These changes to the USFS, the loss of the regional offices and excellent long-term scientific research, will be devastating. I hope it can be stopped.

You know what all teams in the men's Final Four (and both women's teams in so far) have in common?

HERBARIA.

UConn is threatening to cut the staff of our nat history collections (plus many other awful budget cuts). If only we cared as much about biodiversity as we do about buzzer beaters!

For #NSF and #NIH watchers, Grant Witness now has interactive data on numbers of grants and total funding obligations, broken down by institute and directorate, new awards and non-competitive renewals.

The stranglehold on new awards is still a disaster.

grant-witness.us/funding_curv...

Projection of post-drought recovery of intact Amazonian rainforests after the 2023–2024 droughts. (A) Time series of annual median recovery projections after the 2023–2024 droughts. The error bars represent the medians of the lower and upper bounds of the 95% confidence intervals across all pixels. (B) Spatial pattern of recovery at 7th year after the 2023–2024 droughts.

The Amazon rainforest was hit with two severe droughts during 2023–2024. Models suggest that just over half the forest will not recover within seven years, which is the maximum time between droughts in recent decades. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/BKQ150YySOw

The nuclear winter continues

NSF officials break silence on how AI and quantum now drive agency grantmaking Leaders acknowledge White House role in controversial moves

NSF leaders have just acknowledged what many scientists have long suspected: Presidential directives to boost AI and quantum have upended its traditional way of doing business. www.science.org/content/arti...

If you are a student whose NSF GRFP application was returned without review for vague 'eligibility' reasons:
1) Let your department chair & Graduate School know. Encourage them to contact NSF & congress
2) Write to your congressional reps.
3) Write to grfp@nsf.gov to request re-consideration;

Professorship W3 for Plant Ecology - Regensburg (Stadt), Bayern (DE) job with Universität Regensburg | 12851147 UNIVERSITÄT REGENSBURG   The Faculty of Biology and Pre-Clinical Medicine invites applications for a   Full Professorship W3 for Plant Ecology   Th...

Dear colleagues, we are searching for candidates to fill a Full W3 Professorship for Plant #Ecology at the University of Regensburg, Germany. For details, see www.nature.com/naturecareer... 🌐 🌎 #AcademicJobs

Forty years of tracking trees reveals changes in Amazon and Andean Forest diversity New research reveals significant recent shifts in tree diversity among the tropical forests of the Andes and Amazon, driven by global change.

environment.leeds.ac.uk/faculty/news...

Our new paper uses the Power of Plots to reveal how tropical forests are changing: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Bronze plaque saying "A Letter to the Future. Ok is the first Icelandic glacier to lose its status as a glacier. In the next 200 years all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it. August 2019. 415ppm CO2"

TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".

Apply to be a BES Associate Editor - British Ecological Society Help advance outstanding ecological research by joining our Editorial Boards! Applications are now open across all seven BES journals.

📣 Ecologists and evolutionary biologists! Have you ever wanted to be a journal editor? BES journals are having an open call for editors. Details: www.britishecologicalsociety.org/content/appl... Happy to answer any Qs! Open to all nationalities. Applications from postdocs welcome :)

"Uncle Bob, the only reason you got your ozempic is because a scientist was curious about Gila monster venom." 🧪🩺🌱🐀🐙💅
... And more found here.

Assistant Professor- Department of Plant Biology - HigherEdJobs Jobs in higher education. Faculty and administrative positions at colleges and universities. Updated daily. Free to job seekers.

We are coming up on the closing date for an Assistant Professor of Mycology/Plant-fungal Interactions in the Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois - apply before November 1st!
See the link below for more details:
www.higheredjobs.com/faculty/deta...

Steve Long

The New Phytologist Foundation offers its condolences to family, friends, and colleagues of Prof. Steve Long.

Steve was a regular contributor to New Phytologist. His contribution to plant biology and publishing was enormous and he will be sadly missed.

portal.lancaster.ac.uk/intranet/new...

Corals Won’t Survive a Warmer Planet, a New Study Finds

The situation is dire for coral reefs worldwide. We need to stop Carbon emissions NOW! 🧪🪸🌎🌐🌊 www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/c...

We mourn the passing of our Editor-in-Chief Steve Long.

His vision to establish one of the first journals dedicated to Global Change over 30 years ago was truly ahead of its time. Through GCB, researchers have demonstrated that biology and ecosystems are not simply victims of global change..

Ever sampled frozen soil before? 🧊

SPUN's Michael Van Nuland and Jinsu Elhance, with local collaborator @mmuscarella.bsky.social explored the coastal tundra plain before traveling to higher elevations in the Arctic foothill tundra finding new flowers, fungi & wildlife with the changing terrain.

My department is hiring a Plant-Fungal Assist Prof!! As the newest #NewPI here, don't get me started on how wonderful my colleagues, how smooth my onboarding has been, how supportive the school and the department are, how nice my brand new lab is, and how convenient living in Champaign Urbana is!

There was a mass flowering last year on BCI - seeds take a year to develop and disperse. This year there is one tree flowering - a 'late bloomer'. I am curious to see if it will set seed. There are a lot of South American Tachigali species. Only a small number of species appear to be monocarpic.

Thunderstorms are a major driver of tree death in tropical forests Trees in tropical forests are dying at an increased rate, with consequences for biodiversity, carbon storage, and the global climate. While deforestation is the primary cause of forest loss, intact fo...

Thunderstorms are a major — and growing — threat to tropical trees, reports a new analysis in Ecology Letters led by Cary’s @evangora.bsky.social. Insights are critical to guiding decisions about forest restoration and conservation www.caryinstitute.org/news-insight...

"We are devastated and heartbroken at the loss of our parents, Melissa and Mark. They were the bright lights at the center of our lives, and we can't believe they are gone. Their love for us was boundless. We miss them so much. "We want everyone to know that we are both safe and with loved ones. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and support we have received, and we appreciate your respect for our family's privacy as we grieve. "Our family would like to thank law enforcement for their swift action that saved others and for the coordination across communities that led to the arrest of the man who murdered our parents. We especially would like to thank the officers who were first on the scene to our parents' home and their heroic attempts to rescue our mom and dad. "Our parents touched so many lives, and they leave behind an incredible legacy of dedication to their community that will live on in us, their friends, their colleagues and co-workers, and every single person who knew and loved them. "If you would like to honor the memory of Mark and Melissa, please consider the following: • Plant a tree. • Visit a local park and make use of their amenities, especially a bike trail. • Pet a dog. A golden retriever is ideal, but any will do. • Tell your loved ones a cheesy dad joke and laugh about it. • Bake something — bread for Mark or a cake for Melissa, and share it with someone. • Try a new hobby and enjoy learning something. • Stand up for what you believe in, especially if that thing is justice and peace. "Hope and resilience are the enemy of fear. Our parents lived their lives with immense dedication to their fellow humans. This tragedy must become a moment for us to come together. Hold your loved ones a little closer. Love your neighbors. Treat each other with kindness and respect. The best way to honor our parents' memory is to do something, whether big or small, to make our community just a little better for someone else."

Please read and share this statement from Sophie and Colin Hortman, children of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark.

(via WCCO reporter Caroline Cummings on X)

Graduate Students Push Back Against Science Funding Cuts Hundreds of graduate students are writing to their hometown newspapers to defend their research, as the Trump administration drastically reduces science funding.

Graduate Students Push Back Against Science Funding Cuts www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/s...

We are looking for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join an exciting project investigating the effects of bat seed dispersal on plant microbiomes and pathogen dynamics in tropical ecosystems. With @morceglo.bsky.social. More info: jobs.apsnet.org/job/postdoct...

120 million acres of public lands eligible for sale in SENR budget reconciliation package The bill mandates disposal of over 2 million acres of BLM and National Forest lands; public lands eligible for sale in the bill encompass over 120 million acres, including local recreation areas, wild...

This would be the largest public lands sell-off in modern U.S. history and it's happening with no hearings, no debate, and no public input.

See what public lands would be available for sale:
www.wilderness.org/articles/med...

Infrared imaging shows heat levels in sun-exposed leaves of Alstonia scholaris from the Australian Wet Tropics. As climate change increases temperatures and the severity of heat waves, both natural ecosystems and agricultural plants are increasingly affected by heat. Examining heat responses at cellular, genetic, physiological, and ecosystem scales, this special issue explores how plants sense and respond to high temperatures.

As the world warms, plants in natural ecosystems and agricultural settings find ways to respond to the heat.

In a new special issue of Science, researchers examine how heat affects plants at multiple scales, from the molecular level to the biosphere. scim.ag/44cSw3Z

The biogeography and conservation of Earth’s ‘dark’ ectomycorrhizal fungi In this review, van Galen et al. use global soil metabarcoding databases to evaluate current estimates of the total number of ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungal species on Earth, outline the current state o...

Our paper shows that most ectomycorrhizal fungal species (83% of OTUs) are "dark taxa": species we detect in DNA, but can't match to known species names. We map global "darkspots" - the parts of the world most in need of more research. @spun.earth @ethz.ch www.cell.com/current-biol...

Senior Researchers 60,400 --> 16,900 Other Professionals 14,400 --> 4,100 Postdoctoral Associates 5,500 --> 1,000 Graduate Students 41,500 --> 12,400 Undergraduate Students 37,300 --> 8,000 PreK-12 Teachers 42,900 --> 8,200 PreK-12 Students 128,100 --> 39,400 Total Number of People 330,100 --> 90,000

🚨🚨 Friday night news drop from National Science Foundation!! 🧪

NSF just released its detailed budget request for next year: nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00-NSF...

We knew it was going to be bad...and it lives up. Guts direct NSF support for a **quarter million people**

🧵 on some highlights...

JFC

Institutionalizing politicized science The opening months of the Trump administration represent a historic disruption to America’s scientific agencies. Staff have been fired or reassigned in the name of efficiency, resulting in chaos. Gran...

see link for public comment in the article on the proposed policy open until 23 May…“the purpose of Schedule F is to permanently instill the degree of political control over science fueling the sense of fear that pervades those agencies now” www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Rapid Response Bridge Funding Program In the face of recent abrupt shifts in federal funding for education research, including large-scale terminations of National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant awards, we have developed a rap...

FYI: The Spencer Foundation, Kapor Foundation, The William T. Grant Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation have collaborated to offer $25K rapid response grants.

"This rapid response bridge funding opportunity is for scholars and teams whose grants have recently been cancelled by NSF."