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Sandra Álvarez

@sabifo4.bsky.social
853 followers 528 following 52 posts

Researcher at UCL (CLOE) | Evol Biol & Comp Methods | Co-Founder of the Evolution Committee at SRUK/CERU | Ashtangi & pianist | She/Her Website: sabifo4.github.io GitHub: github.com/sabifo4 Linktree: linktr.ee/sabifo4

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Reposted by Sandra Álvarez
Dávalos Lab @labdavalos.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
🦇🧬Congratulations to E & E alum Bill R. Thomas, whose collaborative work upended bat biogeography in a major new Nature study from the @ bat1kgenomes.bsky.social ! 👉 Check it out! doi.org/10.1038/s415...
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Character matrices, FBD, total-evidence dating... Fancy delving into all this & more over a 3-day course on morphological phylogenetics? 🧬💻🦴 📅 Pre-register by 8 Oct, 17:00 GMT: forms.gle/PwFh8zG6hrHY... ⏰ Deadline to request travel bursaries: 1 Oct, 17:00 GMT More info 👇 tinyurl.com/52c9u7dw
forms.gle
Morphological Phylogenetics Application Form
Welcome to the SystAssn-SRUK/CERU-PalAss Morphological Phylogenetics Workshop application form. The workshop will be held at University College London on November 9th-11th. We look forward to seeing ...
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Systematics Association @systassn.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Join us Nov 13th for #YSF2026, a completely free, online conference where postgraduate students (and other early career researchers) present their work on systematics, taxonomy and/or phylogenetics. Abstract submission closes Oct 24th! REGISTER: tinyurl.com/bdzxt2ht systass.org/young-system...
tinyurl.com
YSF2026 Registration Form
Welcome to the YSF2026 Registration and Abstract Submission form. This year the conference will be held online on Friday, November 13th 2026. We look forward to seeing old and new faces from across t...
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Keen on learning how to use Bayesian model selection to test different hypotheses of diversification? 🦴🧬🕰️ Check our latest work in Molecular Biology and Evolution! academic.oup.com/mbe/article/... With @zihengyang.bsky.social, @phil-donoghue.bsky.social, and @mariodosreis.bsky.social 💫 (1/2)
academic.oup.com
On the origin of animals and placental mammals: a critique of literalist readings of the fossil record
Abstract. The fossil record is incomplete, as evidenced by the pervasive presence of ghost lineages throughout the Tree of Life. For example, across placen
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Registrations are open to attend the Computational Molecular Evolution course next year (May 9th - 20th) in wonderful Crete! ☀️ Do not miss the deadline, follow the link below for more info and registration details! 🔽 meetings.embo.org/event/27-com...
meetings.embo.org
Computational molecular evolution
The need for effective and informed analysis of biological data is increasing with the explosive growth of genomic data. A phylogenetic framework is central to many molecular evolutionary approaches …
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Reposted by Sandra Álvarez
Philip Donoghue @phil-donoghue.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Latest from the lab: @ruolinwu.bsky.social integrates fossil and molecular evidence to estimate the timing of origin of flowering plants. Thanks to @sabifo4.bsky.social @jameswclark.bsky.social Yue Tong, Shan Wan, Davide Pisani, Harald Schneider and Daniele Silvestro for helping to make this happen
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Systematics Association @systassn.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Abstract submission (and early-bird!) deadline for the BioSyst.EU approaches! You have until Sunday, May 31st to send it in! Join us and our fellow European systematics associations in Uppsala, August 17-19, 2026 for the 4th BioSyst.EU meeting! Details: www.trippus.net/BioSyst2026 #BioSystEU2026
trippus.net
BioSyst.EU 2026
A three-day conference celebrating European systematics and biodiversity research at its origin
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
We are back with a new edition of the Physalia Phylogenomics course! Join us Nov 30 – Dec 4 for a hands-on computational deep dive into phylogeny and timetree inference using genomic datasets 🧬💻 Course details and registration info below ⬇️
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BioSyst.EU 2026 @biosysteu2026.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Mark your calendars! The BioSyst.EU conference is taking place in Uppsala, Sweden from 17th to 19th August! Register now on our website (or using the QR code): www.trippus.net/BioSyst2026 #BioSystEU2026
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Andrew Roger @andrewjroger.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
So you are using IQ-TREE to estimate a tree for "deep time" phylogenetics using amino acid alignments. There is a lot of confusion about how to test model fit. Here are some suggestions.
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Rachel Warnock @rachelwarnock.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
I’m looking for a post doc (up to five years) interested in phylogenetics and earth systems - please spread the word!
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Andrew Rambaut (🐏🎀) @arambaut.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
So I pleased to announce the conceptual spawn of FigTree: PearTree (acronym still to be finalised). If you want to dive right in it is hosted as a web app here: artic-network.github.io/peartree (click the “Example...” button for immediate candy and then click every button you can find).
artic-network.github.io
PearTree — Phylogenetic Tree Viewer
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Siobhán O'Brien @siderophile.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
MENI is back! Join us in Dublin this August 2026 for our 3rd Meeting for Microbial Evolution in Ireland. We are delighted to have @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social @drrebeccajhall.bsky.social @jpjhall.bsky.social and @tweethinking.bsky.social join us as keynote speakers this year. miniurl.com/MENI
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
We enjoyed sharing our passion for science at UCL Illuminated, showcasing how morphology & DNA are used to study evolution! Thanks to everyone who stopped by; @nateomics.bsky.social & I enjoyed discussing topics from dinosaurs, landmarking & Procrustes to Bayesian methods & genomes! 🦴🦖🧬💻 #UCL200
Sandy talking about the workflow for timetree inference with geometric morphometrics data at UCL Illuminated.The table shows the items we used as part of our scientific activity for this outreach event at UCL Illuminated: various skull casts from different species and an activity that uses dinosaur species for familiarising with landmarking and the usage of morphology for the study of evolution.Nath & Sandy ready for talking about the usage of morphology and DNA for the study of evolution during UCL Illuminated as part of their outreach scientific activity -- we were there from 17.30h to 22.00h!
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Applications to join the Computational Approaches to Early Evolution workshop are still accepted! Do not miss your chance to attend this event full of discussions on the computational methods for studying early life! 🦠💻🧬 forms.oist.jp/form/computa...
forms.oist.jp
Registration for Computational Approaches to Early Evolution | Forms
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
Join us for interesting discussions at the Computational Approaches to Early Evolution workshop next year in April at OIST in Onna, Okinawa! 🦠💻🧬 Registrations open until January 2nd '26, do not miss it! More info & registration details in the link below! 🔽 www.oist.jp/conference/c...
oist.jp
Computational Approaches to Early Evolution
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Philip Donoghue @phil-donoghue.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Pre-Christmas moleclular-clock shenanigans with @sabifo4.bsky.social @mariodosreis.bsky.social @zihengyang.bsky.social
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Andrew Christopher Knapp @knapprew.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
New paper! Here we look at shape evolution of the mandible in Pelagiaria, a group of open-ocean fishes that includes tuna and mackerel. We find that shape disparity accumulated rapidly at the origin of the clade at around the K/Pg boundary... academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
academic.oup.com
Adaptive radiation of pelagiarian fishes at the K/Pg boundary led to rapid diversification of mandible morphology
Abstract. Mandibles represent a key evolutionary innovation that has enabled jawed vertebrates to adapt and diversify in response to a range of food source
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
So grateful to be back for another year! 💫 Big thanks to all the participants who joined us on this phylogenomics journey. We hope you find these resources helpful for your analyses, best of luck! 💻🧬
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Physalia-courses@ONLINE @physaliacourses.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Very happy to kick off the 5th edition of the #Phylogenomics course with @kaplipa.bsky.social , Tomas Flouri, @sabifo4.bsky.social , @zihengyang.bsky.social , and a wonderfully diverse cohort of attendees from all around the globe!
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Ziheng Yang Lab @zihengyang.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Wrapping up our annual joint lab meeting with a visit to the Grant Museum of Zoology at UCL was such a highlight! Always inspiring to reconnect with longtime colleagues, new team members, and collaborators💫
Ziheng Yang's and Mario dos Reis' research groups, and visitors, at the Grant Museum of Zoology at University College London. Left to right: Jiayi Ji, Chi Zhang, Yuttapong Thawornwattana, Lucas Freitas, Zihui Yang, Ziheng Yang, Yuqing Peng (bottom), Siri Olsen (top), Laura Mulvey, Mario dos Reis (bottom), Asif Tamuri (top), Sandra Álvarez-Carretero.
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Reposted by Sandra Álvarez
Marta Álvarez-Presas @martaalvarez.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Happy to share Jialin's first publication. She did a great job exploring the transition to land in animals. Co-supervised by the great Jordi Paps and me and in collaboration with Davide Pisani and @phil-donoghue.bsky.social
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Back from this great workshop at Beijing Normal University! Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to bring this event to life, it has been a great success!💫 Special thanks to Cai-jin Chen for climbing the Great Wall with me, truly unforgettable! 谢谢🌹
Cai-jin and I before climbing the Great WallCai-jin and I at the highest peak of the Great Wall
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Reposted by Sandra Álvarez
Systematics Association @systassn.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Students, if you join us for the lecture, we will be hosting a Student Committee-sponsored reception and you'll be entitled to a FREE drink 🍻 The receptions will be held jointly, so you'll have the opportunity to meet other students and members of the Association. Join us! tinyurl.com/28u2u2z8
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ERR_Moody @emoody.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Very happy to announce our new paper on the evolution of metabolism is out now! royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... With @tweethinking.bsky.social @sabifo4.bsky.social @ssolo.bsky.social Davide Pisani, Tim Lenton and @phil-donoghue.bsky.social (1/2)
royalsocietypublishing.org
The emergence of metabolisms through Earth history and implications for biospheric evolution | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
We investigate the evolution of microbial metabolisms from the last universal common ancestor to the extant biota through comparative phylogenomics, reconciling the evolution of the genes that underpi...
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
More than grateful to the CoME25 organisers for inviting me one more year, it is always so much fun!! Ευχαριστώ πάρα πολύ και τα λέμε σύντομα! 💙
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Ziheng Yang Lab @zihengyang.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Congratulations Dr Jiayi Ji!! 🥳Thanks to examiners @hernanaburbano.bsky.social and Simon Martin, now time to enjoy the long weekend! 🎉
Post viva celebrations with Dr Jiayi Yi. Left to right: Hernán Burbano, Jiayi Ji, Simon Martins, and Ziheng Yang.Post viva celebrations with Dr Jiayi Yi. Jiayi holding one of his PhD presents: a PhD mug and a cute chipmunk plush.Post viva celebrations with Dr Jiayi Yi. Jiayi showing his new chipmunk plush.
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Had so much fun at the SystAssn-SRUK/CERU Bayesian Phylogenetics Workshop! 💫 Hope that everyone who attended this event enjoyed the two-day journey on theory, methods, and applications of Bayesian Phylogenetics and... Hopefully see you all again soon in future events! 💻🧬
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Reposted by Sandra Álvarez
Philip Donoghue @phil-donoghue.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Really pleased to be part of this project which shows that aerobic bacteria arose in the Archaean, long before the GOE - after which aerobes proliferated through HGT. Fun @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social collab including @tweethinking.bsky.social @sabifo4.bsky.social @emoody.bsky.social Davide Pisani
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
The Physalia Phylogenomics course is back this December! Join us for a computational journey on phylogeny and timetree inference with genomic datasets 🧬 💻 More information about the course and how you can register on the post below ⬇️
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
The clock is ticking 🕔! Pre-registration will close today March 14th (17:00h GMT+0), do not miss your chance to join us at the SystAssn-SRUK/CERU Bayesian Phylogenetics Workshop! 💻🧬
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
Thanks to all organisers that have made the Workshop of Computational Genomics possible and all the participants that have joined us both in person and online -- we have had such a great time in Hong Kong! 🌹 Hope to see you all again in future meetings 🤗 Next stop: 🚗 Shenzhen!
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
The deadline to apply for student travel bursaries to attend the SystAssn-SRUK/CERU Bayesian Phylogenetics Workshop 💻🧬 is approaching: March 3rd! Pre-registration will be open until March 14th. Do not miss the deadlines, submit your application before it is too late! sruk.org.uk/ceru-events/...
sruk.org.uk
Bayesian phylogenetics workshop - SRUK/CERU
To launch the SRUK/CERU Evolution Committee, we have partnered with the Systematics Association to co-organise a workshop on Bayesian phylogenetics! This two day event will be run by experts in the fi...
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Systematics Association @systassn.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Looking for funds for a small systematics-focused project? You have until 23:59 GMT+0 MONDAY, MARCH 10TH to apply to the LinneSys scheme! You can apply for up to 1500GBP, you just need to be a member of @systassn.bsky.social or @linneansociety.bsky.social! Details here: systass.org/linnesys/
systass.org
LinneSys: Systematics Research Fund
LinneSys: Systematics Research Fund The Councils of The Linnean Society of London and The Systematics Association jointly administer this fund for the benefit of systematics research. The Fund has …
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Introduction to Bayesian inference; practical sessions focused on the usage of MCMCtree, BPP, and PhyloBayes; discussion sessions... Does this sound like something you would like to delve into over a two-day workshop? 💻🧬 Then pre-register your interest to join before March 14th! More details below 🔽
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Philip Donoghue @phil-donoghue.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Our latest: a Richard Boyle (Exeter) production, using simulations to show how differential selection of biogeochemical cycles can lead to planetary homeostasis, with some empirical data from @emoody.bsky.social and @sabifo4.bsky.social @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social
pnas.org
Persistence selection between simulated biogeochemical cycle variants for their distinct effects on the Earth system | PNAS
The average long-term impact of Darwinian evolution on Earth’s habitability remains extremely uncertain. Recent attempts to reconcile this uncertai...
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
Would you like to learn more about the evolutionary history of sea spiders? You may want to read our latest study led by Morena @morena99.bsky.social, who has nicely summarised the key findings of our research in the quoted thread below 🔽 (1/2)
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Sishuo Wang @sishuowang.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Our study (haiwei luo & i) on dating bacterial tree of life by new methods integrating host-microbe symbiosis, complex subs models & extended sequential dating, is online Syst Biol. @systbiol.bsky.social shorturl.at/Ywoud #phylo
sky.social
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Joseph Williamson @josephwilliamson.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
🚨New paper 🚨We argue that abrupt biodiversity losses can be driven by populations sharing similar tolerances to warming 🦋🌎🥵. Out now in @royalsocietypublishing.org. Summary thread below 🧵 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10....
screenshot of the article in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B titled 'Clustered warming tolerances and the nonlinear risks of biodiversity loss on a warming planet'
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
Such a great PhD opportunity with fantastic advisors!! 💫🎓TREES will soon be open for applications but, in the meantime, they have announced the closing date on their website: January 20th 2025 at 5pm (UK time). More info about the project in the post below ⬇️
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Society for the Study of Evolution @sse-evolution.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
Applications are due February 19 for the R. C. Lewontin Early Awards, which provide up to $2500 in research funds for 1st year master’s and 1st or 2nd year PhD students. Read the full requirements, instructions, and evaluation criteria here: buff.ly/3YZlUHf
Text: Society for the Study of Evolution, Graduate Research Excellence Grants, 2025 R. C. Lewontin Early Award, Deadline: February 19, 5:00 PM Eastern.
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
What a wonderful and friendly group of participants, had lots of fun! 💫 If you have joined Paschalia, Tomas, @zihengyang.bsky.social , @mariodosreis.bsky.social & I this week, we hope that you have liked the course and learnt more about phylogenomics analyses! Now, time to enjoy the weekend! 🙌
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Physalia-courses@ONLINE @physaliacourses.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Wrapping up an incredible 5-day course on #Phylogenomics with a fascinating lecture on Molecular-Clock dating of species divergence by @mariodosreis.bsky.social, followed by a hands-on session with @sabifo4.bsky.social 🧬🕰️ Huge thanks to all participants for an inspiring week!@zihengyang.bsky.social
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Natalie Cooper @nhcooper123.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
For anyone looking for PhDs in the UK starting October 2025 in ecology, evolution, environment etc. The new Doctoral Landscape Awards (DLAs) recently got announced so lots of people will be adverting PhDs with January deadlines. Check out findaphd.com to search for ones that interest you!
findaphd.com
PhD Programmes, Research Projects & Studentships in the UK & Europe
FindAPhD is a comprehensive guide to PhD studentships and postgraduate research degrees
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Physalia-courses@ONLINE @physaliacourses.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
✨ Day 2 highlight! ✨ Tomas Flouri and @sabifo4.bsky.social delivered masterful lectures and an exceptional hands-on session on Bayesian inference in Phylogenomics. 🎓💡 Their expertise truly shone through! Excited for the insights Day 3 will bring—stay tuned! 🚀
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
An interactive PAML Wiki is now available! Please read the thread published by Ziheng Yang Lab to learn more about the PAML discussion group & the PAML GitHub repo. Hope you enjoy the Wiki as much as I enjoyed working on it 💫 P.S: The Wiki is still a work in progress, there is still more to come! 😄
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Mario dos Reis @mariodosreis.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Our paper on Bayesian selection of relaxed clock models is out in Systematic Biology! This is the work of our PhD student Muthukumaran Panchaksaram, in collaboration with Lucas Freitas from Brazil. doi.org/10.1093/sysb...
doi.org
Bayesian Selection of Relaxed-clock Models: Distinguishing Between Independent and Autocorrelated Rates
Abstract. In Bayesian molecular-clock dating of species divergences, rate models are used to construct the prior on the molecular evolutionary rates for br
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Sandra Álvarez @sabifo4.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
There is a new opportunity to join the dos Reis and Nichols Labs as a CSC PhD student! 🎓Do not miss the chance to learn from two wonderful researchers in evolutionary biology and apply before the deadline. More information below in Mario's post 🔽
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