Catherine Sheard
@sheardcat.bsky.social
Lecturer & Interdisciplinary Fellow @ University of Aberdeen. Professionally: macroevolution, especially birds & languages. Personally: drinks too much coffee, plays too much D&D.
she/her
she/her
Pinned
Catherine Sheard
@sheardcat.bsky.social
· Jun 25
New pinned intro time:
Hi! I'm Catherine, a PI (fellow/lecturer) at the University of Aberdeen. My lab works on trait macroevolution, particularly the causes/consequences of behavioural innovations. I'm a senior editor at GEB, co-chair of BES Macro, and have zero chill about the northern lights.
Hi! I'm Catherine, a PI (fellow/lecturer) at the University of Aberdeen. My lab works on trait macroevolution, particularly the causes/consequences of behavioural innovations. I'm a senior editor at GEB, co-chair of BES Macro, and have zero chill about the northern lights.
How do you feel about Indonesian food? Srikandi and Sama Sebo, both within a stone's throw of the Rijksmuseum, are truly excellent. Leiden is also supposed to have top-tier Indonesian food.
November 2, 2026 at 1:41 PM
How do you feel about Indonesian food? Srikandi and Sama Sebo, both within a stone's throw of the Rijksmuseum, are truly excellent. Leiden is also supposed to have top-tier Indonesian food.
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
What a story
Patrick Stewart story that I've told before: He did a few performances with The Improvised Shakespeare Company, one in New York (for about 15 minutes of the show) and one full show in Chicago. It was the upstairs at iO in Wrigleyville - maybe 100 seats. Nobody knew he would be there.
October 29, 2026 at 9:52 PM
What a story
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
If you want more Patrick Stewarts, then you publicly fund the arts and learning programs, so that working class kids can find their way into making a career in them.
October 29, 2026 at 9:09 PM
If you want more Patrick Stewarts, then you publicly fund the arts and learning programs, so that working class kids can find their way into making a career in them.
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
A Study of 40 COVID and flu outbreaks on planes found infection risk was highest near infected passengers.
• N95 masks prevented almost all new infections
• Surgical masks filtering 50% of particles cut infections by 85%, versus 35% from doubling clean air
• Ventilation alone may not be enough
• N95 masks prevented almost all new infections
• Surgical masks filtering 50% of particles cut infections by 85%, versus 35% from doubling clean air
• Ventilation alone may not be enough
October 28, 2026 at 7:39 AM
A Study of 40 COVID and flu outbreaks on planes found infection risk was highest near infected passengers.
• N95 masks prevented almost all new infections
• Surgical masks filtering 50% of particles cut infections by 85%, versus 35% from doubling clean air
• Ventilation alone may not be enough
• N95 masks prevented almost all new infections
• Surgical masks filtering 50% of particles cut infections by 85%, versus 35% from doubling clean air
• Ventilation alone may not be enough
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
The present does not reflect the past: geographic mismatches between fossil and modern records are widespread across the tree of life doi.org/10.1098/rspb... | #Ecology #Evolution #Palaeontology
October 27, 2026 at 6:04 PM
The present does not reflect the past: geographic mismatches between fossil and modern records are widespread across the tree of life doi.org/10.1098/rspb... | #Ecology #Evolution #Palaeontology
Like macroevolution *and* living animals? Want to do a PhD in avian morphology? Want to live in Newcastle, a very cool city surrounded by beautiful landscapes?
Shoko Sugasawa, Sue Healy, and I are advertising an IAPETUS PhD studentship. International enquiries welcome! iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...
Shoko Sugasawa, Sue Healy, and I are advertising an IAPETUS PhD studentship. International enquiries welcome! iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...
Manipulation without hands: the causes and consequences of avian vertebral evolution
iapetus.ac.uk
October 27, 2026 at 7:27 PM
Like macroevolution *and* living animals? Want to do a PhD in avian morphology? Want to live in Newcastle, a very cool city surrounded by beautiful landscapes?
Shoko Sugasawa, Sue Healy, and I are advertising an IAPETUS PhD studentship. International enquiries welcome! iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...
Shoko Sugasawa, Sue Healy, and I are advertising an IAPETUS PhD studentship. International enquiries welcome! iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...
Hello from an endless series of trains.
I've just spent the past two hours listening to a woman monologue to her mother on the phone by switching, sometimes sentence-by-sentence, between English, French, and Arabic.
It's been fascinating to eavesdrop on, but also, ma'am, stop talking on the train.
I've just spent the past two hours listening to a woman monologue to her mother on the phone by switching, sometimes sentence-by-sentence, between English, French, and Arabic.
It's been fascinating to eavesdrop on, but also, ma'am, stop talking on the train.
October 27, 2026 at 4:11 PM
Hello from an endless series of trains.
I've just spent the past two hours listening to a woman monologue to her mother on the phone by switching, sometimes sentence-by-sentence, between English, French, and Arabic.
It's been fascinating to eavesdrop on, but also, ma'am, stop talking on the train.
I've just spent the past two hours listening to a woman monologue to her mother on the phone by switching, sometimes sentence-by-sentence, between English, French, and Arabic.
It's been fascinating to eavesdrop on, but also, ma'am, stop talking on the train.
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
I think a lot about how mountain species are responding to warming temperatures
so it was great to team up with @suzetteflantua.bsky.social @kjfeeley.bsky.social Christi McCain & Jenny McGuire to write a review of sp responses to both modern AND Quaternary warming
www.nature.com/articles/doi...
so it was great to team up with @suzetteflantua.bsky.social @kjfeeley.bsky.social Christi McCain & Jenny McGuire to write a review of sp responses to both modern AND Quaternary warming
www.nature.com/articles/doi...
May 25, 2026 at 1:12 PM
I think a lot about how mountain species are responding to warming temperatures
so it was great to team up with @suzetteflantua.bsky.social @kjfeeley.bsky.social Christi McCain & Jenny McGuire to write a review of sp responses to both modern AND Quaternary warming
www.nature.com/articles/doi...
so it was great to team up with @suzetteflantua.bsky.social @kjfeeley.bsky.social Christi McCain & Jenny McGuire to write a review of sp responses to both modern AND Quaternary warming
www.nature.com/articles/doi...
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
It sounds like hyperbole to suggest the current administration WANTS measles to become common again but I can’t think of much they’d be doing differently if they didn’t want that.
(I think some of them really are eugenicists who legit prefer disease spread to prevention; others just don’t care)
(I think some of them really are eugenicists who legit prefer disease spread to prevention; others just don’t care)
The CDC denied a request from California, Hawaiʻi, Oregon, and Washington to validate a high-volume measles test, citing “other priorities.” 🤨
CDC denies approval for high-volume measles test, citing ‘other priorities’
California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii health officials ask CDC, ‘prioritizing emerging technologies’, to reconsider
www.theguardian.com
October 23, 2026 at 12:45 PM
It sounds like hyperbole to suggest the current administration WANTS measles to become common again but I can’t think of much they’d be doing differently if they didn’t want that.
(I think some of them really are eugenicists who legit prefer disease spread to prevention; others just don’t care)
(I think some of them really are eugenicists who legit prefer disease spread to prevention; others just don’t care)
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
“Severe heat killed more than 50,000 people in European cities and towns this summer, according to peer-reviewed estimates released by scientists in London on Friday.”
www.nytimes.com/2026/10/22/c...
www.nytimes.com/2026/10/22/c...
Heat Waves Killed an Estimated 50,000 in European Cities, a Likely Record (Gift Article)
This summer’s heat was the continent’s deadliest by far this century, according to new peer-reviewed estimates.
www.nytimes.com
October 23, 2026 at 3:14 AM
“Severe heat killed more than 50,000 people in European cities and towns this summer, according to peer-reviewed estimates released by scientists in London on Friday.”
www.nytimes.com/2026/10/22/c...
www.nytimes.com/2026/10/22/c...
Super interesting stuff, though of course the cost of living will vary widely across different countries.
For comparison, the standard non-London UKRI PhD stipend is ~25,000 EUR / year, tax-free, scholarship-based (i.e., not formal employment).
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
For comparison, the standard non-London UKRI PhD stipend is ~25,000 EUR / year, tax-free, scholarship-based (i.e., not formal employment).
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What does a PhD pay? Data reveal huge gaps across Europe
Earnings come in a combination of scholarships and salaries and vary widely between countries, an analysis by international federation Eurodoc reveals.
www.nature.com
October 23, 2026 at 11:33 AM
Super interesting stuff, though of course the cost of living will vary widely across different countries.
For comparison, the standard non-London UKRI PhD stipend is ~25,000 EUR / year, tax-free, scholarship-based (i.e., not formal employment).
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
For comparison, the standard non-London UKRI PhD stipend is ~25,000 EUR / year, tax-free, scholarship-based (i.e., not formal employment).
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
I wonder if this might be influence from the US. At least from the age when I was old enough to clock this, I think, I've heard "elite" in certain US contexts to mean East Coast and/or Jewish and/or liberal, with a certain connotation of "snob" or "not like us".
This use would track with that.
This use would track with that.
October 22, 2026 at 8:58 PM
I wonder if this might be influence from the US. At least from the age when I was old enough to clock this, I think, I've heard "elite" in certain US contexts to mean East Coast and/or Jewish and/or liberal, with a certain connotation of "snob" or "not like us".
This use would track with that.
This use would track with that.
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
Elizabeth Warren Is 💯% Correct...
October 22, 2026 at 11:22 AM
Elizabeth Warren Is 💯% Correct...
Well, this is wild. And it's -- maybe real??? But also: it's gotta be satire, right?!
The first genuinely honest ad for generative AI I've ever seen, from Microsoft / CoPilot
A mediocre white guy sees his non-white colleague getting praised for good work, he asks AI to *literally copy it*, and then he gets all the praise instead:
www.ispot.tv/ad/SoDi/micr...
A mediocre white guy sees his non-white colleague getting praised for good work, he asks AI to *literally copy it*, and then he gets all the praise instead:
www.ispot.tv/ad/SoDi/micr...
October 22, 2026 at 8:52 PM
Well, this is wild. And it's -- maybe real??? But also: it's gotta be satire, right?!
I think the FoF misheard me saying that I don't speak Kanienʼkéha? And then didn't notice that I'd been fine reading signs and interacting with those around me in French *all day*?
🤷♀️
🤷♀️
October 22, 2026 at 4:03 PM
I think the FoF misheard me saying that I don't speak Kanienʼkéha? And then didn't notice that I'd been fine reading signs and interacting with those around me in French *all day*?
🤷♀️
🤷♀️
Same trip: a friend-of-a-friend (FoF) somehow decided that I didn't speak French, and at a restaurant told the waiter in *painful* French that they'd have to switch to English for me.
The waiter was then astonished when I ordered in, y'know, perfectly reasonable French, and roundly mocked the FoF.
The waiter was then astonished when I ordered in, y'know, perfectly reasonable French, and roundly mocked the FoF.
On the train from Cornwall to Montreal, I once was asked "Do you want quelque chose to drink?"
October 22, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Same trip: a friend-of-a-friend (FoF) somehow decided that I didn't speak French, and at a restaurant told the waiter in *painful* French that they'd have to switch to English for me.
The waiter was then astonished when I ordered in, y'know, perfectly reasonable French, and roundly mocked the FoF.
The waiter was then astonished when I ordered in, y'know, perfectly reasonable French, and roundly mocked the FoF.
On the train from Cornwall to Montreal, I once was asked "Do you want quelque chose to drink?"
October 22, 2026 at 3:55 PM
On the train from Cornwall to Montreal, I once was asked "Do you want quelque chose to drink?"
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
The @burkemuseum.bsky.social is offering funds to support graduate and postdoctoral research visits to the collections, including our University of Washington Herbarium! Please help us get the word out! More information is available here: www.burkemuseum.org/collections-...
Collections Study Grants
Collections study grants provide financial assistance for graduate students and post-doctoral researchers to study the collections of the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture (UWBM).
www.burkemuseum.org
October 22, 2026 at 2:31 PM
The @burkemuseum.bsky.social is offering funds to support graduate and postdoctoral research visits to the collections, including our University of Washington Herbarium! Please help us get the word out! More information is available here: www.burkemuseum.org/collections-...
Oof, I'm sorry to hear this -- good luck with your next steps!
October 22, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Oof, I'm sorry to hear this -- good luck with your next steps!
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
'A Cambridge study found that of the 86 scientists named by UK exam boards, the English chemist [Rosalind Franklin], whose work in the 1950s helped reveal the structure of DNA, was the only woman.'
Only one female scientist named in GCSEs, research finds
A new study finds Rosalind Franklin is the only woman named in Key Stage 4 science specifications.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 22, 2026 at 9:32 AM
'A Cambridge study found that of the 86 scientists named by UK exam boards, the English chemist [Rosalind Franklin], whose work in the 1950s helped reveal the structure of DNA, was the only woman.'
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
An excellent job opportunity for an experienced entomologist
The #DarwinTreeofLife project, based at @nhm-london.bsky.social are seeking someone with good identification skills to join this fantastic project
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social
jobs.nhm.ac.uk/internal/Job...
The #DarwinTreeofLife project, based at @nhm-london.bsky.social are seeking someone with good identification skills to join this fantastic project
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social
jobs.nhm.ac.uk/internal/Job...
Research Assistant, DToL Garfield Weston:South Kensington
jobs.nhm.ac.uk
October 22, 2026 at 8:45 AM
An excellent job opportunity for an experienced entomologist
The #DarwinTreeofLife project, based at @nhm-london.bsky.social are seeking someone with good identification skills to join this fantastic project
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social
jobs.nhm.ac.uk/internal/Job...
The #DarwinTreeofLife project, based at @nhm-london.bsky.social are seeking someone with good identification skills to join this fantastic project
@royentsoc.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social
jobs.nhm.ac.uk/internal/Job...
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
Please get him off LinkedIn...
![A two-panel, photo-realistic meme of Steve the otter sitting and smiling at the camera—bare on the left and wearing a blue necktie under a “LinkedIn” header on the right.
Text in image:
Panel 1 (heading): Reality
Below: I caught a fish.
Panel 2 (heading): LinkedIn [with LinkedIn logo]
Below:
“Proud to announce that I successfully executed a targeted aquatic procurement strategy to secure key marine resources.
Grateful for the unwavering support of my river ecosystem network.
This experience reinforced the importance of agility, resource management, and strategic execution. 🐟”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7h7pj7ckx6pfntbupdymo6fz/bafkreifgjwwxpozsxf5ycuwzboktbq5baao4syawypkyswj6hzs7mzwyuy)
October 19, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Please get him off LinkedIn...
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
The deadline to register for the American Society of Naturalists stand-alone meeting is approaching fast! You've only got 10 more days!
I imagine the last few days will be chaotic, so do your volunteer conference organizers a favor and don't wait until the last day.
I imagine the last few days will be chaotic, so do your volunteer conference organizers a favor and don't wait until the last day.
The stand-alone meeting of the American Society of Naturalists @asn-amnat.bsky.social in an old mansion on Long Island is starting to book up! Registration is open until Nov 1 OR until we hit 200 registrants, so grab your spot before it's gone!
www.amnat2027.org
www.amnat2027.org
ASN Stand Alone Meeting 2027
Jan 8-12 - Long Island, NY. Learn more about the conference and register here!
www.amnat2027.org
October 21, 2026 at 3:21 PM
The deadline to register for the American Society of Naturalists stand-alone meeting is approaching fast! You've only got 10 more days!
I imagine the last few days will be chaotic, so do your volunteer conference organizers a favor and don't wait until the last day.
I imagine the last few days will be chaotic, so do your volunteer conference organizers a favor and don't wait until the last day.
Is anthropogenic nest material always bad? Hébert et al. found no difference in outcomes for zebra finch nests made of natural and acrylic fibres.
brill.com/view/journal...
brill.com/view/journal...
Acrylic fibres do not affect nest building or incubation in laboratory zebra finches
Abstract As synthetic materials have rapidly accumulated in the environment over the past decades, birds have increasingly incorporated them into their nests. However, it is not clear whether such mat...
brill.com
October 21, 2026 at 11:52 AM
Is anthropogenic nest material always bad? Hébert et al. found no difference in outcomes for zebra finch nests made of natural and acrylic fibres.
brill.com/view/journal...
brill.com/view/journal...
Reposted by Catherine Sheard
I also think that a lot of the most important parts of writing happen at the revision stage. That’s where you figure out the distances between what you thought you were saying, what you actually said, and what you should be saying. And that’s an active thinking process. GenAI can’t do it for you.
October 20, 2026 at 11:03 PM
I also think that a lot of the most important parts of writing happen at the revision stage. That’s where you figure out the distances between what you thought you were saying, what you actually said, and what you should be saying. And that’s an active thinking process. GenAI can’t do it for you.