News & Events
Vanderbilt Research Shows Tropical Mammals Shifting to Nighttime Activity in Response to Rising Temperatures
Feb. 18, 2026—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator As global temperatures climb, animals are rewriting the rules of daily life in real time. New from associate professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences Malu Jorge documents one of the clearest examples yet of a tropical mammal fundamentally restructuring its behavior in response to heat, and raises urgent...
Vanderbilt Researchers Show Some Anaerobic Bacteria Have Surprisingly High Mutation Rates
Feb. 17, 2026—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Ask any biologist what causes DNA mutations, and oxygen will likely make the shortlist. It is reactive, super-abundant, and has been fingered as a major culprit in genetic damage for decades. So, here is a head-scratcher: if oxygen is such a DNA troublemaker, bacteria that avoid it entirely...
Renowned Paleontologist Greg Wilson Mantilla to Discuss Mass Extinction and Ecosystem Recovery for ESI Earth Day Lecture
Feb. 7, 2026—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Greg Wilson Mantilla, a professor of biology at the University of Washington and curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Burke Museum, will present the Earth Day Lecture at Vanderbilt on April 15, from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. in Medical Research Building III, Room 1220. The lecture is free...
Tyrone B. Hayes to Deliver 2026 J.T. Scopes Lecture
Feb. 1, 2026—The Evolutionary Studies Initiative at Vanderbilt University will welcome Tyrone B. Hayes, the Judy Chandler Webb Distinguished Chair for Innovative Teaching and Research and professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, to deliver the J.T. Scopes Lecture on Wednesday, March 18, 2026 at 3:00pm in Medical Research Building III,...
Michael Lynch, Pioneer of Evolutionary Cell Biology, to Deliver 2026 Darwin Day Lecture
Jan. 31, 2026—By: Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Michael Lynch, a leading evolutionary biologist whose groundbreaking work integrates population genetics with cell biology, will deliver the 2026 Darwin Day Lecture on Wednesday, February 18. Lynch’s talk, Drift, Mutation, and the Origin of Biological Features, part of Vanderbilt University’s Evolutionary Studies Initiative International Darwin Day celebrations, will...
Evolutionary Studies Initiative Receives NIH Training Grant for Computational Evolutionary Approaches to Disease
Dec. 5, 2025—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator In July 2025, the Evolutionary Studies Initiative at Vanderbilt University secured its first initiative-wide grant to train the next generation of biomedical scientists. The grant funded through the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences T32 Training Program, provides funding for two graduate students annually...
Vanderbilt Paleontology Graduate Student Brynn Wooten Brings Hell Pigs to the Forefront
Nov. 18, 2025—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Archaeotherium, better known by the irresistibly dramatic nickname “Hell Pigs,” belong to an extinct group of mammals from the Eocene and Oligocene. The animals were neither hellish nor pigs, but their odd mix of features has made them a favorite for researchers. Graduate student Brynn Wooten of the...
Giant Ground Sloth Extinction Led to Loss of Ecological Services
Oct. 22, 2025—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Giant ground sloths were more than just Ice Age oddities. They were ecosystem engineers whose disappearance reshaped the landscapes they once roamed. A new study from Vanderbilt University’s DREAM Lab reveals just how diverse these megaherbivores’ diets were, highlighting the ecological roles that vanished when they went extinct....
City Lights Are Rewriting the Calendar: Vanderbilt Researchers Show Artificial Light Extends Urban Growing Seasons
Sep. 23, 2025—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator City lights are rewriting the calendar. A new global study from Vanderbilt researchers Lin Meng and Huidong Li shows that artificial light at night is more powerful than temperature in extending urban growing seasons — keeping trees greener longer, with consequences for carbon cycling, frost risk, and even...
Partnership with Turkana Community Helps Scientists Discover Genes Involved in Adaptation to Desert Living
Sep. 18, 2025—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 between US and Kenyan researchers and Turkana communities of...
Annie Hatmaker Explores the Global Diversity of a Pathogenic Fungus
Aug. 18, 2025—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator 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 fungal human pathogen is potentially linked to pathogenicity,” closes her dissertation work and opens...
Vanderbilt Trainees Bring Evolution Education to Classrooms Across Tennessee
Jun. 6, 2025—By: Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator From rural high schools to elementary classrooms, trainees of the Evolutionary Studies Initiative (ESI) are bringing evolutionary science directly to the next generation. On May 9, a team of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers visited McGavock Elementary School in Nashville to lead a series of hands-on science activities...
Vanderbilt’s Evolutionary Studies Initiative Honored with 2025 Friend of Darwin Award
Jun. 4, 2025—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) has named Vanderbilt University’s Evolutionary Studies Initiative (ESI) as one of its 2025 recipients of the prestigious Friend of Darwin award. This national honor recognizes ESI’s outstanding contributions to advancing public understanding of evolution through interdisciplinary research, education, and outreach. Directed...
Pilot Grants: Opening Doors to Fellowships and Beyond
May. 12, 2025—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Since its launch, the pilot grant program has supported graduate students and postdoctoral researchers across a wide range of disciplines—including biological sciences, anthropology, Earth and environmental sciences, and biomedical research. Trainees have used this support to jumpstart fieldwork, generate pilot data, and explore new research directions. Several have...
A Conservative Defense: Downstream NFLs Resist Evolutionary Blitzes
May. 9, 2025—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 Vanderbilt University reveals that these...