Jon Cybulski

#isoecol2026 is now live for abstract and workshop submission! Come join us in Hong Kong!

DM with any questions and please share!

Thank you for coming!

Thanks to my amazing coauthors: Rodnyel Arosemena, @jonscibulski.bsky.social , Brígida De Gracia, @sethf.bsky.social , @otolith-lin.bsky.social , Javiera Mora, Sven Pallacks, and @odealab.bsky.social !

By analyzing thousands of otoliths preserved in sediments, we found that fish were larger on average at death on reefs in Pacific Panama, compared to those along the Caribbean coast, and that this difference has widened over time.

New paper out today! "Fossil otolith assemblages reveal millennial-scale changes in reef fish biomass and trophic structure across the Isthmus of Panama"

🔓https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2024.0419

We used fossil fish otoliths to reconstruct community structure and energetics over millennia.

Bull shark found stranded in Hong Kong mudflats returned to sea by residents Despite being caught in Pak Nai fishing nets, scientist says presence of juvenile shark suggests city’s ‘abused’ marine ecosystem is recovering.

A juvenile bull shakr found in Hong Kong !

sc.mp/s2ygf?utm_so...

The @swimshku.bsky.social whale has returned!

Final reminder to consider submitting an abstract to join our thematic session on "Reefs through time" at the @icrs.bsky.social meeting next July.

The call for abstracts closes Dec 1! See below for details.
Hope to see you there!

We are so excited to welcome such a great addition to #HKU Science! Can't wait to collaborate!

(PDF) Isotopic evidence of increased societal diversification in Pre-Columbian Panama PDF | The Pre-Columbian history of Panama stands in unique contrast to the state-level societies of Mesoamerica to the north and the Andes to the south.... | Find, read and cite all the research you n...

New paper alert!
"Isotopic evidence of increased societal diversification in Pre-Columbian Panama"
www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Palaeonology: A small subject has big questions The involvement of around 200 researchers from over 30 different countries and more than five years’ work have resulted in 89 “Big Questions” – the most important research questions in paleontology…

New paper alert! See press release here!
Palaeonology: A small subject has big questions www.fau.eu/2025/09/news...

Work on reef paleoecology? Join our session "Reefs through time: leveraging today's interdisciplinary tools to better understand the past of reef organisms and ecosystems" at the 2026 International Coral Reef Symposium

📆Abstract deadline: Dec 1, 2025
🔗https://www.icrs2026.nz/call-for-abstracts

Our @icrs.bsky.social 2026 session is now open for abstract submission! Consider it if you work on reef systems through time!

📊 new paper! The natural phenomenon of upwelling, which normally occurs every year in the Gulf of Panama, failed for the first time on record in 2025...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
[most co-authors not on bluesky except @javsdiaz.bsky.social @jonscibulski.bsky.social]...

SWIMS will be a very busy place from tomorrow because Integrative Marine Ecology & Conservation (IMEC) MSc has launched! Tomorrow, forty-four students will start their journey at SWIMS and HKU. Their first class – Ocean Biodiversity, is at 9am. Welcome to SWIMS, everyone!
@jonscibulski.bsky.social

Dr Jon Cybulski @jonscibulski.bsky.social talks about the story of his latest paper: Historical Ecology of the Southern Central American Pacific Coast. With @odealab.bsky.social
More: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
#marinescience #centralamerica #humanspecies #sustainability

I second the curiosity about oxygen production - what % do you have the ocean producing? I often see ~50% as well (not air as the article states, but O2 as you say)

Awesome postdoc opportunity with some really great people. If you are interested in spatial paleoecology, take a look and spread the word!

I have never been more honoured. My overhead mobility looking great.

We Are All Ocean Connected Marine resource use has influenced human population on the Central American Isthmus for millennia

"We are all ocean connected" stri.si.edu/story/we-are...
Official #Smithsonian press release now out!

@aesharpe.bsky.social

I want to end by saying how special this article was to lead. It really was a beautiful team effort that brought it together, and I am very proud to have represented the Isthmus and #STRI #Smithsonian with this work. SCIENCE SHOULD BE COLLABORATIVE AND MEANINGFUL. I hope you agree, and enjoy!

This was all part of the wonderful special edition "Shifting Seas: Understanding Deep-Time Human Impacts on Marine Ecosystems" in @royalsocietypublishing.org led by editor @lukeeholman.bsky.social

Illustration: Jacek Matysiak

Español abstract in supplements, along with español case-studies as well! doi.org/10.6084/m9.f...

Pay wall? DM for pdf!

This would COULD NOT BE POSSIBLE without my wonderful co-authors and discipline experts (most not on BS) such as: @erinmdillon.bsky.social @odealab.bsky.social and the rest

Photos: @leilanilipour.bsky.social and Jorge Alemán

We tried hard to fuse stories of oceans, climate, biodiversity, and early human systems to bring focus to this incredible region of study, with a hope and a need to attract more attention to it in the future!

photo: @leilanilipour.bsky.social

Our work emphasises the importance of ocean–land connections for Isthmian peoples and the critical balance of livlihoods, research, and conservation efforts needed to ensure its future sustainability.

Photo: @leilanilipour.bsky.social

We identified three major transitions of Isthmian peoples relationships with the #ocean and its resources:
1) The shift to agriculture after megafauna extinction,
2) rising sea levels and the novel ecosystems they created,
3) Spanish colonisation and the globalisation of resource extraction

Using #STRI's vast zooarch collections, we found intersting diet trends showing the diversity of ecosystems peoples relied on over many thousands of years

My fav part was the incredible case-studies co-authors #nicole #brigida #irene @odealab.bsky.social @erinmdillon.bsky.social told about shell fishing, the pearl oyster industry, and the history of indigenous peoples under Spanish occupation.

All BEAUTIFUL illustrations: @cookedillustrations.com

Our proudly interdisciplinary team of paleobiologists, archaeologists, anthropologists, and global change researchers worked hard to combine vast datasets that would be intersting to a wide suite of readers. Everything from zooarchaeology to sea level change!

Photo: Jorge Alemán