Dr. Elizabeth Carlen's Avatar

Dr. Elizabeth Carlen

@ecarlen

urban evolutionary ecology | squirrel chaser & pigeon stalker | she/her/hers | www.elizabethcarlen.com

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07.08.2023
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Latest posts by Dr. Elizabeth Carlen @ecarlen

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Hey @theguardian.com that isn’t a chameleon (and chameleons aren’t found in Phoenix). www.theguardian.com/environment/...

30.10.2025 15:14 👍 2 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0

Hey @gee-or-gia.bsky.social excited to see you at the Making Saint Louis the Nature City of the 21st Century Symposium with the #LivingEarthCollaborative on Friday!

22.09.2025 16:02 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
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Looking forward to speaking @dzg2025berlin.bsky.social in Berlin on Anthropocene Biology in Eastern Europe and Beyond. I will talk about the implications of #war on wildlife. Sadly, science meets reality when my departure to Berlin was delayed due a #drone attack in Poland.

10.09.2025 18:55 👍 8 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 0
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Legacy effects of religion, politics and war on urban evolutionary biology - Nature Cities Cities affect biological evolution, but traditionally researchers focus on the biophysical influence of urban environments. Instead, this Review explores how the social processes of religion, politics...

Thrilled to share our Perspective published in 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴: 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻, #𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 #𝘄𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗻 #𝘂𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆.

It also elevates Eastern European perspectives - underrepresented in #urban #evolution narratives.

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

12.09.2025 11:46 👍 19 🔁 9 💬 1 📌 0
Plant cells are totipotent, meaning individual cells have the potential to develop into a full organism, a property unique to the zygote for animals. However, in most species for most cells, plant cells are not spontaneously totipotent, since they must be treated with specific hormone combinations to unlock their totipotency. Species within the Kalanchoe genus is unique as they spontaneously develop foliar embryos that are fully realized plantlets with shoot and root from notches along the edges of leaves. We speculate that the progenitor cells that give rise to these foliar embryos are totipotent, and we are using single cell techniques to identify & characterize them. In addition to being a fundamental process for plant biology, we foresee unlocking totipotency has many biotechnological applications, such as faciliating genetic transformation and the development of synthetic organs of biomanufacturing.

Please share! I'm looking for a postdoc. The position is to lead one of the following projects: 1) regulation of plant specialized metabolism by cell fate, or 2) foliar embryogenesis in the succulent plant Kalanchoe.

Learn more abt projects: cxli233.github.io/cxLi_lab/res...

04.09.2025 14:00 👍 88 🔁 110 💬 1 📌 3
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Pigeons of St. Louis: A new look at a cosmopolitan bird Pigeons seem right at home in St. Louis. You can see flocks perching on rooftops and power lines, waiting for a chance to grab a stray scrap of food or dirty a windshield. Daisy Lewis Cities have push...

If it's pedestrian friendly, your city will be pigeon friendly. Pigeons luvvv an outdoor cafe. From "pigeon stalker" @ecarlen.bsky.social at the @livingearthcollab.bsky.social This is also an excellent example of an undergrad research project. artsci.washu.edu/ampersand/pi... #UrbanEcology #Birds 🧪

03.09.2025 20:34 👍 19 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0

This is likely my last year on the academic job market. I feel like academia doesn't see value in the work I'm doing (& I know our current administration doesn't see it's value).

I LOVE my work, but we live in a capitalist society & I need to make a sustainable income.

28.08.2025 17:19 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Picture of a lizard attached to a pencil with text saying that researchers have found that lizards in New Orleans are so full of lead you can write with them

Picture of a lizard attached to a pencil with text saying that researchers have found that lizards in New Orleans are so full of lead you can write with them

Some more nice coverage of the lead work

26.08.2025 15:09 👍 8 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
Rocky Mountains in Colorado, illustrating some of the extreme variation that Pardosa spiders have to live with at high elevations. Photo credit: Michael Moore.

Rocky Mountains in Colorado, illustrating some of the extreme variation that Pardosa spiders have to live with at high elevations. Photo credit: Michael Moore.

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New research from @moore-evo-eco.bsky.social & P. Cushing in #RESInsectConsDiv

High & hardy: Cold-tolerant #generalists inhabit extreme elevations in Rocky Mountain #Pardosa #spiders
doi.org/10.1111/icad.70011

@manusaunders.bsky.social @wiley.com

Photo: Rocky Mountains, Colorado (credit M.Moore)

26.08.2025 15:15 👍 5 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0
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Lizards in New Orleans have highest blood-lead levels ever recorded, study finds Brown lizards in New Orleans carry more lead in their blood than any other animal on record — levels that would kill humans — yet they seem unfazed, according to new Tulane study.

Brown lizards in New Orleans carry more lead in their blood than any other animal on record — levels that would kill humans — yet they seem unfazed, according to new Tulane study.

22.08.2025 16:00 👍 8 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 3
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I hope you’re all enjoying this descent into madness.

The important thing to remember is what while I can’t sing, neither can eels, so this little jingle is very scientifically accurate.

So please. Get an eel facts advent calendar. You don’t have to wait until Christmas for eels. EelFacts.Net

21.08.2025 13:45 👍 586 🔁 157 💬 29 📌 32
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Scientists no Longer Find Twitter Professionally Useful, and have Switched to Bluesky Synopsis. Social media has become widely used by the scientific community for a variety of professional uses, including networking and public outreach. For

Hey everybody! @drjuliawester.bsky.social and I have a new paper!

We surveyed over 800 scientists, science communicators, and science educators who use social media.

Conclusion: Scientists no longer find Twitter useful or pleasant, and many have switched to Bluesky! 🧪🌎🦑

doi.org/10.1093/icb/...

19.08.2025 14:34 👍 3801 🔁 1188 💬 86 📌 111
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I’ll get the sea lion if you get the cat :p

13.08.2025 00:28 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
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How are people not creating tattoo selves of all these species description plates?! There are so many good ones!

14.08.2025 15:54 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
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Studies of domestic pigeons have taught us lots about cognition, navigation, and genetics. If you’d like to learn why their wild cousins are also worthy of scientific attention, I’ve written a Rock Dove @currentbiology.bsky.social ‘quick guide’: doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.065

10.03.2025 14:47 👍 64 🔁 18 💬 1 📌 1
A happy Steller sea lion lays on a grassy piece of land. The head is abnormally small for a sea lion and the sea lion is in the classic banana pose.

A happy Steller sea lion lays on a grassy piece of land. The head is abnormally small for a sea lion and the sea lion is in the classic banana pose.

Ok, who is going to get this original drawing of a Steller Sea Lion as a tattoo?

(image found by Dr. Sam Kreling)

12.08.2025 20:48 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
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Ecology/Evolution/Marine Biology labs recruiting for Fall 2026 Please complete this form if you are a PI recruiting graduate students for a Fall 2026 start. If you are NOT recruiting, feel free to share the response sheet with prospective students looking for lab...

Its that time again - the list of Ecology/Evolution/Marine Bio Labs recruiting grad students for Fall 2026 is live!
PIs enter your position info here: forms.gle/2XTHBP6CZGEn...
Prospective students (and PIs not recruiting) share the composite list: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Please share! 🧪

15.05.2025 19:57 👍 72 🔁 76 💬 2 📌 0
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EXTENDED! Apply by August 8th!
We are now seeking new grad students to serve in the 2026 cohort! GSAC represents student and postdoc interests to SSE Council and facilitates interaction among students, postdocs, and mentors at #Evol2025 and throughout the year.

24.07.2025 18:53 👍 8 🔁 7 💬 0 📌 2
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Guerra, política e religião moldam a evolução da vida selvagem nas cidades Os seres humanos mudam a paisagem urbana com atividades religiosas, culturais e políticas, que, por sua vez, podem influenciar a evolução de animais e plantas urbanos

Nosso artigo *Legacy effects of religion, politics and war on urban evolutionary biology*, recentemente publicado na NATURE CITIES, é tema de uma interessante peça de divulgação, em português, no site The Conversation Brasil‼️ theconversation.com/guerra-polit...

@ecarlen.bsky.social

25.07.2025 20:23 👍 3 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
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Was just asked to speak at a public school. While researching the community, I found their mascot is a slur for people of short stature. How is this still acceptable?!

Needless to say, I will absolutely NOT be speaking there.

Here is the school website for those interested: www.fchs77.org

25.07.2025 16:39 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

I wholeheartedly agree!

24.07.2025 19:27 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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A few more of the comments:

24.07.2025 17:10 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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I was on @stlpublicradio.bsky.social last week talking about some of my work on how human social & cultural factors influence wildlife and the comments on the Instagram post are BONKERS.

Full STLPR interview here: www.stlpr.org/show/st-loui...

Instagram post here: www.instagram.com/p/DMYpQJ3gxk...

24.07.2025 17:07 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
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Segregation runs so deep in St. Louis, it may even affect squirrel DNA The St. Louis socioeconomic and racial dividing line known as the Delmar Divide separates people, and new research suggests it also segregates wildlife.

New research by a local scientist explains the ways politics have shaped the genealogy — and even evolution — of St. Louis squirrels.

21.07.2025 23:10 👍 6 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 1

LEC postdoc Elizabeth Carlen (@ecarlen.bsky.social) joins St Louis on the Air to explore how STL's built environment shapes not just neighborhoods — but wildlife.

It's a must-listen for anyone interested in urban ecology and STL history.

🎧 Tap the link in our bio to listen.

23.07.2025 16:23 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

`A loaf of bread, a carton of milk and a stick of butter.' I lived in NZ and our butter didn't come in sticks, or milk in cartons then, but I still remember every second of that segment, and the beautiful art.

19.07.2025 02:01 👍 10 🔁 1 💬 2 📌 0

I always look both ways and then again when crossing the street because of Sesame Street

18.07.2025 17:35 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

There are segments from Sesame Street that I still think about daily 35+ years later

18.07.2025 13:30 👍 38 🔁 0 💬 3 📌 2

Talk about The Wire, Sopranos, Game of Thrones all you want, but the greatest US television program ever made is Sesame Street. It's not even close. 50+ years of treating kids across class, ethnicity, religion not as mini-consumers...but as citizens with a stake in this world.

18.07.2025 11:06 👍 12814 🔁 2923 💬 154 📌 169
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I’ll be on @stlpublicradio.bsky.social at 12pm today to talk about my latest Nature Cities paper

17.07.2025 16:15 👍 6 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0