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Reposted by Zed Morgan Benfred

Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Tenure track opening: Molecular biologist Bucknell is a PUI (primarily undergraduate institution) in PA with high expectations for both teaching & research, but offers resources to support both. I love our department - amazing to work with smart, motivated, thoughtful, collaborative people.

bucknell.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

Tenure Track Faculty Position in Molecular Biology

Position Title: Tenure Track Faculty Position in Molecular Biology Position Type: Full time Location: Robert L Rooke Science Center - Biology Categories: Faculty Exempt Job Summary: Job Duties: The De...

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Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

bucknell.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

Tenure Track Faculty Position in Molecular Biology

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Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Grateful to work on Middleton I. with the Institute for Seabird Research and Conservation, and particularly proud of two student co-authors, Stephanie Walsh ('24) and Sierra Pete (MS '24). #seabirds #seabird #kittiwakes #BLKI #middletonisland

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Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Begging & feeding also increased with endogenous cort. Finally, as expected, effects of hormones on behavior were context-specific: corticosterone-behavior relationships were only found in control nests, with low natural food availability. They were eliminated in supplementally-fed nests.

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Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

We found rapid (within an hour) increases in aggression, particularly in male chicks, following endogenous or exogenous elevation of corticosterone. This is a much shorter time scale than people usually consider when manipulating corticosterone and looking for behavioral effects.

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Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Each kittiwake nest site has one-way mirrored glass, allowing close observation and access to the nest residents. We experimentally evoked elevations in chick corticosterone a) endogenously (15 min restraint) and b) exogenously (topical in DMSO) and quantified chick behavior for 1hr before & after.

6 back-lot reacangles in a dark wall look out onto nests constainting white and gray gulls (kittiwakes). The nest window in the top window shows an adult with an open mouth and a small fluffy white chick reaching into the mouth with its black beak, trying to get regurgitated food. In the foreground, a compact video camera with a screen shows the view of the nest being video recorded.

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Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

We took advantage of the unrivaled set-up in "The Tower" on Middleton Island, AK to run a set of experiments with free-living Black-legged kittiwake chicks (Rissa tridactyla).

A 3-story, dodecahedral grey cement tower rises from vegetation. On the top third of the tower, horizintal cross-beans are dotted with white - each white spot is a small gull called a black-legged kittiwake. They are nesting on these cross-pieces on the outside face of the tower.

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Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

Happy to advance another Middleton Island kittiwake project (rapid behavior changes associated with endogenous and exogenous corticosterone increases). This field site provides surreal access to these #seabirds - it's a dream for studying the physiology/behavior interface in free-living animals.

"The Middleton Island Tower". A muti-story, 12-faceted gray tower has a white door at the base and siding on the the bottom 2/3rds but a set of horizontal wooden beams on the outside of the top 3rd. On the beams are white spots that, upon magnification, are revealed to be small white gulls (kittiwakes)on nests. The tower is capped with struts and grating that extend over the edges of the main structure on all all sides, and also have kittiwake nests visible on them (though you're looking at the from below). The background, the sun is halfway below the horizon and casting an orange glow.

The view of a kittiwake nest from inside the tower. In the foreground, a shallow bowl-like nest made of brown dried vegetation contains two small white fuzzy chicks. One of them is facing the camera and has very black eyes and beak, the other is somewhat tucked behind the first so you cannot see its face. A large adult white gull with large black eyes and a yellow beak is standing on the back edge of the nest, facing you, with its wings partially extended up behind it. The wings are mostly white but the tips of the 5 longest primary feathers are black. In the background, green vegetation spread below, with the shiny surface of a small pond visible in the distance, and a larger shining (because of the sun reflecting on it) body of water (the Gulf of Alaska) beyond the shoreline. 3 white gulls are visible in the background, flying through the scene.

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Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Nooooo! I had tayra to take the whole thing!!

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Reposted by Zed Morgan Benfred

Elizabeth Hobson @elizabethhobson.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

I am recruiting 1-2 postbacs for my parakeet sociality & cognition project! This position is for people finished with undergrad but who have not yet started grad school. Must be totally fascinated by parakeet social drama (there's a lot of it!)🪶🧪 Job ad here: ornithologyexchange.org/jobs/board/s...

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Reposted by Zed Morgan Benfred

Joe Spring @joespring.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

If you’re a federal scientist who has been fired, and are willing to talk about your work and its importance, please email me at springj2@si.edu. Joe Spring, online science editor, Smithsonian magazine. (If you aren’t, can you repost this so more fired scientists can see it?)

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Reposted by Zed Morgan Benfred

Daniel Bolnick @danielbolnick.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

I usually reserve this account for my personal views; but today I want to represent my position as President of @asn-amnat.bsky.social to post a message that will shortly go out to the membership of the American Society of Naturalists from the ASN Executive Council

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Reposted by Zed Morgan Benfred

André K. Isaacs @drdre4000.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Just got word that our Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Inclusive Excellence 3 (IE3) Grant was being canceled. All 100+ institutions. So even private funding is susceptible to this administration’s unraveling of DEI initiatives

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Reposted by Zed Morgan Benfred

Heiko G. Rödel @heikorodel.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Fully funded PhD position on Paternities and spatial kinship structure in a population of South African bush Karoo rats. Field work in South Africa. Analysis of existing long-term data at LEEC / Univ. Sorbonne Paris Nord. Please RT! www-leec.univ-paris13.fr/documents/LE...

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Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

I love that this was all students. Long-live natural history!

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Reposted by Zed Morgan Benfred

Anna N Osiecka 🍉 @aosiecka.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

#bioacoustics #scicomm #seabirds My wonderful students/friends and myself are happy to share our sweet little zine summarising my PhD on the little auk's vocal communication :) You can download the read & print versions here, and are more than welcome to share. Enjoy! osf.io/h7msz/

A page from the zine, asking "So how can little auks communicate important messages in this crowd?" and showing two vocalising auks, or rather block prints.

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Reposted by Zed Morgan Benfred

Ologies with Alie Ward @ologies.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

The mood in LA is anxious/devastated/exhausted/ braced for more. It's NOT all rich people. Most are artists who scraped together a down payment. And the fire has leveled Altadena, a historically Black tight-knit community. List of GoFundMes that could use love: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

docs.google.com

Displaced Black Families GoFund Me Directory

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Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

This was one of my favorite talks so far! I love the integration of modeling with creative experiments and I cannot stop telling people about bespoke quail snack machines...

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Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Come on, now. Don't be silly. I was at least six.

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Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Oof - multiple typos in my alt-text (can you edit that after the fact?!) but it's unusual (not "usually" as I wrote) at our colony in the Gulf of Alaska. Usually just a couple 3-egg clutches per year (out of hundreds).

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Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

It's totally wild that these little adorable things pop into the world, look around their new world all soft and warm under doting parents... and choose murder.

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Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

We have an ethogram, but currently, multiple aggressive behaviors are lumped - we quantify intensity via rate or proportion of time spent. We do single out "neck-wringing" as a particularly intense & vicious-seeming behavior. Parsing out the behaviors that comprise aggression would be worthwhile!

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Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

RE why I study this: it's a horrid and fascinating phenomenon at the interface of physiology and behavioral ecology - what's not to like?!

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Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

I currently study physiology & behavior of siblicide in a Pacific pop. of black-legged kittiwakes (𝑅𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑎 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑎). I'm at a PUI (primarily undergraduate institution) & have amazing undergrads working on projects about the interactions of glucocorticoids, metabolism, behavior & sex. #seabirds

A small black cube (a GoPro camera) is in the foreground on the right, mounted on a black tripod and with a red indicator light illuminated, inidcating the camera is recording. The camera is pointed towards a wooden wall, but most of the frame is occupied by a rectangular clear glass window. Through window, you can see a mass of brown vegetation - a kittiwake nest. It's on a ledge and far below you can see blurry green vegetation. In the nest sits a white gull with grey wings and back, a yellow bill, and some reddish/orange visible at the corner of its mouth (part of its gape). It's sitting over a fluffy white chick with some grey on it's body, a black beak, and a red mark on its head (indicating that it is the first-hatched chick in the brood).

Three fuzzy whitish/grey chicks occupy the bulk of nest made of brown straw and vegetation, with blurry green vegetation visible in the background far below, and a grey strip of ocean in the very back. The chick on the left has a read mark on it's head (first hatched, or "A chick") and seems to looking at the chick next to it, who has it's black beak open with a pink mouth/tongue visible (this is the "C chick", usually at this colony). The chick in front of the other two is facing forward and has its beak planted in the nest, eyes closed. It has a blue mark on its head (second-hatched or "B" chick). The adult is standing over the chicks, but only it's white feathered belly and banded legs are visible (left leg has a silver metal band, right leg has orange, dark green then while darvic (plastic) color bands).

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Reposted by Zed Morgan Benfred

The Seabird Group @theseabirdgroup.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Hey #seabirders! Who's migrated to this platform and which #seabirds do you work on? Let us know! Pictures encouraged 😊

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Black In Neuro @blackinneuro.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

You won’t want to miss this amazing workshop for first-time reviewers on How to Write Inclusive and Equitable Reviews, with @reviewerzero.bsky.social on December 4th! Register here: blackinneuro47.wildapricot.org/event-5883989 #AcademicSky #PhDSky #Blackademics 🧪

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Society for Conservation Biology @society4conbio.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Looking for your next opportunity in conservation? The SCB Career Center offers tailored job alerts to keep you ahead in science, policy, education, & more. Sign up now and never miss a role! 🌍➡️ careers.conbio.org #Conservation #Jobs #CareerCenter #biodiversity #ecology

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Reposted by Zed Morgan Benfred

Florian Keil @floriankeil.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

I've been asked for the layperson's summary of this paper, so here it goes: Because distinct groups of #seabirds across large regions like the North Atlantic grow and shrink together, conservationists in different countries also need to work together.

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Johan Lind @johanlind.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

Wisdom's still alive, she's back at her breeding grounds! This season she'll turn at least 74 years old. 🎉🎊💃

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Reposted by Zed Morgan Benfred

Francesco Garzon @garzonfrancesco.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

What do you do when an orca eats your research project? Why, you continue tracking of course! #trackingNotSlacking 🌊 New paper describes how orcas catch bluefin tuna, and shows the longest high-resolution tracking of an orca ever! @exetermarine.bsky.social 🦑🐠🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.com

High-resolution biologging of an Atlantic bluefin tuna captured and eaten by a supposed orca - Scientific Reports

Scientific Reports - High-resolution biologging of an Atlantic bluefin tuna captured and eaten by a supposed orca

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Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

Here’s a start for an ornithology subset!

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Reposted by Zed Morgan Benfred

Ruha Benjamin @ruha9.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Your homework. inthesetimes.com/article/toni...

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cetologist 🐋 @breezycarter.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

BLACK WOMEN IN #STEM i made a starter pack for black women in the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics and would really love to keep adding to it so please hmu if you fit the criteria or know someone who does! 🧪 go.bsky.app/9jYkUK1

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Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Helpful context about the levels at which vaccine access/policy is regulated in the U.S. from Katelyn Jetelina (#yourlocalepidemiologist) open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...

open.substack.com

The future of vaccine policy in the United States

Common misconceptions and what I'm paying attention to in the future

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Reposted by Zed Morgan Benfred

Dr Alex Bond @thelabandfield.bsky.social · 02/10/2024

A feathered past, and present: calling out bad birding behaviour - in which we detail some of the appalling messages we received after suggesting a new common name for Ardenna carneipes (with receipts) adriftlab.org/news/a-feath... #seabirds #ornithology #BirdNamesForBirds

adriftlab.org

A feathered past, and present: calling out bad birding behaviour | Adrift Lab

Adrift Lab responds to gaslighting and bullying associated with our recent paper proposing a new name (Sable Shearwater) for Ardenna carneipes.

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Black Mammalogists Week @blackmammalogists.bsky.social · 25/09/2024

Do you want up to $1500 for research or science communication or training on mammals? check out our American Society of Mammalogists' Black & Indigenous Scholars Award! Due October 15th!! mammalsociety.org/form/black-i... Share with your folks! #BlackSky 🧪🦊

Black and indigenous scholars award in mammalogy; awards up to 1500 supporting research and activities relating to mammals. open to black/african american, african, and indigenous individuals. applications are due october 15th.

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Lindsey Swierk @lindseyswierk.bsky.social · 18/09/2024

Our lab is thrilled to share new research published today in Biology Letters on the function of water anole 'bubble breathing' ! 💧🦎💧 #lizard #HERper royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

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Black Mammalogists Week @blackmammalogists.bsky.social · 15/09/2024

Let's kick off #BlackMammalogists Week with a #BlackMammalogistsRoleCall! 🐾✊🏽 Show everyone we out here: Introduce yourself if you're a Black mammalogist and/or wildlife enthusiast! Use our hashtags to be ENTERED TO WIN stickers or a t-shirt at the end of the day! #mammal #BlackSky

A flier describing Black Mammalogists Week 2024 (September 15th -21st). Sponsored by the National Geographic Society. Please join us to celebrate and uplift current and aspiring Black mammalogists across the Diaspora to form conscious, fruitful connections while illuminating historic and present-day contributions from Black folks to the field of Mammalogy! For more info please contact BlackMammalogists@gmail.com

A flier describing Black Mammalogists Week 2024 (Sept 15-21). Sponsor: National Geographic Society. The days are: Roll Call Sunday (Sept 15), Research Monday (Sept 16), Rewilding Tuesday (Sept 17), Recovery Wednesday (Sept 18), Relearning Thursday (Sept 19), Resilience Friday (Sept 20), Reverence Saturday (Sept 21)

The BlackMammalogistsWeek sticker by The Pen and the Pangolin, in the shape of a Black Power fist, featuring whales, deer, flying foxes, hyena, and sengi.

A T-shirt with the Black Mammalogists Black Power fist in white

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Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 04/09/2024

NEURO JOB: Bucknell University Biology Dept (in PA) is seeking a new neurobiology colleague. Open-rank, tenure-track position with a preference for non-Drosophila study organisms (to complement existing departmental strengths). It's a great department in an institution with good resources.

bucknell.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

Tenure Track Faculty - Neurobiology (Open Rank)

Position Title: Tenure Track Faculty - Neurobiology (Open Rank) Position Type: Full time Location: Robert L Rooke Science Center - Biology Categories: Faculty Exempt Job Summary: Job Duties: The Depar...

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Zed Morgan Benfred @zedmorgan.bsky.social · 20/08/2024

The 2nd edition of "Hormones and Reproduction of Vertebrates" is out! My own copy of the 1st edition of the "Birds" volume is well-worn, so it was really exciting to be able to co-write a chapter on glucocorticoids and reproduction for the 2nd. www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780443...

sciencedirect.com

Hormones and Reproduction of Vertebrates

Hormones and Reproduction of Vertebrates, Volume 4: Birds is the fourth of five second-edition volumes representing a comprehensive and integrated ove...

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Sara Lipshutz (she/her) @jacanamama.bsky.social · 13/07/2024

"We address these key questions using a database of 5,438 bird species (~50% of extant diversity) and modern phylogenetic comparative methods... Our results indicate that the most likely ancestral state for extant birds is male-only care" !!!??? academic.oup.com/evolut/advan...

academic.oup.com

Who cares? Elucidating parental care evolution in extant birds

Abstract. Extant birds stand out among vertebrates in the diversity of parental care types they present, spanning absence of care to uniparental care by ei

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