Episode #237: The Energy Crisis
The energy crisis generated by the war in Iran has some historical parallels, including the Suez crisis of 1956 and the Arab-Israeli war in 1973. @adamtooze.bsky.social and Cameron Abadi discuss the similarities and differences: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Què és una “embòlia” vegetal i per què són tan perilloses pels arbres🌳 mediterranis?
En situacions de #sequera🌡️, quan falta aigua al sòl, es poden formar bombolles d’aire🫧 (“embòlies”) als conductes transportadors d’aigua💦 de les plantes, una conseqüència que pot ser fatal.
“This is going to be the new normal for Western Canada, so even though this heat dome happened five years ago, I think these results we had in this paper are more relevant than ever,” said UBC botanist Dr. Sean Michaletz.
@ubcbotany.bsky.social @seanmichaletz.bsky.social
bit.ly/4m2PDKx
Really nice to see all the fresh snow we've gotten in the past week. More will come, hopefully..
Conceptual diagrams comparing two models of xylem architecture in stems and the sampling design used in this study. One diagram illustrates the Widened Pipe Model, showing a constant number of xylem conduits along the stem and progressive conduit widening from the tip toward the base. A second diagram illustrates a furcation-based model, where conduit number increases toward the tip through repeated branching. A schematic of a long, unbranched stem with leaves concentrated near the tip shows the locations of the basal and apical segments that were sampled to test whether conduit number increases toward the stem apex.
Da Vinci’s mischief: xylem conduits in the stems of woody plants do not furcate
Alemán-Sancheschúlz et al.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
This is SO cool, I'd love to play around with one of these Optical Dendrometers at some point..
New paper alert! The 2021 western North American #heatwave had widespread but variable impacts across species & ecosystems, with cascading effects on #productivity, #streamflow, & #wildfire. @baumlab.bsky.social @katiegwin.bsky.social @coleburton.bsky.social @srivastavalab.bsky.social bit.ly/3NnoEfA
“The heatwave had widespread ecological effects, including an almost 400% increase in wildfire activity & negatively affecting more than three-quarters of the species studied,” said UBC zoologist Dr. Diane Srivastava. @zoology.ubc.ca @srivastavalab.bsky.social
www.ctvnews.ca/climate-and-...
Green AoB PLANTS “Meet the Editor” flyer featuring Associate Editor Juliana Medeiros (Holden Arboretum, USA). The graphic highlights her research focus on plant anatomical and physiological acclimation to abiotic environments, her commitment to rigorous and inclusive science, advice for publishing (“build your paper around a strong central finding”), her favorite plants (rhododendrons and coffee), and her interests outside science, including assemblage art and caring for houseplants and aquariums. A circular photo shows her working in a lab under red light.
🌿Great journals are shaped by thoughtful editors.
Juliana Medeiros @heyrhododendron.bsky.social brings a passion for rigorous science, inclusive editing, and strong scientific storytelling to AoB PLANTS.
Get to know her in our latest #MeetTheEditor feature 👇
#PlantScience #AoBPLANTS
So excited to have been accepted to write this piece. Thanks to all who have entertained my ramblings over the years and have encouraged me in my passion for #ecophysiology and #evolution 🙏
#IAmABotanist 🌱
Paid Summer Internships...
Join us for a summer of ecological research at the Holden Arboretum.
Opportunities in restoration ecology, population ecology, plant ecophysiology, forest health, and more.
On-site housing available at low cost.
lnkd.in/gjWUznhj
Some history from a historian.
Here is a working Starter Pack for Plant Ecophysiologists! Please let us know if you want to be added to this list in a comment or DM. #botany #plantecophys #PhysFam
go.bsky.app/Pbq39H7
We’re advertising a fully funded 4-year PhD position on modelling firn changes at the glacier scale within the SNF-funded deFIRN project, based at ETH Zurich & WSL.
Apply here: jobs.ethz.ch/job/view/JOP...
@wslresearch.bsky.social @slfdavos.bsky.social
🍁Funding for new PhD students ($40k/yr) & postdocs ($70k/yr) coming from outside Canada. Contact me if interested in #Ecophysiology at #UBC in #Vancouver! Possible topics: leaf physiology, thermal ecology, microclimate, scaling, tree physiology, forest ecology, more! michaletzlab.org
Please share!
Why Underachievers Dominate Secret Police Organizations: Evidence from Autocratic Argentina Adam Scharpf Christian Gläßel Abstract: Autocrats depend on a capable secret police. Anecdotal evidence, however, often characterizes agents as surprisingly mediocre in skill and intellect. To explain this puzzle, this article focuses on the career incentives underachieving individuals face in the regular security apparatus. Low-performing officials in hierarchical organizations have little chance of being promoted or filling lucrative positions. To salvage their careers, these officials are willing to undertake burdensome secret police work. Using data on all 4,287 officers who served in autocratic Argentina (1975-83), we study biographic differences between secret police agents and the entire recruitment pool. We find that low-achieving officers were stuck within the regime hierarchy, threatened with discharge, and thus more likely to join the secret police for future benefits. The study demonstrates how state bureaucracies breed mundane career concerns that produce willing enforcers and cement violent regimes. This has implications for the understanding of autocratic consolidation and democratic breakdown.
Perennial reminder of this excellent paper about how secret police forces are swamped with underachievers
“We don’t want clever people. We want mediocrities.”
(Ungated summary here ajps.org/2019/10/08/w...)
🌳PhD Opportunity in plant ecophysiology🌡️ Join EPFL (Switzerland) for fully-funded 4yr PhD on tree responses to air drought and heat. Climate chamber + long-term experiments to uncover physiological thresholds under climate change. www.epfl.ch/labs/perl/pe...
Application Process Image Woman behind a podium presenting. Jessie Golding, BBCS postdoc, presenting at ICCB 2025. Apply to become a Lovejoy Fellow by submitting your resume, cover letter, and contact information for three references through the University of Arizona Talent Portal (link upcoming) by the first review date of January 30, 2026. Your cover letter should: Identify 1-2 Lovejoy BBCS faculty you would be interested in working with and explain the primary research directions you would want to pursue in collaboration with this faculty member. You are strongly encouraged to reach out to faculty before submitting your application. Describe your experience with or interest in inter- or transdisciplinary research. Explain how this experience will positively impact your career trajectory.
New postdoctoral fellowship opportunity! Please pass along. Excited to announce the launch of the Tom Lovejoy Fellowship Program at the University of Arizona for innovative research to protect species, sustain ecosystems, and promote a thriving planet lovejoycenter.arizona.edu/lovejoy-fell... 🧪🌐🌾
It is hard to overstate how critical @ncar-ucar.bsky.social is to climate science in the US and around the world. It's the beating heart of our field. Generations of scientists have trained there, and almost everyone I know relies on deep collaborations with NCAR scientists. It's end is unthinkable.
The Trump Administration's plan to dismantle the @ncar-ucar.bsky.social is senseless & dangerous.
It would weaken weather forecasting, climate research, & the science that keeps people safe.
We urge that this plan be abandoned.
Call Congress to #SaveNCAR today. buff.ly/7ka1BQA
Check out our #MichaletzLab presentations at #AGU2025 this week! @agu.org @agubiogeosciences.bsky.social @gec-agu.bsky.social @nicolebison.bsky.social @milossimovic.bsky.social
A festive digital illustration features the blue R logo wearing a red Santa hat with white trim on the left. To its right stands a green Christmas tree made entirely of curly braces arranged in a triangular shape. White and light-blue %>% pipe symbols float across a dark blue, starry background like snowflakes. A speech bubble above the R logo says “Ho Ho Ho! 📦” in red text. At the bottom, white text reads: “R Package Development Advent Calendar 2025” and below it, “25 Days of Coding Magic • Dec 1–25.”
🎄 ANNOUNCEMENT: R Package Development Advent Calendar 2025! 🎄
Starting December 1st, I'm launching a 25-day journey through modern R package development. here's why you should follow along 🧵
#rstats #RPackageAdvent2025 #OpenSource
Our department at UBC is hiring for a professor of forest ecophysiology, including "tree ecophysiology; plant abiotic or biotic stress physiology; forest mortality and climate change responses; forest carbon balance; tree water relations; or nutrient use." Learn more at: tinyurl.com/5da56f5c
Golden Ears is surely one of the prettiest mountains in SWBC.
This would be absolutely hilarious if it wasn't so frightening
We published this open letter on #UrbanForests as essential(!!) infrastructure for climate resilience & biodiversity aimed at policymakers at #COP30.
4🗝️priorities🧵👇
@plantspeopleplanet.bsky.social @fornalab.bsky.social @fbwugent.bsky.social @meisebotanicgarden.bsky.social
@westsyduhie.bsky.social
Check out our new paper! @brodersenlab.bsky.social
🎴NEW PAPER!🎴
Majorities in 11 HICs support:
✅Foreign aid
✅Debt relief for low-income countries (LICs)
✅An international carbon price financing a worldwide basic income
✅An international 2% tax on wealth above $1 million with 30% funding LICs
and much more.
bsky.app/profile/wid....
A 🧵⬇️
Screenshot of a Tweet pointing out that academic spam is actually in its own way kind of encouraging.
I think about this post every day 🧪