This case - of a former US military guy turned prison guard turned hired brawn for Chinese spies - is fascinatingly bizarre. Also among his targets was a sculpture of Xi Jinping as a coronavirus particle in the middle of the California desert, as I chronicle in my book Let Only Red Flowers Bloom.
⏰ Two weeks left to submit a proposal to our cross-journal Special Feature! ⏰
If you want to further understanding of how climate change affects plant–antagonist interactions, find out more 👇
Map of the contiguous United States showing the spring bloom index anomaly as of April 19, 2026 from the USA National Phenology Network. Many areas are earlier than normal.
Aside from Florida, nearly the entire contiguous U.S. has experienced earlier than average first plant blooms in 2026. Earlier springs can cause longer allergy seasons, accelerate wildfire risk, increase pests/mosquitoes, and lead to less reliable snow-fed water.
Map: www.usanpn.org/data/maps/sp...
My super department @warwicklifesci.bsky.social is hiring 6 assistant profs in the wake of recent retirements. We're looking for people in microbiology/infection, cellular disease / immunity; environmental biology; and plant/crop science. #MicroSky warwick-careers.tal.net/vx/lang-en-G...
You have a little under two weeks to apply for BSA's @botsocamerica.bsky.social Impact Award! Deadline 5/1. Reach out with questions or with nominations, and apply! 💚
A black-and-white studio portrait photograph of Emma Lucy Braun, the pioneering American botanist and plant ecologist widely regarded as one of the most influential scientists in the study of eastern North American forests. Shown from the shoulders up against a soft, neutral gradient background, Braun appears in her later years with a calm, intelligent gaze directed straight at the viewer. Her white hair is neatly styled and swept back from her face, and she wears delicate round wire-rimmed glasses. A gentle, knowing half-smile softens her expression, conveying quiet authority, warmth, and scholarly poise. She is dressed in a light-colored, pleated blouse with a gathered neckline and a prominent dark floral brooch pinned at the center of her chest; the visible sleeve features subtle decorative patterning. The tight, centered composition focuses entirely on her face and upper torso, creating an intimate and dignified mood that emphasizes intellect and dignity over ornamentation.
Botanist/plant ecologist E. Lucy Braun is one of the most influential ecologists in North American history.
+ First woman President, Ecological Society of America, 1950
+ Helped establish plant ecology as a rigorous academic discipline
She was born #OTD in 1889. #WomenInSTEM #conservation #ecosky
Well, I didn't expect to see this on camera. Western fence lizard catches a bee and eats it.
The lizards are insectivores that feed on a variety of invertebrates, including bees, wasps, beetles, flies, caterpillars, and ants.
This is a 1st for the water dish!
❤️🦎❤️
NAVIGATING UNCERTAINTY Individual Resilience and Collective Action in Evolutionary Biology LIGHTNING TALKS: 9:15 - 10:30 AM EDT Focus on the collective: what can our community do in a time of uncertainty? PROTHAMA MANNA, CLEMSON UNIV. MOHAMED NOOR, DUKE UNIVERSITY RUTH SHAW, UNIV. OF MINNESOTA JOSEPH GRAVES, NC A&T STATE UNIV. SCOTT EDWARDS, HARVARD UNIV. EMILY JOSEPHS, MICHIGAN STATE UNIV. ALISON DAVIS RABOSKY, UNIV. OF MICHIGAN WORKSHOP & BREAKOUTS: 11 - 12:30 PM EDT Focus on the individual: how scientists can respond constructively, creatively, and sustainably in the face of instability NELIA VIVEIROS, UNIV. OF COLORADO ANSCHUTZ MEDICAL CAMPUS
👋 👋 SSE members, I hope you'll join me May 21 for the virtual SSE Presidential Symposium:
Navigating Uncertainty: Individual Resilience and Collective Action in Evolutionary Biology
Pls RT to help get the word out!
A headline reads: "Senate Votes to Allow Mining Near Minnesota Wilderness." Aerial view of a frozen, blue lake. Brown trees are in the background. Photo by Tim Gruber for The New York Times.
The Senate voted on Thursday to allow mining upstream from Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, one of the largest and most visited expanses of federally protected lakes and forests in the U.S. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/16/c...
@hhmi-science.bsky.social's
#FreemanHrabowski Scholars Program offers early career faculty up to $10M over 10 yrs, plus salary & benefits
Stable, sustained support can transform your career:
Senior Postdoc? This year's competition has a program for you too. Applications open 11/3! bit.ly/4vhC0LA
Come work with us!
WANTED: Lead Collections Manager. Smithsonian NMNH Botany is looking for a Supervisory Museum Specialist to manage the United States National Herbarium and a top-notch collections team. For more information, visit USAJOBS (www.usajobs.gov/job/864499200). Applications due in two weeks (1 May 2026).
Texas' only licensed Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu legal interpreter is now languishing in a Raymondville detention center. She’s lived in America for 35 years: www.texasobserver.org/immigration-...
Scientists just discovered 5.6 million bees under a New York cemetery www.scientificamerican.com/article/scie...
🚨Job Alert!🚨 Please share widely! We are hiring *two* postdocs (one ASAP, one Oct '26) using models and data to identify pathways involving the gut-brain axis that link the infant microbiome with neurodevelopment and Autism Spectrum Disorder. 1st review date: April 24!
recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF03089
😱 Super excited to be named as a Guggenheim Fellow!! 😱
My big takeaway from reporting this story is that it's not JUST about the Forest Service.
The closure of these stations threatens to upend a delicate system of mutually beneficial collaboration and resource sharing, and the impacts will ripple out far beyond the Forest Service itself.
I still can’t get over how we lost this brilliant researcher doing such impactful anti-racist and anti-sexist work in biology because of anti-DEI BS. Please share this article widely!
www.statnews.com/2026/04/07/b...
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...
Bri Barbu and I, at the time, had just written "The beginner's guide to a career in science writing," where we sought to help other students go from zero to where we were.
In 2026, the guide is sorely outdated, so we gave it a refresh for today's science writing landscape:
Large grey cat with white bib standing on a large tree stump looking straight at camera in the evening light with orange pink and purple flowers in background
Same cat doing a flop on the stump
Neighborhood kitty Buster living The Life™ in our flower meadow!
A female kakapo on a nest facing the camera, with a young chick in front of her. Credit: Andrew Digby
This year's #kakapo breeding season has been the biggest on record:
- 256 eggs (252 in 2019)
- 148 fertile eggs (116 in 2019)
- 105 eggs hatched (86 in 2019).
It'll be 2+ months until we know how many chicks will fledge (73 in 2019). There are currently 95 alive. #conservation #kakapo2026 #birds
Calling all geologists! 🥾⛏️ The Utah Geological Survey is hiring a Geologic Mapper. If you love fieldwork, creating detailed maps, and want to work in a geological wonderland, this is for you!
Apply here: utdgohcm.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
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werewere-kōkako with the aotearoa $50 note in the background (the note has a pair of werewere-kōkako)
Characteristics of ectomycorrhizal fungal exploration types.
Ecological and genomic variation in ectomycorrhizal fungal exploration types
Mansfield, et al.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
@tommansfield.bsky.social @Anthomycota.bsky.social
#PlantScience
I'm a data scientist @ourworldindata.org and I need help from a botanist or someone local to Kyoto, Japan! 🌸
We present one of the world’s longest climate records: 1,200 years of peak cherry blossom dates in Kyoto.
The researcher who maintained it, Prof. Yasuyuki Aono, sadly passed away last year.
Just updated my HHMI Gilliam Fellowship application guide for the 2026 cycle. Big changes this year: international PhD students and MD-PhDs can now apply, and there's a new postdoc pathway extending HHMI support up to 7 years total.
www.yaelcourtney.com/resources-an...
The United States National Herbarium is seeking a Lead Collections Manager! For complete requirements and application procedures, please visit USAJOBS (www.usajobs.gov/job/864499200). Applications and all supporting documentation must be received online by 1 May 2026.
Oh thank goodness
