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David Toews

@davetoews.bsky.social
1.4K followers 331 following 251 posts

Associate Professor, Pennsylvania State University. Studies evolutionary genomics, mostly in birds. www.davetoews.com.

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Reposted by David Toews
elizabethginexi.bsky.social @elizabethginexi.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The National Science Foundation withheld $1.4 billion that Congress intended for research in 2026. The White House wants to redirect the money to a limited set of administration priorities, including artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Ignoring Congress. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/u...
nytimes.com
National Science Foundation Diverted $1.4 Billion in Science Funds Mandated by Congress (Gift Article)
The move, affecting about one-fifth of the National Science Foundation’s primary research budget, is the latest sign of how the White House is asserting more control over grants.
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Rosemary Mosco @rosemarymosco.com · 02/10/2026
Butterbutt. An older comic.
A four-panel comic titled "yellow-rumped warbler poem". In panel 1, a yellow-rumped warbler stands on a branch in a late autumn scene, and says "Fall is here." In panel 2, the warbler watches a brown leaf fall to the ground, and says "Winter's near." In panel 3, the warbler faces the viewer as brown leaves fall, and says "Need some cheer?" In panel 4, the warbler is showing its luminous yellow rump, and cheerfully says "See my rear."
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Nature Ecology & Evolution @natecoevo.nature.com · 14/09/2026
Obituary: Robert Ricklefs (1943–2026) www.nature.com/articles/s41... Polymath ecologist whose research and textbooks integrating ecology and evolution have inspired generations of students. Free to read: rdcu.be/D33fLgYcv4Ba
nature.com
Robert Ricklefs (1943–2026) - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Polymath ecologist whose research and textbooks integrating ecology and evolution have inspired generations of students.
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 13/09/2026
The bird that changed Ecuador: how a chance discovery of a rare species helped to save many more
theguardian.com
The bird that changed Ecuador: how a chance discovery of a rare species helped to save many more
Thirty years after a US ornithologist first sighted a jocotoco antpitta, the foundation he set up to restore biodiversity is a model for conservation globally
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Maria Akopyan, PhD @akopyan.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
📣 I'm recruiting PhD students to join the Akopyan Lab at Rice University! If you're passionate about evolutionary genomics, I'd love to hear from you. Details: akopyanlab.org/opportunities Please share widely! 🙏
akopyanlab.org
Opportunities
We are recruiting PhD students in Evolutionary Genomics for Fall 2027 at Rice University!  Projects in the lab include investigating the causes and consequences of recombination rate variation, the...
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Graham Coop @gcbias.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I’m looking to hire an NIH funded postdoc to join our lab here at Davis (please RT). Ongoing areas of interest include: 1) polygenic signals of selection from time series, ARGs, GWAS, etc 2) The interpretation of GWAS, polygenic scores, & sources of confounding
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Altmetric @altmetric.com · 08/09/2026
Update: The academic flight from Twitter is now complete and appears permanent. April 2023, after the pandemic research surge, we recorded 2,234,307 posts sharing research on Twitter. As of April this year, "X" had 896,741 posts about research. That's a 60% drop in traffic.
Graph showing cumulative research sharing across platforms, including Twitter - April 2023Graph of April 2026 cumulative research sharing including "X". One third of what it was.
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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 07/09/2026
Guest Column: Over the past year, I attached a multi-sensor geolocator backpack to a warbler, which he carried throughout his migratory journey, recording the long trek from his breeding grounds in Anchorage to a yet-unknown winter refuge and back again.
washingtonpost.com
Guest Column | I put a tiny backpack on a warbler. It revealed an epic migration.
Cutting-edge tracking is illuminating the migratory journeys of warblers and dozens of other species at a scale not previously possible for small birds.
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
@stephszarmach.bsky.social in the Washington Post on using barometric tags to study warbler migrations! 🦉🧪 wapo.st/4hdsJz7
wapo.st
Guest Column | I put a tiny backpack on a warbler. It revealed an epic migration.
Cutting-edge tracking is illuminating the migratory journeys of warblers and dozens of other species at a scale not previously possible for small birds.
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
This is an amazing story and the interview is breathtaking. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
'It can happen to anyone': B.C. man lost for 5 nights in mountains shares survival story | CBC News
A Squamish man who survived a grueling five nights in British Columbia's Coast Mountains is sharing more about his experience.
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I mean, just seamless AI Apple! … but maybe with a nice marinade?
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Reposted by David Toews
Kevin Bennett @kevinfpbennett.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Now with issue number etc. And we got the cover!
The cover of the journal Evolution, with a photo of a gray warbler with a reddish-brown cap and yellow belly standing in some shallow water.
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Wiley cluttering up their article websites with this foolishness, which take three clicks to make go away, and even then still isn't entirely gone. No thanks...
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Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Canadian universities lure 48 brilliant U.S. scientists away... including one brilliant scientist from my own department [huge loss for us] www.nytimes.com/2026/08/27/w...
nytimes.com
Canada Hires U.S. Scholars From Harvard and Other Top Universities
A crackdown on American academia by the Trump administration has handed Canadian universities a rare opportunity to lure some top researchers north.
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Rosemary Mosco @rosemarymosco.com · 24/08/2026
Hummingbirds.
A four panel comic. In panel 1, a rufous hummingbird flies down toward a large hummingbird feeder with as many as 6 holes on top. He thinks "The humans put up a new feeder!" In panel 2, he lands on the feeder and gazes down at it. He thinks "It's huge. Many of us could feed here at once." In panel 3, we see a close up view of the hummingbird, and he's thinking "This could end the ancient rivalries. Usher in an era of peace. Interesting." In panel 4, an Anna's hummingbird hovers over the feeder and says "Hey, can I have some necta-" and the rufous hummingbird says "No."
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
In other news, there are a lot of mushrooms in the forest
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
ifloz.substack.com
KING CARNEY ACTIVATES KONG MODE WITH ZERO FUCKS
Carney Reads the Clock Like a Pro Wrestler
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Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
year 1: there's still grant funding, but we may need to change how we talk about our work, or what we work on year 2: the government has disappeared one billion dollars of science funding. it is unclear why they did that or where that sits within concepts like "the rule of law"
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
>2000 words no less? With the same phrase about being an "expertise and thought leader" repeated four times over. Ugh.
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Anna Allen @akallen10.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
New NSF BIO solicitation is live.... this replaces the previous IOS, MCB, DEB solicitation www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Yes please!
nytimes.com
Canadian Petition to Expel U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra Takes Off (Gift Article)
Mr. Hoekstra has been President Trump’s faithful messenger in Canada amid a historic low in relations. More than 170,000 Canadians want him gone.
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Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I am not the first to make this point but imagine a woman president obsessing constantly over her “ballroom” as the economy imploded and her war spun out of control
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Birds of the World | The Cornell Lab @birdsoftheworld.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
The Cornell Lab invites applications for Edward W. Rose Postdoctoral Fellowships. These competitive awards support innovative, independent research by early-career scholars of exceptional promise. Two to four awards are made in each cycle. academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/32334
academicjobsonline.org
Cornell University, Lab of Ornithology
Job #AJO32334, WDR-00059934 Rose Postdoctoral Associate, Cornell University, Ithaca NY, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, US
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 08/08/2026
Over 18,000 people are under evacuation orders due to a wildfire in British Columbia, Canada, local officials said. The Bald Range fire has burned more than 23,000 acres near the Districts of Summerland and Peachland, officials said. nyti.ms/4wf74uE
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Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Mainstream media isn’t talking about it, but bulldozers and construction crews have descended upon Texas’ Big Bend National Park as the Trump administration moves forward with its border barrier project. The project will permanently damage one of our nation’s greatest natural treasures.
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
The Extremely Accurate Birds band KILLED IT at the closing of #aos26! Thanks for coming out—come back again! @tommysiegel.bsky.social, given the interest, I’m glad to see that the art of *wildly* accurate illustrations and songs isn’t being lost!
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Dan Baldassarre @evornithology.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
AI is ruining everything ebird.org/news/threat-...
ebird.org
From Truth to Fake: The Threat of AI to Media Archives - eBird
As AI becomes commonplace, what you see in a photograph may no longer represent reality. Learn about how this impacts eBird and what you can do to help.
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Leilton Luna @leiltonluna.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
I'm looking for PhD student to join my lab at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (Fall 2027)! If you're interested in evolutionary genomics, conservation genetics, or biogeography, please reach out. I'll also be at #AOS2026 this week talking about sexual selection in small populations.
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Phil Manlick @pmanlick.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
This is so awesome and why I love working with science illustrators. Here's my rendering compared to the final product in a recent paper - www.cell.com/current-biol...
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Just appreciating natural science illustrators, like Jillian Ditner, who turned this "sketch" (a dog's breakfast would be generous) into a clear, beautiful illustration of gene introgression among warblers... www.allaboutbirds.org/news/when-ev...
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Royal Society Publishing @royalsocietypublishing.org · 24/07/2026
Looking to build your editorial experience? Join the #ProcB Preprint Editorial Team and help showcase cutting-edge biological research. Develop your publishing expertise, expand your professional network and stay at the forefront of new discoveries. Apply by 1 September 2026 #ECR
royalsocietypublishing.org
Proceedings of the Royal Society B Preprint Editorial Team | Proceedings B | The Royal Society
Proceedings of the Royal Society B Preprint Editorial Team | Proceedings B | The Royal Society Proceedings of the Royal Society B Preprint Editorial Team Our team’s primary mission is to look through…
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Wearing my chanterelle camo worked like a charm! 🍄
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
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Monica Morrill @mmorrillart.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Hi! My name is Monica and I'm a landscape painter from Canada 🇨🇦 This is my art, let me know what you think!
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Paul Dufour @pauldufour80.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
🐦🌙 Happy to see this big collaborative paper out in @currentbiology.bsky.social! We address a seemingly simple question using geolocator data collected across many species and individuals: how much of bird migration actually happens at night? www.cell.com/current-biol... A short🧵
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
It begins 😍
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Tour de force by @pauldufour80.bsky.social and colleagues using multi-sensor geolocator tags to measure which bird species migrate at night versus the day. 411 individuals from 56 different species 🤯! authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S... 🦉🧪
authors.elsevier.com
Multi-sensor tracking reveals the extent of nocturnal migration in landbirds
Most bird species are diurnal but drastically change their diel cycle of activity to migrate at night. Nocturnal migration has been documented using d…
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Any guesses? 😉🦉
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Kevin Bennett @kevinfpbennett.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Our target sites and the RFWA distribution. In gray, the spots I visited last year with my postdoc supervisor, Dave Toews @davetoews.bsky.social. In blue, this year's sites. Chosen because these populations are well-represented among museum collections so we can observe decade-scale changes.
A map of the American Southwest. The warblers live in a band of high elevation from Flagstaff, AZ to southwestern New Mexico, plus several isolated mountains in both states. Much of the range has blue or gray dots.
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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 26/06/2026
Column by Philip Kennicott: The one thing strangely absent at the Great American State Fair, a celebration on the National Mall of America’s 250th birthday organized by a group aligned with the Trump administration, is nostalgia.
washingtonpost.com
Column | The Great American State Fair feels rushed, simulated and oddly sterile
The administration’s signature 250th celebration is strangely short on nostalgia — and long on defense contractors and “Fox & Friends.”
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Noah Whiteman @nkwhiteman.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
So excited to announce our search for 4 postdocs (funded by the Simons Foundation) who will use genomics to "test how ecological interactions, natural selection, natural enemies, hybridization & environmental gradients shape...tropical tree communities" in Panama: stri.si.edu/story/bci-ev... ...1
stri.si.edu
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Itai Yanai @itaiyanai.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
🔥 Published today, and just in time for summer conferences, here are your guidelines for presenting badly www.nature.com/articles/s41... rdcu.be/fqa92
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Do I spy a warbler paint by numbers?! 😍🦉🧪
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Noam Ross @noamross.net · 19/06/2026
NSF's grantmaking is miserly when compared to recent years, but when compared it to the historical record, we see it's a radical break from the long-term consensus of investing in scientific innovation. grant-witness.us/posts/2026-0... #NSF 🧪
grant-witness.us
The NSF is on Track for its Worst Year in Generations – Grant Witness
Throttling of science funding is utterly unprecedented and radical when compared to the past 50 years.
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RareBirdAlert @rarebirder.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Short-tailed Albatross passes 11,000 after near-extinction Once feared lost, the North Pacific seabird has continued its long recovery, with the latest Japanese count recording more than 11,000 birds in 2026. www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/v2/Content/S...
rarebirdalert.co.uk
Short-tailed Albatross passes 11,000 after near-extinction
Once feared lost, the North Pacific seabird has continued its long recovery, with the latest Japanese count recording more than 11,000 birds in 2026
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K Wilde @flowerchildob1.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Gustav Klimt, Field of Flowers Look for flowers in your world today.🏵️
painting of a field of flowers by Gustav Klimt including coreopsis, daisies, marigolds, sunflowers and bachelor buttons
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
reason #135 of 462 you are an elder millennial: tourists ask you to take their photo and *god forbid* you do it in landscape
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
As we enter conference season in the AI era, two observations...
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Just wait till they blame Biden
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
I mean, good on them. The less McClatchy AI slop the better! www.niemanlab.org/2026/06/the-...
niemanlab.org
The Centre Daily Times unionizes after backlash to McClatchy’s AI tool
The local Pennsylvania outlet is the first newsroom under The NewsGuild-CWA to unionize in response to AI adoption.
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