Plot showing GRFP awards by directorate shows a big dip last year and major increases for engineering and biology (though this only brings it back to parity with 2024).

The NSF GRFP is now out! There are 2,599 awardees, which is the most ever—and a big shift from last year which initially halved awardees (1,000 awardees + an additional 500).

I've thrown together a plot to break down the changes by field.

www.research.gov/grfp/Awardee...

Cell cycle dysregulation of globally important SAR11 bacteria resulting from environmental perturbation - Nature Microbiology Without key cell cycle control genes, SAR11 cells experience aneuploidy and growth inhibition when exposed to changes in nutrients, carbon sources or temperature stress, a vulnerability that may repre...

Our latest. Led by the very talented @ahoiching.bsky.social

Cell cycle dysregulation of globally important SAR11 bacteria resulting from environmental perturbation www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs 🌊

Troubleshooting common errors in assemblies of long-read metagenomes - Nature Biotechnology Long-read sequence assemblies from metagenomes contain frequent errors.

Troubleshooting common errors in assemblies of long-read metagenomes - @merenbey.bsky.social @banfieldlab.bsky.social go.nature.com/44P7nSm

What's NCAR? and 8 ways it has helped you

www.forbes.com/sites/marsha...

I am delighted to share that the radEmu manuscript was accepted today to Biometrika 🥳 Sending gratitude to our users and reviewers for their enthusiasm and support!!

Huge congrats to @davidandacat.bsky.social and Sarah Teichman on all their hard work and brilliance 😻❗

1/

NOAA Arctic Report Card 2025 YouTube video by NOAAPMEL

So proud to see the 20th anniversary #ArcticReportCard released today! ❄️

This is one of the most dynamic and timely products out of NOAA. Congrats to all the editors and authors!!

Full Report here (arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/...)

youtu.be/t2PF6uk3tqA

Yes! Thank you for the suggestion :)

Nautilus Live | Ocean Exploration Trust Explore the ocean with us! We seek out new discoveries while conducting scientific exploration of the seafloor and stream live to the world aboard Exploration Vessel Nautilus.

🧪📍🌊 🦑🍎 Attention students and recent grads! opportunity for #oceanscience interns to sail aboard #EVNautilus next year in a paid position for 3-5 weeks. Whether you’re studying #marinebiology, #geology, or any other type of #oceanography. Learn more and apply by Jan 4 at NautilusLive.org

A big thank you to all MMOFF participants, including @raissameyer.bsky.social, @merenbey.bsky.social , @alepdavo.bsky.social, @ameliahine.bsky.social, @animalkewls.bsky.social, @iouliasanti.bsky.social, @jedfuhrman.bsky.social, @jcmcnch.bsky.social, @mrappe.bsky.social, and many others! 🙏

Ocean_observatories_socials

📝 We need YOUR input!

We're writing a perspective piece to share a vision for a future global observatory for marine microbial 'omics. One aspect of the perspective piece is to synthesize ongoing marine microbiome time-series.

Please review our list and add any we've missed: tinyurl.com/4bmeenp9

The Next 50 Years of Ocean 'Omics: Reflections from MMOFF 2025 Marine Microbial Observatories for the Future - From Samples to Data to Legacy in the Era of Integrated ‘Omics

At MMOFF, we discussed building a global observatory for marine microbial 'omics—and the many challenges and opportunities involved.

📖 Read our workshop blog: merenlab.org/2025/11/17/m...

Marine microbiome observations are critical for monitoring fisheries health, climate change impacts, and ocean safety. Yet despite major advances in 'omics sequencing and analysis, our observation systems remain fragmented and underutilized.

Marine Microbial Observatories for the Future: From Samples to Data to Legacy Using Integrated 'Omics Strategies A workshop for the future

What would a marine microbiome observing system meant to last decades look like? 🌊🦠

We explored this at the recent MMOFF Workshop, which brought together diverse partners to envision the future of marine microbiome observations.

merenlab.org/workshops/MM...

This was truly an effort of many hands, but especially Jessika Füssel, @kc-freel.bsky.social, @mrappe.bsky.social, and @merenbey.bsky.social!

High-resolution sampling of microbial biomolecules provides a window into how microbes rapidly respond to environmental variability. This dataset offers metagenomes, metatranscriptomes, and high-throughput transfer RNA transcripts, as well as rich biogeochemical data and high-quality MAGs.

A high-resolution diel survey of surface ocean metagenomes, metatranscriptomes, and transfer RNA transcripts - Scientific Data Scientific Data - A high-resolution diel survey of surface ocean metagenomes, metatranscriptomes, and transfer RNA transcripts

I am happy to share that our data descriptor on the Hawaiʻi Diel Sampling is now published! 🌊🦠https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-025-06166-3

Every 1.5 hours for 48 hours, we collected ocean microbes from within and adjacent to Kāneʻohe Bay, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi and produced a multi-omics dataset.

🔊 APPLY NOW for our #MarMic #MSc/#PhD program!

Come to #Bremen and take an interdisciplinary approach to #marine #microbiology, #molecularbiology, #biochemistry, #evolution and more.

⏳ Open until Feb 28 2026
➡ marmic.mpg.de

#graduatestudents #marinescience #sciencecareer #IMPRS @maxplanck.de

Merry December folks!

Wanna know your most used and co-dependent geoms this past year?!

I've built "Spotify Wrapped" for {ggplot2} that produces you an interactive story and analytical tools for your geom usage! #rstats

Build your own report by following the docs:
gpcds.com/ggplot2wrapp...

A few py2Dmol updates 🧬

py2dmol.solab.org
Integration with AlphaFoldDB (will auto fetch results). Drag and drop results from AF3-server or ColabFold for interactive experience! (1/4)

ECR connection: Meet Meren when you need to A means for ECRs to get advice from a senior scientist outside of their support network

Starting this week, I set aside one hour each week to meet ECRs outside my group who want to discuss career development, mentorship, or any non-technical professional questions.

Here is a blog that explains my motivation for this and how to schedule a meeting:

merenlab.org/2025/11/16/E...

Always tasted like Skittles to me!!

Diving through the purple sulfur bacteria layer of Fayetteville Green Lake with our ROV last month. This is the most intense density of PSB that I've seen in many years!

Plastic degradation by enzymes from uncultured deep sea microorganisms Abstract. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)-hydrolyzing enzymes (PETases) are a recently discovered enzyme class capable of plastic degradation. PETases are

A wonderful collaboration between my lab and Andy Ellington and Edward Marcotte here at UT.

We obtained lots of thermal stable plastic degrading enzymes from the deep sea (Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California)

A big thank you to @amydwillis.bsky.social and @titus.idyll.org for all your hard work and leadership. It is incredible the education, resources, network, and memories the STAMPS course has provided. There is nothing else like it and it will be missed.

Team villagers >> team werewolves 💗🐺

Why we're using this spelling of Hawaiʻi You may notice a change in how we spell Hawaiʻi and other Native Hawaiian words at The Seattle Times. Here's why.

Kudos to the @seattletimes.com for spelling with diacritical marks used in the Hawaiian language, the ʻokina and the kahakō.

A few years ago, when I asked the NY Times to spell my affiliation as University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, they refused because it went against their style guide.

Are you looking for a #tenuretrack or #openrank job in #biostatistics or #statistics? @fredhutch.org is hiring! Seattle is a wonderful place to grow your career; the bio/stat & science scene here is world-class; and you will work w/ amazing UW Biostat students. Apply!
apply.interfolio.com/176402

Thank you, thats so nice to hear :)

I also want to mention that the new Fig S6 and a few others in the revised supplementary materials were recommendations from our reviewers. We had some great feedback in review. Hopefully the SM will be live on the ISME site soon

Thank you @ilnamkang.bsky.social! The carbon figure is Fig. S6 in the revised manuscript. Strange, it looks like ISME doesn't have the Supplementary Materials up yet. I can send you a copy by email

:) Thank you @bjesseshapiro.bsky.social!