I don't think people fully appreciate how apocalyptic things are for US science. I haven't had any new funding since 2024, but I'm still ok since typical grants are for three years. This means next year I will be completely out of funding and will have to fire everyone in the lab. It's not great.
🌿 Postdoc opportunity in plant evolutionary ecology/genetics!
My lab in the Dept. of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan is recruiting a postdoctoral researcher to start Fall 2026.
We study plant adaptation, using weeds as model systems.
#Postdoc #EcoEvo
Pls RT!
Agrivoltaics follow traditional utility-scale solar layouts, modified to allow light penetration and accommodate crop growth, harvesting equipment, and farmer access beneath and between panel rows.
Putting solar panels on farms sounds like a possible win-win, but the mixed use of space can create competition for access to sun. A modeling study identifies semiarid places in the Midwest where the panels would help by mitigating heat and water stress. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/HJmF50YrTTu
“The University of Illinois Just Released a Popcorn So Good It Doesn’t Need Butter
A crop scientist and two brewers spent nearly a decade breeding a better popcorn — and you can taste the difference.”
Excerpt From:
apple.news/A-iMFrAidRDS...
I got .0038! Whoa!
Screenshot from an article of the Financial Post. The headline reads: Canada launches billion dollar plan to recruit top researchers.
Canada’s new government is investing big to attract world-class talent in science and technology — and become an innovation powerhouse.
Are you a researcher seeking to relocate to Canada? UBC is currently recruiting through the new Canada Impact + Research Chairs Program.
UBC Okanagan is seeking researchers in sustainable agriculture, especially tree fruits and viticulture! Shoot me an email!
research.ubc.ca/federal-rese...
Six maps of the two Level I ecoregions used in this study (the Great Plains, in pink, and the North American Deserts, in blue), showing visualizations of the predictions made using the gradient boosting machine (GBM) classifier, where points represent populations of Helianthus annuus. Each facet represents populations where a given proportion of genotypes was correctly predicted, arranged in descending order—all genotypes correctly predicted, four out of five, three out of four, two out of three, one out of two, and one out of four.
A new interpretable #MachineLearning approach to identify plant traits associated with #PlantAdaptation to divergent ecoregions
New in #AppsPlantSci by Sambadi Majumder & Chase Mason (@plantevoecophys.bsky.social)
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #ecophysiology #Helianthus #botany
In the July/August 2025 @ijpsjournal.bsky.social
From the Archives: The Stress-Tolerant Tortoise and the Competitive Hare: ‘Fast-Slow’ Plant Ecological Strategies and The Legacy of Reich et al. (2003)
@plantevoecophys.bsky.social
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....
#PlantScience #Botany
UBC Okanagan is seeking a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) Assistant Professor in Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence.
ubc.wd10.myworkdayjobs.com/ubcfacultyjo...
Another scoop from Jeff Mervis (@policyhound.bsky.social): NSF's ~1400 grant terminations have disproportionately affected PIs from groups underrepresented in science: women, racial & ethnic minorities, & those with disabilities. 1/3
www.science.org/content/arti...
🧪 Tip: You have the right to contest a grant termination, even though NSF says you don't. 🧵
On Friday, NSF terminated 402 grants (per Musk's DOGE).
The notification letters had one of the most egregious violations of fed regulations I've seen so far in these cases:
"not subject to appeal"
Breaking: a judge in GA ordered that the fed'l gov't CANNOT pull the visas of foreign students. The order applies ONLY to students who are part of the lawsuit. If you want to join the lawsuit, reach out to: ckuck@immigration.net and dclaffey@immigration.net youtu.be/FS6B8CM8uf4
UBC Okanagan is seeking a Canada Research Chair (Assistant Professor) in Human-Centered Explainable Artificial Intelligence, broadly defined. The position is restricted to members of underrepresented groups (HPSM). Deadline has been extended to Feb 23rd - please share widely!
tinyurl.com/8w8d7hvj
UBC Okanagan is currently seeking a Canada Research Chair (Assistant Professor) in Climate Resilience + Water Resources, broadly defined. The position is restricted to members of underrepresented groups (HPSM). Deadline has been extended to Feb 23rd - please share widely!
tinyurl.com/ycftnwvb
Thank you, Canada!
IJPS 150th birthday logo with gingko leaves
JA and OA @ijpsjournal.bsky.social
From the Archives: The Stress-Tolerant Tortoise and the Competitive Hare: ‘Fast-Slow’ Plant Ecological Strategies and The Legacy of Reich et al. (2003)
@plantevoecophys.bsky.social
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....
#PlantScience
Neat paper!
Finally, some media coverage in Australia on the mass mortality of corals on the Great Barrier Reef in 2024.
The government’s cover-up is crumbling.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Every synthetic biologist, every biochemist, when they dream, will sometimes hear a voice calling
A whisper on the wind, as impossible as infinity, as sweet as the ambrosia of the very Gods
"...engineer RuBisCo..."
And this paper takes us one step closer
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Last few days to apply!
If you love the Forest Ecology Starter Pack, you might also love the Plant Ecophys Starter Pack! #plantecophys #botany
go.bsky.app/Pbq39H7
Portraits of three famous Russian agronomists.
Do you know these three Russian agronomists? If you're interested, you're in for a real #ScienceDrama in four acts! 🧪🎭 Their story is the central piece of my Short History of Vernalization, but let me tell you about them here: 👇🧵🧵🧵🧵
#PlantScience #ScienceHistory
Ladybug picnic under mushroom umbrellas. Sonoma, CA
Science magazine front cover. Picture of a walnut in its opened shell. The text reads "All about timing. Mating type evolution in walnuts and pecans"
graphical abstract: "In Juglans (top left) and Carya, two morphs show complementary temporal separation between male and female flowering (heterodichogamy). Mating types are controlled by two nonhomologous single-locus mechanisms that arose in the common ancestor of each genus, respectively. (Bottom left) Simplified schematic of a putative functional regulatory element at the Juglans locus. (Bottom right) Strong genotypic correlations across the Carya locus indicate a lack of recombination between two colinear haplotypes with similar gene content."
Congrats to @jeffgroh.bsky.social et al on publication of "Ancient structural variants control sex-specific flowering time morphs in walnuts and hickories"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
This image shows plants at different ages. Text: Make a difference with your donation! Donate tot he BSA GSRA Fund. Invest in the future of botanical science.
Support botanical science students this year-end with a gift to the Graduate Student Research Award Fund! Your donation helps us give more $1500 awards in 2025, impacting students by recognizing them and their research.
crm.botany.org/makeadonation
🎄 Philipp Zerbe and his team are working to uncover the optimal combination of scent molecules to deter pests and provide the traditional fragrance consumers expect.
▶️ www.ucdavis.edu/news/christm...
#PlantBiology #PlantScience #Holidays
Graphic promoting Botany 2025 in Palm Springs, CA, taking place July 25-31, 2025. The tagline reads "Botany Without Barriers" against a bright blue sky with tall palm trees. Logos of supporting societies are displayed along the bottom, including the Botanical Society of America, American Fern Society, ASPT, Society of Herbarium Curators, IAPT, and ABLS.
🌵🌴 Big news! Botany 2025 is now heading to sunny Palm Springs, CA (July 25-31, 2025)! While plans shifted from Tucson, we're excited to stay in the Southwest. See you there!
More information will be coming in early January at www.botanyconference.org
#Botany2025