Tessa Montague
@tessamontague.bsky.social
HHMI Hanna Gray Fellow in the Axel Lab @Columbia studying the neural basis of cuttlefish camouflage. She/her 🇬🇧
tessamontague.com
tessamontague.com
Pinned
Tessa Montague
@tessamontague.bsky.social
· Mar 18
Our experience of teaching neuroscience in a maximum-security prison
Making our way through security each week is a slog, but teaching incarcerated people has been an incredible career experience.
www.nature.com
Shai Berman and I wrote about our time teaching neuroscience in prison - one of the best experiences of my career.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Writing this was prompted by one of our students, Chris, bringing a copy of Nature to class, and asking for more journal recommendations... [1/4]
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Writing this was prompted by one of our students, Chris, bringing a copy of Nature to class, and asking for more journal recommendations... [1/4]
Reposted by Tessa Montague
@hhmi.org Summer Undergraduate Research Experience - #CechFellows named in honor of Prof Tom Cech
Deadline to apply: 12/22/2025
Spend 9 weeks in a paid, mentored biomedical research experience in an HHMI lab. See you next summer!!!
www.hhmi.org/programs/cec...
Deadline to apply: 12/22/2025
Spend 9 weeks in a paid, mentored biomedical research experience in an HHMI lab. See you next summer!!!
www.hhmi.org/programs/cec...
Summer Undergraduate Research Experience | HHMI
The Cech Fellows Program is a paid, nine-week summer research experience empowering the next generation of scientific leaders.
www.hhmi.org
November 22, 2025 at 4:15 PM
@hhmi.org Summer Undergraduate Research Experience - #CechFellows named in honor of Prof Tom Cech
Deadline to apply: 12/22/2025
Spend 9 weeks in a paid, mentored biomedical research experience in an HHMI lab. See you next summer!!!
www.hhmi.org/programs/cec...
Deadline to apply: 12/22/2025
Spend 9 weeks in a paid, mentored biomedical research experience in an HHMI lab. See you next summer!!!
www.hhmi.org/programs/cec...
Reposted by Tessa Montague
🚨 Attention undergraduate scientists and engineers! 🚨 Want to spend a summer doing research at MIT? Join us for the 2026 MIT Summer Research Program!
Learn more and apply: oge.mit.edu/msrp/
@mitdeptofbe.bsky.social @mitcheme.bsky.social @mitkochinstitute.bsky.social
Learn more and apply: oge.mit.edu/msrp/
@mitdeptofbe.bsky.social @mitcheme.bsky.social @mitkochinstitute.bsky.social
November 18, 2025 at 12:05 PM
🚨 Attention undergraduate scientists and engineers! 🚨 Want to spend a summer doing research at MIT? Join us for the 2026 MIT Summer Research Program!
Learn more and apply: oge.mit.edu/msrp/
@mitdeptofbe.bsky.social @mitcheme.bsky.social @mitkochinstitute.bsky.social
Learn more and apply: oge.mit.edu/msrp/
@mitdeptofbe.bsky.social @mitcheme.bsky.social @mitkochinstitute.bsky.social
Reposted by Tessa Montague
Excited to share our new #biorxivpreprint
We discovered that the fruit fly #drosophila erecta requires food odor to mate and arousal is further enhanced by social group motion.
Cross-species analysis of brain activity reveals a novel gate evolved from within a conserved circuit
shorturl.at/gGYm7
We discovered that the fruit fly #drosophila erecta requires food odor to mate and arousal is further enhanced by social group motion.
Cross-species analysis of brain activity reveals a novel gate evolved from within a conserved circuit
shorturl.at/gGYm7
October 16, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Excited to share our new #biorxivpreprint
We discovered that the fruit fly #drosophila erecta requires food odor to mate and arousal is further enhanced by social group motion.
Cross-species analysis of brain activity reveals a novel gate evolved from within a conserved circuit
shorturl.at/gGYm7
We discovered that the fruit fly #drosophila erecta requires food odor to mate and arousal is further enhanced by social group motion.
Cross-species analysis of brain activity reveals a novel gate evolved from within a conserved circuit
shorturl.at/gGYm7
Excited to share our new paper!
✨Natural habitat and wild behaviors of the dwarf cuttlefish, Ascarosepion bandense✨
tinyurl.com/bdew5x3s
Our first cuttlefish expedition - diving in the dark to observe our cuttlefish in the wild...
Check out the paper & new expedition tool on Cuttlebase.org 🧠
✨Natural habitat and wild behaviors of the dwarf cuttlefish, Ascarosepion bandense✨
tinyurl.com/bdew5x3s
Our first cuttlefish expedition - diving in the dark to observe our cuttlefish in the wild...
Check out the paper & new expedition tool on Cuttlebase.org 🧠
September 8, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Excited to share our new paper!
✨Natural habitat and wild behaviors of the dwarf cuttlefish, Ascarosepion bandense✨
tinyurl.com/bdew5x3s
Our first cuttlefish expedition - diving in the dark to observe our cuttlefish in the wild...
Check out the paper & new expedition tool on Cuttlebase.org 🧠
✨Natural habitat and wild behaviors of the dwarf cuttlefish, Ascarosepion bandense✨
tinyurl.com/bdew5x3s
Our first cuttlefish expedition - diving in the dark to observe our cuttlefish in the wild...
Check out the paper & new expedition tool on Cuttlebase.org 🧠
Reposted by Tessa Montague
If you’re interested in ants, olfaction, gene regulation, or all of the above, here’s a new preprint from the lab for you. It describes an unorthodox mechanism of transcriptional interference by which ant olfactory sensory neurons produce a single functional receptor.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Transcriptional Interference Gates Monogenic Odorant Receptor Expression in Ants
Communication is crucial to social life, and in ants, it is mediated primarily through olfaction. Ants have more odorant receptor (OR) genes than any other group of insects, generated through tandem d...
www.biorxiv.org
August 21, 2025 at 9:31 PM
If you’re interested in ants, olfaction, gene regulation, or all of the above, here’s a new preprint from the lab for you. It describes an unorthodox mechanism of transcriptional interference by which ant olfactory sensory neurons produce a single functional receptor.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Oo my advice made the list! 🧠✨
Leading neuroscientists share their top tips to optimise learning: teach, sleep, repeat!
www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/blog/neu...
www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/blog/neu...
August 21, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Oo my advice made the list! 🧠✨
Reposted by Tessa Montague
Exciting new Ruta lab preprint by @annaryba.bsky.social et al. on the neural underpinnings of intraspecific behavioral variation: Strain variation identifies a neural substrate for behavioral evolution Drosophila
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Strain variation identifies a neural substrate for behavioral evolution in Drosophila
Sexual selection acts on heritable differences within species, driving the parallel diversification of signal production in one sex and behavioral responses in the other. This coevolution implies that...
www.biorxiv.org
August 21, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Exciting new Ruta lab preprint by @annaryba.bsky.social et al. on the neural underpinnings of intraspecific behavioral variation: Strain variation identifies a neural substrate for behavioral evolution Drosophila
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Tessa Montague
Clearly amazing appearance around 888m in #MarDelPlataCanyon: Amphitretus sp. This telescope octopus has adapted to live in a place where there is nowhere to hide but in plain sight. Deep gratitude to @autsquidsquad.bsky.social for species ID. Description on Insta: www.instagram.com/reel/DNittGh...
August 19, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Clearly amazing appearance around 888m in #MarDelPlataCanyon: Amphitretus sp. This telescope octopus has adapted to live in a place where there is nowhere to hide but in plain sight. Deep gratitude to @autsquidsquad.bsky.social for species ID. Description on Insta: www.instagram.com/reel/DNittGh...
Reposted by Tessa Montague
Check out an interview on the CCC with @popsci.com
Real Coral Reefs of Miami: A Q&A with the marine biologist behind a popular livestream
Colin Foord discusses the Coral City Camera.
www.popsci.com
July 4, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Check out an interview on the CCC with @popsci.com
I had a lot of fun talking about cuttlefish camouflage and my path to science on Mark Mattson's podcast, Brain Ponderings! 🧠✨🐙
open.spotify.com/show/39HsoeK...
www.youtube.com/@brainponder...
#neuroskyence #neuroscience #cephalopod #cuttlefish
open.spotify.com/show/39HsoeK...
www.youtube.com/@brainponder...
#neuroskyence #neuroscience #cephalopod #cuttlefish
Brain Ponderings podcast with Mark Mattson
Podcast · Mark Mattson · Neuroscientist Mark Mattson hosts conversations intended for folks interested in what is known about the brain and what remains to be discovered. Here are a few of the major ...
urldefense.proofpoint.com
July 4, 2025 at 3:42 PM
I had a lot of fun talking about cuttlefish camouflage and my path to science on Mark Mattson's podcast, Brain Ponderings! 🧠✨🐙
open.spotify.com/show/39HsoeK...
www.youtube.com/@brainponder...
#neuroskyence #neuroscience #cephalopod #cuttlefish
open.spotify.com/show/39HsoeK...
www.youtube.com/@brainponder...
#neuroskyence #neuroscience #cephalopod #cuttlefish
Reposted by Tessa Montague
Do you know a young person with an interest in insects? 🦋
The Douglas Boyes Fund aims to provide people aged 14-18 with access to entomology equipment, fostering their passion for insects and inspiring them to engage and share their interest with other young individuals 🔽
The Douglas Boyes Fund aims to provide people aged 14-18 with access to entomology equipment, fostering their passion for insects and inspiring them to engage and share their interest with other young individuals 🔽
Douglas Boyes Fund - Royal Entomological Society
The Douglas Boyes Fund has been established in honour of Douglas Boyes (1996-2021), an esteemed entomologist specialising in Lepidoptera. The Fund aims to provide young people aged 14-18 with access…
buff.ly
June 24, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Do you know a young person with an interest in insects? 🦋
The Douglas Boyes Fund aims to provide people aged 14-18 with access to entomology equipment, fostering their passion for insects and inspiring them to engage and share their interest with other young individuals 🔽
The Douglas Boyes Fund aims to provide people aged 14-18 with access to entomology equipment, fostering their passion for insects and inspiring them to engage and share their interest with other young individuals 🔽
Reposted by Tessa Montague
Silly-sounding science is what happens when researchers do exactly what they are supposed to do, which is thinking freely and exploring new ideas with wide-open curiosity. 🧪
www.americanscientist.org/article/%E2%...
www.americanscientist.org/article/%E2%...
“Why Are We Funding This?”
Long-standing myths about “silly science” have contributed to the reckless slashing of government-supported research.
www.americanscientist.org
June 19, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Silly-sounding science is what happens when researchers do exactly what they are supposed to do, which is thinking freely and exploring new ideas with wide-open curiosity. 🧪
www.americanscientist.org/article/%E2%...
www.americanscientist.org/article/%E2%...
Reposted by Tessa Montague
Excited to share the lab's 1rst preprint! Rapid high-res immunofluorescence is now possible in cultured & environmental diatoms thanks to 4-fold expansion microscopy. A step-change for comparative cell biology in one of the most important phytoplankton groups on the planet 🥳
tinyurl.com/m9s5su7s 1/2
tinyurl.com/m9s5su7s 1/2
June 17, 2025 at 7:33 AM
Excited to share the lab's 1rst preprint! Rapid high-res immunofluorescence is now possible in cultured & environmental diatoms thanks to 4-fold expansion microscopy. A step-change for comparative cell biology in one of the most important phytoplankton groups on the planet 🥳
tinyurl.com/m9s5su7s 1/2
tinyurl.com/m9s5su7s 1/2
Reposted by Tessa Montague
🧬🌽 Happy Transposon Day! 🌽🧬
Today we celebrate the birthday of Barbara McClintock - scientist extraordinaire and discoverer of jumping genes. Still the only woman to have an unshared Nobel Prize in the biomedical sciences #TransposonDay2025
Today we celebrate the birthday of Barbara McClintock - scientist extraordinaire and discoverer of jumping genes. Still the only woman to have an unshared Nobel Prize in the biomedical sciences #TransposonDay2025
June 16, 2025 at 3:14 PM
🧬🌽 Happy Transposon Day! 🌽🧬
Today we celebrate the birthday of Barbara McClintock - scientist extraordinaire and discoverer of jumping genes. Still the only woman to have an unshared Nobel Prize in the biomedical sciences #TransposonDay2025
Today we celebrate the birthday of Barbara McClintock - scientist extraordinaire and discoverer of jumping genes. Still the only woman to have an unshared Nobel Prize in the biomedical sciences #TransposonDay2025
Reposted by Tessa Montague
Cuts have consequences, illustrated. As seen on TV 📺
June 3, 2025 at 12:45 AM
Cuts have consequences, illustrated. As seen on TV 📺
Reposted by Tessa Montague
My ongoing request:
If your NSF or NIH grant was terminated--whether at Harvard or elsewhere--please report it here.
NSF: grant-watch.us/submit-nsf.h...
NIH: grant-watch.us/submit-nih.h...
Our trackers are actively used in lawsuits and are often the only record that terminations ever occurred.
If your NSF or NIH grant was terminated--whether at Harvard or elsewhere--please report it here.
NSF: grant-watch.us/submit-nsf.h...
NIH: grant-watch.us/submit-nih.h...
Our trackers are actively used in lawsuits and are often the only record that terminations ever occurred.
NSF appears to be terminating hundreds of its grants to Harvard, per internal sources at NSF and at Harvard. At least one division has had all its grants cut.
May 14, 2025 at 2:22 PM
My ongoing request:
If your NSF or NIH grant was terminated--whether at Harvard or elsewhere--please report it here.
NSF: grant-watch.us/submit-nsf.h...
NIH: grant-watch.us/submit-nih.h...
Our trackers are actively used in lawsuits and are often the only record that terminations ever occurred.
If your NSF or NIH grant was terminated--whether at Harvard or elsewhere--please report it here.
NSF: grant-watch.us/submit-nsf.h...
NIH: grant-watch.us/submit-nih.h...
Our trackers are actively used in lawsuits and are often the only record that terminations ever occurred.
Reposted by Tessa Montague
It's often said that we have mapped Mars better than the bottom of our oceans. A new study by @oceandiscleague.bsky.social has now quantified this: we have visually explored less than 0.001% of the deep seafloor, 1/10th the size of Belgium. My latest for @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Guess how much of the ocean floor humans have explored
Hint: it’s less than 1% — a lot less.
www.nature.com
May 8, 2025 at 3:38 PM
It's often said that we have mapped Mars better than the bottom of our oceans. A new study by @oceandiscleague.bsky.social has now quantified this: we have visually explored less than 0.001% of the deep seafloor, 1/10th the size of Belgium. My latest for @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Tessa Montague
Cuttlefish are known for dynamic, kaleidoscopic displays—and yet they seem to be colorblind. How does an animal that can't see color project color out onto its skin?
Just one of the enigmas discussed in our latest episode, w/ @tessamontague.bsky.social!
Listen: disi.org/the-cuttlefi...
Just one of the enigmas discussed in our latest episode, w/ @tessamontague.bsky.social!
Listen: disi.org/the-cuttlefi...
May 7, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Cuttlefish are known for dynamic, kaleidoscopic displays—and yet they seem to be colorblind. How does an animal that can't see color project color out onto its skin?
Just one of the enigmas discussed in our latest episode, w/ @tessamontague.bsky.social!
Listen: disi.org/the-cuttlefi...
Just one of the enigmas discussed in our latest episode, w/ @tessamontague.bsky.social!
Listen: disi.org/the-cuttlefi...
Reposted by Tessa Montague
New episode!! 🎙️📣
A conversation w/ @tessamontague.bsky.social about cephalopod camouflage.
Cuttlefish and other cephalopods can change their appearance—color, pattern, texture—with lightning speed. What's going on in their skin and brains that makes this possible?
Link: disi.org/the-cuttlefi...
A conversation w/ @tessamontague.bsky.social about cephalopod camouflage.
Cuttlefish and other cephalopods can change their appearance—color, pattern, texture—with lightning speed. What's going on in their skin and brains that makes this possible?
Link: disi.org/the-cuttlefi...
May 2, 2025 at 5:21 PM
New episode!! 🎙️📣
A conversation w/ @tessamontague.bsky.social about cephalopod camouflage.
Cuttlefish and other cephalopods can change their appearance—color, pattern, texture—with lightning speed. What's going on in their skin and brains that makes this possible?
Link: disi.org/the-cuttlefi...
A conversation w/ @tessamontague.bsky.social about cephalopod camouflage.
Cuttlefish and other cephalopods can change their appearance—color, pattern, texture—with lightning speed. What's going on in their skin and brains that makes this possible?
Link: disi.org/the-cuttlefi...
Reposted by Tessa Montague
My father-in-law, Jack Strominger, and I wrote a letter to the @wsj.com editor about the current threats to science due to Trump's funding freeze. Please repost! www.wsj.com/opinion/scie...
Opinion | Science Suffers With Trump’s Funding Freeze
America’s scientific enterprise demands reliable stewardship, not destabilizing political intervention.
www.wsj.com
April 21, 2025 at 6:21 PM
My father-in-law, Jack Strominger, and I wrote a letter to the @wsj.com editor about the current threats to science due to Trump's funding freeze. Please repost! www.wsj.com/opinion/scie...
Reposted by Tessa Montague
Replacing the battery & using an iPhone 13 for 5 years rather than 2.5 could cut emissions 49%, "which could prevent 15.6 million tons of CO2 emissions per year." That's as much as a small country. www.wired.com/story/back-m...
Most People Buy a New Phone Every 2.5 Years. There’s a Better Way
Back Market and iFixit are partnering to encourage consumers to keep their phones in service for at least five years—and to pressure manufacturers to extend smartphone support to 10 years.
www.wired.com
April 16, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Replacing the battery & using an iPhone 13 for 5 years rather than 2.5 could cut emissions 49%, "which could prevent 15.6 million tons of CO2 emissions per year." That's as much as a small country. www.wired.com/story/back-m...
Reposted by Tessa Montague
Harvard redid its whole homepage to push back against the administration’s demands. I mean, this is just a website but I think it’s kind of a great PR move: www.harvard.edu
Harvard University
Harvard University is devoted to excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders who make a difference globally.
www.harvard.edu
April 14, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Harvard redid its whole homepage to push back against the administration’s demands. I mean, this is just a website but I think it’s kind of a great PR move: www.harvard.edu
Reposted by Tessa Montague
I highly recommend this inspiring new book by Nahum Ulanovsky! A plea for neuroscientists to embrace “Natural Neuroscience”: use emerging technologies to uncover meaningful behavior and neural representations in free-roaming animals exposed to real-world stimuli.
mitpress.mit.edu/978026204499...
mitpress.mit.edu/978026204499...
Natural Neuroscience
Natural neuroscience departs from the classical reductionist approach, which emphasizes control at the expense of natural behaviors, by proposing a shift tow...
mitpress.mit.edu
April 15, 2025 at 10:28 AM
I highly recommend this inspiring new book by Nahum Ulanovsky! A plea for neuroscientists to embrace “Natural Neuroscience”: use emerging technologies to uncover meaningful behavior and neural representations in free-roaming animals exposed to real-world stimuli.
mitpress.mit.edu/978026204499...
mitpress.mit.edu/978026204499...
Reposted by Tessa Montague
The Americans are doing to Kseniia what the Russians did to Brittney Griner for having 0.7 grams of cannabis oil. Except no one is coming to negotiate her freedom and Harvard is sitting on their hands. I am so ashamed. Please share this story.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/s...
She Worked in a Harvard Lab to Reverse Aging, Until ICE Jailed Her (Gift Article)
President Trump’s immigration crackdown ensnared Kseniia Petrova, a scientist who fled Russia after protesting its invasion of Ukraine. She fears arrest if she is deported there.
www.nytimes.com
April 11, 2025 at 5:55 PM
The Americans are doing to Kseniia what the Russians did to Brittney Griner for having 0.7 grams of cannabis oil. Except no one is coming to negotiate her freedom and Harvard is sitting on their hands. I am so ashamed. Please share this story.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/s...
Reposted by Tessa Montague
Published an op-ed for @cnn.com: “Nobel laureate: I owe America my success. Today, its scientific future is in danger.”
A personal reflection on what’s at stake as science funding gets slashed. I’d be grateful if you could amplify both in and beyond the science world.
www.cnn.com/2025/04/09/h...
A personal reflection on what’s at stake as science funding gets slashed. I’d be grateful if you could amplify both in and beyond the science world.
www.cnn.com/2025/04/09/h...
Nobel laureate: I owe America my success. Today, its scientific future is in danger | CNN
Dr. Ardem Patapoutian says he watches “with deep sadness as the United States’ remarkable scientific enterprise, which took generations of hard work and national investment to build, faces a concerted...
www.cnn.com
April 9, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Published an op-ed for @cnn.com: “Nobel laureate: I owe America my success. Today, its scientific future is in danger.”
A personal reflection on what’s at stake as science funding gets slashed. I’d be grateful if you could amplify both in and beyond the science world.
www.cnn.com/2025/04/09/h...
A personal reflection on what’s at stake as science funding gets slashed. I’d be grateful if you could amplify both in and beyond the science world.
www.cnn.com/2025/04/09/h...