About the author: Sabrina Heiser (she/her/hers) is a PhD Candidate in Dr. Charles D. Amsler’s lab at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her research focuses on the factors driving the geographic distribution of chemical defenses in a red seaweed. For her sample and data collection, she gets to go and SCUBA dive in Antarctica. She […]
Tag: fish
Habitat Fragmentation of the Catfish Hemibagrus spilopterus: Dammed If We Do
About the author: Rose Ferguson wrote this post as part of Dr. Stacy Krueger-Hadfield‘s Principles of Scientific Investigation course. She is currently a dual Bachelor’s and Master’s student through the Accelerated Bachelor’s to Master’s program at UAB. She is planning on conducting research in Dr. Dustin Kemp’s lab beginning spring of 2021. With COVID-19 safety […]
Parasite Tagging: A Surprising Identification Strategy in Ecological Research
Say you are studying a population of anadromous fish. These fish live in the ocean and swim upriver to spawn, with each fish returning to the river in which it hatched. The different rivers wind up containing separate subpopulations, as fish from different rivers never interbreed. How can these distinct subpopulations be recognized when the […]
To band or not to band: what drives the expression of fashion accessories in female pipefish?
“Tale as old as time. Female chooses male. Male is large in size. Male has weaponry. Unsurprisingly! Male’s ornamentation. Male’s behavior. Female makes the eggs. Takes care of the young. Male and female roles.”1 But not all the time! 1Adapted from Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” written by Howard Ashman As the female is usually […]
Revealing ancient hybridization’s role in diversification
Hybridization between closely related species is a rapidly emerging field of interest for evolutionary biologists, and the more scientists look for signals of hybridization (with ever fancier tools), the more we learn that hybridization is the norm rather than the exception (Payseur & Rieseberg 2016). While young species pairs tend to hybridize more readily than […]
What does it take to be extreme? Insights from toxic springs in Southern Mexico
Taking a hike through the Villa Luz Natural Park in Southern Mexico, you’ll quickly find yourself enraptured. As you cross the steel bridge that hangs over the river, the lush, bright green foliage of the jungle and sounds of birds and howler monkeys surround you. The deeper you go, the faint sulfurous smell of rotten […]
