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Alex Howard

@alexh-palaeo.bsky.social
119 followers 197 following 16 posts

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow, NHM London PhD in weird little snakes Palaeontology & Herpetology. She/her

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Alex Howard @alexh-palaeo.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
So excited to be starting at the @nhm-london.bsky.social this week as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow!
Dr Alex Howard sitting smiling in the garden in front of the Natural History Museum London
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Alex Howard @alexh-palaeo.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Come join us later to hear me talk all about the wonders of PPGM! Who doesn't love a bit of R coding on a thursday afternoon 💻🐍
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Palaeoverse @palaeoverse.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
🚨Palaeoverse Lecture Series🚨 🗓️28th May 2026, 15:00 UTC🗓️ Join us next week for a talk by Alex Howard from Natural History Museum, London, on “Combining palaeontological, neontological, & spatial data to understand evolution through time and space using the ppgm R package”. bit.ly/palaeoverse-...
A poster showing Dr Alex Howard advertising her upcoming talk: Combining palaeontological, neontological, and spatial data to understand evolution through time and space using the ppgm R package
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Rosemary Mosco @rosemarymosco.com · 23/04/2026
Behold the snake.
A four panel comic. In panel 1, there's an image of a closeup on the head of a yellow morph timber rattlesnake, with text above it that says "Behold the snake: Cunning, cruel, and bloodthirsty, it embodies evil and sin.
Who knows what malevolent thoughts lurk in its mind?" In panel 2, the snake is zoomed out slightly, and a thought bubble rises above its head with three dots inside it. In panel 3, we're zoomed out more to see the whole snake curled up on a rock with a colorful background behind it, and there's a thought bubble rising from its head that says "Mmm warm sun." In panel 4, we're zoomed out even more, and the snake is sitting on a rock at the top of a hill with green grass and trees, a vibrant background of mountains and lakes behind it, and a bright blue sky with a golden cloud and birds flying. The snake is thinking "Nice day."
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Palaeoverse @palaeoverse.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
🚨Palaeoverse Lecture Series🚨 We are very excited to share our next four talks in the Series 🥳 We are looking forward to hearing from @nhcooper123.bsky.social, @brooke-long-fox.bsky.social, Joseph Flannery-Sutherland and @alexh-palaeo.bsky.social! Sign up now at bit.ly/palaeoverse-...
A flyer describing the next four talks in the Palaeoverse Lecture Series, which take place on the last Thursday of every month at 3pm UTC.

February 26th: Dr Natalie Cooper, Natural History Museum, London
Hack-a-thons: what, why and how to run them

March 26th: Dr Brooke Long-Fox, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Building open, reproducible palaeontology: a practical introduction to FAIR data and MorphoBank

April 30th: Dr Joseph Flannery-Sutherland, University of Birmingham
Cleaning taxonomy, time, and their messy interactions with the fossilbrush R package

May 28th: Dr Alexandra Howard, Texas A&M University
Using palaeontological, neontological, and spatial data to understand evolution through time and space
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Dr Suresh Singh @palaeosingh.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
🚨 UK Student Palaeo Research Opportunity 🚨 Brymbo Fossil Forest are offering students the chance to get involved in active palaeontology research & excavations ⚒️ at a unique #Carboniferous fossil site in Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 - See below for more details ⬇️ #Paleontology #Geology #Fieldwork #FossilFriday #ECR
The Brymbo Fossil Forest is offering students the chance to get involved in palaeontological excavations of a Carboniferous fossil forest in North Wales. QR code on image directs to further details.
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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 09/02/2026
Dinosaurs And Non-Dinosaurs xkcd.com/3204/
Comic. [2x2 chart. Top left quadrant: seem like dinosaurs x are dinosaurs. Silhouettes of dinosaurs stegosaurus, triceratops, tyrannosaurus, velociraptor, and long-neck dinosaur. Top right quadrant: seem like dinosaurs x are not dinosaurs. Silhouettes of mosasaur, quetzalcoatlus, dimetrodon, plesiosaur, and pteranodon. Bottom left quadrant: don’t seem like dinosaurs x are dinosaurs. Silhouettes of penguin, egret, ostrich, pigeon, falcon. Bottom right: don’t seem like dinosaurs x are not dinosaurs. Silhouettes of squirrel, stapler, plant, person, and bicycle.]
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Rosemary Mosco @rosemarymosco.com · 23/12/2025
Happy holidays! Pigeons make milk, and I hope this fact fills you with joy and concern during this festive time of year
A cartoon with a drawing of a pigeon standing next to a tall glass of milk against a snowy background, and text that says "Happy Holidays! Remember to put out (some kind of) milk for Santa."
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Alex Howard @alexh-palaeo.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Wish I could be there, will be a really cool talk! Using PPGM!
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Lewis A. Jones (he/him) @lewisajones.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Interested in Historical Ecology and Conservation Palaeobiology? 🪸🦀 Steve Pates and I are offering a PhD project on Unlocking Palaeo-Historical Biodiversity Data to Inform Ecological Baselines @es-ucl.bsky.social @uclcber.bsky.social 🗓️ Apply by 19th January 2026 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
findaphd.com
Unlocking Palaeo-Historical Biodiversity Data to Inform Ecological Baselines through AI at University of Reading on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Unlocking Palaeo-Historical Biodiversity Data to Inform Ecological Baselines through AI at University of Reading, listed on FindAPhD.com
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Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology @tamueccb.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
🌍 New paper alert! We’re pleased to share that Dr. Michelle Lawing has published a new Dispatch in Current Biology titled “Conservation biology: Fossils inform the future.” www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 👏 Congratulations #TAMUECCB #ConservationBiology #Paleobiology #FossilData #Research
sciencedirect.com
Conservation biology: Fossils inform the future
Conservation decision-making increasingly requires data beyond those from depauperate modern ecosystems. A new study that integrates Pleistocene fossi…
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Alex Howard @alexh-palaeo.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
Feeling tired on the train back from #2025SVP after a great conference. Loved being able to talk about snakes, see a bunch of cool talks, and see my palaeo friends. Shout out to drinking wine under a dinosaur with @lucyroberts.bsky.social!🍷🐍🦖
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Alex Howard @alexh-palaeo.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
So happy to be part of this academic family🐍🦎🐢
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Alex Howard @alexh-palaeo.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
So excited for the paper describing my and Dr Michelle Lawing's ppgm R package to come out in time for the end of #2025SVP ! If you're interested in using the PPGM method, this is the paper to read, and please come find me at the conference if you want to chat #R
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Alex Howard @alexh-palaeo.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
New snake just dropped! 🐍
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Lewis A. Jones (he/him) @lewisajones.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
Interested in corals, dispersal, and diversification dynamics? 🪸 We're offering a PhD project on how the Tethys closure shaped global marine biodiversity — supervised by me, Bridget Wade, Nadia Santodomingo, & Francesca Bosellini. 🗓️ Apply by 17th December 2025 www.trees-dla.ac.uk/projects/how...
trees-dla.ac.uk
How did the closure of the Tethys Ocean impact global marine biodiversity? | TREES DLA
The closure of the Tethys Ocean during the Miocene represents one of the most profound reorganisations of Earth’s surface systems in the Cenozoic. Once a vast marine corridor linking the Indo-Pacific ...
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Alex Howard @alexh-palaeo.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
Standing near the fossil statues at Crystal Palace park, shaking my head so everyone knows I know they're inaccurate. In all seriousness, was super cool to see these icons of Victorian palaeontology. Featuring an iguanodon, plesiosaur, ichthyosaur, and a mosasaur (possibly...)
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Alex Howard @alexh-palaeo.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
So incredibly disappointed by Texas A&M. So much for academic freedom.
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CPEG & CPB Symposium 2025 @cpeg-cpb25.bsky.social · 27/07/2025
The CPEG & CPB meeting is officially underway! 🎉 We kicked things off with two fantastic workshop sessions: 📊 R-based open data science in palaeobiology and ecology 🧠 Deep learning for macroevolutionary analyses Big thanks to all our speakers and participants - spot yourself below! #CPEGCPB25
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Gabriel Ugueto @serpenillus.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Happy Pride! 🌈 🏳️‍🌈 I hope everyone has a great Pride month! Here is a lively pair of Deinonychus! #paleoart #dinosaurs #pride2025 #pride
A pair of Deinonychus embracing showing the colors of the Pride flag on their arm feathers
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Dr Christina N. Zdenek @cnzdenek.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
ABC news online piece about how our snake-handling course and education efforts are debunking persistent snake myths and combating snake misinformation. #SnakesOfOz #VenomousSnakes #Snakes #SnakeEducation #HumanSnakeConflict www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05...
abc.net.au
Snake handling training busts 'evil' myth about 'easygoing' reptiles
Queensland experts Chris Hay and Christina Zdenek run snake handling courses to bust myths and teach professionals how to stay safe around venomous snakes.
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Anna Mazzola @annamazz.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
It’s Mary Anning’s birthday, so time to share @katebeaton.bsky.social’s brilliant cartoon again.
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Functional Ecology @funecology.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
To celebrate UK Pride Month 2025, we are relaunching our Rainbow Research series to promote the work of LGBTQIA+ researchers around the world🌈 Find out here how to contribute!👇 buff.ly/SF9l8vW 🧪🌍
buff.ly
Rainbow Research: Contribute to our Pride Month Blog Series!
To celebrate Pride Month in June, we are relaunching our Rainbow Research blog series! This series aims to promote the visibility and inclusion of ecologists and evolutionary biologists from the LG…
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Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
NSF grant terminations are disproportionately affecting underrepresented scientists. 58% of canceled grants have women PIs, despite making up only 34% of awards. 17% of canceled grants have Black PIs (versus 4% of the pool). Hispanic and disabled PIs are twice as likely to have NSF grants canceled.
science.org
Trump officials take steps toward a radically different NSF
Efforts to shrink staff, budget, and focus have alarmed members of Congress
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Natural History Museum, London @nhm-london.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Happy Birthday to master storyteller Sir David Attenborough! 🎉 We’ve loved working with Sir David as he delivered the narration to the upcoming immersive experience, Our Story with David Attenborough. Tickets go on sale in just two weeks. Keep an eye out for the announcement!
David Attenborough in a blue suit standing in front of the Natural History Museum with text that says "Happy 99th Birthday Sir David Attenborough!"
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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 25/04/2025
PhD Timeline xkcd.com/3081
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Gabriel Ugueto @serpenillus.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
A pair of Diplocaulus magnicornis swimming in a flooded Early Permian forest alongside a bunch of other animals like a small Eryops larvae Diplocaulus magnicornis was a lepospondyl (which is a weird, likely polyphyletic group) that is famous for its weird boomerang shaped head.
Illustration of a pair of Diplocaulus swimming in a flooded forest alongside other animals like an Eryops larva an ancient shark and a lungfish
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Save The Snakes @savethesnakes.org · 22/04/2025
Happy Earth Day! 🌍🐍 Snakes are vital for our planet, controlling pests, balancing food webs, & indicating healthy ecosystems. Protecting them helps us all! Learn 10 ways to #SaveTheSnakes: savethesnakes.org/earthday #WildlifeConservation #EarthDay
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Ethan White @ethanwhite.weecology.org · 22/04/2025
In addition to what others have posted there are some folks (who I can vouch for) tracking the terminated NSF grants to facilitate coordinated responses, media coverage, etc: Form to add a terminated grant: airtable.com/appGKlSVeXni... Current grants on the list: airtable.com/appGKlSVeXni...
airtable.com
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Alex Howard @alexh-palaeo.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Spontaneous walk in the park after work and was rewarded with a sighting of this beautiful copperhead! The first wild copperhead I've ever seen 🐍😍 Luckily I spotted this beauty before a person and their dog passed by and scared it into the bushes...
A copperhead snake on a path
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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 17/04/2025
Colossal Biosciences’s "de-extinction" news is just the latest in a slew of eyebrow-raising claims by privately funded researchers. Is the bar for belief lower when those making the claims have a lot of money, wonders Jonathan R. Goodman
newscientist.com
Why claims about 'resurrecting' dire wolves are the tip of the iceberg
Colossal Biosciences’s "de-extinction" news is just the latest in a slew of eyebrow-raising claims by privately funded researchers. Is the bar for belief lower when those making the claims have a lot of money, wonders Jonathan R. Goodman
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Ferwen @ferwen.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
The lack of diversity in Geosciences is a long-standing issue. #Womeninstem 🧪⚒️ paleonerdish.wordpress.com/2024/02/01/f...
paleonerdish.wordpress.com
Forgotten women of Paleontology: Carol Heubusch Faul
The lack of diversity in Geosciences is a long-standing issue. The  geoscientist is often seen as an athletic, bearded white male, and that stereotype has created an “image problem” that prevents m…
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Science Sam @samanthayammine.com · 08/04/2025
Scientists love to debate and argue, but if there are 3 things every scientist absolutely agrees on, it's that: 1. Climate change is real 2. Vaccines work 3. Those are NOT dire wolves 😤 🧪
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Alex Howard @alexh-palaeo.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Spending the next how many months telling people this...
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Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
So cool. Saw a Rough Green Snake at St. Marks Wildlife Refuge devour a caterpillar. These are rare snakes to see on the ground and a lifer for me. 1/3
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The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) @themerl.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
"they hate our beef because our beef is beautiful and theirs is weak" our beef:
An extremely stocky and muscular ox, painted by George Garrard in 1813.
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Alex Howard @alexh-palaeo.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
Libraries and museums are so important for science outreach and public education, and they were already severely underfunded. This is heartbreaking.
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Emma LeRae @emmalerae.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Trans rights are human rights!
A Stegosaurus with the coloration of the transgender pride flag. Light blue, pink, and white.
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Alex Howard @alexh-palaeo.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Some beautiful snakes of East Texas, everyone but the Nerodia was very polite. 🐍 Buttermilk racer - Coluber constrictor anthicus Slowinski's corn snake - Pantherophis emoryi slowinskii Coachwhip - Masticophis flagellum Broadbanded water snake - Nerodia fasciata
Hand holding a buttermilk racer, a grey snake with white speckesHand holding a Slowinski's corn snake, a grey brown snakeHead of a coachwhip snake resting on a body coilA broad banded water snake resting on some leaf litter
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Nature Ecology & Evolution @natecoevo.nature.com · 03/03/2025
In our latest Editorial we discuss the continuing damage being done to US science, and its impact on researchers and the environment 👇 Deep cuts: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Screenshot of text from a Nature Ecology & Evolution Editorial entitled "Deep cuts"
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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 12/02/2025
Let's celebrate #DarwinDay by reminding ourselves that everyone has moments when they feel worse for wear. Darwin wrote to Charles Lyell in 1861: "But I am very poorly today & very stupid & hate everybody & everything." www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/DCP-L... So, hang in there, #academicsky! 🧪
Darwin wrote:
"But I am very poorly today & very stupid & hate everybody & everything."
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franz @franzanth.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Hello, internet! Things are bad for our trans & queer friends in the US, so I teamed up with bsky's nature artists to create this pack containing 80 wallpapers and growing. 1. Donate to one of the two orgs below 2. DM me your receipt 3. I'll give you a download link Valid til the end of the month
a collage of various artwork, ranging from birds, bugs, bears, and other things that don't start with B like whales and flowers
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Alex Howard @alexh-palaeo.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
Happy Lunar New Year, year of the snake! Hopefully this means good things for this year 🐍🎆🐍 Ada has her own opinions already
Hognose snake leaning on a log looking grumpy
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