News

The New York Times features Bridgett vonHoldt's research on canids.
Jan. 4, 2022

A population of strange canids in Texas could hold the key to reviving the highly endangered red wolf. From a distance, the canids of Galveston Island, Texas, look almost like coyotes, prowling around the beach at night, eyes gleaming in the dark.

But look closer and oddities appear. The animals’ bodies seem slightly out of proportion…

Like a natural system, democracy faces collapse as polarization leads to loss of diversity
Dec. 7, 2021

Much like an overexploited ecosystem, the increasingly polarized political landscape in the United States — and much of the world — is experiencing a catastrophic loss of diversity that threatens the resilience not only of democracy, but also of society, according to a series of new studies that have examined political polarization as a…

Simon Levin elected a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society
Nov. 17, 2021

Simon A. Levin has been elected a fellow of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) for his contributions to the mathematics of ecology, evolution, and epidemiology.

The program "recognizes members who have made outstanding contributions to the…

Ivory poaching and the rapid evolution of tusklessness in African elephants
Nov. 9, 2021

Campbell-Staton and Pringle recently published their findings in Science, demonstrating an example of human-driven natural selection on a large herbivore and unveiling the genetic mechanism behind this adaptation. “Elephants are such an iconic species that is so important for the savanna ecosystem and now we have a…

Sarah Kocher receives 2021 Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering
Oct. 18, 2021

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation announced the 2021 class of Packard Fellows for Science and Engineering. This year’s class features 20 innovative early-career scientists and engineers, who will each receive $875,000 over five years to pursue their research. The fellowship is awarded to early-career scientists and engineers with…

'Dare to Venture' video kicks off Venture Forward campaign
Oct. 18, 2021

With Venture Forward, Princeton University is embarking on a new engagement and fundraising campaign dedicated to sharing Princeton’s defining principles and their impact on the world. To support the launch of the campaign, the 'Dare to Venture' video series introduces Princeton faculty and alumni who are daring to ask the questions that can…

Vaccine stockpiling by nations could lead to increase in COVID-19 cases, novel variant emergence
Aug. 29, 2021

Princeton University and McGill University researchers reported in the journal Science that vaccine “nationalism” — wherein countries stockpile COVID-19 vaccine to prioritize access for their citizenry over equitable vaccine sharing — may strongly impact global trajectories of COVID-19 case numbers and…

iFAST Theoretical Ecology Symposium
July 26, 2021

We are excited to announce a special iFAST series - iFAST Theoretical Ecology - to celebrate Dr. Simon Levin's 80th Anniversary and honor his outstanding contributions to theoretical ecology.  This special symposium will be spread among three days, July 26-28 2021, 2.5 hours each day, 10am-12:30pm EST.  It will cover three of Simon's major…

Badaracco '12: Annual Giving plants seeds for leaders of tomorrow
July 13, 2021

Christina Badaracco ’12 has fond memories of her years at Princeton, but her favorite college experience may have taken place 7,000 miles away from Nassau Hall. As a student in the ecology and evolutionary biology department, she spent a semester during her junior year at the Mpala Research Center, a “living laboratory” for experimental…

The 'hidden' life of an ecosystem engineer
June 8, 2021

For his senior thesis, Joe Kawalec of the Class of 2021, who graduated Princeton with a bachelor’s degree in ecology and evolutionary biology with a certificate in environmental studies, studied the natural camouflage of downy woodpeckers to understand how it helps the small bird survive in its forest habitat.

Read…