Samantha L. Rutledge
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slrutledge.bsky.social
Samantha L. Rutledge
@slrutledge.bsky.social
180 followers 240 following 22 posts
PhD Candidate LSU Museum of Natural Science, Mason Lab/ NSF GRFP /birder, cyclist, runner/ evolution, biogeography, iridescence, biomimicry, ornithology
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Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
e-v-griffith.bsky.social
Job Posting: San Diego Natural History Museum Curator of Ornithology workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...
Recruitment
workforcenow.adp.com
January 29, 2026 at 8:36 PM
Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
birdsoftheworld.bsky.social
MAJOR NEWS! We just launched an awesome new tool! The illustrated Birds of the World Phylogeny Explorer lets users trace any bird’s lineage, compare species relationships, and explore major evolutionary milestones with a click of a button. SHARE and EXPLORE! birdsoftheworld.org/bow/news/phy...
IMAGE SHOWS GRAPHIC OF CORNELL LAB OF ORNITHOLOGY PHYLOGENY EXPLORER TOOL.
January 27, 2026 at 1:26 AM
Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
lauraakelley.bsky.social
New bowerbird paper out, we asked whether male great bowerbirds care about the light environment around the bower where they display to females. Short answer: not really. What they do care about is having a display arena with strong visual contrast on the ground. 🐦 tinyurl.com/2v7rycdz
A u shaped structure made out of sticks called a bower, built under a small tree. In front of the bower is a pile of grey, white and green objects that make up the display court. The whole scene is in dappled sunlight and shade created by the tree above.
January 15, 2026 at 3:13 PM
slrutledge.bsky.social
Tea. Definitely tea.
theferocity.bsky.social Saeed Jones @theferocity.bsky.social · Jan 11
Like fancy salt, what’s a simple thing that you’re bougie about?
January 12, 2026 at 10:57 PM
Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
amcuervo.bsky.social
Cassie Stoddard'a talk was really insightful and colorful:
"sure, we're living exciting times to study the genome, but also to study the phenome, the birds' phenotypes using collections"

#BOUasm25 #ornithology #evolution @bou.org.uk
November 18, 2025 at 12:15 PM
slrutledge.bsky.social
Honestly? Needed this today 😅
prof-alistair.bsky.social prof-alistair.bsky.social @prof-alistair.bsky.social · Nov 16
Note to all PhD students. Don't get downhearted. Always remember:

“Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes." (Oscar Wilde)

#AcademicSky
#PhDSky
#PhDChatter
November 17, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
amnh.org
☄️The Museum’s newest exhibition Impact: The End of the Age of Dinosaurs opens on Monday, November 17! Explore the before-and-after story of the asteroid impact that led to the extinction of non-bird dinosaurs and the majority of animal and plant species 66 mil years ago.

📸: A.Keding & D. Kim/© AMNH
Impact: The End of the Age of Dinosaurs, a special exhibition opening November 17 at the American Museum of Natural History, explores the major asteroid impact 66 million years ago that reshaped life on Earth. Featuring life-size models, fossils and fossil casts, dramatic dioramas, an immersive panoramic video experience that visualizes the moment the asteroid struck, and engaging interactives, Impact reveals the latest scientific understanding of this transformative event. Exhibition visitors will encounter life-size models of a 27-foot-long mosasaur—among the most fearsome and widespread marine reptiles of the time—attacking a long-necked plesiosaur measuring 30 feet. Impact features a stunning diorama that depicts a scene based on fossils from the Hell Creek Formation, an ancient rock layer that dates to the end of the Age of Dinosaurs. The scene includes intricate life-size models of a Triceratops and a recently discovered hook-handed dinosaur called Trierarchuncus prairiensis, as well as other members of their ecosystem including turtles, birds, frogs, and even a predatory mammal— Didelphodon—that might have eaten small dinosaurs and other animals.
November 14, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
floridamuseum.bsky.social
Work with us! 👉 Invertebrate Paleontology Collection Manager
Position will manage the extensive collections, conduct fieldwork, participate in public outreach, & pursue external funding.

🔸 Full info: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/nhdept/inver...

🔸 Apply @ufl.edu: explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...
a group of people in matching t-shirts are standing at a table while a man holds up one of several trays of shallow boxes with different types of shells sorted neatly into them close up of a museum display of many large fossil shells mounted carefully on a black background with small info labels there is a person in outdoors clothing kneeling at the top of a long sandy slope covered in many small dark shells with a cloudy sky overhead
November 14, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
btoshropshire.bsky.social
Fascinating ABA podcast this week, reviewing the life of Roxie Laybourne, an amazing female scientist who “may be the most influential ornithologist you've never heard of”.
#Ornithology
aba.org American Birding Association @aba.org · Nov 13
New episode of the American Birding Podcast!

Smithsonian researcher Roxie Laybourne may be the most influential ornithologist you’ve never heard of. Her incredible life is documented by journalist Chris Sweeney in his new book.

Listen here: www.aba.org/09-46-the-fe...
09-46: The Feather Detective with Chris Sweeney - American Birding Association
www.aba.org
November 13, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
ljrissler.bsky.social
NSF is open again!

A few comments:

*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.

*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.

*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
November 13, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
natureportfolio.nature.com
A paper in Scientific Reports presents the origins of vivid colours within the gemstone ammolite — a rare type of brightly coloured fossilised ammonite shell. go.nature.com/48OT5DX #Paleosky ⚒️ 🧪
The vivid colours of the gemstone ammolite (Placenticeras meeki), perfectly preserved in its original form. Credit: Hiroaki Imai.
November 5, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
botana-bedoya.bsky.social
The deadline to apply to the Assistant Curator in Mycology or Cryptogamic Botany position we are advertising at NBYG is THIS Friday! Happy to chat about my experience at NYBG and the cool science going on here. Come be our colleague!! jobs.jobvite.com/nybg/job/o8I...
New York Botanical Garden is looking for Assistant Curator, Mycology or Cryptogamic Botany.
New York Botanical Garden is looking for Assistant Curator, Mycology or Cryptogamic Botany. Learn more or Jobvite a friend.
jobs.jobvite.com
October 30, 2025 at 3:55 PM
slrutledge.bsky.social
Happy (early) Halloween 🎃
October 30, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
codylimber.bsky.social
I posed recently about my recent obsession with Hooke's Micrographia (1665) and the incredible feather drawings it has. I really wanted to see an original copy and luckily, Yale has two! So, earlier this week, I headed down to the Beinecke Library with @mylestogo.bsky.social to check it out
An image of the cover page of Micrographia
October 25, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
nicolanadeau.bsky.social
We are looking for a physics/maths graduate with an interest in biology, or a biology graduate with strong computational/mathematical skills/interests, to join us as a PhD student working on biomechanical modelling of butterfly wing scale structure formation www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
A fluorescent confocal microscopy image of a butterfly wing scale showing the surface and internal structures
October 23, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
bou.org.uk
⏰ DEADLINE APPROACHING ⏰

BOU Small Research Grants & Career Development Bursaries

Application deadline: 31 Oct 2025

Full details via links ⬇️

Grants: bou.org.uk/funding/s...

Bursaries: bou.org.uk/funding/c...

#ornithology 🪶
October 14, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
amornith.bsky.social
The latest on Wing Beat | "Distinctive casque morphologies among cassowary species" by Todd L. Green
Blog post: americanornithology.org/distinctive-...
Related paper: doi.org/10.1093/orni...
#ornithology
Distinctive casque morphologies among cassowary species - American Ornithological Society
For more than 150 years, the conspicuous cranial casque has been acclaimed as the most iconic feature of cassowaries—perhaps, in addition to the lethal daggers adorning their inner toes.
americanornithology.org
October 14, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
jlwilliamson.bsky.social
My lab is hiring a 2-yr hummingbird evolution and genomics postdoc and a 1-yr salaried research and lab tech. Both with full U. Wyoming benefits. Please spread the word! Info below. Best consideration date Nov 1, start dates early Spring 2026.
October 14, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
amcuervo.bsky.social
museum job alert 🇨🇦
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/XBR2Yc...
Curator of Birds - Royal Ontario Museum - Career Page
Apply to Curator of Birds at Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, ON, Canada.
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com
October 15, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
wilsonornithsoc.bsky.social
BIRDBASE, a new publicly available dataset, brings together "ecological and life history traits for 11,589 bird species across 254 families." #ornithology
Explore a bird database with 11,500 species
Twenty-six years ago, a PhD student's unanswered question sparked a bird data revolution.
www.popsci.com
October 9, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
rheisman.bsky.social
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat
davelevitan.bsky.social Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · Oct 9
EXTREMELY COOL BAT STUFF: A study out in Science today found that the greater noctule bat, Europe's largest, hunts and catches *migrating birds* while in flight. In at least one case, a bat climbed to more than 1200 feet, then chased a robin downward FAST until it caught it near the ground.
Greater noctule bats prey on and consume passerines in flight
Despite billions of passerines seasonally migrating during the night at high altitudes, only three bat species have been found to consistently tap into this rich prey resource. However, it remains unk...
www.science.org
October 9, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
sheardcat.bsky.social
"Right now, if one of my students came to me and said, 'Hey, as part of my Ph.D. I want to enter the world's birds into a dataset,' I'm like, 'No, you're not doing that. You'll never finish your Ph.D.' "

Too true omg 😂

Anyway, this is a very exciting dataset!

phys.org/news/2025-09...
BIRDBASE dataset tracks ecological traits for 11,589 species of birds
Çağan Şekercioğlu was an ambitious, but perhaps naive graduate student when, 26 years ago, he embarked on a simple data-compilation project that would soon evolve into a massive career-defining achiev...
phys.org
October 7, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
prosanta.bsky.social
Job alert #TeamFish. Curator of Fishes gig!
daveyfwright.bsky.social Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · Oct 2
🚨We're hiring! The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is seeking a tenure-track split position as Assistant Curator of Ichthyology and Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences. Please retweet & share with colleagues! 🐟🐠🧪

Apply here: apply.interfolio.com/174674
A job ad with multiple images, including the exterior of the museum, a view of collections (jars on shelves), and pictures of some cool, tropical fish but I don't know enough about fish to describe them other than to say they're pretty colors of yellow and blue/green
October 2, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Reposted by Samantha L. Rutledge
emilytaylorscience.com
“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
― Jane Goodall (1934-2025)
October 1, 2025 at 6:34 PM
slrutledge.bsky.social
RIP Dr. Goodall - thank you for being one of the driving inspirations that set me on my path to become a biologist
phillewis.bsky.social Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · Oct 1
Jane Goodall, ethologist and conservationist, has died. She was 91
October 1, 2025 at 9:02 PM