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By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies senior program manager Antonis Rokas, Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in Biological Sciences and Director of Evolutionary Studies, was named a Mycological Society of America fellow in summer 2026. In his acceptance speech (video below), he outlines how he was not trained as a mycologist but… Read More

By: Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies senior program manager The food we eat influences the wear patterns on our teeth. Dentists will tell you about the effects of acidic coffee or soda, hard candies, and popcorn kernels. Paleoecologists will tell you about the effects of grass versus branches. In a new… Read More

Originally posted by UC-Berkeley team, edits by Andy Flick Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Scientists Discover Key Genetic Adaptations in Partnership with Turkana Pastoralists of Northern Kenya Groundbreaking study reveals how thousands of years of natural selection shaped remarkable adaptations to an extreme environment. Through a collaboration… Read More

By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Hatmaker posing with the Evolutionary Studies outreach casts. Annie Hatmaker, Ph.D., has spent the better part of a decade studying fungi and their secondary metabolites – small molecules they use to communicate, defend, and thrive. Her new publication, “Population structure in a… Read More

By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator In football, defense keeps the opposing team in check. A similar strategy is at play inside our cells. Negative feedback loops (NFLs) help regulate how cells respond to signals, for example, dialing down activity when things get too intense. A new study from… Read More

DeSantis and Gnash with a saber-toothed cat! Nashville, TN – April 4, 2025 – A innovative study led by researchers from Vanderbilt University sheds new light on the dietary ecology of the iconic saber-toothed cat, Smilodon. The study, published in a special issue on sabertoothed organisms in The Anatomical Record,… Read More

By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Evolution often makes a deal with the devil, creating challenges for treating human disease. By mass, the muscles of thoroughbred racehorses consume more than twice the oxygen of elite human athletes. Yet, oxygen produces free radicals, which damage organ tissues. Balancing energy production… Read More

By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator New research from Ken Catania, Stevenson Professor of Biological Sciences, shows another incredible result. The “Cocoon of the Developing Emerald Jewel Wasp (Ampulex compressa) Resists Cannibalistic Predation of the Zombified Host” was published in Brain, Behavior, and Evolution. Catania’s research program… Read More

By: Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies Scientific Coordinator Arner, right, with local community members and researchers sharing knowledge in a relaxed setting, discussing findings and gathering insights on local lifestyle practices. A new review co-led by graduate students Layla Brassington and Audrey Arner of the Lea Lab discusses the formulation of… Read More

By: Alexandria Leeper, Evolutionary Studies graduate communications assistant Sylvia Cheever prepares to enter the trace metal clean lab at Arizona State University, where she conducts research on mercury levels in ancient human bones from Peru. Sylvia Cheever, a Ph.D. student in Biological Anthropology at Vanderbilt University, is uncovering the hidden… Read More