iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

I was able to hand out all 100 stickers including one to @tommysiegel.bsky.social . All y’all at #AOS26 are rad. 🦆

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

The Drake has officially been Shelduck’d (by the staff, that’s why it’s official) #AOS26

A sticker of a crested shelduck surrounded by other stickers on the side of a bar counter

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Want a free duck sticker at #AOS26? Feel free to grab one at my poster (#49). I will bring more to the poster session tonight!

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

This has been a very productive craft session at #AOS26

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Thank you to @fridaytea.com for being the primary caffeine supplier for my last year of my PhD (very excited to try some of these high caffeine blends)

Three boxes of tea packs from Friday Afternoon Tea: Defeat the Dungeon, Fellowship Sampler, and Bold Caffeine Mystery Tea Sampler, plus some sample bags

Eight teas from the high caffeine mystery sampler box: Scottish breakfast, womb of doom, golden flowers hencha, shadow self, caged heart, Nepali breakfast, Cahokia, and Sakura sencha

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Bad taxa get put into the banishment folder (which also I apparently can't rename)

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Sometimes my research is relatable

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Slowly but surely figuring out the pattern to make the perfect dice bag/ibuprofen and hand sanitizer carrier (which is what all of my dice bags end up being)

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Grey-headed chachalaca and baby Grey-headed chachalaca

A Grey-headed chachalaca and a baby Grey-headed chachalaca perched in a tree in Panama City, Panama

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

The made a wingspan card of my favorite bird 🥹 (also my partner got me the America’s expansion for Valentine’s Day)

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Using this DNA washi tape for all of my letters to science friends from here on out

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

The only Philadelphia traffic source I can count on

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Glenna Clifton and students talk about ducks! More specifically how bone morphology shapes swimming behavior like diving vs dabbling. The key to diving ability may lie in the length of the fourth digit of the duck foot, but there is a lot to learn about their anatomy and locomotion #SICB2026

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Two - count ‘em - two #SICB2026 talks that I’m giving today, Tuesday, January 6. Come watch me pour the absolute last of my energy into telling stories about two rather unique birds and about how nature is really weird and wonderful.

A funky looking mallard duck named lily - 10:15am in room B113

A mystery oriole - 2:15PM in room C125/126

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

@jjinsing.bsky.social , an organizer of the Sex Across Origins symposium at #SICB2026, talks about how we can think of sex beyond the binary. There are many traits beyond gametes that shape an individual’s ability to reproduce. By treating sexes as polymorphic, we can communicate more clearly.

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

It’s national bird day! I appreciate that even the trash cans in Portland have bird art #SICB2026

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Looking to support a good cause at #SICB206? Check out the student art raffle! Drawing will happen Tuesday at 3:30pm 🎨

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Plasticity can be the key to many species surviving rapid environmental change. @kellywuthrich.bsky.social asks if slender anoles can tolerate changes in temperature. Short term heat stress produced long-term responses and changes at both cellular and genomic levels. Heat stress is costly! #SICB2026

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Climate change impacting our future, especially of our oceans. How are marine species going to respond over multiple generations? Alexis Lundquist studies the California Grunion in cool, warm, and hot waters. Both growth and thermal sensitivity are heritable traits impacting survival #SICB2026

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Morgan Muell is a master at finding lizard eggs. Tropical species, like the Anolis species Muell studies, are extremely vulnerable to climate change. Muell found that tropical anoles may be more resilient to changes in moisture than changes in temperature: microclimate may drive plasticity #SICB2026

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

that uses ebird data (community science photos) to measure soft part color - something we can’t do with museum specimens. Hybrids, and their color, follow a pattern defined by Amazonian rivers, creating a ring of gene flow across the system. #SICB2026

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

What do you get when you combine community science, tropical birds, and hardcore genomic methods? Jon Merwin’s talk at #SICB2026 ! Jon studies how convergent evolution evolves through model and mimic toucans. In addition to comparing phenotype and genotype, Jon developed an original R package (1/2)

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Flightlessness in birds produces a distinct anatomy. Runner ducks 🦆 are a flightless breed of domestic Mallard that have these distinct features. Ashley Heers utilizes hybrid Mallard X Runner ducks to understand which traits are conserved and which traits are changed with flightlessness. #SICB2026

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Stephanie Chia asks why birds are well, bird shaped? Why don’t we have bird phenotypes in nature that could theoretically exist? By exploring trait morphospace across millions of years in passerines, we can see that gaps in the morphology of songbirds are filled by other taxa of birds #SICB2026

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

@princetonvaughn.bsky.social seeks to understand how animals adapt to rapid environmental change. Lizards in the Caribbean have adapted to survive hurricanes - but how? By studying parallel populations on different islands, we can identify impacted genes and connect phenotype to function #SICB2026

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Ants are… sticky? 🐜 Some Ponerinae ants use a glue-like adhesive to stick their larvae on surfaces, but not all do. Sammie Dolloff of asks how and why some ants have sticky larvae and others don’t using phylogenetic comparative methods to reconstruct their evolutionary history #SICB2026

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Lamprey species can have unique life histories, all with their own unique demands. Utilizing morphospace and phylogenetic reconstruction, Noah Schley describes how their physiology represents these different life histories. Body size has the highest rate of evolution of all features #SICB2026

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Need a brain break? Stop by the @sicbjournals.bsky.social booth to get creative with watercolors at #SICB2026. There are more art opportunities throughout the conference, so check back each day!

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

#Scicomm can reach beyond digital spaces. We should ask what we want people to know, feel, and do beyond just sharing facts. Sarah provides some excellent examples of low cost, high impact, punk rock scicomm anyone can do to connect science with community (2/2) #SICB2026

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Science communication is more siloed than ever - platforms, algorithms, and lack of in-person contact can cost us opportunities to connect with one another about science. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social talks about how we, as scientists, can expand our audiences and connect with our communities. (1/2)

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

How do the shapes of feather barbules (microstructures) impact color? Rosalyn Price-Waldman finds that, in tanagers, there is high variation in feather microstructures and that barbule loss and development happens at different times in structural vs pigmented feathers #SICB2026

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

A lot goes in to having a successful nest - but can the weather impact the rate of extra pair paternity (EPP)? Valerie Brewer asks this question in western bluebirds and finds that cold weather increases the rate of EPP. But traits, like the age of EPP mates, may have a greater impact #SICB2026

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

House sparrows have found homes all over the world. But how do they adapt so well to different environments? Oluremi Ige compares the DNA methylation of house sparrows in native vs nonnative ranges and finds that methylation relates to temperature, precipitation, and range #SICB2026

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Joel Slade talks about his lab’s research comparing the genomes of urban, suburban, and rural house finch populations. Most TLR loci show low differentiation, indicating gene flow between populations, but some TLR loci show more differentiation than others, likely impacted by urbanization #SICB2026

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Abby Kimmit asks if Appalachian songbird populations, who are distinctly at risk of habitat loss, are genetically distinct from boreal populations. The answer for many species is yes! Future conservation efforts should look at these populations distinctly for maximum impact #SICB2026

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Also starting out 2026 in a very predictable way (now with marine worlds)

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

It’s very clear which game(s) my partner and i have a 50/50 winning streak at 🐘🪱 Most fun location I played at this year was jury duty #bgstats2025 @bgstatsapp.bsky.social

A list of top played board games - ark nova, dune, lure, skull king, calico, wingspan, cascades, birdwatcher, and diatoms were the top games. 126 total plays, h index of 4, 23 games, 13 new, 42 players, 8 locations

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

Shout out to our local Trader Joe’s for the sick new duck art sign!

A hand painted sign with a hooded merganser flying with a bag of peas in its mouth and the text “Duck out with a low bill” and “everyday low prices!”

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

I am starting to be recognized as the duck person by people outside of the department and man does it have its perks

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Emily V Griffith @e-v-griffith.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

I will have to get some grey paint pens for the future hut shout out to Posca for making the details pretty easy! (Now I just have to figure out how to print a bigger one if this doesn’t work…)