Females with Increased Costs Maintain Reproductive Output: A Field Experiment in a Common Songbird.

Reproduction and self-maintenance are energetically costly activities involved in classic life history trade-offs. However, few studies have measured the responses of wild organisms to simultaneous changes in reproductive and self-maintenance costs, which may have interactive effects. In free-living female Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica), we simultaneously manipulated reproductive costs (by adding or removing two nestlings) and self-maintenance costs (by attaching a ∼1 g weight in the form of a GPS tag to half of our study birds) and measured mass, immune status, blood glucose, feather growth, and reproductive output (likelihood of a second clutch, number of eggs, and time between clutches).

Belonging in STEM: an interactive, iterative approach to create and maintain a diverse learning community.

Diversity is a key driver of scientific innovation, yet fields in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have struggled to retain diverse communities. Research suggests that fostering a sense of belonging is critical for retaining diversity. We propose an iterative process that aims to improve sense of belonging among laboratory (lab) members through self-reflection and community collective action.