How It Works
What kind of environmental and social traumas can be passed down to the next generation? What does that manifestation even look like?
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Grad School Diaries
Reflections on an evolving sense of self in the age of social media and COVID.
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Earth's Organisms
Cows and Sheep aren’t the only species touched by the hand of domestication. Microbes have been domesticated for just as long as many traditional 'farm animals.'
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Our Ecosystems
Two lesser known women helped set the stage for international wildlife treaties and conservation in the United States.
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Grad School Diaries
Navigating the world of scientific research and academia can be tricky as an undergraduate. Grad students and instructors can teach STEM undergrads these three things to make their lives easier!
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Earth's Organisms
Alzheimer's and depression are more commonly diagnosed in women, while Parkinson's is more commonly diagnosed in men. Why is that?
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How It Works
Why wouldn’t you trust a scientist or a medical professional? They’ve spent years developing a better understanding of the world and how we can survive it… or how some of us can survive it.
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Earth's Organisms
Many people who have recovered from COVID-19 report a loss of their sense of smell. How important is your sense of smell, really?
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Earth's Organisms
Evolving is a team sport. Many animals co-evolve along with microbes in a symbiotic relationship.
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How It Works
Ever wonder how wildlife biology and conservation got to be the way it is? If you live in the U.S., you may need to thank an oyster...
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How It Works
Access to large, open source datasets is paving the way for new scientific insights. But is bigger always better?
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How It Works
What would you think if I told you I grow human brains in a lab?
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How It Works
When you bang your elbow on a table, why is your first instinct to grab it? This response might have something to do with how your sensory neurons process information.
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How It Works
Going viral (or rather not): perspectives on viruses with an emphasis on foodborne disease from UMass professor Dr. Matthew Moore.
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Grad School Diaries
Can’t fall asleep, stay asleep, or wake up? Here’s how to fix it!
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Grad School Diaries
With tourism down to a standstill, how are protected areas persisting during the pandemic? People are not moving around locally or globally as much as before the pandemic. How does this impact wildlife?
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How It Works
Native Alaskans have a wealth of traditional knowledge that helps them survive, some of which are still not entirely understood by science. Many Native Alaskan groups use wolverine fur for the ruffs around their faces. Read on to find why wolverine fur is the best for ruffs.
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Grad School Diaries
Project and people management is not part of normal curriculum in graduate school – but you better believe you will be expected to do it! Here’s some advice to help you be a better mentor to undergraduate students.
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Earth's Organisms
We have barely scratched the surface of virus diversity, but over the past decade scientists have discovered shockingly large viruses in environments across the globe. These giant viruses shook up everything we thought we knew about the origin of viruses.
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Grad School Diaries
What to expect during graduate school interviews, and the key questions to ask to land you in the right program.
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How It Works
We have the best intentions, but never quite make it to the gym or reach that deadline. Why are we so bad with following through? There’s a phenomenon in neuroscience that might explain these behaviors.
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How It Works
Though not captured in the language we use to describe disease, many ailments are caused by diverse genetic backgrounds. What are the implications of these variations and how can we take advantage of them to develop better treatments?
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Our Ecosystems
Madagascar is undergoing environmental and socioeconomic crises that threaten the future of the island country. Here is how community-based conservation can help.
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Grad School Diaries
You want to join a lab. Where do you look? How do you express interest? What do you say?
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How It Works
The lab rat, historically used for countless areas of scientific and medical research, presents a promising possibility in the field of biomedical and regenerative medicine. New research shows that these furry critters help regenerate tissue to heal wounds, having implications for diseases like diabetes.
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Our Ecosystems
Do you feel like your allergies are worse than those of your grandparents? It could be due to an overabundance of male trees in your environment.
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Our Ecosystems
The COVID-19 pandemic has raised a number of questions about the virus, how it spreads, and its global impacts. A panel of biologists provides answers to some frequently asked questions.
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Our Ecosystems
This is the unlikely biological love story of when a compound from the South American cinchona tree met a European distilled liquor fragrant with juniper botanicals in the tropical jungles of India!
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Grad School Diaries
This spring, I tackled the art of bonsai tree care. Check out the first part of my journey to prune my green thumb!
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How It Works
From scat to skin, animals leave a lot of evidence to track them with, but can we use this environmental DNA to monitor them?
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How It Works
There is a time and place for everything. While fat on your belly might make you run slower, fat in your brain lets you think faster.
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How It Works
What even IS soap and how does using it to wash your hands prevent disease?
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How It Works
Jumping spiders have a complex visual system, and here's how it works.
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Our Ecosystems
Is 2 degrees Celsius warming too much for our planet? Researchers suspect yes…
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How It Works
Researching the neural mechanisms behind your sex hormone levels and your body’s circadian rhythms.
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Earth's Organisms
With people protesting all around the world, how are the rest of the world’s inhabitants fighting against the climate crisis? What role do primates play? Why is primate conservation important?
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How It Works
Make what you want to look at bigger so you don’t have to build a microscope that sees smaller. Expansion microscopy uses diaper technology to make small things, like neurons, bigger.
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Earth's Organisms
“Many primates use alarm calls to alert other members of their group to potential predators. But how specific and effective are these alarm calls? What risks come with sounding the alarm?”
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Our Ecosystems
The Dutch are leading the world in flood-risk mitigation through clever engineering and an eco-friendly mindset.
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Earth's Organisms
Have you ever wondered why blobfish looks the way it does? Or why some fish have their stomachs bulging out of their mouths and eyes popping out of their heads when they’re caught? You’ve just witnessed barotrauma.
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Grad School Diaries
With the constant stream of content coming your way, here are some of the best science/nature films entertainment has to offer
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Grad School Diaries
A tool to see things from a protein’s point of view!
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How It Works
Why do we go on autopilot when we travel somewhere we’ve been a thousand times? How do our brains snap out of this routine when we need to change it up?
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Our Ecosystems
Us: Living near water and below sea-level is a bad idea. The Dutch: Challenge accepted.
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Earth's Organisms
“In some primate species, infants are born with conspicuous coats that fade to normal adult coloration over time. What could be causing these uniquely colored infants? What do species with natal coats all have in common?”
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Earth's Organisms
Ferrets did what? The surprising use of ferrets for solving technological problems.
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How It Works
How do neuroscientists make a certain population of cells stand out from a sea of them squished together in the brain? The tools are already in nature, no need to reinvent the wheel.
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Earth's Organisms
Palm trees are quite unique, and to be honest, a little funny looking. Are they actually trees? And why are they the way they are?
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How It Works
Fear is a powerful driver of wildlife behavior, here are five ways animals respond to fear.
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Our Ecosystems
The ocean is shifting along with a changing climate. What does that mean for the local seafood on your plate and in the market?
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Grad School Diaries
Why might your advisor become distant from your work and how can you bring them back into it?
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Earth's Organisms
The Eastern Spotted Newt has three dramatically different looks as it grows from egg to adulthood.
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Earth's Organisms
Sometimes the best defense from predators is to stay in plain sight.
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How It Works
“The distinct diversity of pollen grains has many uses - including helping detectives around the world piece together the details of a crime.”
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Grad School Diaries
“What does it take to get to the remote field sites where so many biologists collect their data?”
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How It Works
How microbes can help address one of the long-term issues associated with waste disposal.
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How It Works
“Brain surgery is surprisingly simple. Aside from the risk of death, here’s all there is to it.”
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Grad School Diaries
A tale of carnivores, camera traps, and camaraderie straight from the grasslands and woodlands of Africa.
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Earth's Organisms
What type of an animal is a sifaka? What makes them unique? And how in the world do you pronounce ‘sifaka’?
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How It Works
My lessons learned from NNOCCI’s keys to successful climate change conversations - let’s solve this together!
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Grad School Diaries
“What are the implications of a male dominated field for women, whether they are in that field or not?”
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Our Ecosystems
#indoorplants don’t just look great on Instagram; they also tell us about economic tradeoffs, priorities, and a changing economy
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Grad School Diaries
“A postcard from a field biologist still a bit stunned about landing her dream location in southern Africa!”
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Our Ecosystems
What to know about the major impacts of climate change on our health and safety, and what we’re doing to limit them.
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Grad School Diaries
“With seemingly endless tree species available, how can you decide which one to plant?”
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Grad School Diaries
“Thinking about the next steps in your life? If graduate school is one of those potential options, here’s some things you should be thinking about.”
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How It Works
“How does drinking alcohol lead to lack of balance? What are the physiological processes underlying this phenomenon?”
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Earth's Organisms
Have you ever felt like a fish out of water? Because that's exactly what you are.
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How It Works
All of our cells have the same DNA… right? Not always. Genetic chimeras shatter our ideas of identity and blur the lines between self and non-self, siblings, and sexes.
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Grad School Diaries
A trip to scout field sites is thwarted when a notorious invasive grass refuses to live by the rules of a scientist’s study design.
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Earth's Organisms
“What could be the meaning behind squirrels with pink fur and puffins with electric blue beaks?”
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Earth's Organisms
When the way fish look remind us of another animal, why not name them that way? You can decide for yourself whether these fish really look like a lizard, hog, or frog!
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How It Works
**Undergraduate Writing Contest Spring 2019 WINNER**
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Outreach
The second annual collaborative art/science exhibit was featured last month on the UMass Amherst campus. Check out this work in our virtual art gallery under the Events tab.
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How It Works
Science-up your everyday life with some kitchen microbiology, starting with the secret lives of microbes in sourdough!
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Earth's Organisms
The answer may surprise you...
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How It Works
Here's a closer look into Radiation: the facts, the myths, and the bananas…
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How It Works
Federally-funded science has been ridiculed as wasteful spending, citing bizarre methods out of context… but silly methods ≠ silly science!
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How It Works
Ecological traps are an important concept in conservation biology. Let’s talk about what it means for wildlife.
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Grad School Diaries
Most scientists work in the day and sleep at night, but scientists who study nocturnal animals don’t get that luxury!
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How It Works
Why can bad things be so overpowering of the good? Evolution might give us some insights.
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Earth's Organisms
This is a brief biological story involving the agave plant and its pollinators that are instrumental in the birth of tequila!
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Our Ecosystems
The services mangrove forests provide are priceless, so why are these ecosystems threatened?
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Earth's Organisms
Microbes can kill us - but they will also save us.
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Earth's Organisms
The hidden risks behind that pedigree certificate. **Undergraduate Writing Contest Fall 2018 WINNER**
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How It Works
...Unless Your Gut is Going Against You. **Undergraduate Writing Contest Fall 2018 RUNNER-UP**
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Our Ecosystems
Some conservationists dream of returning to an ancient past of free roaming elephants and lions in the U.S. - let’s explore the controversial and intriguing idea of Pleistocene rewilding.
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Our Ecosystems
Trees may seem a bit out of place at the edge of the ocean, but mangroves know what they are doing.
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How It Works
Some have termed it “suicidal mating,” when adult animals die shortly after mating for the first time. How could it be beneficial to live a short life and only reproduce once?
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Grad School Diaries
We know the importance of diversity in the environment, but what’s at risk by neglecting the levels of diversity in forestry’s workforce?
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Earth's Organisms
A closer look at some species that use bioluminescence to glow.
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Earth's Organisms
Don’t miss the diversity of lichen that provide a colorful cover for many surfaces across the world.
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How It Works
How adopting an “American” diet can be detrimental for the health of many immigrants.
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Outreach
My neuroscientist friends at UMass Amherst and I led a workshop with Girls Inc. to encourage curiosity among local middle school girls.
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How It Works
Have you ever wondered why some streets in your city or town have more trees than others? Read this post to find out more…
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Earth's Organisms
As the winter holiday season approaches, will you be decorating with this festive parasitic plant?
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Earth's Organisms
“Did you know it’s possible for only half of your brain to sleep while the other half stays awake? Why would anyone do that?”
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Earth's Organisms
Fungi are fascinating! You can find them just outside your door, and some wild varieties are edible. But be careful - these decomposers can be deceptive!
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Grad School Diaries
“Scientific discovery is incremental and extends beyond the lifespan of a single researcher. But whose shoulders do I stand upon?”
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Our Ecosystems
Planting a flower from your local nursery seems innocuous enough, but where that flower comes from is an important consideration that often gets overlooked.
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Grad School Diaries
In one of the most ecologically unique regions in the world, I had the chance to get up close and personal with lemurs!
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Grad School Diaries
Happy Halloween! Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein turns 200 this year. Let’s take a closer look at this ghost-story about science gone wrong.
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Grad School Diaries
Scottish wildlife postcard from the Highlands!
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Grad School Diaries
I attended my first mega-conference as a graduate student, and I learned a few things along the way...
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Our Ecosystems
Find out how a vaccine for cattle resulted in a rebound in giraffe populations on the Serengeti.
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Grad School Diaries
Scottish wildlife postcard from the Highlands!
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How It Works
Currently, there are roughly 50 large wildfires burning in the U.S. We’re taking a look at how one of this season’s fires got so big.
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Grad School Diaries
What does the largest neuroscience conference have to offer an early career researcher, from undergrad to grad student?
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Earth's Organisms
Humans have been occupying outer space for decades, but what other species have made it beyond Earth’s atmosphere?
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Grad School Diaries
I tagged along with the New England Botanical Club to explore plants of the Pioneer Valley. Come check out some photos!
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Grad School Diaries
You know how new parents always post photos of their babies? Well this is that, but with fish.
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Our Ecosystems
Every year, fish consumption advisories are published to help us make healthy seafood choices, but how good is the data used to construct these advisories?
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Outreach
The science of communicating.
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Earth's Organisms
Rats have pretty surprising features. You’ll be shocked to find how similar they are to people in some ways and different in others.
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Earth's Organisms
What looks like a slushy, feels like a slushy, but makes you wish you hadn’t eaten it?
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Earth's Organisms
Travel to this fabulous landscape in India’s wild west to encounter camels, carnivores, people, livestock, and more!
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Earth's Organisms
We’re taking a closer look at three interesting desert plants. But don’t get too close; they may prick you!
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Grad School Diaries
Research Highlight - As a Ph.D. student, I get to grow brain cells!
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Earth's Organisms
Did you know that a parasite can have a parasite, which in turn can have a parasite of its own? These interactions can influence our ability to control pest insect species.
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Earth's Organisms
Every plant has a Latin and a common name, both of which come with a story. Come find out how some plants get their quirky callings!
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How It Works
The reason visual information begins processing at the back of the eye.
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Outreach
DNA Extraction is easier than you might think - you can even try it in your kitchen at home!
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Our Ecosystems
Seafood is part of a healthy diet, but it’s not a perfect health food. Let’s discuss fish consumption advisories and how they can help you avoid eating unhealthy seafood.
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Earth's Organisms
Black, yellow, red, and white—what makes primates the most colorful mammals?
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Grad School Diaries
Sometimes science brings you to obscure locations and equips you with binoculars – in New York City, it’s a perfect setup for rare celebrity sightings in the concrete jungle!
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Grad School Diaries
What happens when everyone goes on vacation during school breaks? Why would someone choose to stay and work?
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Grad School Diaries
Journey with TLS author Dina Navon to the 2018 annual meeting of the Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology, and learn more about the ways scientists think about communicating their work!
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Earth's Organisms
When the weather gets unbearably cold and the waters freeze, what do the fish do?
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Earth's Organisms
Curious cases of cooperation, coexistence, and camaraderie in creatures great and small.
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Grad School Diaries
Get the “dirt” on one grad student’s “hot” work.
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How It Works
Although tattoos are safe for most everyone, here are two unique cases of a person’s body responding poorly to this form of body art.
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Earth's Organisms
How do the microorganisms that live in hot springs, deep sea floors, and volcanos survive?
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Earth's Organisms
When physics and biology come together to figure out life
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How It Works
What time you’re eating may be more influential than what you’re eating, according to a collaborator of Nobel Prize recipients.
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Earth's Organisms
This past fall, I came across a swarm of wasps and did not know what they were. For an entomologist, that’s scarier than the swarm itself, so I did some sleuthing.
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Our Ecosystems
Should we use limited resources for fewer large nature preserves, or a patchwork of smaller ones?
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How It Works
Learn the ins and outs of combat in one of the ocean’s fiercest fighters, the American lobster.
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Grad School Diaries
While much of my summer was spent in a lab, I snuck away for two splendid weeks in Bergen, Norway – for research!
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Grad School Diaries
Scientists are often alone in their labs, at remote field sites, or staring at computers – but once a year, they get together to nerd out!
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Our Ecosystems
Can aquaculture farming successfully break free from conventional monoculture practices?
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Outreach
This fall, TLS teamed up with local Girl Scout troops to learn about the importance of animal habitats. Here is what happened!
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Grad School Diaries
Girl scouts learn about why bees are in trouble and what they can do to help maintain local bee populations. Bee the Change!
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Grad School Diaries
When your research is about environmental education, you end up spending all your time at school!
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Earth's Organisms
In some species, the phrase “I could eat you up” between lovers has a very literal meaning. Let’s check out the stories behind sexual cannibalism, the strange and intriguing behavior where males become meals!
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TLS is hosting a writing competition where the winning article will be posted on our blog! Details here.
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Grad School Diaries
I never thought I’d get the chance to go to Malaysia, but I went for a scientific meeting and it was an experience of a lifetime.
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Outreach
The UMass 3-Minute Thesis is back! During 3MT competition, grad students explain their research in 180 seconds. Find out more, plus insights from a finalist last year!
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Grad School Diaries
For an anatomist, museum basements are a magnificent scientific wonderland full of skulls, bones, and biodiversity!
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Grad School Diaries
Have you ever wondered what graduate students actually do? While every day is a new adventure, here’s a sample of one of my Wednesdays…
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Grad School Diaries
In the Southern Appalachians, salamander diversity is tops. I went to see how many species I could find.
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How It Works
As technology advances, we are gaining a better understanding of how biology underlies human behavior. When it comes to crime, can we blame someone’s biology?
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Our Ecosystems
This post will finally answer all the questions you never had about why your sister has so many plants in her house.
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Grad School Diaries
Building a face requires a delicate interplay between genes and the environment!
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How It Works
We've been told that dairy is a miracle food for good health and strong bones, but most of the human population can't even digest it.
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Earth's Organisms
Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a butterfly and a moth? Me too. This is what I found out.
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Earth's Organisms
A survey of an unlikely pair - Tuberculosis and art
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Earth's Organisms
Limericks honoring my favorite class in the animal kingdom
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Grad School Diaries
It’s Halloween - but what if the thing you fear most is your own research?
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How It Works
Body shivering, teeth chattering, why does our body descend into a twitching mess in the cold? Learn how odd behaviors work to keep us warm!
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Grad School Diaries
Intrigued by graduate student life? If so, read on to discover the 6 things I wish I had known when I started grad school.
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Our Ecosystems
“Edges exist in nature, but what happens when humans continue to fragment habitat?"
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Earth's Organisms
Check out this plant with an amazing set of pipes!
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How It Works
“How do you count an animal you can’t see, hear, or find? By its poo of course!”
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How It Works
“Are you watching closely? Abracadabra.” How magicians use our brains against us.
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Our Ecosystems
Have we already experienced so many invasive species that we’re exhausting the pool of potential species?
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Earth's Organisms
Humans aren’t the only nosy creatures out there – animals eavesdrop too! Read all about eavesdropping in the animal kingdom
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Grad School Diaries
Losing the NSF DDIG in biology will have lasting ramifications on graduate student independence…here’s why.
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How It Works
If there’s not enough ice cream in the world to cool you off, here are some tips from nature on coping with the heat!
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How It Works
Hormones can get hairy. Find out 5 things you might not have known about these chemicals.
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How It Works
With the summer heat comes the stench of death – but why does it smell so bad?
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Earth's Organisms
Ever wonder what parasites are up to when they’re not bothering people? Take a look at the secret lives of parasites.
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Earth's Organisms
“Manhattan’s dramatic Tribute In Light memorial to 9/11 unintentionally created a major hazard for birds during fall migration – learn all about it here!”
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Outreach
TLS recently teamed up with the OPD to organize a panel with three science communicators. This post recounts a few of the highlights.
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Earth's Organisms
Did you know that HIV has a lesser known pathogen cousin: FIV?
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How It Works
Though it can be prettier and tastier than your average iodized salt, gourmet salt is unfortunately lacking a huge health benefit.
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How It Works
A little rhyme about something I think about from time to time.
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Earth's Organisms
“Remember when PokémonGo was a thing? Do researchers think '#PoGo' helped us appreciate both the pidgeys AND the pigeons?”
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Earth's Organisms
Do you remember #PokemonGo? A first look at how #PokemonIRL may actually help us connect to and appreciate nature.
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How It Works
Have you ever really looked at your hands? No, I mean really looked at them? Without all the skin and stuff in the way?
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Grad School Diaries
While many scientists handle their study organisms daily, wildfires can remain elusive.
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Grad School Diaries
A photo journal of a short summer season in the Rockies– remembering to take in the beauty around the science.
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How It Works
You’ve been lied to. Let’s make you aware of all you can feel.
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How It Works
Ever yell into a canyon and hear your voice echo back? Learn how bats use this property of sound to navigate at night!
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Earth's Organisms
Life’s transition out of the oceans changed some of the body’s most important structures. Recent research sheds light on this drastic shift.
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Earth's Organisms
Life’s transition out of the oceans changed some of the body’s most important structures. Recent research sheds light on this drastic shift.
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Grad School Diaries
Being an aquatic ecologist means getting paid to explore some of earth’s most beautiful natural locations, but it also means dealing with the harsher side of Mother Nature as well.
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Earth's Organisms
“Marmorated stink bugs stink—literally and metaphorically. They are invasive, are damaging crops, and are spreading at an alarming rate.”
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Earth's Organisms
From mimicry to pseudocopulation, orchids have many tools to trick pollinators. As the orchids say: 'If you are not cheating, you are not trying hard enough.'
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How It Works
How this microbiologist makes her experiments look like teeny tiny raves
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Grad School Diaries
With so much false scientific information floating around online, how do I separate the truth from the dumpster fires?
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Earth's Organisms
Locating the lost childhood photo albums of sea turtles
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Grad School Diaries
“I learned a new technique at a conference – sketch-noting! Take a look at sketch-notes I produced for two of the talks I saw there.”
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Grad School Diaries
“I learned a new technique at a conference – sketch-noting! Take a look at sketch-notes I produced for two of the talks I saw there.”
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Earth's Organisms – Hot moves and sexy sons
It’s hard to catch the attention of ladies sometimes. So why not do a little dance, to make a little love? Let’s catch up on some of the best courtship dances in the natural world.
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How It Works – Saving water is no longer a matter of how short our showers are
During the Anthropocene, conserving environmental flows for strategic ecosystems is not just about biophysical dynamics; water trade is becoming an undeniable influence
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Outreach
Join us this month at OEB Science Café - a free event where scientists and community members meet to share ideas and pizza.
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How It Works – Double Digestion in Rabbits
Have you ever seen a rabbit eat its own poop? It’s not uncommon, in fact it’s necessary to live!
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How It Works
Sex is often presented as a dichotomy as either being male or female, but there is beautiful diversity in how sex presents itself across the animal kingdom.
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How It Works
Some people use ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ interchangeably, but here are the reasons why there’s is a big difference between these terms.
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How It Works
Some fish are really hard to catch, but scientists need to study these hard-to-catch fish too. How do they do it?
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Earth's Organisms
Many of us read The Hungry Caterpillar as a kid. If you ever want to find a real life hungry caterpillar, look no further than eastern Massachusetts and the invasive winter moth.
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Earth's Organisms
In the animal kingdom, mantis shrimps just might have the all-seeing eye.
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How It Works
Flowers and pollinators, completely dependent on each other. A match made in heaven? Not so much.
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Outreach
Tackling huge scientific issues such as climate change with art can help form a cultural connection
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Earth's Organisms
Small differences in beak size can have large energetic consequences when environmental conditions are hot and dry.
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How It Works · Earth's Organisms – Is your gut trying to kill your resolve?
Already broken your New Year's resolution? Can you blame it on your microbes?
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Our Ecosystems
Are humans starting a new fiery relationship with nature in wetter climates?
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Earth's Organisms – Recent talk of walls in the media has brought up a lot of emotions, but what do walls do in nature?
Take a break from arguing about political walls and learn what a cell wall can do
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Grad School Diaries – A day of inspiration and learning at the Life Sciences Graduate Research
Highlights from UMass Life Sciences Graduate Research Symposium, plus a Q&A with the two award winners. Get inspired!
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Our Ecosystems
“You may have heard the Earth called the blue marble, but do you know why the world is also green?”
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How It Works
Genetically modified organisms may seem like science fiction! What are the benefits and risks of this technology in our food and daily products?
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How It Works – New-Fangled Paleontology
Digital reconstructions of ancient mammal fossils help us understand that mammals rule and dinosaurs drool.
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How It Works
Evolutionary biology has made huge strides in the past 30 years, and yet, there’s still a long way to go.
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How It Works
The face switching of scifi is now reality – but it's not what you think!
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Our Ecosystems
“Many people make cities home – But did you know that many species of wildlife do as well?"
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How It Works
Evolutionary biology has come a long way since the Origin of Species was published in 1859. Today we look at how the Modern Synthesis reconciled genetics and natural selection
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Earth's Organisms – Bees are more than buzzing insects around you
Without bees the world would look very different. Why are bees in decline, and what can we do to help them?
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How It Works – DNA as a solution for data storage
In 60 short years we've discovered how to read, write, and edit DNA. Now could it be the answer to our data storage problems?
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How It Works – A Crash Course in the Coolness of Mitochondria
Think mitochondria are just little batteries for your cells? Think again.
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Earth's Organisms – Neither a toad nor a worm
Nematodes are the greatest animal of which you most likely have never heard!
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How It Works – A Pollinator’s Job Description and Why We Should All Care About Them
Pollinators are not only beautiful but are also integral to our food system. Unfortunately, pollinators are in trouble.
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Grad School Diaries
Graduate school can be challenging, but it has its perks. Getting to travel and do science abroad is one of the best!
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How It Works
Being human, otherwise known as the art of making decisions without sufficient data.
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Earth's Organisms – Snap! Flash! Bang! Find out how ocean-dwelling pistol shrimp fire bubble ‘bullets’ to stun their unsuspecting prey.
Pistol shrimp are aptly named. Despite their small, unassuming presence, they carry with them an impressive weapon that can discharge powerful underwater ‘bullets’ capable of stunning or even killing prey.
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How It Works – The evolution of one of the greatest medical discoveries in history.
They think they can beat us with their antibiotics?! Silly humans...
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Grad School Diaries – Science may be a universal language, but for international students, many other things are lost in translation.
Studying abroad is an opportunity for advancing in a scientific career; it is also a test to one’s endurance. Hear from those who decided to embark on this journey.
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Outreach – Celebrating 117 Years of Christmas Bird Counts
The nation’s longest-running citizen science project is both a scientific and cultural treasure.
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How It Works – Mother Nature’s History Book
T. rex lived 68 to 66 million years ago. How do scientists know the ages of things that lived long before humans existed?
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Our Ecosystems – Why fish deserve our research money
Many people don’t think about fish beyond what’s in their tanks or on their plate. Fish are actually a valuable and important focus for research efforts. I have trillions of reasons why!
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How It Works – Proprioception as a vital sense
Detecting the location of your own fingertips without seeing them is a sense we should all appreciate. But what do we know about this sense in other animals?
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How It Works – Man’s Best Artificially-Selected Friend
Call of the wild becomes call of the squeaky toy through artificial selection.
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Our Ecosystems – Integrating knowledge of microbial ecology into building architecture.
Human microbiome studies have demonstrated how crucial bacteria are to our health. Will microbiome of the built environment be as important?
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How It Works
Did you know that some pesticides are not hazardous? The industry is shifting towards safer formulations that mitigate non-target impacts.
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Earth's Organisms
Meet these all female lizards who propagate their species with some diversified cloning and lady lovin’.
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How It Works – Sometimes scientists have to get creative in order to effectively do science – especially on a budget.
Why would a scientist need a selfie stick? What use is a bunch of scrap chicken bones from the butcher shop? Science isn’t only accomplished with high-tech equipment -- read below to find out how everyday items are used by scientists in non-traditional ways!
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Earth's Organisms – Ecology and Behavior of Woodchucks
Even if a woodchuck could chuck wood, it would still rather eat your garden!
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How It Works
Understanding the diseases insects get has implications for protecting our beneficial insects, managing pest species, and modeling our own diseases.
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Grad School Diaries
As a researcher, you can’t be afraid of failure. This is the #1 rule you should stress when mentoring in a lab setting.
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How It Works – Our teeny tiny friends and their huge potential
Thought that microbes were only important for our health and making food for us? Turns out these little factories still have a lot more to offer.
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Earth's Organisms – Vision in Jumping Spiders
Jumping spiders can change the direction of their gaze without changing their body’s position. If you think about it, it’s just like a creepy painting with eyes that follow you across a room…
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Earth's Organisms
It's the season of darkness - rationalize your fear of those strange creatures found at your every turn
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Our Ecosystems – Halloween Tales from the Ocean
When you’ve got venomous thorns and you eat innocent beautiful coral for breakfast, I think you qualify as a new kind of monster.
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Earth's Organisms – The Evolution and Ecological Impacts of Cats
Cats may seem cute and cuddly, but hunting is in their blood. Domestic cats evolved from wild cats and are now shaping animal populations in nature.
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How It Works
Evolutionary biology has come a long way since the Origin of Species was published in 1859. Today let’s discuss the history of evolutionary thinking, focusing on the earliest, and often surprising, roots of the science.
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Outreach
Our 1-day and 3-day workshops on Plant Science were described as “lit” by the Eureka! Girls.
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How It Works – The Effects of Custom Build Paradise
Artificial islands have been build all around the world for a variety of reasons. But what is their impact on the local ecological communities?
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Earth's Organisms – What happens when frogs have to compete for acoustic space and a chance to be heard?
When a loud, invasive frog species acoustically overpowers native frog calling, important communication can be blocked. Then what?
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How It Works
To B(PA) or not to B(PA) - what about this environmental toxicant is so concerning? Read on to find out why regulating BPA is important.
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Earth's Organisms – Think Genghis Khan and Napoleon were the most successful invaders? Think again.
Confused about invasive species? Read on to learn more about the how, what, and why of invasive species.
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Earth's Organisms
When the Earth changes, it can bring unexpected visitors.
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Earth's Organisms
From chemotherapies to smelling like carrion, plants have an amazingly diverse skillset. Here are 8 reasons to get excited about the plant kingdom.
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How It Works – Bioluminescence truly looks like it is nothing short of sorcery, and although this naturally occurring phenomenon is well studied and explained, that does not take away from its beauty.
If you’re perfectly happy thinking of bioluminescence as the result of sheer magic, do not read this post. If you’d like to understand the biological mechanism behind it, however, this post is for you. Spoiler alert: it’s not magic (and the tooth fairy isn’t real either…)
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Earth's Organisms – Too Clean for Comfort
The old adage “a little dirt never hurt” might actually be good health advice after all! Find out how our obsession with being “clean” might be doing more harm than good for our health.
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Our Ecosystems – The magic of in-between places along the Appalachian Trail
#Walking isn’t just good exercise, but a great way to be in many places at once! #ecotone #AppalachianTrail
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Earth's Organisms
A brain region involved in hearing surges with serotonin in male mice when a female is present but drops if the mouse is romantically rejected.
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Our Ecosystems
Wildfire and insect outbreak both affect our forest in complex and interconnected ways. Learn more in this post.
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Earth's Organisms
A strict ant diet plus convergent evolution leads to cool adaptations.
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How It Works – Part II - Cases of altruism in the animal kingdom
With the understanding that true altruism never benefits an individual, let’s explore some of these interesting cases of altruism in nature.
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Our Ecosystems
Backyard bears and flying fish - Human’s sometimes misguided approach to wildlife control
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Earth's Organisms
What Simba didn’t know about the circle of life - parasitoids, predators and parasites
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How It Works – Part I - Why true altruism is a rare behavior in the animal kingdom
When I say altruism, you probably think of giving to others. As humans, we admire when someone acts altruistic and consider altruism to be a good personality trait. Why then, is true altruism in the animal kingdom rare?
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How It Works
How scientists use satellites to answer questions about life here on planet Earth.
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Our Ecosystems – How Mercury in Fish Could End Up in Your Dish
The trophic transfer of mercury has bearing on my life. I eat fish regularly, but select small species. Let me explain why.
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Earth's Organisms – How our microbiome affects our health and vice versa
Microbes are estimated to have a nearly 1:1 association with the human body. That’s 1 microbe for every 1 human cell. Do we ever get sick because of these microbes?
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Our Ecosystems
Birds know how to fumigate for unwanted pests!
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Earth's Organisms – Finding new ways to grow bacteria to progress science
Bacteria are everywhere, and we are very effective at growing billions of them in our guts, on our shower curtains, and on our food. But those bacteria we think about every day cover just a tiny fraction of the diversity of bacteria that exist in the world. How do we learn about all these other bacteria?
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Earth's Organisms
Picture swimming in a pool of honey. Not the easiest of tasks right? This is how microbes feel moving through water!
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How It Works
Ever wondered how biologists learn about the world? They use statistics. Learn more about the use (and misuse) of stats in biology!
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Earth's Organisms
Fancy schnozzes have surprising functions across the mammal family tree.
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Our Ecosystems – A reflection about the value of water and the forest
Environmental disasters are happening around the world and most of us are not even aware.
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How It Works – What is wrong with my tomatoes?...And other plant disease questions
Citrus greening disease, also known as Huanglongbing or Dragon Yellows, is causing devastating losses to citrus trees in Africa, Asia, Brazil, and the southern United States. Plant pathologists are working hard to combat this disease and keep oranges on our tables (and at a reasonable price)!
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Our Ecosystems – Good intentions sometimes lead to unfortunate outcomes
There’s no question that human activities impact the natural environment. Some human activities have devastating consequences on the environment, while others have the sole purpose of improving or restoring the environment. Unfortunately, the latter occasionally has negative results, despite having positive intentions.
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Earth's Organisms
There are a lot of hungry mouths to feed in the world. How did modern agriculture come to support such a large population?
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Earth's Organisms
We typically understand singing in birds to function in mate attraction and territory defense, two behaviors closely tied to breeding. But sometimes birds sing far from their breeding grounds and outside of their mating season, when singing doesn’t seem to make biological sense. So what the heck is going on? A recent study sheds light on this long-debated topic!
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How It Works – How fecal microbiota transplants can improve lives and possibly save them
Fecal microbiota transplantation is the new ‘it’ treatment. Here’s why you should give a s**t.
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Our Ecosystems – Catch-and-release anglers catalyze conservation for the prized golden dorado fish
Anglers are vital advocates for their beloved waters; some decide to leave fish in the rivers and off the dinner table.
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Our Ecosystems
Below the surface, fish live fascinating and complex lives!
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Earth's Organisms – We know we get infections from time to time. Why does this happen?
Have you ever wondered why pathogens, or microorganisms that cause disease, exist? Why do these microbes choose to attack our bodies? What is fascinating is that pathogenic microbes are typically not—at least initially—looking for their next target. Instead, these microbes are generally just really good survivors.
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Earth's Organisms – How cheese rinds may be a valuable tool for microbial discovery
Earth's Organisms
Take a minute and think - what do you consider “wild things”? Would bacteria count in your book? Click to explore the tiny world of microbes and learn about some fundamental microbial ecology!
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Earth's Organisms – A commentary on how to make science more ‘clickable’
The internet is a big place. Amidst intense competition for readership online, could scientists make their research feel more ‘clickable’? Should they?
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Grad School Diaries – Why I care about ecology and you should, too!
Think everyone who works outside likes dirt? Think again!
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Earth's Organisms – Some species hide in plain sight, but scientists have ways to suss them out
The advent of affordable DNA sequencing has put molecular techniques at the forefront of species discovery. For the sake of biodiversity, ecological conservation, public health, and pest management, let’s hope that “new age of [species] discovery” has only just begun.
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Earth's Organisms – Minuscule Hitchhikers Pinch a Ride
These small arachnids are all around us, and may even live in your house!
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Our Ecosystems
Kangaroos, posterchildren for the Australian outback, are considered by some to be pests in their homeland. In fact, most tourists have experienced the availability of kangaroo meat and leather in parts of Australia. How did this come to be?
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Grad School Diaries – re: thoughts about something you’re going to write anyway…
Brevity is the soul of email. Here’s the buzz about writing emails that are concise, elegant, and logical
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How It Works – The scientific facts behind the safety and efficacy of childhood vaccines
You’ve probably encountered memes, celebrities, and blogs vilifying childhood vaccines - let’s dive into some facts that will hopefully help clarify just how safe and effective the science community agrees vaccines to be.
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Earth's Organisms
Each year, in rivers all around the world, several fish species make an all-or-nothing trek from sea to freshwater (or vice versa) in order to reproduce. Join us in celebrating the second ever World Fish Migration Day on May 21st! On World Fish Migration Day, we celebrate the ecological, economical, and cultural importance of these fish through education and outreach in order to promote a better future for all of the organisms that rely on migratory fish (including ourselves).
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Our Ecosystems
What would the world be like if it weren’t for natural sounds? Are we facing an imminent extinction of the natural soundscape experience?
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Grad School Diaries – Juggling teaching, research, and outreach
I’m a up-and-coming molecular biologist, and I study genetics, evolution, and development. But what do I actually do all day?
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How It Works
Almost any conceivable object can now be 3D printed into reality. The process is fun and futuristic, but it’s also opening new doors for biological research.
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How It Works – What is wrong with my tomatoes?...And other plant disease questions
Plants, including tomatoes, are constantly under attack by microscopic organisms, like bacteria and viruses, and larger organisms, like insects and deer. Phytopathology is the study of plant diseases with the aim of keeping our plants from becoming sick.
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Grad School Diaries
All we knew is that we wanted to make an outreach blog. We weren’t sure how or who would be willing to help with such an endeavor.
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Earth's Organisms – Why we should care about sea turtles
What about sea turtles instills a power of captivation over so many people -- to the point even, that conservationists would sacrifice their life to save them? Why should we be alarmed that this ancient species is disappearing from the globe?
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Grad School Diaries – What happens when a researcher steps outside the lab and into the public sphere?
Research in a lab setting allows for control over many environmental variables and conditions, but can be limiting due to the unnatural context. Research in a field setting can be more natural and realistic, however that tight control over the environment is lost. One unpredictable source of a challenging field environment? People.
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How It Works
The challenges of understanding, diagnosing, and treating Zika virus: there are more questions than answers.
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Our Ecosystems – A closer look at species diversity in the tropics
Ever wonder why the tropics have more plants and animals than places closer to the poles? You aren't alone.
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