Uncategorized
Vanderbilt Alumnus Uncovers Feeding Strategies of Ancient Ediacaran Organisms
Oct. 22, 2024—By: Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator A new study, led by alumnus Andrei Olaru in Paleobiology titled, “Functional morphology of the Ediacaran organism Tribrachidium heraldicum” sheds light on the functional morphology one of the earliest known large and complex animals. Using advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the research explores how this 550-million-year-old organism, characterized...
Ken Catania to Present Evolution-focused, Spooky Halloween Talk
Oct. 1, 2024—By Danielle Bowden, Evolutionary Studies administrative specialist Nashville, TN –– Vanderbilt University’s Evolutionary Studies Initiative is thrilled to announce that distinguished evolutionary biologist Kenneth Catania will be delivering the Halloween Spooktacular Lecture as part of the ESI seminar series. Catania is a professor of Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt University. The lecture, titled “Science Lessons from...
Distinguished Evolutionary Biologist Anne Yoder to Deliver Annual Biodiversity Day Lecture
Sep. 12, 2024—By Danielle Bowden, Evolutionary Studies administrative specialist Nashville, TN –– Vanderbilt University’s Evolutionary Studies Initiative is thrilled to announce that distinguished evolutionary biologist Anne Yoder will be delivering the annual Biodiversity Day Lecture. Yoder is widely recognized for her groundbreaking research on the genetics and speciation of Madagascar’s lemurs, which has transformed our understanding of...
Graduate Student Sheds Light on Ancient Worms as Early Ecosystem Engineers
Sep. 10, 2024—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Graduate student Kat Turk from Vanderbilt University’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, along with an international team of collaborators, has uncovered new evidence that ancient priapulid worms, through their burrowing behavior, may have been some of the earliest ecosystem engineers. The study, “Priapulid neoichnology, ecosystem engineering, and...
VU Graduate Student Uses Satellites to Provide Critical ALAN Data for Public Policy
Aug. 9, 2024—By: Alexandria Leeper, Evolutionary Studies Graduate Communications Assistant Imagine you are trying to stargaze. You live in a suburban area where there are little streetlamps, and the darkness of the night envelops most of the sky, making the stars visible. However, you are adjacent to a major city. When you turn your gaze towards that...
Analyzing Evolutionary Trade-Offs in Immune Systems: Computational Biology with Reese Martin
Jul. 22, 2024—By Nick McCoy, Evolutionary Studies undergraduate communications assistant Reese Martin has always been drawn to biology and exploring the behaviors of different organisms. During his childhood, he dug in anthills, and now he observes the life history traits of flower beetles and other taxa. Martin’s new first-author paper, “Pleiotropy Alleviates the Fitness Costs Associated With...
VU Graduate Student Explores Ancient Oral Microbiomes
Jun. 24, 2024—By Neomi Chen, Evolutionary Studies undergraduate communications assistant As Katie McCormack meticulously extracted calcified dental plaque from ancient Peruvian teeth, she felt the weight of centuries of history in her hands. This intricate work, part of her groundbreaking research in the Jada Benn Torres Lab, aims to unravel the secrets of ancient oral health. With...
Graduate Student Uncovers New Galactose Assimilation Pathway
Apr. 26, 2024—By: Andy Flick Evolutionary Studies Scientific Coordinator Not to be outdone by her significant contributions to a study that appeared in April 25’s Science magazine, Marie-Claire Harrison, a graduate student in the Rokas Lab, published a first-author article in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the very next day titled “Machine learning...
Unveiling Evolutionary Transitions: Vanderbilt Professor Explores Triassic Mammals’ Adaptations to Changing Environments
Apr. 26, 2024—By: Sarah Ward, Evolutionary Studies Communications Assistant Vanderbilt professor Neil Kelley assisted in a study which characterized the evolutionary response of 250-million-year-old (Triassic) mammals to habitat transitions. Their work was published August 2023 in the Swiss Journal of Paleontology, and it explores how similar mammals can react differently to the same environmental challenges. Kelley finds...
Vanderbilt Graduate Student is Getting to the Bottom of Worm Burrows
Apr. 26, 2024—By: Sarah Ward, Evolutionary Studies Graduate Communications Assistant Vanderbilt graduate student Katherine Turk and colleagues found that worm burrowing behaviors could have emerged earlier in earth’s history than was previously thought. Her work Archaeichnium haughtoni: a robust burrow lining from the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition of Namibia was published this January 2024 in Papers in Paleontology, and...