Catherine Sheard
@sheardcat.bsky.social
Fellow @ University of Aberdeen. Professionally: macroevolution, especially birds & languages. Personally: drinks too much coffee, plays too much D&D.
she/her
she/her
Pinned
Catherine Sheard
@sheardcat.bsky.social
· Jun 25
New pinned intro time:
Hi! I'm Catherine, a PI (fellow/lecturer) at the University of Aberdeen. My lab works on trait macroevolution, particularly the causes/consequences of behavioural innovations. I'm a senior editor at GEB, co-chair of BES Macro, and have zero chill about the northern lights.
Hi! I'm Catherine, a PI (fellow/lecturer) at the University of Aberdeen. My lab works on trait macroevolution, particularly the causes/consequences of behavioural innovations. I'm a senior editor at GEB, co-chair of BES Macro, and have zero chill about the northern lights.
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
Want to do a PhD linking palaeontology, ecological modelling and polar ecosystems? Look no further than this NERC GW4+ DLTP funded project with @rowanwhittlebas.bsky.social at @bas.ac.uk & @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social and others (inc me).
www.bristol.ac.uk/media-librar...
www.bristol.ac.uk/media-librar...
www.bristol.ac.uk
November 12, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Want to do a PhD linking palaeontology, ecological modelling and polar ecosystems? Look no further than this NERC GW4+ DLTP funded project with @rowanwhittlebas.bsky.social at @bas.ac.uk & @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social and others (inc me).
www.bristol.ac.uk/media-librar...
www.bristol.ac.uk/media-librar...
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
in "General laws of biodiversity: Climatic niches predict plant range size and ecological dominance globally", we provide key insights into species’ vulnerability to environmental change and the processes that structure biodiversity at global scales.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
General laws of biodiversity: Climatic niches predict plant range size and ecological dominance globally | PNAS
A longstanding question in ecology asks whether or not species that achieve large
geographic ranges also have large climatic niche breadths. Using ...
www.pnas.org
November 12, 2025 at 6:11 PM
in "General laws of biodiversity: Climatic niches predict plant range size and ecological dominance globally", we provide key insights into species’ vulnerability to environmental change and the processes that structure biodiversity at global scales.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
if you too would like to be horrified about the passage of time, I bring you the Merriam-Webster website that tracks when recent words were first used in print. www.merriam-webster.com/time-travele...
Time Traveler by Merriam-Webster: Words from 2024
See which words were first recorded in 2024. Or search for other words by the year when they were first used.
www.merriam-webster.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:38 PM
if you too would like to be horrified about the passage of time, I bring you the Merriam-Webster website that tracks when recent words were first used in print. www.merriam-webster.com/time-travele...
Look, I have zero chill about the northern lights, it says so right in my pinned post. I live for graphs like this.
If you missed last night's show, check again tonight!
If you missed last night's show, check again tonight!
November 12, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Look, I have zero chill about the northern lights, it says so right in my pinned post. I live for graphs like this.
If you missed last night's show, check again tonight!
If you missed last night's show, check again tonight!
🤐
I think the belief by the powerful that "people will put up with many things if you are excellent at math" is incredibly revealing in terms of understanding How We Got Here
November 12, 2025 at 10:16 AM
🤐
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
Come and join us here in Cambridge! Applications open for a new faculty position, for a researcher in computational and/or theoretical biology, based jointly in Genetics and Mathematics. Happy to answer questions about research, teaching and working here.
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/faculty...
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/faculty...
Faculty Position in Computational Biology
Applications are invited for an Assistant/ Associate Professorship in Computational Biology to commence on 1 April 2026 or shortly thereafter. This is a joint post between the Department of Applied
www.cam.ac.uk
November 11, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Come and join us here in Cambridge! Applications open for a new faculty position, for a researcher in computational and/or theoretical biology, based jointly in Genetics and Mathematics. Happy to answer questions about research, teaching and working here.
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/faculty...
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/faculty...
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
Aberdeen, Scotland, 57.2°N, 1:45 AM local time. Taken with a sufficiently ancient & cheap camera that it basically looked like this to the naked eye, no joke.
November 12, 2025 at 2:38 AM
Aberdeen, Scotland, 57.2°N, 1:45 AM local time. Taken with a sufficiently ancient & cheap camera that it basically looked like this to the naked eye, no joke.
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
Well pass the whiskey and let’s pause in awe.
November 12, 2025 at 1:53 AM
Well pass the whiskey and let’s pause in awe.
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
The Northern Lights are big and bright deep in the heart of Texas.
November 12, 2025 at 2:10 AM
The Northern Lights are big and bright deep in the heart of Texas.
Every single app: good aurora! Right now!
My dumb ass, looking at a cloudless sky: I dunno what to tell you, fam.
My dumb ass, looking at a cloudless sky: I dunno what to tell you, fam.
November 12, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Every single app: good aurora! Right now!
My dumb ass, looking at a cloudless sky: I dunno what to tell you, fam.
My dumb ass, looking at a cloudless sky: I dunno what to tell you, fam.
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
it is insane that this is real
November 12, 2025 at 1:08 AM
it is insane that this is real
In theory, there's a strong aurora right now and for the rest of tonight.
In practice, there is nothing currently visible from Aberdeen.
In practice, there is nothing currently visible from Aberdeen.
November 12, 2025 at 1:15 AM
In theory, there's a strong aurora right now and for the rest of tonight.
In practice, there is nothing currently visible from Aberdeen.
In practice, there is nothing currently visible from Aberdeen.
1. I would love to know the answer to this question, and
2. My grandfather around, say, 2014ish wound up in the hospital for complications from an injury that he got in the Battle of the Bulge. He apparently enjoyed the medical staff's reaction to this fact.
2. My grandfather around, say, 2014ish wound up in the hospital for complications from an injury that he got in the Battle of the Bulge. He apparently enjoyed the medical staff's reaction to this fact.
If this exploded and killed someone they'd be casualties of WW2 which makes me wonder who the latest casualty of WW2 is and what killed them?
I'd guess French farmer ploughing a field
I'd guess French farmer ploughing a field
November 11, 2025 at 6:43 PM
1. I would love to know the answer to this question, and
2. My grandfather around, say, 2014ish wound up in the hospital for complications from an injury that he got in the Battle of the Bulge. He apparently enjoyed the medical staff's reaction to this fact.
2. My grandfather around, say, 2014ish wound up in the hospital for complications from an injury that he got in the Battle of the Bulge. He apparently enjoyed the medical staff's reaction to this fact.
Not to be a bird fangirl, but two fantastic recent GEB papers that I'm going to be thinking about for a while:
Granville et al., "Soft Range Limits Shape Sensitivity to Forest Cover More Strongly Than Hard Range Limits" onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Granville et al., "Soft Range Limits Shape Sensitivity to Forest Cover More Strongly Than Hard Range Limits" onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Soft Range Limits Shape Sensitivity to Forest Cover More Strongly Than Hard Range Limits
Aim Land-use change is a major threat to biodiversity, yet there remains considerable unexplained variation in how it affects different populations of the same species. Here, we examine how sensitiv...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Not to be a bird fangirl, but two fantastic recent GEB papers that I'm going to be thinking about for a while:
Granville et al., "Soft Range Limits Shape Sensitivity to Forest Cover More Strongly Than Hard Range Limits" onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Granville et al., "Soft Range Limits Shape Sensitivity to Forest Cover More Strongly Than Hard Range Limits" onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
Oh, fun: Geography, Environmental Conditions and Life History Shape Patterns of Within-Population Phenotypic Variation in North American Birds
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Geography, Environmental Conditions and Life History Shape Patterns of Within‐Population Phenotypic Variation in North American Birds
Intraspecific variation is a fundamental component of biodiversity, shaping species interactions and coexistence dynamics. While numerous mechanisms have been proposed to shape the degree of phenotyp....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Oh, fun: Geography, Environmental Conditions and Life History Shape Patterns of Within-Population Phenotypic Variation in North American Birds
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Salamanders seem to be getting smaller due to global warming, but the extent of shift is species-specific and fairly complex. Love this paper.
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....
Shifts in salamander body size associated with 60 years of climate change | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Climate change impacts body size, a fundamental trait central to energetics and reproductive success. Most studies on body size shifts in response to climate change have focused on temperature, with smaller sizes expected under warming. However, ...
royalsocietypublishing.org
November 11, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Salamanders seem to be getting smaller due to global warming, but the extent of shift is species-specific and fairly complex. Love this paper.
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....
In today's episode of "why the heck haven't I gotten reviews back from a Wiley journal yet", it's because when we try to issue editorial decisions, we get stupid errors like this.
November 11, 2025 at 4:59 PM
In today's episode of "why the heck haven't I gotten reviews back from a Wiley journal yet", it's because when we try to issue editorial decisions, we get stupid errors like this.
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
3 year postdoc funded by @ukri.org NERC on between-group cooperation in the Shark Bay dolphins is now live - please share widely 🙏 www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...
Details | Working at Bristol | University of Bristol
University of Bristol Beacon House Queens Road Bristol, BS8 1QU, UK Tel: +44 (0)117 928 9000 Contact us
www.bristol.ac.uk
November 10, 2025 at 9:43 AM
3 year postdoc funded by @ukri.org NERC on between-group cooperation in the Shark Bay dolphins is now live - please share widely 🙏 www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...
Not to be crowd-sourcing basic life tasks, but does anyone have any insight into how to buy a decent vacuum cleaner?
The one I currently own was chosen because it was dirt cheap (ha); I need to level up my vacuuming game; and it turns out decent vacuums are *really* expensive.
The one I currently own was chosen because it was dirt cheap (ha); I need to level up my vacuuming game; and it turns out decent vacuums are *really* expensive.
November 10, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Not to be crowd-sourcing basic life tasks, but does anyone have any insight into how to buy a decent vacuum cleaner?
The one I currently own was chosen because it was dirt cheap (ha); I need to level up my vacuuming game; and it turns out decent vacuums are *really* expensive.
The one I currently own was chosen because it was dirt cheap (ha); I need to level up my vacuuming game; and it turns out decent vacuums are *really* expensive.
If you're looking for a PhD and happen to like flies (who doesn't?!), Ellie Bath at Durham is offering a project on the evolution of aggression.
iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...
iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...
What drives aggression? Linking Ecology, Evolution, and Genes
iapetus.ac.uk
November 10, 2025 at 10:36 PM
If you're looking for a PhD and happen to like flies (who doesn't?!), Ellie Bath at Durham is offering a project on the evolution of aggression.
iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...
iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...