Through their important role as pollinators, bees support the survival and sustenance of entire ecosystems, impacting diverse plant and animal species worldwide, including humans. Bees are critical for agriculture, as pollination by bees supports both the quality and productivity of crop yields. Thus, bees are a bridge that reminds us of our integration with, and […]

“If some giant was to come along and stick something that’s 5% of your weight on your back as a backpack, and you can’t take it off for the rest of your life…like…that’s really stressful.” Alyssa Sargent was pondering with empathy how a hummingbird might feel when she outfits it as part of her research. […]

Have you ever heard stories about the possibility of a girl’s hymen tearing while riding a bicycle, exercising, using a tampon, or simply going to the bathroom? Though an “intact” hymen is often mistakenly associated with virginity, it can easily rupture from everyday activities. Dr. Patricia Brennan is working on dispelling the common association of […]

Division of Animal Behavior Marlene Zuk Award for best talk: Janice Yan Sexual conflict, social networks, and the fitness consequences of female multiple mating ‘I completed my PhD in Reuven Dukas’ Cognitive Ecology Lab at McMaster University. My dissertation examined how extreme sexual conflict influences the social dynamics of bed bugs. I also focused on […]

Division of Animal Behavior Marlene Zuk Award for best talk: Maria Salazar Nicholls Neural control of hatching enzyme release enables rapid escape-hatching in red-eyed treefrogs ‘I am an Ecuadorian PhD student in the Warkentin Lab at Boston University. My research focuses on understanding the mechanisms that underlie adaptive behaviors in early life stages. Specifically, I […]

Did you attend SICB as a student, or have you brought your own students to SICB?  Did the opportunity to network with more senior scientists at SICB impact your career? SICB takes pride in its status as one of the most student-friendly scientific conferences – it’s a place where students stand shoulder to shoulder with […]

1/4/24  The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) has been awarded funding from the National Science Foundation BIO-LEAPS (Leading Culture Change through Professional Societies of Biology) Program. The proposal, entitled “Strengthening Inclusion by Change in Building Equity, Diversity and Understanding (SICBEDU)” will address how SICB can better educate, train, and serve its members by […]

My brain works to control only two feet, and I still manage to trip on a regular basis. Sea stars on the other hand, have hundreds of tube feet and no brain, but somehow keep walking. In fact, sea stars are capable of a speedy bouncing gait characterized by vertically oscillatory motion relative to the […]

Using accurate language is important: the words we choose influence how people think. For example, saying someone is childlike could be taken as a compliment, but saying something is childish is decidedly an insult. This applies to how we frame science as well, particularly when talking to the general public. If you describe a creature […]

Don’t let these cheerful bright colors fool you – not only is this frog poisonous, but it is also harboring a tiny cannibal on its back. These flashy frogs are not only poisonous as adults, but are even dangerous when freshly hatched from their eggs (dangerous, that is, if you are another tadpole). Tadpoles of […]