iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

elk strongly avoided busy trails, grizzly bears showed moderate avoidance, while species like moose and deer were less affected. The good news?

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

As more people head outdoors to hike, bike, and explore, what does that mean for wildlife sharing those same spaces? Research by @claytontlamb.bsky.social et al in the mountains near Fernie, BC found that animals respond very differently to recreation:

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Part 2/2: A “molecular passport” is like a travel document for each seed, recording its origin story—where it came from, who its parent was, and its unique genetic fingerprint. By combining this with location and climate data, scientists can follow each seed’s journey,…

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Part 1/2: A very fun illustration project into the novel (for me!) world of plant genetics. I got to work with the amazing @jillhamilton.bsky.social on this manuscript

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

From 2025! Fruit flies change their pigmentation depending on temperature, becoming lighter in warmer conditions. By studying wild and experimental populations across space (ie: latitude) and time (ie: seasons)…

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Freshwater habitats are in serious decline, and while many projects aim to restore them, it’s often unclear whether they actually work. This paper explains how measuring habitat quality can better show if restoration efforts are truly helping habitats recover.

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Temperature sensing Part 3: Physiological processes and ecological conditions can alter thermoTRP channels, affecting temperature perception. Check out the latest from Currie and York! doi.org/10.1242/

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Temperature sensing Part 2: TRP channels across fish from a wide range of thermal habitats show species-specific temperature activation thresholds. In this way, TRP channels are excellent targets for understanding evolutionary adaptation. Check out the latest from Currie and York! doi.org/10.1242/

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Temperature sensing Part 1: Climate change is warming the environment faster than many animals can adapt, and ectotherms, like most fish, are especially at risk because their physiology depend directly on the surrounding temperature.

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

This piece was illustrated for Tigist et al.’s recent paper in Molecular Cell. The dynamic regulation and fine-tuning of proteins via phosphorylation can turn metabolism into a coordinated and often improvised rhythm.

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

The figure shows the low reproduction and erosion that has occurred at a startling rate over the last several decades doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

Excellent piece by Matz @heatshok.bsky.social and colleagues discussing the dire status of Caribbean reefs, and potential plans and policies that can be implemented if these reefs are to have any chance. Check it out in PNAS!

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

Latest paper from Toews et al @davetoews.bsky.social. Their study into microenvironments within the forest canopy revealed that these warbler species opportunistically feed upon the spiders they encounter in their preferred strata in the canopy. Check it out in Ornithology!!! doi.org/10.1093/orni...

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

Life stages of Fundulus heteroclitus. Mummichog, killifish, call it what you want, but know it is among the mightiest inhabitants of North America’s east coast estuaries

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

The Waddinton epigenetic landscape… for salmonids! The concept is that cells can roll downhill to their “endpoint” differentiated state. However, the landscape itself can be modified by various factors, “nudging” the ball into different valleys. Figure for Schulte Lab.

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

Logo for the Forest Genetics Conference 2025. The logo is a nod to the Western Forest Genetics Association (WFGA), the Southern Forest Tree Improvement Committee (SFTIC), & the Northern Forest Genetics Association (NFGA). June 23-27th, hosted by the Schatz Centre at Penn State, in State College, PA

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

Understanding animal physiology in all its forms necessitates asking hard-to-measure questions. Until his retirement last year, @zoology.ubc.ca was lucky enough to have Bruce Gillespie create custom equipment for over 25 yrs, assisting us in quantifying our research. Here are a few of his creations.

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

From the archives - a little different from my usual projects, but a rewarding one: Van Kam is a Canadian company owned and operating out of Western Canada for almost 70 years. A while back they asked me to help them visualize their core values: Care, Achieve, and Develop.

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

Recent paper from the lab of @tfrasierdna.bsky.social. The endangered North Atlantic right whale suffer from low genetic diversity and high mutation load, which can impact recovery. However, genetic purging has reduced harmful mutations, potentially contributing to future recovery.

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

New paper by Lamb et al. (@claytontlamb.bsky.social). Southern mountain caribou exhibit both vertical and horizontal migration, but migratory behaviours are under threat due to disturbances, particularly at lower elevations.

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

Happy Holidays! Due to the postal strike this card did not get the distribution it usually does, and those who get one expect it late. But the sentiment remains the same - I hope everyone has a kickass 2025! And on behalf of Kuma and Yider, don’t forget, #adoptdontshop.

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 21/12/2023

Happy Holidays from sunny Vancouver! The number one highlight of 2023 was arranging for the adoption of Yider for my parents (Free Korean Dogs) and Kuma for us (Adopt Korean Rescue). The upgrade to my life has been immeasurable, mostly because these goofballs are a laugh a minute.

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 01/12/2023

Marine snails are vulnerable to climate change, and their limited mobility combined with the rapid rates of summertime warming in the Strait of Georgia increase exposure risk. Fiona Beaty explored this in detail in her recent work, out now in Ecology. It was a treat illustrating this one!

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 27/10/2023

Out now!!! Mark Bitter, Dmitri Petrov, and Paul Schmidt used a high-resolution time series to show finely populations can adaptively track fluctuating environments, and how this fine-scale detects fluctuation that would be missed with coarser sampling time frames. doi.org/10.1101/2023... !!!!

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 06/10/2023

But Elk Valley is a highly productive habitat that continues to draw in high levels of grizzly immigration, and thus, more human-bear conflict. Immediate conservation efforts are needed to support this special population of bears. Read more at: conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

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Rush Dhillon, PhD | Cartoonist & Illustrator @rushstudio.bsky.social · 06/10/2023

New paper by Clayton Lamb on the high grizzly bear mortality rates in Elk Valley, British Columbia. Human conflicts (ex: on properties), train, and car collisions are the primary causes of these deaths.

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