Postdoctoral researcher Andrea Unzueta Martínez (Girguis Lab) has been awarded the National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for her project, "Investigating the potential role of oyster-associated microbes in regulating calcifying fluid chemistry."

Read more about Andrea Andrea Unzueta Martinez awarded NSF Fellowship in Biology

Postdoctoral researcher Nacho Sanguinetti-Scheck (Hopi Hoekstra lab) was awarded the Human Science Frontiers Postdoctoral Fellowship (HSFP) for his project, "The evolution of neophobia: comparative neurophysiology of deer mice in the wild."

Postdoctoral researcher Amandine Gillet (Stephanie Pierce lab) was awarded Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship for her project, "Back to the sea: Axial evolution in secondarily aquatic mammals."

Postdoctoral Fellow, Yangfan Zhang (Lauder Lab) awarded Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada post-doctoral fellowship for his project, "Fish locomotion: Illuminating the black box of unsteady swimming gates and energetic."

Gonzalo Giribet joins the HMSC Connects! podcast to recount his insatiable interest in scouring the beach for shells growing up south of Barcelona, Spain, which ultimately led him into a career as a scientist.

Professor James Hanken, outgoing Director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ), joins the latest podcast from Harvard Museums of Science & Culture to discuss 20 years of the MCZ. Read more about Twenty years of the MCZ with James Hanken

Gonzalo Giribet has been named the new director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ). Prof. Gonzalo is stepping in for James Hanken who served as MCZ Director for 20 years.

Congratulations to Min Ya (Elena Kramer, Advisor) who has successfully defended her PhD and is now officially Dr. Ya!

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Edward O. Wilson on December 26th. He was 92. Professor Wilson was called "Darwin's natural heir," and was known as "the ant man" for his pioneering work in entomology. He authored over 30 books, twice receiving a Pulitzer Prize along with many other distinguished awards during his six decades at Harvard. He was a pillar of our community and an inspiration to many. He will be greatly missed.

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Read more about In Memoriam: Edward O. Wilson 1929 - 2021

Congratulations to Benjamin E. Goulet-Scott (Robin Hopkins Lab), who has successfully defended his PhD and is now officially Dr. Edelman!

Congratulations to Kristel Schoonderwoerd (Ned Friedman, Advisor), who has successfully defended her PhD and is now officially Dr. Schoonderwoerd!

Congratulations to Vanessa L. Knutson (Peter Girguis, Advisor), who has successfully defended her PhD and is now officially Dr. Knutson!

Fish move not just by swimming but also by jumping, burrowing, walking, and flying. Many species though move by undulating their body and caudal fin (the tail fin that is used for propulsion). These body-caudal-fin (BCF) swimmers, as they are called, exert force against the surrounding water to support and move their body in an undulating motion. Traditionally, these fishes were classified based on key morphological traits and then grouped into four expected swimming modes based on four model species: eel, trout, mackerel, and tuna. But do all fish swim in certain ways based on this...

Read more about Convergence of undulatory swimming movement across a diversity of fishes

Species extinction, the introduction of non-native plants, climate change, and pollution are all major drivers of changes in biological communities due to human activity. Though these patterns have been well studied, most investigations focus on only one of these drivers and often in a localized area rather than more globally.

In a study published December 6 in Nature Communications researchers have compiled a dataset of over 200,000 plant species worldwide to demonstrate the extent to which...

Read more about Global database of plants reveals human activity biggest driver of homogenization of plant communities

The sensitive fern – named due to its sensitivity to drought and frost – is a widespread species found throughout eastern North America and eastern Asia. It is a dimorphic plant because it has two distinct types of leaves – one for photosynthesis and one for reproduction. While most fern species in temperate regions produce and disperse their spores in the summer, the sensitive fern has an atypical timing of spore dispersal. In the early summer they produce heavily modified spore-bearing fronds (or leaves) with leaflets tightly enveloping their sporangia and spores. These fronds...

Read more about Humidity changes in dead fern fronds drives unique timing of spore dispersal in a widespread fern species