Ben Vernasco
@verntasco.bsky.social
Research Scientist @WhitmanCollege
Pinned
Ben Vernasco
@verntasco.bsky.social
· Sep 13
Genetic and telomeric variability: Insights from a tropical avian hybrid zone
Telomere lengths and telomere dynamics can correlate with lifespan, behaviour and individual quality. Such relationships have spurred interest in understanding variation in telomere lengths and their....
doi.org
New paper published in collaboration with Kira Long, Mike Braun and Jeff Brawn! We examined the relationship between genetic and telomeric variation in a manakin hybrid zone. Especially stoked because our paper got featured on the issue’s cover!!!
doi.org/10.1111/mec....
doi.org/10.1111/mec....
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
We're going to need a better generic term for climate change-driven range shifts than "invasive".
September 6, 2026 at 1:49 PM
We're going to need a better generic term for climate change-driven range shifts than "invasive".
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
Please share: Full-time PhD position on Butterfly Evolution at High Elevations 🦋⛰️
The project aims to understand the evolution and adaptation of Andean white butterflies using genomics.
DEADLINE: September 11, 2026
More info: pavelmatos.wordpress.com/join-us/
The project aims to understand the evolution and adaptation of Andean white butterflies using genomics.
DEADLINE: September 11, 2026
More info: pavelmatos.wordpress.com/join-us/
Join us
Opportunities Below are the positions currently open in our lab. Open PhD position (full time) Comparative and Population Genomics of Butterflies at High Elevations. The project aims to understand …
pavelmatos.wordpress.com
July 31, 2026 at 1:24 PM
Please share: Full-time PhD position on Butterfly Evolution at High Elevations 🦋⛰️
The project aims to understand the evolution and adaptation of Andean white butterflies using genomics.
DEADLINE: September 11, 2026
More info: pavelmatos.wordpress.com/join-us/
The project aims to understand the evolution and adaptation of Andean white butterflies using genomics.
DEADLINE: September 11, 2026
More info: pavelmatos.wordpress.com/join-us/
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
The National Park Service has been quietly working to fulfill an unprecedented directive from Trump officials: Parcel off a corner of Yosemite National Park to give to a private developer
Trump’s Quietly Working to Give Part of Yosemite to a Private Developer
The National Park Service is under pressure to make an unprecedented deal that cedes a quarter-mile strip of the park.
www.notus.org
August 28, 2026 at 2:14 PM
The National Park Service has been quietly working to fulfill an unprecedented directive from Trump officials: Parcel off a corner of Yosemite National Park to give to a private developer
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
Ok, stats people, any advice?
If I had several traps in primary forest, and several traps in disturbed forest, and want to compare which forest type got more wasps... what's a sensible way to write a model for a GLM in R?
If I had several traps in primary forest, and several traps in disturbed forest, and want to compare which forest type got more wasps... what's a sensible way to write a model for a GLM in R?
August 23, 2026 at 3:31 PM
Ok, stats people, any advice?
If I had several traps in primary forest, and several traps in disturbed forest, and want to compare which forest type got more wasps... what's a sensible way to write a model for a GLM in R?
If I had several traps in primary forest, and several traps in disturbed forest, and want to compare which forest type got more wasps... what's a sensible way to write a model for a GLM in R?
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
Neural correlates of seed-eating in songbirds royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
Our new paper showing that songbirds that dehusk seeds with the beak and tongue have an enlarged trigeminal nucleus in the brainstem, particularly the part where the tongue is represented.
Our new paper showing that songbirds that dehusk seeds with the beak and tongue have an enlarged trigeminal nucleus in the brainstem, particularly the part where the tongue is represented.
July 22, 2026 at 1:36 PM
Neural correlates of seed-eating in songbirds royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
Our new paper showing that songbirds that dehusk seeds with the beak and tongue have an enlarged trigeminal nucleus in the brainstem, particularly the part where the tongue is represented.
Our new paper showing that songbirds that dehusk seeds with the beak and tongue have an enlarged trigeminal nucleus in the brainstem, particularly the part where the tongue is represented.
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
📣 EXTENDED SUBMISSION DEADLINE 📣
Special issue - Call for papers
FROM CHIRPS TO INSIGHTS: PASSIVE ACOUSTIC MONITORING FOR APPLIED ORNITHOLOGY
More info: vist.ly/55veu
Guest editors: #JanO.Engler, #JennFoote, @silvereyedom.bsky.social #SimonThorn
#ornithology #birds #bioacoustics 🪶🧪
Special issue - Call for papers
FROM CHIRPS TO INSIGHTS: PASSIVE ACOUSTIC MONITORING FOR APPLIED ORNITHOLOGY
More info: vist.ly/55veu
Guest editors: #JanO.Engler, #JennFoote, @silvereyedom.bsky.social #SimonThorn
#ornithology #birds #bioacoustics 🪶🧪
May 29, 2026 at 11:28 AM
📣 EXTENDED SUBMISSION DEADLINE 📣
Special issue - Call for papers
FROM CHIRPS TO INSIGHTS: PASSIVE ACOUSTIC MONITORING FOR APPLIED ORNITHOLOGY
More info: vist.ly/55veu
Guest editors: #JanO.Engler, #JennFoote, @silvereyedom.bsky.social #SimonThorn
#ornithology #birds #bioacoustics 🪶🧪
Special issue - Call for papers
FROM CHIRPS TO INSIGHTS: PASSIVE ACOUSTIC MONITORING FOR APPLIED ORNITHOLOGY
More info: vist.ly/55veu
Guest editors: #JanO.Engler, #JennFoote, @silvereyedom.bsky.social #SimonThorn
#ornithology #birds #bioacoustics 🪶🧪
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
This December (2026) I'll be starting my own research lab as a curator of ornithology at @amnh.org. We will seek to understand global avian biodiversity using evolutionary and conservation genetics, with the backing of the incredible AMNH ornithology collection. devonderaad.github.io
July 16, 2026 at 6:59 PM
This December (2026) I'll be starting my own research lab as a curator of ornithology at @amnh.org. We will seek to understand global avian biodiversity using evolutionary and conservation genetics, with the backing of the incredible AMNH ornithology collection. devonderaad.github.io
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
As mysterious bird declines crop up in the Amazon and beyond, scientists suspect climate change may be to blame.
Learn more: https://scim.ag/44sFvTg
Learn more: https://scim.ag/44sFvTg
July 3, 2026 at 4:30 PM
As mysterious bird declines crop up in the Amazon and beyond, scientists suspect climate change may be to blame.
Learn more: https://scim.ag/44sFvTg
Learn more: https://scim.ag/44sFvTg
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
ALERT #SICB members
The Office of Management and Budget (#OMB)
www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...
The public comment period closes July 13, 2026.
Submit your comment directly www.regulations.gov/document/OMB...
Strong, individualized comments carry far more weight than form letters.
The Office of Management and Budget (#OMB)
www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...
The public comment period closes July 13, 2026.
Submit your comment directly www.regulations.gov/document/OMB...
Strong, individualized comments carry far more weight than form letters.
June 29, 2026 at 12:44 PM
ALERT #SICB members
The Office of Management and Budget (#OMB)
www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...
The public comment period closes July 13, 2026.
Submit your comment directly www.regulations.gov/document/OMB...
Strong, individualized comments carry far more weight than form letters.
The Office of Management and Budget (#OMB)
www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...
The public comment period closes July 13, 2026.
Submit your comment directly www.regulations.gov/document/OMB...
Strong, individualized comments carry far more weight than form letters.
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
Hey friends! My latest feature for the @cornellbirds.bsky.social magazine dropped yesterday, about some really cool research into how a long history of cross-genus hybridization may have influenced the cheerful yellow colors of today's warblers. www.allaboutbirds.org/news/when-ev...
When Evolution Painted Warblers Yellow
Millions of years ago, rare hybridization events ignited the genetic sparks that contributed to the bright yellow colors of some birds in the modern wood-warbler family.
www.allaboutbirds.org
June 22, 2026 at 9:14 PM
Hey friends! My latest feature for the @cornellbirds.bsky.social magazine dropped yesterday, about some really cool research into how a long history of cross-genus hybridization may have influenced the cheerful yellow colors of today's warblers. www.allaboutbirds.org/news/when-ev...
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
My paper with @davetoews.bsky.social was featured in the cover story for the latest issue of Living Bird magazine @cornellbirds.bsky.social. Check out the lovely accompanying artwork, too. Well-told by @rheisman.bsky.social.
When Evolution Painted Warblers Yellow
Millions of years ago, rare hybridization events ignited the genetic sparks that contributed to the bright yellow colors of some birds in the modern wood-warbler family.
www.allaboutbirds.org
June 23, 2026 at 1:52 PM
My paper with @davetoews.bsky.social was featured in the cover story for the latest issue of Living Bird magazine @cornellbirds.bsky.social. Check out the lovely accompanying artwork, too. Well-told by @rheisman.bsky.social.
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
New funding opportunity! The Cornell Lab’s NestWatch program is offering small grants for research and community projects on nesting birds in Latin America & the Caribbean. Learn more & apply:
nestwatch.org/explore-data...
#Conservation #Research
nestwatch.org/explore-data...
#Conservation #Research
NestWatch Grant Program: Nesting in the Neotropics - NestWatch
This grant program will fund research and conservation projects focused on nesting biology throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
nestwatch.org
June 16, 2026 at 8:32 PM
New funding opportunity! The Cornell Lab’s NestWatch program is offering small grants for research and community projects on nesting birds in Latin America & the Caribbean. Learn more & apply:
nestwatch.org/explore-data...
#Conservation #Research
nestwatch.org/explore-data...
#Conservation #Research
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
Robert Ricklefs - in memoriam dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2026/06/11/r...
Robert Ricklefs – in memoriam
Robert Ricklefs, a giant of ecology, passed away on Sunday. It is hard to overstate the extensive impact Bob had on the field. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in the US,…
dynamicecology.wordpress.com
June 11, 2026 at 1:54 PM
Robert Ricklefs - in memoriam dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2026/06/11/r...
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
The flagship paper from the amazing Manakin Research Coordination Network is finally published! The time I spent with these people was the most rewarding part of my PhD.
#NewPaperAlert! This one has a massive author list and has been a LONG time in coming, but is SO COOL! First, check out the first figure to get you interested! Manakins! Fruit! Sexual-selection in action (displays and Z:A chromosomal diversity)! Read on for the back story & link
1/n
1/n
June 11, 2026 at 2:13 PM
The flagship paper from the amazing Manakin Research Coordination Network is finally published! The time I spent with these people was the most rewarding part of my PhD.
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
📢New warbler research!📢 A phylogeny of Myioborus (the youngest genus of warblers) plus a hypothesis for how they diversified in South America and a gene causing a color difference between hybridizing species. It was great co-leading this with Laura Céspedes Arias. doi.org/10.1093/evol...
Diversification and divergence in Myioborus warblers: insights into evolutionary relationships and plumage genetics
Abstract. Genomic data can provide valuable insights into the evolutionary history of rapidly diversifying groups and the genetic basis of phenotypic trait
doi.org
May 26, 2026 at 12:02 PM
📢New warbler research!📢 A phylogeny of Myioborus (the youngest genus of warblers) plus a hypothesis for how they diversified in South America and a gene causing a color difference between hybridizing species. It was great co-leading this with Laura Céspedes Arias. doi.org/10.1093/evol...
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
Millions of acres of national forests are set to open up for more logging www.npr.org/2026/05/24/n...
Millions of acres of national forests are set to open up for more logging
The Trump administration is set to repeal a decades-old conservation mandate known as the Roadless Rule, opening up millions of acres of national forests for more logging.
www.npr.org
May 24, 2026 at 5:50 PM
Millions of acres of national forests are set to open up for more logging www.npr.org/2026/05/24/n...
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
Smithsonian Fish Curator position announcement!
Note the application dates of May 12 – June 2, 2026.
Should be posted here tomorrow:
trustcareers.si.edu#js-careers-j...
Note the application dates of May 12 – June 2, 2026.
Should be posted here tomorrow:
trustcareers.si.edu#js-careers-j...
May 11, 2026 at 6:22 PM
Smithsonian Fish Curator position announcement!
Note the application dates of May 12 – June 2, 2026.
Should be posted here tomorrow:
trustcareers.si.edu#js-careers-j...
Note the application dates of May 12 – June 2, 2026.
Should be posted here tomorrow:
trustcareers.si.edu#js-careers-j...
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
The future of Western forests depends on professional pinecone collectors. They’re slowly being starved out of existence.
The plight of the pinecone cowboy - High Country News
As specialized forestry staff at the USFS vanish and pinecone cowboys—the highly skilled contractors sent out in the field to collect cones—face a collapsing industry, entire ecosystems are…
buff.ly
May 11, 2026 at 10:00 PM
The future of Western forests depends on professional pinecone collectors. They’re slowly being starved out of existence.
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
📣 The second issue of 2026 is now complete!
Showcasing new cutting-edge #ornithology research ⬇️
vist.ly/537eq
Cover featuring the article by Paprocki et al on how disease outbreaks may reshape the cost of migration ➡️ vist.ly/537em
📷 Neil Paprocki
#birds #openaccess 🪶
Showcasing new cutting-edge #ornithology research ⬇️
vist.ly/537eq
Cover featuring the article by Paprocki et al on how disease outbreaks may reshape the cost of migration ➡️ vist.ly/537em
📷 Neil Paprocki
#birds #openaccess 🪶
May 6, 2026 at 11:44 AM
📣 The second issue of 2026 is now complete!
Showcasing new cutting-edge #ornithology research ⬇️
vist.ly/537eq
Cover featuring the article by Paprocki et al on how disease outbreaks may reshape the cost of migration ➡️ vist.ly/537em
📷 Neil Paprocki
#birds #openaccess 🪶
Showcasing new cutting-edge #ornithology research ⬇️
vist.ly/537eq
Cover featuring the article by Paprocki et al on how disease outbreaks may reshape the cost of migration ➡️ vist.ly/537em
📷 Neil Paprocki
#birds #openaccess 🪶
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
The 2026 Lance-tailed Manakin webcam is live! Pro tip: click 'watch on you-tube' and scroll back in time to find the action, (today, see 8:23am). Or just enjoy the sounds of the tropical forest and see what's going on NOW in the world of the manakins. www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/lance-t...
Lance-tailed Manakins
Watch the Lance-tailed Manakin cam
www.allaboutbirds.org
April 21, 2026 at 6:37 PM
The 2026 Lance-tailed Manakin webcam is live! Pro tip: click 'watch on you-tube' and scroll back in time to find the action, (today, see 8:23am). Or just enjoy the sounds of the tropical forest and see what's going on NOW in the world of the manakins. www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/lance-t...
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
Solid and accurate reporting on our current situation.
My big takeaway from reporting this story is that it's not JUST about the Forest Service.
The closure of these stations threatens to upend a delicate system of mutually beneficial collaboration and resource sharing, and the impacts will ripple out far beyond the Forest Service itself.
The closure of these stations threatens to upend a delicate system of mutually beneficial collaboration and resource sharing, and the impacts will ripple out far beyond the Forest Service itself.
‘It’s just madness’: Trump administration to close three-quarters of Forest Service research stations
Between funding cuts, facility closures, and the inevitable resignations that will follow, there’s virtually no way for the Forest Service to continue to do research at its current level or quality, w...
thebulletin.org
April 14, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Solid and accurate reporting on our current situation.
Reposted by Ben Vernasco
You're invited to complete a short anonymous survey about device failures in bird biologger deployments! 📡🦆🦅 . 🗓️ Deadline within next 7 weeks (~25th of May).
🔗link: lnkd.in/eKgPNX2m
info below!! 👇
#ornithology #biologging #birds #birdresearch #birdtracking
🔗link: lnkd.in/eKgPNX2m
info below!! 👇
#ornithology #biologging #birds #birdresearch #birdtracking
April 7, 2026 at 1:01 PM
You're invited to complete a short anonymous survey about device failures in bird biologger deployments! 📡🦆🦅 . 🗓️ Deadline within next 7 weeks (~25th of May).
🔗link: lnkd.in/eKgPNX2m
info below!! 👇
#ornithology #biologging #birds #birdresearch #birdtracking
🔗link: lnkd.in/eKgPNX2m
info below!! 👇
#ornithology #biologging #birds #birdresearch #birdtracking