👋 👋 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!

“Between January 2025 and February 2026, STEM and health employees at science-focused agencies saw nearly 15,000 jobs cut. The rate outpaced cuts among other federal workers.” OPM data - Figure from Wash Post article 19 April. (Where US science has been hit hardest.) NSF at -42%!

Those of us doing research related to women’s health have been hit particularly hard by the govt’s sabotage of the NIH. I spoke to WaPo for this piece, as painful as it was to discuss the reality my lab is facing. www.washingtonpost.com/science/2026...

Thank you for your courage to publicly address abusive language.

👋 👋 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!

“That’s all anybody can do right now. Live. Hold out. Survive. I don’t know whether good times are coming back again. But I know that won’t matter if we don’t survive these times.” ― Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower

We are hiring! We’re excited to recruit a postdoc to our lab at UC Davis to work on plant immune engineering and single-cell analyses of plant pathogen interactions. Apply by June 1. Please repost. www.coakerlab.org/postdoctoral...

Rep Justin Jones made a statement entrance, walking into the Tennessee legislature with an"Abolish ICE" flag. No subtlety. No backing down.🔥🔥

Reposting this old thread on the "Pervasive findings of directional selection" from ancient DNA. While the authors extended their results in various ways, I think many of these points still stand.

Postdoc opportunity in plant systematics + phylogenomics 🌿 my lab at the University of Michigan is recruiting for a Research Fellow working on species delimitation in neotropical myrtles. Full details + apply here (deadline April 30) careers.umich.edu/job_detail/2...

Heads UP: SCOTUS will be announcing opinions beginning at 10am today Opinions that remain outstanding: Birthright citizenship Voting rights Fed independence 2 immigration cases And .. a lot more You can follow along with SCOTUSblog Live here: www.scotusblog.com/2026/04/anno...

Scientists are going into politics in the US in increasing numbers. This is a brilliant and much needed trend 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

@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

Take a moment and watch this until the end.

"You're spending taxpayer dollars to drink milk shirtless in a hot tub with Kid Rock. Somehow you think that's a better public health message than informing the public about the benefits of vaccines. Really? -- Rep. Linda Sanchez to RFK Jr

More info on the Guggenheims awarded this year to UM faculty, and my proposed project on weeds! 🌱

Virtual -- held in May -- is very cheap (and free for many in low income countries). The in-person one in June includes full access to the virtual as well.

A reminder to all that Early Bird Registration for the Evolution conference (SSE, ASN, SSB societies) is still an option today or tomorrow. Prices go up after Apr 15. www.evolutionmeetings.org/registration... I hope to see a number of you in Cleveland this year.

Until now, scientists have identified only a few dozen variants that went through natural selection in humans in the past 10,000 years. A new study claims to find hundreds--maybe thousands. Here's my story on the provocative research, and the mixed reception it's getting. Gift link: nyti.ms/4tSJH9G

I'm excited to tell you about the most recent preprint in my lab, demonstrating that a conserved spindle matrix protein, NPP-21/TPR, is required for the stronger checkpoint in germline cells during embryogenesis in C. elegans

Registered for #Evolution2026! Early bird deadline is today. I'll also say that Cleveland hits WAY over its reputation

One to watch if you can! 👇👇👇

Oh no! I'm so so sorry to see this www.mlive.com/news/ann-arb...

I’m sorry WHAT

Tomorrow!!

😱 Super excited to be named as a Guggenheim Fellow!! 😱

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.

Don't forget to register! Early bird registration closes in 1 week (4/15). And you can apply to be a volunteer for the virtual+in-person meeting until 4/10. www.evolutionmeetings.org

GSAC is gathering anonymous input on how funding uncertainty is affecting grad students and postdocs, including challenges and helpful strategies. Responses will be shared in aggregate to inform advocacy and discussions at Evolution. Share your perspective by May 1, 2026: forms.gle/c63zpSkwK3HT...

Here she is at the March on Washington wearing her Resistance medals, incredible flex

At a glance, 2599 recipients - I think the highest total ever? And quite a few in the Life Sciences, which I know was a concern for many - Evolutionary Biology had twice as many recipients (38) as last year (19).

I've pushed the latest #NSF GRFP data to the rnsf page. Raw data for all years at github.com/bomeara/rnsf... or just get saved #rstats data.frame at github.com/bomeara/rnsf... You can also git clone and install pkg, then do library(rnsf) data(grfp) to get info for all years.

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...

This reality check by Rebecca Solnit grabs you right from the killer first sentence. Do yourself a favor & give it a read.

👇

"In my cohort, X% obtained permanent positions. I worked intensely during certain windows. I delayed some personal goals. I benefited from structural features of my field. There was luck." Yeah, this resonates with my own career.

SSE wants to hear from you! Pls RT -- TY! 👇👇👇👇👇

Virtual and in-person talk submission for #Evol2026 closes April 15! Talks and posters are filled on a first-submitted, first-filled basis, and spots may fill before the deadline. Learn how to submit your talk or poster here: www.evolutionmeetings.org/instructions... @evolmtg.bsky.social

men can’t understand what it’s like for women to see story after story after story of women being victims of sexual violence in a culture where it’s routine; what it’s like to live in a world that is fundamentally hostile to our existence. it’s a wonder we leave the fucking house, let alone thrive.

Humanity did that. Science did that. Publicly-funded research did that. Excellent universities did that. Diversity did that. International cooperation did that. Artemis II is a perfect example of what we can do at our best. Welcome home, Integrity crew!

This report is well done. It has detail and they appear to have done their due diligence. I feel terrible for the woman who experienced this and carried it for years. These are serious allegations. They deserve to be taken seriously, examined, and handled with care for everyone involved.

Call your reps to strengthen plant sciences funding: blog.aspb.org/call-to-acti... Urge Your U.S. Senators to Support Robust NSF Funding: takeaction.io/aibs/action-...

Full version available now of our new pennycress paper at @newphyt.bsky.social - great working with @stairwaytokevin.bsky.social, @spicybotrytis.bsky.social, @jotlovell.bsky.social, et al. Come for the pretty pictures, stay for the cool science! nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

Wait, wasn't this meeting JUST in Cleveland?!? It was! In 2022. We're headed back as a knock-on consequence of the pandemic. In 2027+ we'll be at locations *not* affected by past pandemic cancellations! See clip of the SSE newsletter for more info.

💬 Don’t miss the latest Evolution Exchange, in which SSE President Dr. Gina Baucom talks with Evolution Letters EIC Dr. Judith Mank about the use of AI and LLMs in scientific publishing: www.evolutionsociety.org/the-evolutio... @gbaucom.bsky.social @judithmank.bsky.social @evolletters.bsky.social

A great reminder that all in-person registrations include access to the virtual meeting, including giving a talk! Abstracts are due April 15. #Evol2026

Me! Both in person and online.

✋!