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By Tatum Lyles Flick, Evolutionary Studies communications consultant Many fungi are naturally resistant to the drugs available to treat them, while others evolve resistance to drugs prescribed in clinical settings. Determining which medication will be most effective in treating a patient can be a time-consuming challenge. Vanderbilt University… Read More

By Fabiana Fragoso, PhD – ESI Scientific Communications Volunteer For more than a century, paleontologists have debated what the prehistoric mammals known as “hell pigs” were actually eating. Despite their nickname, these animals were actually more closely related to whales and hippos than to modern pigs. With unusually long… Read More

Lin Meng’s few short years at Vanderbilt have been productive in advancing understanding of the factors that influence the changing growing seasons of plants. Meng is an assistant professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Vanderbilt. She posits that the most widely assumed external factor influencing the growing… Read More

By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator While someone may not often think about the bacteria living in their gut, assistant professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology Wenhan Zhu and his team, Luisella Spiga, Ryan Fansler, Yifan Wu, and Abigail Rose certainly do. They’ve carved out a niche… Read More

By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Many factors influence growth and reproductive patterns in animals and people alike. New research, led by postdoctoral researcher Rachel Petersen of the Lea Lab at Vanderbilt and Assistant Professor Sam Patterson of Notre Dame University, shows that adversity experienced during development may… Read More

By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator In fall 2026, Evolutionary Studies member and associate professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences Neil Kelley and History of Art and Architecture senior lecturer Susan Dine began teaching a new Museum Practice course. The course offers a focused, immersive, case- and… Read More

By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Female song is far more widespread in songbirds than many people realize, occurring in about two thirds of songbird species, and new research is reshaping how scientists understand its evolution. Using large-scale species-level datasets collected on songbird behaviors,… Read More

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,… Read More

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,… Read More

By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Giant ground sloth cast at the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum (DeSantis) 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… Read More