New preprint from our team: complex microbial consortia improved lettuce and spinach performance under 30% reduced irrigation, including better yield, less wilting, improved root growth, and reduced harvest delay.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Sorry Jonathan - I am in Wales on vacation right now

Lucid by Steal Euphoria on Apple Music Song · 2026 · Duration 3:57

My son’s band, Steal Euphoria, dropped their first single today—Lucid.

Worth a listen if you like alt rock:
music.apple.com/us/album/luc...

SXSW Panel: Can Science Safeguard Earth’s Wildlife? YouTube video by Scripps Oceanography

Video of our SXSW panel on the future of conservation - www.youtube.com/watch?v=inZw...

Scripps Oceanography and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Partner for Innovative Conservation Efforts Scripps Institution of Oceanography and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance have announced a research partnership through the Agile Restoration & Conservation Hubs initiative. This joint effort will harne...

Excited to share a new partnership between @ucsandiego and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance through the ARCH initiative.

Read more: today.ucsd.edu/story/scripp...

#Conservation #Biodiversity #ScrippsOceanography #SDZWA

Jack Gilbert giving the Vulcan salute

🖖 Congrats to Scripps microbiologist @gilbertjacka.bsky.social for receiving the Live Long and Prosper Award from the Nimoy-Knight Foundation! The award celebrates extraordinary folks who embody Leonard Nimoy's message of hope, logic, compassion and service to others. https://bit.ly/4bLKeUA

A ‘doomsday vault’ of microbes could save species—including us Scientists are storing backup copies of the bacteria, viruses, archaea, protists, and fungi that keep our planet healthy

A ‘doomsday vault’ of microbes could save species—including us cen.acs.org/biological-c...

New paper out today in @microbiomej.bsky.social: “Environmental microbiota transfer from forest soil into urban homes: a proof-of-principle study.” We show that a simple soil-on-rug intervention can shift bacterial microbiota in house dust in urban homes. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Across 6 field sites in Rwanda, a multi-strain microbial consortium increased maize yield by 59–68% and root biomass by 61–74% vs untreated controls. Promising evidence for scalable microbiome-based agriculture. eartharxiv.org/repository/v...

Sir Tim Smit recently told me something that really stuck: scientists often fail to communicate because they unconsciously shape their message for the few peers in the room, not the wider audience. Worth remembering next time you present.

She is a Soil Star thesoilstars.com so is Edge!

Having fun @anthropyuk.bsky.social in the @edenproject.bsky.social with the amazing @johandelsman.bsky.social The Edge, and Sir Tim Smit - promoting work through the @ucsandiego.bsky.social Soil Health Center (soilhealthcenter.ucsd.edu), OathBiome and @amiposts.bsky.social #saveoursoils

Speakers on stage at SXSW

Speakers at SXSW

Yesterday at #SXSW, Scripps microbial ecologist Jack Gilbert @gilbertjacka.bsky.social joined experts from @sandiegozoo.bsky.social, @wcs.org & Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom for a panel exploring how biobanking & digital strategies are helping give wildlife a lifeline. bit.ly/40bwZpB

Looking forward to speaking at the Royal Society meeting on Metals & Oxygen: Planetary and Human Homeostasis (MOPHH) this June.

📅 June 15–16
📍 London + virtual
🎟️ Free (registration required)

Join us: royalsociety.org/science-even...

Soil: The quiet revolution Beneath our feet lies a vast microbial universe essential to climate stability, biodiversity, and global food security. As soils deteriorate worldwide, understanding and harnessing microbial ecosystem...

Looking forward to speaking at #Anthropy26 at the Eden Project.

Session: “Soil: The quiet revolution”
🗓 March 25 | 9:30–10:30 AM

Join Sir Tim Smit, Jo Handelsman, The Edge and I talking about soil health
event.anthropy.uk/event/anthro...

Calling all #SXSW attendees interested in wildlife conservation! 📣 Join Scripps microbial ecologist Jack Gilbert (@gilbertjacka.bsky.social) & experts from @sandiegozoo.bsky.social, @wcs.org, & Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom to explore how science is helping give wildlife a lifeline. Details below.

A human-derived Bacteroides strain attenuates depressive-like behavior in a rat model of social defeat-induced stress - BMC Medicine Background The gut microbiome has been linked to mood disorders via communication along the gut-brain axis. We previously found levels of fecal Bacteroides were inversely associated with brain signatu...

Our new study shows that a human-derived Bacteroides salyersiae can reverse depressive-like behavior in a chronic stress model, with effects comparable to ketamine.

The talented @philstrandwitz.bsky.social to creating microbiome-based antidepressant therapeutics.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

I might need a more masculine chain!

Honored to receive the Live Long and Prosper Award from the Nimoy-Knight Foundation.

I grew up inspired by Spock’s logic and Kirk’s boldness, two sides of the scientist’s mindset.

🖖 Live long and prosper.

#RememberingLeonardNimoy
#NimoyKnightFoundation
#LLAPAward
#LLAPTribute

Honored to receive the Live Long and Prosper Award from the Nimoy-Knight Foundation.

I grew up inspired by Spock’s logic and Kirk’s boldness, two sides of the scientist’s mindset.

🖖 Live long and prosper.

A World Without Soil - Yale University Press London A celebrated biologist’s manifesto addressing a soil loss crisis accelerated by poor conservation practices and climate change  “Jo Handelsm...

For those of you interested in our planet and solutions you should read Jo Handelsman's A World Without Soil - it is a pivotal work that should inform agriculture and conservation management globally.

yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...

Saving The Life We Cannot See | NOEMA Conservation has traditionally ignored the planet’s smallest life forms. Microbiologists are trying to change that — before it’s too late.

A great read on saving endangered microbes (and not just from glaciers)

“The world is at a critical inflection point,” says @gilbertjacka.bsky.social “If we don’t do something now, shit’s going to get real, and microbiology needs to be considered in this space.”

www.noemamag.com/saving-the-l...

Saving The Life We Cannot See | NOEMA Conservation has traditionally ignored the planet’s smallest life forms. Microbiologists are trying to change that — before it’s too late.

We have Red Lists for mammals, birds and trees.

But until now, nothing for microbes

Noema Magazine explores our IUCN Microbial Conservation Specialist Group

The life we cannot see may be the most important life of all.

www.noemamag.com/saving-the-l...

SXSW 2026 Schedule Browse events, build your schedule, and get personalized recommendations for the 2026 SXSW Conference & Festivals from March 12–18, 2026 in Austin, TX.

🌎Can science help safeguard Earth’s wildlife? From habitat loss to climate change, species worldwide are under threat. At #SXSW2026, experts explore how biobanking & digital tools give wildlife a lifeline.
🗓 Mar 17 | 4 PM
📍 JW Marriott, Room 201-202
schedule.sxsw.com/events/PP116...

Episode 1 of #MVIFconversations with @gilbertjacka.bsky.social is here ⬆️
and Episode 2 (which is also awesome) is out on Monday 🤫🤫🤫

i co-teach a research methods in ecology & evolution class and my colleague was lecturing and said "chlorophyll" and immediately my brain went "chlorophyll??? more like borophyll!!!"

Metabolic modeling reveals determinants of prebiotic and probiotic treatment efficacy across multiple human intervention trials Prebiotic and probiotic interventions can induce therapeutically relevant shifts in the human microbiome, but their effects are variable across individuals. This study shows that metabolic models can ...

Our latest is out today in @plosbiology.org:

"Metabolic modeling reveals determinants of prebiotic and probiotic treatment efficacy across multiple human intervention trials"

@isbscience.org @uwbioe.bsky.social @uwgenome.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1371/jour...

-how @gilbertjacka.bsky.social is featured near the end of @edyong209.bsky.social 's book "I contain multitudes"
-how thermophiles are found in water heaters
-how Beggiatoa has still not come up in any marine microbial census that I've ever seen, because it's so rare
2/2+

Microbiome research in practice: priorities for clinical translation and impact Rapid advances in microbiome science have sparked clinical and commercial enthusiasm for interventions, yet translation into practice risks outpacing …

New paper out from @doctoranastasia.bsky.social with lots of other cool folks (+me) looking at the future requirements for translating microbiome research www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

A Little Grime Can Boost Kids’ Health. But What Kind? Amber Fyfe Johnson (ireach.wsu.edu/people/amber...) and I talk with Kathleen Davis on @scifri.bsky.social for @npr.org about what kind of 'dirt' may be good for your children's health!
www.sciencefriday.com/segments/dir...