Category Archives: methods

In the pipeline – Part 1: ‘Plan, plan, and plan some more’

Posted on 10 Mar, 2021 by Rishi De-Kayne

So you’ve decided it’s time to finally get around to starting that sequencing project. But before you aimlessly leap into it and generate terabytes of sequencing data, just STOP.  It’s far too tempting to rush into sequencing projects for a … Continue reading →

Posted in bioinformatics, evolution, genomics, howto, methods, population genetics, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Simple rules for organizing data in a spreadsheet

Posted on 30 Sep, 2020 by Kathleen Grogan

Most scientists collect and organize at least some data in spreadsheets, usually Excel or Google Sheets, despite the potential pitfalls of using such products (there are even archives of spreadsheet horror stories). The most commonly bemoaned problem in Biology, that … Continue reading →

Posted in data archiving, howto, methods | Leave a comment

Genes rolling down the river

Posted on 12 Jun, 2020 by Stacy Krueger-Hadfield

Sarah Shainker wrote this post as a part of Dr. Stacy Krueger-Hadfield’s Conservation Genetics course at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Sarah completed a B.S. in Marine Biology at the College of Charleston before serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines, … Continue reading →

Posted in bioinformatics, blogging, citizen science, Coevolution, community ecology, comparative phylogeography, DNA barcoding, ecology, evolution, fieldwork, haploid-diploid, natural history, Science Communication | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Simple tools for mastering color in scientific figures

Posted on 23 Apr, 2020 by Patrícia Chrzanová Pečnerová

Call me a procrastinator but I strongly believe that spending time to select a good color scheme can work miracles with a plot, paper, or presentation. In science, it’s generally not expected that you invest time into a thought process … Continue reading →

Posted in howto, methods, Science Communication, science publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

FISHing for molecules, a link between form and function in animal–bacteria symbioses

Posted on 15 Mar, 2020 by Laetitia Wilkins

I am posting a blog post that was written by Benedikt Geier, a Ph.D. candidate who just handed in his Ph.D. thesis at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany. In my eyes, these last couple of … Continue reading →

Posted in Coevolution, community ecology, ecology, evolution, genomics, methods, microbiology, natural history, Symbiosis, transcriptomics | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

#StudentSciComm

Posted on 13 Mar, 2020 by Stacy Krueger-Hadfield

I just submitted my four year review and in so doing listed out the students that had published blogs on The Molecular Ecologist. Seventeen students have not only received course credit, but also have a non-peer reviewed publication on their … Continue reading →

Posted in blogging, career, chat, community, ecology, evolution, howto, methods, Molecular Ecology, the journal, Science Communication, science publishing | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Snapshots of Biodiversity: eDNA as a methodology for species detection

Posted on 14 Aug, 2019 by Stacy Krueger-Hadfield

Nicole Conner wrote this post as a project for Stacy Krueger-Hadfield’s Conservation Genetics course at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  She is a Master’s student in Dr. Thane Wibbels’ lab where she is developing new protocol to detect diamondback terrapins off … Continue reading →

Posted in bioinformatics, blogging, citizen science, community, conservation, DNA barcoding, ecology, evolution, fieldwork, metagenomics, natural history | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Genetics of Returning Turtles

Posted on 7 Aug, 2019 by Stacy Krueger-Hadfield

Amy Bonka wrote this post as a project for Stacy Krueger-Hadfield’s Conservation Genetics course at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Amy grew up in Florida, completed a BS in Biology with a concentration in Marine Science and Chemistry as well … Continue reading →

Posted in blogging, citizen science, conservation, DNA barcoding, ecology, evolution, fieldwork, methods, natural history, Science Communication | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Conference catch-up: The many colors of snow

Posted on 3 Dec, 2018 by Stacy Krueger-Hadfield

Red snow … watermelon snow … green snow … did you know that snow came in so many different colors? I had never heard of watermelon ice (#🍉❄) until a talk given by Robin Kodner from Western Washington University at … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptation, bioinformatics, citizen science, community ecology, evolution, fieldwork, mating system, microbiology, natural history, phylogenetics, phylogeography, population genetics, selection, speciation, transcriptomics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

For flexible eDNA analysis, just capture whatever you want

Posted on 14 Aug, 2018 by Jeremy Yoder

Environmental DNA sampling for multi-taxa species detection (i.e., the inference of species presence from genetic material in the environment) has been a hot topic lately. Some of the most exciting recent work has used high-throughput sequence (HTS) to simultaneously screen … Continue reading →

Posted in community ecology, DNA barcoding, metagenomics, methods | Tagged , | 1 Comment