Over the past 25 years a number of instruments have been published that attempt to measure understanding and acceptance of evolution. Science educators have been administering these instruments and reporting results, however, it is not clear these instruments are being used appropriately. The goal of this paper is to review these instruments, noting the original criteria and population for which evidence of validity and reliability was assessed, and to survey other publications that report their use, examining each for evidence of validity and reliability with subsequent populations. Our hope is that such a comprehensive review will engage researchers and practitioners in a careful examination of how they intend to use a particular instrument and whether it can provide an accurate and meaningful assessment of the desired outcomes. We encourage the community to administer evolution education assessments with the consideration of an instrument's measurement support and past use with similar populations. We also encourage researchers to add additional evidence of validity and reliability for these instruments, especially if modifications have been made to the instrument or if its use has been extended to new populations.
Environmental variation favors the evolution of phenotypic plasticity. For many species, we understand the costs and benefits of different phenotypes, but we lack a broad understanding of how plastic traits evolve across large clades. Using identical experiments conducted across North America, we examined prey responses to predator cues. We quantified five life-history traits and the magnitude of their plasticity for 23 amphibian species/populations (spanning three families and five genera) when exposed to no cues, crushed-egg cues, and predatory crayfish cues. Embryonic responses varied considerably among species and phylogenetic signal was common among the traits, whereas phylogenetic signal was rare for trait plasticities. Among trait-evolution models, the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (OU) model provided the best fit or was essentially tied with Brownian motion. Using the best fitting model, evolutionary rates for plasticities were higher than traits for three life-history traits and lower for two. These data suggest that the evolution of life-history traits in amphibian embryos is more constrained by a species' position in the phylogeny than is the evolution of life history plasticities. The fact that an OU model of trait evolution was often a good fit to patterns of trait variation may indicate adaptive optima for traits and their plasticities.
The postdoctoral workforce comprises a growing proportion of the STEM community and plays a vital role in advancing science. Postdoc professional development, however, remains rooted in outdated realities. We propose enhancements to postdoc-centred policies and practices to better align this career stage with contemporary job markets and work life. By facilitating productivity, wellness, and career advancement, the proposed changes will benefit all stakeholders in postdoc success -including research teams, institutions, professional societies, and the scientific community as a whole. To catalyse reform, we outline recommendations for a) skills-based training tailored to the current career landscape, and b) supportive policies and tools outlined in postdoc handbooks. We also invite the ecology and evolution community to lead further progressive reform. Main Text (current word count 2188):Postdoctoral researchers ("postdocs"; Fig. 1A) contribute extensive research, teaching, and service to their supervising faculty, home institutions, and broader scientific communities [1][2][3][4] . In principle, these contributions are rewarded with opportunities to specialize and develop independence. In practice, however, postdocs' progress and well-being are constrained by social, mental, and financial challenges 1,5-7 . Further, the skills and credentials that are prioritized in postdoc positions are misaligned with contemporary job markets (e.g. [8][9][10][11] , Figure 1C). These issues highlight an urgent need for policies and practices that better support a growing postdoctoral workforce. Ultimately, this will benefit all stakeholders in postdoc success --providing ethical and far-reaching returns on time and resource investments [1][2][3][4][5]12 .Below, we describe five goals for enhancing postdoc professional development. We also highlight innovative examples of policies and practices from around the globe. Our recommendations are applicable to many STEM disciplines, but especially relevant to ecology and evolution. Alternative careers in these fields commonly require additional training [13][14][15] , and non-academic paths are often unknown to both postdocs and their mentors. This causes anxiety and reticence for postdocs who, by choice or by necessity, are considering nontraditional careers 1,16,17 . Fortunately, the ecology and evolution community is also poised to lead adaptive reform. Our research targets complex interactions spanning many levels of biological organization. Consequently, our community possesses the tools and perspectives needed for strategic, evidence-based engineering of workplace ecosystems 9 .Goal 1: Align career development with job markets 1,3,38,39 ). More effective mentorship can be facilitated through training, 36 and should be incentivized during hiring, evaluation, and merit-based promotion 40 .
Antifungal resistance in pathogenic fungi is a growing global health concern. Non-pathogenic laboratory strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are an important model for studying mechanisms of antifungal resistance that are relevant to understanding the same processes in pathogenic fungi. We have developed a series of laboratory modules in which high school students used experimental evolution to study antifungal resistance by isolating azole-resistant S. cerevisiae mutants and examining the genetic basis of resistance. We have sequenced 99 clones from these experiments and found that all possessed mutations previously shown to impact azole resistance, validating our approach. We additionally found recurrent mutations in an mRNA degradation pathway and an uncharacterized mitochondrial protein (Csf1) that have possible mechanistic connections to azole resistance. The scale of replication in this initiative allowed us to identify candidate epistatic interactions, as evidenced by pairs of mutations that occur in the same clone more frequently than expected by chance (positive epistasis) or less frequently (negative epistasis). We validated one of these pairs, a negative epistatic interaction between gain-of-function mutations in the multidrug resistance transcription factors Pdr1 and Pdr3. This high school-university collaboration can serve as a model for involving members of the broader public in the scientific process to make meaningful discoveries in biomedical research.
Aim Early genetic studies in the south‐eastern United States provided the foundation for ideas in the field of comparative phylogeography, but few direct comparisons with consistent sampling across taxa exist for this region. We investigate the influence of historical processes and species‐level characteristics on phylogeographic structure within four anuran species, evaluate previously described biogeographic patterns, and test three hypotheses of expansion from putative glacial refugia. Location South‐eastern United States Coastal Plain. Methods We sampled four anuran species from the same 36 localities, assembled mitochondrial genomes from Illumina sequence data and estimated phylogenetic relationships and divergence times within each species. We used spatially explicit phylogeographic analyses and ecological niche models (ENMs) to test predictions about expansion from putative glacial refugia and estimate species‐specific parameters including dispersal, migration direction and centre of origin. ENMs for four different time periods were compared within species to assess niche stability. Results Species differ in patterns of mitochondrial divergence, with only one species displaying a pattern consistent with the previously described Alabama suture zone. Few predictions for hypotheses of expansion from putative glacial refugia were met. ENMs suggest that species have responded differently to historical changes in climate, possibly contributing to discordant genetic patterns. Two species with deep mitochondrial divergences (>2.5 Ma) had low niche stability through time and potentially isolated regions of suitable habitat, whereas the two species with relatively stable, continuous niches exhibit less genetic structure. Main conclusions These Coastal Plain anurans appear to have been affected by historical climate change, but were not necessarily isolated in glacial refugia. Different natural history characteristics have likely produced discordant patterns in these species, with more generalist, ephemeral breeders exhibiting greater niche stability and lower phylogeographic structure.
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