Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 10hHiked my first 14er this weekend in Colorado with family. Mount Bierstadt 14,065 ft 160
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 05/10/2026New #eDNA paper from our collaborative team . . . Environmental DNA Removal is Mediated by Decomposing Leaf Litter in Streams pubs.acs.org/aewcaa/artic...pubs.acs.orgEnvironmental DNA Removal is Mediated by Decomposing Leaf Litter in StreamsAbstract. Understanding what controls eDNA removal from the water column remains a critical challenge for interpreting eDNA results in flowing waters. Allo 091
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Link in original post has all the details and email address to co-chairs for additional questions. 000
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 02/10/2026We 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! 030
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Rice University invites applications for multiple tenured and tenure-track positions at the senior and junior levels in #EnvironmentalHealth. Join our team! apply.interfolio.com/193813apply.interfolio.com Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio 059
Reposted by Scott P. EganChris Anderson @cnanderson.bsky.social · 01/10/2026A bunch of these students will read more about galls when we cover @scottpegan.bsky.social articles next semester. 041
Reposted by Scott P. EganChris Anderson @cnanderson.bsky.social · 01/10/2026One 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 1194
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 01/10/2026#SidewalkSightings near a Houston, Texas: False bee killer (Promachus bastardii) 061
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026How 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) 🐍 1114
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 23/09/2026In 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. 020
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 23/09/2026In 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. 010
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Prior 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.orgHuman-mediated disturbance in multitrophic interactions results in outbreak levels of North America's most venomous caterpillarAbstract. Anthropogenic environmental change is predicted to disrupt multitrophic interactions, which may have drastic consequences for population-level pr 120
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 100
Reposted by Scott P. EganMaria 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.orgOpportunitiesWe 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... 02936
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Dr. 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 🧬🧬🧬 030
Reposted by Scott P. EganJournal of Evolutionary Biology @jevbio.bsky.social · 17/09/2026@lennartwinkler.bsky.social @andygardner.bsky.social @scottpegan.bsky.social 0158
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 07/09/2026My running trail this morning. 9 miles with my son near Colorado Springs. 180
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Today 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 130
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 20/08/2026#FunFact: There is an “etymology” section in many “entomology” papers that describe newly discovered species. 080
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 18/08/2026Hummingbirds love live oaks. (📸: Christa Denning) 020
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 17/08/2026Without downloading any new pics, where are you at mentally? 130
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 16/08/2026Belonocnema kinseyi galls on a live oak. (📸:Christa Denning) 030
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 14/08/2026Here 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 030
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 14/08/2026Sometimes 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 ... 150
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Squirrels and other local rodents love to snack on the oak galls! 030
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. 2204
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 10/08/2026Gulf coast fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) enjoying the early morning sun. 050
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 06/08/2026Science 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. 170
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Weekly gall walk on the #RiceUniversity campus. Belonocnema, Disholcaspis, Andricus quercusfoliatus. 080
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 29/07/2026Weekly gall walk on the #RiceUniversity campus. Belonocnema galls growing. Disholcaspis galls just starting. 130
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 29/07/2026Here is the new gall wasp discovered at #RiceUniversity that is featured in this kid's book. #BackyardBiodiversity 071
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 28/07/2026Wow! 🤯 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.” 0120
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 27/07/2026Llano River, Texas, at sunrise and midnight moon. 061
Scott P. Egan @scottpegan.bsky.social · 27/07/2026I 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. 000
Reposted by Scott P. EganCharley Eiseman @ceiseman.bsky.social · 25/07/2026Stop 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.orgThe Plant-Feeding Gall Midges of North AmericaThis 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... 23416