzthegap.org
May 26, 2025 at 4:09 PM
I’ve been helping plan this meeting so I can guarantee it’s gonna be a fun one 🐟🐟🐟
The upcoming International Stickleback Conference (at Bamfield Marine Science Center in late July) still has some openings, but register soon! Stickleback-curious researchers are welcome too!
event.fourwaves.com/stickleback-...
STICKLEBACK 2025: 11th International Congress on Stickleback Behaviour and Evolution
Fourwaves - STICKLEBACK 2025: 11th International Congress on Stickleback Behaviour and Evolution
event.fourwaves.com
May 19, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Collective behavior diverges independently of the benthic-limnetic axis in stickleback 🐟

Led by Kevin Neumann

Check it out!

doi.org/10.1007/s002...
Collective behavior diverges independently of the benthic-limnetic axis in stickleback - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
Comparing populations across replicate environments or habitat types can help us understand the role of ecology in evolutionary processes. If similar phenotypes are favored in similar environments, pa...
doi.org
May 12, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Reposted by Lucas Eckert
Are you interested in the genomic basis of repeated adaptation? The RepAdapt group now has >70 members working to re-run their whole genome shotgun datasets through a common SNP calling pipeline, sharing VCFs, and working together to analyse data. Please contact me if you'd like to contribute!
May 8, 2025 at 8:24 PM
And please check out the Blitz the Gap website for more info on this initiative and how to get involved!

I helped design some of the *challenges* targeted at specific places, habitats, or species where we need more data

blitzthegap.org
May 1, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Reposted by Lucas Eckert
How fast can brains epigenetically respond to predation stress?

We found that brain DNA methylation in guppies can shift within 30 minutes of predator exposure — with different time courses between males and females.

New paper from my PhD now out! 🧠🐟
doi.org/10.1111/mec....
Rapid Neural DNA Methylation Responses to Predation Stress in Trinidadian Guppies
DNA methylation (DNAm) is a well-studied epigenetic mechanism implicated in environmentally induced phenotypes and phenotypic plasticity. However, few studies investigate the timescale of DNAm shifts...
doi.org
April 29, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Ever wondered why (some) fish have prostates? Find out now in @journal-evo.bsky.social ⬇️

Surprisingly, it has more to do with parental care and less to do with sperm competition 🐟 🧪

doi.org/10.1093/evol...
Parental care drives the evolution of male reproductive accessory glands across ray-finned fishes
Abstract. Reproductive accessory glands are organs involved in reproduction that do not directly produce or release gametes but can play crucial roles in s
doi.org
April 24, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Reposted by Lucas Eckert
Live near New Haven, CT, and looking for something interesting to do April 23?

I am giving the Bass Distinguished Lecture, titled “The World Without Evolution?” taking place Wednesday, April 23 at 5 pm in O.C. Marsh Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

peabody.yale.edu/news/hendry_...
March 30, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Reposted by Lucas Eckert
My lab (Anna Hargreaves) is hiring ~3 undergrad field assistants for this summer! Work in 1 of 3 study systems : White trillium (ON & QC), Sundial lupine (ON, QC, USA) and Yellow rattle (AB).

Job ads available at annahargreaves.wixsite.com/home

@biomcgill.bsky.social @mcgillscience.bsky.social 1/2
Anna Hargreaves, evolutionary ecologist
Anna Hargreaves conducts research on the ecology and evolution of plant-animal interactions and the limits to species' geographic distributions
annahargreaves.wixsite.com
January 22, 2025 at 5:50 PM