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Regina Fairbanks

@reginafairbanks.bsky.social

210 followers 260 following 44 posts

Ph.D. Candidate working on maize. Chaotically interdisciplinary, but generally in the realm of pop gen, plants, and people. From Delco & Philly (go birds! 🦅), PhD in progress at UC Davis 🐄

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Regina Fairbanks @reginafairbanks.bsky.social · Jun 18

Pleased to share that my first, first-author publication was published yesterday in @pnas.org ! We (me + @jrossibarra.bsky.social) did a little bit of detective work to better understand the age and origin of a mutation that played a key role in maize domestication. doi.org/10.1073/pnas... (1/n)

Scattered teosinte kernels in their fruitcases, which are triangular in shape and a mottled brown in color

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Reposted by Regina Fairbanks

Graham Coop @gcbias.bsky.social · 23h

We're excited to be recruiting an NIH funded postdoc to work in the Coop lab at UC Davis. We're specifically interested in candidates who are want to work at the intersection of human genetics, GWAS, and population genetics modeling. Please RT

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Stewie Stewart @stewiestewart.bsky.social · 2d

Had not come across this paper before. Such a cool use of precisely known shipwreck dates to track the introduction of rats to North America. 🐀🚢

The ratting of North America: A 350-year retrospective on Rattus species compositions and competition

Archaeological rats show dramatic temporal species shifts and diet differences, with implications for health and rat management.

www.science.org

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Reposted by Regina Fairbanks

Kristina Killgrove @killgrove.bsky.social · 3d

“News coverage often reflects what universities and journals promote through press releases to the media, notes Ivan Oransky, co-founder of Retraction Watch. “If men are more likely to request press releases, that could tilt the pool.””

(Wanted to look at study methods but it’s paywalled. 😔)

When women researchers publish, media attention doesn’t always follow

Men-led papers receive more media coverage than women’s, new study finds

www.science.org

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Reposted by Regina Fairbanks

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 6d

I'm doing another print run of these "Biology is Bigger than Binaries" shirts!

Back, quite literally, by popular demand. Bullying works, sure, but so does a bunch of nice cutie patooties politely asking!

Order 'em now, I'll mail 'em in early November.

SquidFacts.net

a woman with short bown hair, glasses, and tassel earrings, wears a purple KN95 and looks cool as hell in her biology is bigger than binaries shirt, in orange

a woman with green glasses takes a selfie lookin' cool as hell in her pink biology is bigger than binaries shirt. She's also got ice cream, that lucky dog.

a woman with long brown hair and glasses hangs out in the back yard with her pink biology is bigger than binaries shirt

A man with a hat and sunglasses stands in hero-pose with his biology is bigger than binaires shirt (orange)

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Nicole Kearney @nicolekearney.bsky.social · 6d

I'm excited to be speaking at #LivingData2025 about the future of BHL. I'll be sharing a critical update on our transition toward a sustainable, global & community-governed future. 🧪 📖 🌱
🗓️ Info: www.livingdata2025.com/program.html...
🌎 #BHLTransition news: blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/tag/transition

A screenshot of a Powerpoint slide: "A new future for the Biodiversity Heritage Library". The background is an historic illustration of a Bald Eagle on a rock, claws deep in a large catfish.

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Ksepka Lab @ksepkalab.bsky.social · 7d

Proud to share a new piece in Scientific American co-authored with the brilliant @lnwilson.bsky.social , edited by @katewong.bsky.social, and featuring this spectacular depiction of the endless daylight of the Cretaceous summer in Alaska by Chase Stone!

www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...

Bird Migration Is One of Nature’s Greatest Spectacles. Paleontologists Just Found Clues to Its Origin

Tiny fossils hint at when birds began making their mind-blowing journey to the Arctic to breed

www.scientificamerican.com

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Regina Fairbanks @reginafairbanks.bsky.social · 12d

Blessed with the marimekko plane for my flight to Helsinki 🇫🇮

A plane with flowers near its tail sits under a blue sky at a busy airport

Reposted by Regina Fairbanks

Joe Brennan @biologyjoe87.bsky.social · 13d

Excited to share a new pre-print in collaboration with @sebastianschreiber.bsky.social, "Using Modern Coexistence Theory to understand community disassembly"! We set out to understand how techniques used to study coexistence can be extended to understand community disassembly. (1/X)

Using modern coexistence theory to understand community disassembly

Community disassembly examines how species extinction alters ecological communities. Sometimes, the extinction of one species can trigger the loss of others, known as secondary extinction. These secon...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Regina Fairbanks

Dr. Arun Sethuraman @arunsethuraman.bsky.social · 15d

Do check out our new manuscript, now out in G3 on modelling theoretical expectations of ghost introgression in sampled genomes. Just in time for Halloween! 🎃 👻

Genetics Society of America @genetics-gsa.bsky.social · 15d

New in #G3journal: @arunsethuraman.bsky.social et al. describe biases in summary statistics, such as genetic differentiation, diversity, Tajima’s D, and estimates of theta, migration rates, and divergence for understanding genomic signatures from extinct ghost populations. buff.ly/7fGnPXj

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Annalee Newitz @annaleen.bsky.social · 16d

These researchers are still looking for lice from a few more mammals, if you happen to have any that meet this description. NGL I really need to know more about aardvark lice.

Kayce Bell @kaycebell.bsky.social · 22d

Hi! We need lice for our diversity and adaptation project. Specifically, we need lice from zebras, camelids (camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, guanacos) & aardvarks. If you or someone you know might have lice, I'm happy to discuss our inclusive collaboration plans!
sites.google.com/nhm.org/anop...

Mammals & Lice

We are interested in understanding what drives host-parasite relationships. We are using the Anoplura (sucking lice) parasite and mammalian host system to generate a comprehensive sucking louse phylog...

sites.google.com

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Reposted by Regina Fairbanks

Plant Editors @planteditors.bsky.social · 16d

Heads up, #EarlyCareer #PlantScience researchers!

The Plant Journal @theplantjournal.bsky.social · 16d

📢Announcement!
The call for 𝐓𝐏𝐉 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 is now open! 🌟
It is designed to offer support and mentorship to researchers transitioning from post-doctoral scientists to principal investigators

Info: 👉http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/1365313x/homepage/TPJ-fellowships
& in 🧵

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Reposted by Regina Fairbanks

Natalia Jagielska @nataliajagielska.bsky.social · 19d

And that's how you integrate digital elements into an exhibition. Part of the temporary "China's Dinosaur World" at the Shanghai Natural History Museum, China. Closing this November.

Video source: Shanghai Let's Meet

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Reposted by Regina Fairbanks

bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology @biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · 29d

Genome-wide selection on transposable elements in maize https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.16.676665v1

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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · Sep 16

🚨 Cool educational item alert 🚨

We teamed up with Philly Nature Illustrator, Meg Lemieur @megstampede.bsky.social to create a 12 month wall calendar all about animals!

The calendar includes lessons we can learn from animals & how we can help them.

Pre-order here!
www.etsy.com/listing/4366...

the front cover for a calendar with a salamander standing on a mushroom. in big bubble letters it says 2026 love notes from nature calendar created by Meg Lemieur and Sarah McAnulty phd

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Regina Fairbanks @reginafairbanks.bsky.social · Sep 16

That feels like cheating!

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Regina Fairbanks @reginafairbanks.bsky.social · Sep 16

It's no "Murder in Mesopotamia", but I do have my own mystery. Who sent me this?!

Book titled "Oldest Cuisine in the World" on top of USPS shipping box on a kitchen counter

Reposted by Regina Fairbanks

Dr. Headbutt 🌈🧪 @nicoleackermans.com · Sep 15

Archeology friends, are you aware of rock art depicting headbutting sheep in Asia or Africa?
I have examples in Europe and N. America but want to add more globally.
(I'll also take any other headbutting references including other forms of art and other species if you have em).
Please share! 🏺 🧪

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Regina Fairbanks @reginafairbanks.bsky.social · Sep 13

One may go missing when I eventually leave the lab...

Reposted by Regina Fairbanks

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · Sep 12

In which I beg archaeologists to sign up for the fall semester of Skype a Scientist, because we're getting buried in requests for your area of expertise.

Sign up here:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · Sep 12

I run @skypeascientist.bsky.social which matches scientists w/classrooms, libraries, etc for Q&As.

We match First Lego League teams too. This tends to wipe out one category of scientist bc so many teams sign up for the same category (this year, archaeologists). We're almost out of archaeologists.

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Biodiversity Heritage Library @biodivlibrary.bsky.social · Sep 12

BHL's future is uncertain, but hopeful. Securing its future requires new partners & sustained investment. For more information, follow along here & on the #BHLblog: blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/tag/transition. Help us safeguard the world’s collective biodiversity knowledge. #ILoveBHL 🧪 📖 🌱 🌏

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Reposted by Regina Fairbanks

Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra @jrossibarra.bsky.social · Sep 10

Hua Yang from UM on ploidy and genome balance in maize in this morning's #Zeavolution. We still have a couple open slots this Fall. Reply or DM if you'd like to join!

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Regina Fairbanks @reginafairbanks.bsky.social · Sep 8

"It's not just a phaseolus, mom!" or something like this

Reposted by Regina Fairbanks

Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra @jrossibarra.bsky.social · Aug 27

Genomics hivemind: I want to genotype a bunch of diverse, heterozygous diploids with a messy genome (🌽 -- who'd have guessed?) but I care about phase. Computational phasing doesn't really cut it, so wondering what the cheapest alternatives are -- nanopore to 10-20X? Linked shortreads?

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Reposted by Regina Fairbanks

Jay @duniagamemaster.bsky.social · Aug 25

It's Minnesota State Fair time! It's time for Minnesotan folk art! Here, for example, is Saturn Devouring His Corn, in the seed art category!

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Lars Brudvig @lars-brudvig.bsky.social · Aug 22

Michigan State University is hiring a new Director of our herbarium!

This is an open rank, tenure-stream faculty position, with research focus in plant or fungal systematics, ecology, and/or evolution

Please consider applying and help spread the word!

plantbiology.natsci.msu.edu/job-postings...

plantbiology.natsci.msu.edu

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