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Scott P. Egan

@scottpegan.bsky.social
3.9K followers 4.3K following 712 posts

Evolutionary Biologist & Scientific Naturalist | Professor | Director, E4 Initiative | #RiceUniversity #science #biology #evolution #speciation #entomology #biodiversity #genomics #eDNA #discovery Lab website: scottpegan.com

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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 10h
Hiked my first 14er this weekend in Colorado with family. Mount Bierstadt 14,065 ft
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
New #eDNA paper from our collaborative team . . . Environmental DNA Removal is Mediated by Decomposing Leaf Litter in Streams pubs.acs.org/aewcaa/artic...
pubs.acs.org
Environmental DNA Removal is Mediated by Decomposing Leaf Litter in Streams
Abstract. Understanding what controls eDNA removal from the water column remains a critical challenge for interpreting eDNA results in flowing waters. Allo
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Link in original post has all the details and email address to co-chairs for additional questions.
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Come join our team! #RiceUniversity is hiring!
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
We hosted our first #E4initiative meeting of the year — with a lightning talk by Christian Reece in Chemistry, discussion of field vehicles from our Shared Equipment Authority, and we learned about the new TT search in Environmental Health!
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Rice University invites applications for multiple tenured and tenure-track positions at the senior and junior levels in #EnvironmentalHealth. Join our team! apply.interfolio.com/193813
apply.interfolio.com
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
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Reposted by Scott P. Egan
Chris Anderson @cnanderson.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
A bunch of these students will read more about galls when we cover @scottpegan.bsky.social articles next semester.
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Reposted by Scott P. Egan
Chris Anderson @cnanderson.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
One of my favorite ecology labs today. We are keying out Eurosta gall fly larvae and their predators. We’ll conduct some simple stats tests to see if mean diameters differ across gall fates. This webpage from Bucknell is a great resource. solidago.scholar.bucknell.edu
Some goldenrod galls and the insects that lived inside them.
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
#SidewalkSightings near a Houston, Texas: False bee killer (Promachus bastardii)
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Good mornin’! 🐢
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
How biology is your biology department? At #RiceUniversity, we have wild urban rat snakes that climb our brick walls and hunt on the roof! (Video credit: Melodie French in our EEPS department) 🐍
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
In honor of the Fall equinox, where it will be 95 degrees F today in Texas, a #haiku… Back porch, grill smoke drifts Beer glass sweats, black-bellied ducks Whistling overhead.
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
In this observation from local naturalist Christa Denning, the juvenile blue jay repeatedly hit the caterpillar against the tree branch in an effort to remove the venomous spines on the outside and consume the tasty treat inside.
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Prior to our 2019 publication in #BiologyLetters, the literature was unclear about whether one of the most venomous caterpillars in North America was predated by birds at all. royalsocietypublishing.org/rsbl/article...
royalsocietypublishing.org
Human-mediated disturbance in multitrophic interactions results in outbreak levels of North America's most venomous caterpillar
Abstract. Anthropogenic environmental change is predicted to disrupt multitrophic interactions, which may have drastic consequences for population-level pr
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
#A_day_in_the_life of a live oak (day 466): Blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata) eating a Southern Flannel Moth caterpillar (Megalopyge opercularis) in a southern live oak (Quercus virginiana). 📸:C.Denning
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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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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Dr. Alex Harkess from #HudsonAlpha gave an exciting and inspiring research talk yesterday to a packed house of computer scientists & biologists at #RiceUniversity! @ricesustainability.bsky.social 🧬🧬🧬
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Journal of Evolutionary Biology @jevbio.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
@lennartwinkler.bsky.social @andygardner.bsky.social @scottpegan.bsky.social
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
😍😍😍
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
My running trail this morning. 9 miles with my son near Colorado Springs.
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Happy #NationalWildlifeDay!
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Today I learned the Spanish word “chicatanas”, which refers to “leaf cutter ants” in the genus Atta. They are a seasonal delicacy in Mexico (especially Oaxaca and Chiapas), where they are toasted and ground into rich, smoky salsas or moles. Yummy! 😋 #TIL www.antweb.org/casent0421377
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
😍😍😍
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Science is patriotic. @hmns.bsky.social
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Reposted by Scott P. Egan
STCmicrobeblog @stcmicrobeblog.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
?
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Westward Ho, Texas
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
#FunFact: There is an “etymology” section in many “entomology” papers that describe newly discovered species.
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
¡Trabajando!
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Hummingbirds love live oaks. (📸: Christa Denning)
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Without downloading any new pics, where are you at mentally?
Snake trying to eat a much larger frog that it could never swallow.
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Belonocnema kinseyi galls on a live oak. (📸:Christa Denning)
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Here is a link to the new species description! Hurray for #biodiversity! mapress.com/zt/article/v...
mapress.com
A new species of Urodeta Stainton (Lepidoptera: Elachistidae) mining leaves of button mangrove (Combretaceae: Conocarpus erectus L.) in Florida and the Caribbean | Zootaxa
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Sometimes we describe new species; other times we help others describe new species. Here, lab members AmandaPotts & Tamires Talamonte extracted DNA from an old sample & generated a barcode for @CSEiseman to help in the description of a new leaf miner on mangrove in FL ...
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Squirrels and other local rodents love to snack on the oak galls!
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Belonocnema kinseyi galls in many colors.
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
#Speciation in miniature. #RiceEEB PhD student @maryamrfaghihi.bsky.social and a team of amazing #RiceUniversity undergrads are raising thousands of galls to collect 1mm wasp inquilines to test for reproductive isolation associated with host use (ecology) and geography.
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Gulf coast fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) enjoying the early morning sun.
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
You read our scientific minds! Stay tuned!
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Science on a salt flat. #RiceEEB PhD student Amanda Potts is running an experiment to test the role of predation in driving the evolution of lighter coloration in populations of three species of tiger beetles that inhabit salt flats and surrounding darker substrates.
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Weekly gall walk on the #RiceUniversity campus. Belonocnema, Disholcaspis, Andricus quercusfoliatus.
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Yes. We are collecting and raising occupants!
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Weekly gall walk on the #RiceUniversity campus. Belonocnema galls growing. Disholcaspis galls just starting.
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Here is the new gall wasp discovered at #RiceUniversity that is featured in this kid's book. #BackyardBiodiversity
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Wow! 🤯 Just learned that our lab’s research is featured in a kid’s book about insects! ❤️ “In 2022, biologists identified a new type of gall wasp called Neuroterus valhalla. Spotted on the branches of a huge oak tree on the campus of #RiceUniversity.”
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Llano River, Texas, at sunrise and midnight moon.
Sunrise over Llano River with bald cypress trees on each side.Llano River at midnight illuminated by the moon.
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
I don’t have a great illustration, and don’t teach this concept in the undergrad level, but maybe I should. I would use a great real world example, such as analyzing out-of-Africa migrations of modern human? Something that would capture their attention.
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Wow! 😍😍😍
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Reposted by Scott P. Egan
Charley Eiseman @ceiseman.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Stop everything! Ray Gagne has just finished the second edition of "The Plant-Feeding Gall Midges of North America" and it's freely available here: zenodo.org/records/2137...
zenodo.org
The Plant-Feeding Gall Midges of North America
This revision of The Plant-Feeding Gall Midges of North America, originally published in 1989, began as soon as the earlier book was in press. Since then, more than half again as many records of plant...
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Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Status update:
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