When I started my postdoc in 1998, I think it is safe to say that the Holy Grail (or maybe Rosetta Stone) for many evolutionary biologists was a concept called the Adaptive Landscape. The reason for such exalted status is that the adaptive landscape was then – and remains – the only formal quantitative way to predict and interpret an adaptive radiation of few organisms into many. I was heavily indoctrinated into this framework - as my postdoc was at UBC during precisely the time when Dolph Schluter was writing his now-classic book The Ecology of Adaptive Radiation. Adaptive landscapes come in ..read more

(posted by Andrew on behalf of Marius Roesti) Another year is in full swing. What will 2024 hold for us? Nostradamus, the infamous French astrologer, is well known for his projections into the future. Some 500 years ago, he also made a series of predictions for 2024. He wrote, for instance, “Red adversary will become pale with fear, putting the great Ocean in dread”, and “The dry earth will grow more parched, and there will be great floods when it is seen".1 These vague predictions that lack a rigorous rationale and are quite open to interpretation (have a go at it!) are probably better call ..read more

"There are two kinds of readers.  Those who have read the Lord of the Rings.  And those who are going to." There are two kinds of biologists.  Those who have worked with stickleback. And those who are going to.   If you count yourself in the former category, we have good news. You can now buy stickleback through a non-profit center.  The Stickleback Stock Center (aka Sticklestock) at the University of Connecticut provides eggs, juveniles, adults, cell cultures, and associated microbes for research and education. We can do microinjection of CRISPR so you don't have to ..read more

I recently published a paper titled Prediction in Ecology and Evolution in BioScience. I was pretty sure the paper would get a lot of attention as I had six reviewers who provided more than 20 single-spaced pages of comments. In all cases, the reviewers were very interested and sincerely wanted to help improve the paper. Most of the criticisms focused on (1) what I should have paid more attention to, or (2) what I should have excluded. After publishing the paper, I immediately started getting emails making similar suggestions. This inspired me to start an exchange of ideas here. To partic ..read more

Analogies can be useful ways of explaining complicated ideas - but they can also be problematic. Reviewers of a recent paper were having trouble understanding a rather intricate idea we were presenting. Thus, on revision, I attempted an analogy. I liked the analogy and found it helpful but - whether unfortunately or not - it didn't make it into the final paper. It was left on the cutting room floor, so to speak. Still, I kind of like it and so provide it here - with context. Led by Sarah Sanderson, we recently conducted several studies that tested the hypothesis that populations living in area ..read more

When a colleague and friend passes on, those of us left behind wish to honor them with some of our favorite memories. With Ole Kristian Berg, those memories are many and vivid. He was an excellent colleague and a genuinely wonderful man, who not only brought a creative originality to his (and our) research but also an undimmed sense of wonderment about the natural world, especially salmonid fishes (salmon, trout, and charr). Most importantly, he was someone who loved and lived life to the fullest, and never ceased to help us all remember how lucky we are to have careers and lives that can be s ..read more

For the final week of Cuentos/Contos, I present Dr. Bryan Juarez, Dr. Stepfanie Aguillon, Dr. Raul Diaz, Kiersten Formoso and a special interview with Dr. Melissa Guzman.  Southeast LA and San Bernadino born and raised, Bryan, describes how his low-income background drove him to design novel mathematical approximations to tackle complex science problems (jumping in frogs), as an alternative to using expensive equipment that may have been financially inaccessible. He also explains how his Latinx background prepared him to spot genuine mentors and allies, which have now blossomed into soli ..read more

In week 2 of the Cuentos/Contos, I am pleased to share the cuentos of Daisy Flores, Eduardo Tassoni Tsuchida, Alonso Delgado and Maya Yanez.  Daisy Flores, a San Diego local and marine biologist, tells us how her Latinx identity has influenced the way she approaches education in the US and abroad. Additionally, Daisy emphasizes how a strong support system encourages her to preserve in academia, even during tough times. Lastly, she provides a few suggestions to increase inclusivity in universities and departments.  Eduardo, a biologist studying cell response to stress, reflects ..read more

 In the Fall of 2021, I sought out to highlight the stories of Latino/a/x researchers generally in "Ecology and Evolution". With the support of Dr. Carly Kenkel, Dr. Oliver Rizk and Emily Aguirre, we were able to put on a series titled "Cuentos-Contos" (short stories in Spanish and Portuguese) to be shared to our Marine and Environmental Biology section at the University of Southern California. Now I am sharing these short stories to Ecoevoevoevo to share with a wider research community as I believe it is important to highlight researchers from similar backgrounds in academia as this spac ..read more

I was recently surprised to learn from my students (I really appreciate that they spoke up about it) that some phrases I had been using were confusing - most specifically among-population variation.* This led to a discussion of the meaning of within, among, and between and how these terms are used in ecology and evolution (a microcosm of how they are used more generally). As the confusion appears to be more common than I thought, perhaps it is worth explaining the situation here. To make this explanation clear, first imagine that you are analyzing a number of separate populations (e.g., humans ..read more