Amazing, congratulations!!!!!

Emergent predictability in microbial ecosystems A long-standing hypothesis of microbial ecology is that simple patterns might persist despite community complexity or even emerge because of it. However, the concept of “emergent simplicity” remains partly intuitive. Here, we defined emergent ...

Moran et al. in Science
Emergent predictability in microbial ecosystems

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Cover of New Phytologist 250:3. Confocal fluorescence imaging of epidermal tissue from mature Rorippa aquatica leaves subjected to long-term submergence for 4 months. The epidermal layer contains a high density of discrete chloroplasts, visible as spherical organelles. The cells were counterstained using propidium iodide and visualized using depth-coded colour.

🆕 Our #LatestIssue is online now!

📚 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14698137...

Highlights include:
🌱 Fascinating single cell red algae
🌱 Epigenetic regulation of mycorrhizal symbioses
🌱 Diversity affects microclimate temperature & humidity

#PlantScience

Astronauts Dedicate Moon Crater to Carroll Wiseman, Wife of NASA Commander

"It’s a bright spot on the moon,” CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen said, his voice breaking up, “and we would like to call it Carroll.”

The crew all shared a hug after.

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/06/s...

In the early 60s, my grandparents named both of my uncles after astronauts and then my mom was born and there were not yet any female astronauts so she didn’t get a cool name. I’m happy that things have gotten better but we still have so much further to go to achieve gender parity in STEM!

We all know #fungi are the dominant microbial #eukaryotes in #forest #soils… or are they really?
In our new paper, we revisited 51 forest metatranscriptomes from 4 European and North American forest regions - and found that protistan predators outshine fungi in activity!

Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Request to Congress

I am shocked to see this language from the NSF.

“The U.S. National Science Foundation's Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Request reflects a strategic alignment of resources in a constrained fiscal environment while eliminating woke and weaponized grant programs that previously funded radical DEI projects.”

Undaria pinnatifida gametophyte

Our work on chromatin evolution in brown algae is now published in @natecoevo.nature.com! We show that developmentally complex brown algae evolved without epigenetic silencing pathways long thought universal, underscoring why non-model lineages are important to study. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

"Beyond the 'One Nucleus, One Whole Genome' Rule"
by Xin Li, Monika Fischer, & colleagues

FREE to read till April 5th at
authors.elsevier.com/a/1mcXIcQbJI...

New paper alert!

I had a visceral reaction to that as well when watching.

I just saw Project Hail Mary and absolutely LOVED it! And if you know anyone in show biz and you want to make my dreams come true, please hire me to consult on your next film project! If I get my paws on it you will not have two Eppendorf tubes on the same side of an otherwise empty centrifuge.

Well this sucks.

The ecology of horizontal gene transfer Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) generates genetic variation in populations across all domains of life; however, most studies focus on individual transf…

I have a new review out in TiG titled, “The ecology of horizontal gene transfer”! I’ve been thinking about these ideas for years and this field is growing so fast it’s becoming impossible to review it. I hope this paper sparks discussion on different ways we can look at DNA transfer!

Sure! Send me an email with more information about your interests. The date has some flexibility so no issue there.

“she was crazy” or “her personality was bad” or “she was wrong about flagella” (this one is true), but I cannot think of a better role model for female scientists my age. Reading about her journey and struggles to find legitimacy in the 1960s in her other books has made my own dream attainable (2/2)

I would not be a scientist without Lynn Margulis. I never would have gotten a PhD or developed a curiosity for the research topics I currently work on if I didn’t read her book, “Symbiotic Planet” when I was 21. So many male scientists I’ve worked with knew her and many say things like…(1/2)

I had an incredible time in Cambridge this week to give the Harvard University Herbaria seminar! I got to meet with scientists whose work I’ve been following since college, explored the Museum of Natural History, and spent a day in the algae collection at the Farlow Herbarium. I’m still smiling!

Literally

Sargassum natans: Sargassum is a floating, fast-growing algae that constantly extracts CO2 from the atmosphere

🚨 Post-doctoral position alert! 🚨

The Bhattacharya Lab at Rutgers University is seeking a postdoc in the field of algal multi-omics and metabolic engineering 🌊 🦠 🧬

Ideal start by June. Applications will be reviewed as received. Please share widely :)

jobs.rutgers.edu/postings/269...

#evobio

It’s not a one-time thing but it won’t be every year. It’s brand new but the idea is that it will probably happen every 2-3 years. So there won’t be a call for this next year.

Posting again!

Final version @nature.com of our paper describing unconventional multicellular development in a choanoflagellate inhabiting an extreme environment. A ton of new data since the first @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social preprint (which we've kept updating).

A brief 🧵 (carried over from the old place)

White House stalls release of approved US science budgets The US Congress rejected sweeping cuts to science agencies. But the NIH, the NSF and NASA have had their spending slowed.

Congress rejected massive cuts to US science budgets for 2026, but much of the money still isn’t flowing to researchers.

The culprit? The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is quietly slow-walking the release of funds. 🧵👇

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

The National Science Foundation is systematically being converted to the National AI and Quantum Research Foundation.

“I see it as the administration exerting political control over what has traditionally been NSF’s ability to fund the best science.”

I second the one on the right! But they’re both great!!

Hi, I’m on my soapbox today ✨

Posting again!

I saw this live on the news this morning and my hat is off to this guy. 🎩

Has anyone else realized that the RFK Jr. + Kid Rock #MAHA video where they wear jeans and drink milk in the gym is literally the fight milk video from #alwayssunny?