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Christine R. Lattin, PhD

@clattin.bsky.social
1.6K followers 1.3K following 100 posts

Associate Professor at LSU trying to understand how hormones & neurotransmitters help wild animals successfully cope with environmental challenges. She/her

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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
My students @marquisehenry.bsky.social, Mikey Wilson, & I wrote a review about the brain regions, hormones, & neurotransmitters involved in neophobia, summarizing results from ecological & biomedical studies. It is now published online @jexpbiol.bsky.social: journals.biologists.com/jeb/article-...
A schematic from Henry et al. 2026 showing several different neural circuits mediating taste neophobia in rodents. Inactivating either part of the reciprocal connection between the basolateral nuclei of the amygdala and the gustatory cortex or that between the insular and perirhinal cortices attenuates taste neophobia. Lesioning the medial nucleus of the amygdala also decreases taste neophobia. However, disconnecting the medial nucleus of the amygdala from either the basolateral amygdala or the gustatory cortex does not affect taste neophobia, indicating that the basolateral amygdala–gustatory cortex and the medial nucleus of the amygdala mediate taste neophobia through separate pathways.
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
A new proposed OMB rule would take decision making about who and what gets federal research funding away from scientists and experts and put it into the hands of politicians. If you care about science, call your reps and post a public comment here before July 13: www.regulations.gov/document/OMB...
regulations.gov
Regulations.gov
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
Audubon Day yesterday at the @lsulibraries.bsky.social was an incredible chance for the public to see all four folios of Audubon’s The Birds of North America and their newly acquired Quadrupeds of North America 😍🦜🦆🦅🦢🦃🦉🦩🐦‍⬛🪿🐿️🐻🦝🐅🦌🦨🦫
LSU Archivist Zachary Tompkins turns pages in Folio 4 of Audubon’s Birds of North America. The page is open to the Trumpeter Swan. Birds are life size.Several members of the public admire the Whippoorwill page of Folio 1 of Audubon’s Birds of North America. The Roseate Spoonbill page of Folio 4 of Audubon’s Birds of North America.
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
I had a great time at the @hhmi-science.bsky.social Gilliam Mentorship workshop last week! My mentee @marquisehenry.bsky.social was with me in spirit and in latte 😂☕️
Marquise and his cat, in latte foam Christine Lattin and the artistic latte
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
LSU Discover Day 2026 was an awesome chance for lab members (and one of our CURE lab students!) to present research from the lab! Thanks to @lsudiscover.bsky.social for organizing! @lsuscience.bsky.social @lsubiosci.bsky.social 🧪🧫🦎
Caroline Henry presents research on her Senior Honors Thesis project on the microbiome of green and brown anoles.Ellie Rice next to her poster on the effects of antibiotics on gut health and behavior. CURE lab student Andrew Holman with his poster on gene expression and behavior.
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Claudia Wascher @wascherclaudia.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Post-doc opportunity on comparative cognition and movement dynamics in corvids with the brilliant Prof Debbie Kelly at the University of Manitoba
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
It’s wild azalea season in Louisiana 😍
Closeup image of a wild azalea flower
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
The first Louisiana iris of spring! 🤩
A photo of a Louisiana iris with three bright purple blooms on the stalk.
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
I worked with several @lsu.bsky.social undergraduate researchers to redesign technical posters to make them accessible for a broader audience, & they did a fabulous job presenting their findings to lawmakers this past Monday @lailluminator.com: lailluminator.com/2026/03/13/c...
lailluminator.com
College student research on display at Louisiana State Capitol  • Louisiana Illuminator
Louisiana’s university students presented their research at the State Capitol this week to demonstrate the impact of undergrad research
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Sparrows that avoided novelty also performed more repetitive beak-wiping behavior, suggesting these birds may be more anxious. This project was the @lsubiosci.bsky.social honors thesis of @lsuscience.bsky.social undergrad Danna Masri, who is also first author! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A graph showing that sparrows that were more willing to feed in the presence of a novel object (left side of the graph) also performed shorter bouts of a beak wiping behavior compared to sparrows that were less willing to approach and feed (right side of the graph). This suggests that neophobic sparrows may also be more anxious. Figure is adapted from Figure 2 of Masri et al. 2026.
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Lattin and @juheehaam.bsky.social lab members teaching local 4th-6th graders about neurobiology at the @lsumns.bsky.social annual Kids' Day at the Museum event! @lsuscience.bsky.social @lsulagniappe.bsky.social 🧪
Several kids at a table watch LSU postbacc Ellie Rice arm wrestle a student to see the electrical impulses made by her arm muscles. Suman Gunin and Katie Stewart look on. LSU graduate students Suman Gunin and Katie Stewart with postbacc Ellie Rice at a table talking to a group of kids at the LSU Museum of Natural Science. Ellie holds a sign that says "Bioelectricity" and shows a neuron.
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
New paper alert! Our collaboration with @jacanamama.bsky.social & Alex Bentz found Eurasian tree sparrows, a less-successful invasive cousin of house sparrows, had distinct patterns of gene expression associated with novelty avoidance that differed by sex: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author...
Expression of genes in the blue (top) and turquoise (bottom) modules (created using weighted gene co-expression network analysis) were significantly associated with novelty avoidance behaviour in female Eurasian tree sparrows but not in males. The graphs show an increase in the approach time of sparrows towards food paired with novel objects with increased expression of the blue module, and a decrease in approach time with increased expression of the turquoise module, in female but not male sparrows.
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Today I learned that Charles Darwin delayed publishing On the Origin of Species because he was too busy writing FOUR VOLUMES on the barnacles of the world (shout out to @lucycooke.bsky.social and her awesome book Bitch for that fun fact) 📚🧪
A group of barnacles on a cliffside at Sharkham Point, Brixham, one of the many species beloved by naturalist Charles Darwin. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and user Partonez.
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
These orb-weaver spiders build FAKE SPIDER DECOYS in their webs, potentially to deter predators 🤯 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Cyclosa Menge, 1866 (Araneidae) Orb‐Weavers Build Stabilimenta That Resemble Larger Spiders
The orb-weaving spider Cyclosa longicauda from Peru constructs unique stabilimenta from detritus and silk that visually resemble a larger spider. This previously undescribed behavior likely functions....
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Roseate spoonbills on the @lsu.bsky.social lake!
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Dr. Cate Peña @cate-cholamine.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Congratulations to Rebekah Rashford and team, it’s finally out! We tagged early life stress-activated neurons in VTA and found that chromatin those cells was much more open, even into adulthood, and that open CREs predicted greater gene expression in response to stress later in life rdcu.be/eLa9z
rdcu.be
Persistent open chromatin state in early-life stress-activated cells of the VTA
Scientific Reports - Persistent open chromatin state in early-life stress-activated cells of the VTA
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Bird-safe glass on the new @lsuscience.bsky.social Interdisciplinary Science Building! The repeated 2 inch vertical pattern should help minimize window collisions 🥰🐦‍⬛🪟
A photo of a window in the LSU Our Lady of the Lake Interdisciplinary Science Building, showing bird safe glass with a repeating pattern of black vertical stripes
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
It was thrilling to be involved in this multi-site, multi-bird @themanybirds.bsky.social project out today in @plosbiology.org! We examined why some bird species show more novelty avoidance than others; 2 big predictors were a specialist diet & migratory behavior: dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...
dx.plos.org
A large-scale study across the avian clade identifies ecological drivers of neophobia
Neophobia (the aversive response to novelty) varies considerably across species and individuals, and can impact adaptability and survival. This study assesses neophobia in 1400 subjects from 136 bird ...
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
I’m loving the @lsumns.bsky.social new “Art After Dark” series! Last night I learned how @lsu.bsky.social Art & Design Professor Leslie Koptcho is making paper out of invasive plants, and using them as inspiration for her printmaking 😍🌱📃🖼️🧪
Paper samples made by out of plants that are invasive in Louisiana, including mimosa, alligator weed, Japanese climbing fern and water hyacinth.LSU College of Art and Design Professor Leslie Koptcho with a print she made of water lettuce, an invasive species in Louisiana
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Cathy Newman ⚜️🐘 @cenewman0.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Current list of funded programs in EPSCoR states: www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
nsf.gov
EGFP Designated Awardee Institutions and Programs
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Drug Monkey @drugmonkey.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
This may be the most important paper ever published about NIH funded research. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
What if NIH had been 40% smaller?
Replaying history with less NIH funding shows widespread impacts on drug-linked research
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Enter the 2026 @sicb-spdac.bsky.social sticker contest! Stickers will be available at the SPDAC booth at the #SICB2026 meeting. Enter submissions by November 3 as PDF or PNG files (>600 dpi; no AI designs). 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place will receive Visa gift card prizes: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
The lab’s research on house sparrows & Eurasian tree sparrows is featured in Chapter 2 of David Stipp’s new non-fiction book, “Why Rats Laugh and Jellyfish Sleep: And Other Enchanting Stories of Evolution," available September 23: www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/david... 🤩🐦📖🧪
The cover of David Stipp's new book, "Why Rats Laugh & Jellyfish Sleep: And Other Enchanting Stories of Evolution," showing Charles Darwin sitting on a jellyfish.A photo of page 56 of "Why Rats Laugh & Jellyfish Sleep," which references house sparrow and Eurasian tree sparrow research done by the Lattin Lab.
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
"Once you get to the top, you get to ski all the way back down the mountain!" Read @lsubiosci.bsky.social PhD student @jacobcarignan.bsky.social's interview with Quantitative Ecologist Michelle Stantial about her ski mountaineering hobby: thelattinlab.com/beyond-the-b...
Michelle and a friend sitting under the moonlight on the side of Mount Shasta. They started their climb that morning at 3 am! Photo courtesy of Michelle Stantial.
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
A very nice article from @lsuscience.bsky.social about @marquisehenry.bsky.social and his @hhmi.org Gilliam Fellowship! Geaux Marquise!! 💜💛 www.lsu.edu/science/news...
lsu.edu
LSU Graduate Student Named HHMI Gilliam Fellow for Research on How Animals Adapt to a Changing World
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
I’m so so proud of rockstar PhD student @marquisehenry.bsky.social who is one of this year’s class of @hhmi.org Gilliam Fellows! @lsubiosci.bsky.social @lsuscience.bsky.social @lsu.bsky.social
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
"I got all my friends and family to come out and see me being Anne of Cleves! That was great." @lsubiosci.bsky.social PhD student @ezekielbmartin.bsky.social interviews @westernu.ca Biology Professor @bethmacshack.bsky.social about her show choir hobby: thelattinlab.com/beyond-the-b...
Beth MacDougall-Shackleton and the Silver Spotlight Players performing “Shakin’ at the High School Hop” from Grease: The Musical. Photo courtesy of Beth MacDougall-Shackleton.
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
"This campaign wasn't written by biologists...I have to come up on the fly with a reason why it makes sense to somebody who knows about genetics." @lsumns.bsky.social PhD student @harveyyamanda.bsky.social interviews Quinn McCallum about his RPG & miniatures hobbies: thelattinlab.com/beyond-the-b...
Quinn working on painting a miniature. (Photo credit: Amanda Harvey).
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
"I've snapped tendons in my hands, which meant long recovery periods...those moments taught me patience." @urigso.bsky.social Oceanographer Kelton McMahon talking about his rock climbing hobby with @lsubiosci.bsky.social PhD student Yasodha Gamage on our class blog: thelattinlab.com/beyond-the-b...
Kelton sport climbing in Thailand as an Assistant Professor. Photo credit: Mac McMahon.
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
I had an awesome morning at the #postersatcapitolLA25 event today! I really enjoyed chatting with Louisiana’s best and brightest undergrad researchers @lsu.bsky.social & 11 other LaURA organizations on how their important work helps their local communities, our state, country & world 🥹🧪
LSU researcher Jena Bordelon chats with LSU Interim President Dr. Matt Lee about her research on improving the food environment in Louisiana schools.Researchers talk to legislators, faculty, and visitors at the end of the morning session at the Louisiana Undergraduate Research Association (LaURA) Posters at the Capitol 2025 event.
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
"I had the choice of getting a driver’s license for a moped or a sailboat, and of course I went for the boat." Read more about @lsubiosci.bsky.social PhD student Jackson Ferber's interview with @katharinahoff.bsky.social about her sailing hobby here: thelattinlab.com/beyond-the-b...


Katharina and her daughter, Hanna, sailing. Photo courtesy of Mario Stanke.
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Ed Yong is offline @edyong209.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
I urge everyone to read Unbreaking’s new page on everything the govt is doing to destroy & diminish medical research funding. It’s the best thing I’ve read on this topic: @lizneeley.bsky.social & co have such done an incredible job. unbreaking.org/issues/medic...
unbreaking.org
Medical Research Funding — Unbreaking
How the administration is breaking the government, and what that means for all of us.
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
As I know from when my students try to do it, using ChatGPT to write your scientific reports is not the best idea www.nytimes.com/2025/05/29/w...
nytimes.com
White House Health Report Included Fake Citations
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
The lab was recognized for outstanding research & teaching at this year's @lsuscience.bsky.social awards! Danna Masri won the Undergraduate Research Award from @lsubiosci.bsky.social, former PhD student Melanie Kimball the Distinguished Dissertation Award, & I received a Graduate Teaching Award ❤️
Undergraduate Danna Masri receives the Undergraduate Teaching Award from the LSU Department of Biological Sciences and Dr. Christine Lattin receives the Graduate Teaching Award from the LSU College of Science.
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
"Everybody who has a voice can sing. One of the big takeaways is that anyone can do it; we are all born with this natural ability to sing." Read @lsuvetmed.bsky.social PhD student Kimia Nourozi's interview with @prolactingrl.bsky.social‬ about her hobbies here: thelattinlab.com/beyond-the-b...
Kristina Smiley sings karaoke at the Majestic in Northampton Massachusetts. Photo courtesy of Kristina Smiley.
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
Our new collaborative paper (led by former undergrad Kenedi Lynch) found very high avian malaria rates in Louisiana wild turkeys, suggesting the parasites may be one reason turkeys have declined locally @lsubiosci.bsky.social: meridian.allenpress.com/avian-diseas... 🦟🦃🔬🧪
Data from Lynch et al. 2025 showing that only 2% of all turkeys sampled (out of 106 total) were free from all avian malaria infections. 8% had Leucocytozoon, Haemoproteus, and Plasmodium, 30% had two strains of malaria, and 60% were infected with a single strain of malaria.
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
A new paper from the lab led by Blake Dusang & @marquisehenry.bsky.social builds on past work & finds not all "neophobia" tests measure the same trait. Specifically, responses to novel objects & novel environments were not consistent within individuals: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
This image gives the background for the Dusang and Henry 2025 paper. The image reads: "Neophobia is often evaluated in only one context. Assumed that an animal's response to one type of novel stimulus is consistent with another". There are three images, one of a food dish with yellow coiled pipe cleaners with the label "novel objects," one of a house sparrow taking a potato chip from a bowl with the label "novel foods," and one of a city landscape with office towers with the label "novel environments." Double-headed arrows connect all three images.
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Three lab members presented their research on physiology and behavior at the LSU Discover Day conference a few weeks ago, and they all did a fabulous job! @lsudiscover.bsky.social @lsubiosci.bsky.social 👩🏻‍🔬🐦🦎🧫🧪
Undergraduate researcher Danna Masri presents work on links between neophobia and other behaviors in sparrowsPostbacc scholar Elena Liebl presents research on links between color and behavior in anolesUndergraduate researcher Caroline Henry with her poster on captivity-induced changes in the microbiome of lizards.
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Congratulations to Sara Wang, who just defended her PhD dissertation in Oceanography on how ocean temperature variation affects foraging & physiology in 2 Peruvian seabirds! Sara ran feather corticosterone assays in my lab & I really enjoyed being on her committee @lsu.bsky.social 🥰🪶🧪
Sara Wang gives a talk summarizing her PhD dissertation research
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Science Writing Tip of the Day: “and/or” reads very awkwardly. It’s almost always better to just pick one and go with that instead! ✍️💻🧪
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
73% of mothers with kids under 18 are in the workforce. More than flowers or brunch, working moms need: -Paid family leave -Equal pay -Universal childcare (But get your mom flowers, too)
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
For example: “The goal of this study was to elucidate the role of host immunity in parasite evolution” ❌👎 “The goal of this study was to clarify the role of host immunity in parasite evolution” ✅👍 It’s just so much better! ✍️💻🧪
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Science Writing Tip of the Day: “Clarify” is almost always better than “elucidate” ✍️💻🧪
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Society for the Study of Evolution @sse-evolution.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Make your voice heard – join the tri-society Week of Action for NSF! Call and write congress, and tell colleagues, friends, and family about the importance of NSF funding. Find how to get started in our Media Tool: shorturl.at/i7WfU
SSE, SSB, and ASN logos. Text: Tri-societies Week of Action for NSF. Science under siege: Over 1000 NSF grants have been terminated by political appointees- threatening the foundation of American innovation and education, and more cuts loom; entire research programs are being erased without explanation. What’s at stake? STEM education for K-12 students, jobs and infrastructure in rural communities, support for veterans in research and education, cybersecurity and national defense innovation, global leadership in science and technology. Join the week of action: Contact Congress: Switchboard: (202) 224-3121, tell them to protect NSF. Share your story: Post on social media #WithoutNSF #SupportNSF #SaveNSF, engage local media; use our media tool to reach out to local reporters and newspapers; engage others: communicate the importance of NSF to colleagues, friends, and family.
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
Three amazing @lsubiosci.bsky.social undergraduate researchers, Ilea Kuo, Hermione Lam, and Danna Masri, defended Senior Honors Theses from the lab this year! They will all be going on to medical school, and I know their research experiences will make them excellent evidence-based physicians 🥹🩺🥼🧪
Hermione Lam, Ilea Kuo, and Danna MasriIlea Kuo defends her Senior Honors Thesis Hermione Lam defends her Senior Honors ThesisDanna Masri defends their Senior Honors Thesis
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
The winners of this year’s “Dance Your PhD” contest from @science.org @aaas.org are extremely fun: www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
And the winner of this year’s ‘Dance Your Ph.D.’ contest is …
Helsinki chemist’s food-themed frolic wins overall honors as other awards recognize physics laser raps, swaying leaf cells, and collective dancing takeovers
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Spotted on a recent walk around the LSU lakes 🐢
A snapping turtle on a path
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
We previously showed corticosterone is involved in neophobia (novelty avoidance) in house sparrows; my students @marquisehenry.bsky.social & Melanie Kimball's new paper found this effect does not appear to be mediated via low-affinity glucocorticoid receptors: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/NMYI9B...
Survival curves of sparrows' latency to feed in the presence of novel objects with and without injections of a vehicle control (top graph) or the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist RU486 (bottom graph). There was no difference between weeks or treatments, suggesting the effects of corticosterone on neophobia that we previously observed are mediated via a different physiological mechanism.
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
Congratulations to all the NSF GRFP awardees, though I was very sad to see the numbers of fellowships this year reduced by >50%
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Christine R. Lattin, PhD @clattin.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
Did you know there is a leaf cutter ant native to the southeastern US? Atta texana, the Texas leaf cutter ant, is found from Louisiana to Mexico, and can form massive colonies of millions of ants! Like tropical leaf cutter ants, they use plant material to “farm” a fungus that they eat 🍄‍🟫 🍃 🐜
Large anthill from a Texas leaf cutter ant colony seen in Kisatchie National Forest
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