Sean A. S. Anderson 🍉
@seananderson.bsky.social
Assistant Prof at Georgia Tech. Computational biology 🤝 field biology. Evolutionary ecology 🤝 evolutionary genetics. Thinking about how one species splits into two. https://seanasanderson.github.io/
Pinned
The Anderson Lab at Georgia Tech
my academic website
seanasanderson.github.io
Friends: I'm recruiting at least one PhD student to join our lab in Atlanta in the Fall of 2026. Information about our research can be found at the link below. Please pass along to any students interested in the quantitative study of speciation, secondary contact, and the build-up of biodiversity!
Reposted by Sean A. S. Anderson 🍉
Congratulations to Joe Felsenstein on being awarded the 2026 Mendel Medal!
November 14, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Congratulations to Joe Felsenstein on being awarded the 2026 Mendel Medal!
Reposted by Sean A. S. Anderson 🍉
How are Pacific NW mountain birds responding to climate change?
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
How are Pacific NW mountain birds responding to climate change?
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Sean A. S. Anderson 🍉
Check out our new paper in @royalsociety.org testing mechanisms behind elevational range restriction in tropical montane songbirds! ⛰️🦜🌳
Backstory: when i first visited Central America in the early 2010's i was struck with elevational ranges of birds..
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Backstory: when i first visited Central America in the early 2010's i was struck with elevational ranges of birds..
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Testing the thermal physiology, habitat and competition hypotheses for elevational range limits in four tropical songbirds | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Restricted elevational ranges are common across tropical montane species, but the
mechanisms generating and maintaining these patterns remain poorly resolved. A long-standing
hypothesis is that specia...
royalsocietypublishing.org
November 12, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Check out our new paper in @royalsociety.org testing mechanisms behind elevational range restriction in tropical montane songbirds! ⛰️🦜🌳
Backstory: when i first visited Central America in the early 2010's i was struck with elevational ranges of birds..
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Backstory: when i first visited Central America in the early 2010's i was struck with elevational ranges of birds..
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Reposted by Sean A. S. Anderson 🍉
And honestly, we all should aspire to and hope for more whimsy in our lives—it’s bleak out there
Loving today's news that the mysterious "fedora man" outside the Louvre heist was actually a 15-year-old museum visitor who dresses like a 1940s French detective all the time, just because. apnews.com/article/louv...
Fedora man unmasked: Meet the teen behind the Louvre mystery photo
Fifteen-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux has become an internet sensation after an Associated Press photo captured him outside the Louvre on the day of a crown jewels heist.
apnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:47 PM
And honestly, we all should aspire to and hope for more whimsy in our lives—it’s bleak out there
Reposted by Sean A. S. Anderson 🍉
This obit of Watson is *amazing*.
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:14 PM
This obit of Watson is *amazing*.
Reposted by Sean A. S. Anderson 🍉
It's irritating that they describe the effects of his racism as limited to causing controversy within science and reputational consequences for himself rather than giving an immeasurable boost, false veneer of legitimacy, and idiot-friendly prestige to modern scientific racism and eugenics.
James D. Watson died on Thursday in East Northport, N.Y., on Long Island. He was 97.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/s...
James Watson, Who Helped Discover the Structure of DNA, Is Dead at 97
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:42 PM
It's irritating that they describe the effects of his racism as limited to causing controversy within science and reputational consequences for himself rather than giving an immeasurable boost, false veneer of legitimacy, and idiot-friendly prestige to modern scientific racism and eugenics.
Reposted by Sean A. S. Anderson 🍉
The framing of this is hilarious: Democrats deeply worried about the repercussions of a victory
www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/m...
www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/m...
As Mamdani nears victory, Democrats worry about national fallout
The progressive candidate is on the cusp of a historic mayoral win. And that's adding to unease among Democrats looking for a way back to national power.
www.msnbc.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:31 PM
The framing of this is hilarious: Democrats deeply worried about the repercussions of a victory
www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/m...
www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/m...
I really thought I’d seen it all in terms of the most depressing, soul-crushing, eye-watering failure that Toronto sports has to offer, but somehow I was wrong
November 2, 2025 at 2:41 PM
I really thought I’d seen it all in terms of the most depressing, soul-crushing, eye-watering failure that Toronto sports has to offer, but somehow I was wrong
YES, SAVAGE!!!
October 30, 2025 at 9:02 AM
YES, SAVAGE!!!
Reposted by Sean A. S. Anderson 🍉
Excited to share our new paper where we find that the rise, decline and fall of clades is not explained by the usual suspects (diversity-dependence, ecological opportunities) but rather by species' insidious loss of macroevolutionary fitness: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/3
Loss of macroevolutionary species fitness explains the rise and fall of clades - Nature Ecology & Evolution
The interplay between speciation and extinction rates shapes clade diversity dynamics. Using a novel phylogenetic model that includes living and fossil lineages, the authors estimate speciation and ex...
www.nature.com
October 17, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Excited to share our new paper where we find that the rise, decline and fall of clades is not explained by the usual suspects (diversity-dependence, ecological opportunities) but rather by species' insidious loss of macroevolutionary fitness: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/3
The people in the apartment across the street from me have had their patio fan running continuously since January. Never seen them out there. Need to learn flashlight Morse code.
October 17, 2025 at 12:08 AM
The people in the apartment across the street from me have had their patio fan running continuously since January. Never seen them out there. Need to learn flashlight Morse code.
My colleague @jameststroud.bsky.social is a fantastic scientist and an even better guy -- congrats James on this richly deserved recognition and research support!!
We’re thrilled to announce the 2025 class of Packard Fellows for Science and Engineering — 20 innovative early-career scientists who will each receive $875,000 over five years to pursue their research.
Meet the 2025 Packard Fellows ⬇
www.packard.org/2025fellows
Meet the 2025 Packard Fellows ⬇
www.packard.org/2025fellows
October 15, 2025 at 2:45 PM
My colleague @jameststroud.bsky.social is a fantastic scientist and an even better guy -- congrats James on this richly deserved recognition and research support!!
Reposted by Sean A. S. Anderson 🍉
New review out! With students in my lab, we explore how population size shapes speciation—from drift in small populations to selection in large ones. Do small or large populations speciate faster? The answer is more nuanced than you might think.
esj-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
esj-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Speciation Through the Lens of Population Dynamics: A Theoretical Primer on How Small and Large Populations Diverge
Population size and dynamics fundamentally shape speciation by influencing genetic drift, founder events, and adaptive potential. Small populations may speciate rapidly due to stronger drift, whereas...
esj-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 14, 2025 at 11:25 PM
New review out! With students in my lab, we explore how population size shapes speciation—from drift in small populations to selection in large ones. Do small or large populations speciate faster? The answer is more nuanced than you might think.
esj-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
esj-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Sean A. S. Anderson 🍉
Human-mediated land-use and climate change occur simultaneously, but how do they interact to shape adaptive dynamics? Super excited to share the first paper from the Kreiner lab, led by postdoc extraordinaire @rpineau.bsky.social
October 6, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Human-mediated land-use and climate change occur simultaneously, but how do they interact to shape adaptive dynamics? Super excited to share the first paper from the Kreiner lab, led by postdoc extraordinaire @rpineau.bsky.social
Now available in Systematic Biology, a new paper (and R package) in which we outline an approach to account for non-independence in comparative analyses of lineage-pair traits academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
The Comparative Analysis of Lineage-Pair Traits
Abstract. For many questions in ecology and evolution, the most relevant data to consider are attributes of lineage pairs. Comparative tests for causal rel
academic.oup.com
October 13, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Now available in Systematic Biology, a new paper (and R package) in which we outline an approach to account for non-independence in comparative analyses of lineage-pair traits academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
Reposted by Sean A. S. Anderson 🍉
@jblosos.bsky.social and I (and, it turns out, many other lizard biologists!) kept seeing wild lizards with missing legs/hands/feet.
How do they survive? Surely natural selection would weed out these unfortunate individuals?
Perhaps not...🦎🦵
theconversation.com/3-legged-liz...
How do they survive? Surely natural selection would weed out these unfortunate individuals?
Perhaps not...🦎🦵
theconversation.com/3-legged-liz...
3-legged lizards can thrive against all odds, challenging assumptions about how evolution works in the wild
Most lizards probably don’t survive devastating injuries. But a new study documents 122 cases of limb loss across 58 species – these exceptions shine a new light on natural selection.
theconversation.com
October 13, 2025 at 12:45 PM
@jblosos.bsky.social and I (and, it turns out, many other lizard biologists!) kept seeing wild lizards with missing legs/hands/feet.
How do they survive? Surely natural selection would weed out these unfortunate individuals?
Perhaps not...🦎🦵
theconversation.com/3-legged-liz...
How do they survive? Surely natural selection would weed out these unfortunate individuals?
Perhaps not...🦎🦵
theconversation.com/3-legged-liz...
Reposted by Sean A. S. Anderson 🍉
I see pieces like this a lot, often w/ a spin of lamenting cultural degeneration, but reading is a LABOR issue, it’s declined because so many people are working overtime or two jobs & employers expect after hours work. France has Earth’s highest reading rate b/c long lunch breaks & labor protections
October 7, 2025 at 12:25 AM
I see pieces like this a lot, often w/ a spin of lamenting cultural degeneration, but reading is a LABOR issue, it’s declined because so many people are working overtime or two jobs & employers expect after hours work. France has Earth’s highest reading rate b/c long lunch breaks & labor protections
RIP Jane Goodall. There's of course no better way to understand Goodall than in her own words, of which there are volumes to explore. But I also love Stephen Jay Gould's introduction to her "In the Shadow of Man": archive.org/details/insh.... As Gould notes, and Goodall embodied, "Nature IS context"
October 1, 2025 at 6:53 PM
RIP Jane Goodall. There's of course no better way to understand Goodall than in her own words, of which there are volumes to explore. But I also love Stephen Jay Gould's introduction to her "In the Shadow of Man": archive.org/details/insh.... As Gould notes, and Goodall embodied, "Nature IS context"
"Four years on, I see it clearly: the scientific system was never designed for equity. For people whose privilege stems from geography, institutional reputation and inherited networks, the system works perfectly the way it is. That’s why institutions focus only on improved access and optics."
I can’t promise this will be the last time I talk about inequity — or equity washing — in science. But after the multitude of responses to my Nature piece, I know something has shifted. Many came from the Global North. That alone feels like a small win. 👉 rdcu.be/eGEun
Equity in science is a beautiful lie — and I’m done pretending | Nature
Science isn’t really moving towards equity; institutions are just perfecting the appearance of equity. We need to build an alternative system. Science isn’t really moving towards equity; institutions are just perfecting the appearance of equity. We need to build an alternative system.
rdcu.be
September 29, 2025 at 5:03 PM
"Four years on, I see it clearly: the scientific system was never designed for equity. For people whose privilege stems from geography, institutional reputation and inherited networks, the system works perfectly the way it is. That’s why institutions focus only on improved access and optics."
Reposted by Sean A. S. Anderson 🍉
Late Afternoon Light ~ Cyril Cox, 1958
September 29, 2025 at 6:29 AM
Late Afternoon Light ~ Cyril Cox, 1958
Reposted by Sean A. S. Anderson 🍉
C. elegans is a real animal and we set out to understand how it comes to have its distinctive biogeography. Its ancestral center of diversity is in the higher elevation forests of Hawaii. Its closest relatives are spread across east Asia. Did they travel from Asia? [Preprint 🧵]
September 24, 2025 at 8:33 PM
C. elegans is a real animal and we set out to understand how it comes to have its distinctive biogeography. Its ancestral center of diversity is in the higher elevation forests of Hawaii. Its closest relatives are spread across east Asia. Did they travel from Asia? [Preprint 🧵]
Reposted by Sean A. S. Anderson 🍉
This may sound a bit weird, but I have been waiting for someone to make a robust defense of shame for what feels like ages and folks, this is it
"Common decency stigmatizes people that do not participate in it—removes them from voluntary association. We indeed have to live with one another, but terms and conditions apply."
me on why Ezra Klein should be ashamed / why shame is Good Actually
www.bostonreview.net/articles/how...
me on why Ezra Klein should be ashamed / why shame is Good Actually
www.bostonreview.net/articles/how...
How Can We Live Together? - Boston Review
Ezra Klein is wrong: shame is essential.
www.bostonreview.net
September 23, 2025 at 5:44 PM
This may sound a bit weird, but I have been waiting for someone to make a robust defense of shame for what feels like ages and folks, this is it
Reposted by Sean A. S. Anderson 🍉
I have a couple of small updates on this story, in case y'all have been wondering about any fallout since its July publication! 🧵
Why Did National Geographic Disappear Its Own Documentary About A Queer Climate Scientist? | Defector
If you’re not a particular kind of mountain sports nerd, you might not be familiar with the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour. But for people who live their lives in the overlapping circl...
defector.com
September 23, 2025 at 3:27 PM
I have a couple of small updates on this story, in case y'all have been wondering about any fallout since its July publication! 🧵