Our department is hiring! Huge endorse! www.nature.com/naturecareer...

#Dros25 was a blast, as always! Thanks to the organizers for planning an amazing meeting, and presenters for sharing their exciting advances!

Anyone else being asked by NSF to return payment for serving as a reviewer?

🚨 Everyone needs to call their Dem Senator right now. They are starting to cave. Tell them: 1. Vote NO on Cloture AND 2. Vote NO on the Republican spending bill. Don’t let them pivot to reconciliation. GOP doesn’t need Dem votes on that and they know it. TODAY is the showdown. 🤳🏽: (202) 224-3121

I got the official word this morning that I am to be reinstated at NSF. I don't know what the future holds, but for now I am tremendously relieved!

Justin Trudeau gave the exact kind of press conference today that we have been waiting for from our Democratic leaders. Watch it and learn from it. No gimmicks, no stunts, no script, no platitudes, no slogans, no games. Just straight talk, honesty, sincerity and facts.

We're thrilled to see the positive press our work in New Caledonia is getting! 24 million Wolbachia mosquitoes released since 2018 = zero epidemics since 2020. Described as a "Monumental success" that saved lives and €67M in health costs. Our #Wolbachia method keeps proving itself!

I cancelled my Amazon prime subscription today and will avoid them for the foreseeable future. We vote with every dollar we spend.

This will be devastating for many. I wouldn't be where I am today without this program.

In a preprint published today, we are excited to report the secondary structure of the 1212 nt fission-yeast S. pombe telomerase RNA, TER1, and its roles in the physicofunctional organization of this massive, flexible enzymatic RNP complex. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Everyone who ever got funding through NIAID should be aware of this bill and start sending messages to their US legislators. The bill intends to dissolve NIAID. This is Project 2025 www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...

🚨PA colleagues: "Senator Fetterman wants to hear from you about how the federal funding freeze is affecting Pennsylvania." "If your project has been impacted, please fill out our constituent impact form:" forms.office.com/g/mFv2JAPxpC Get out your Other Support and share that info!

There are lots of things to be sad/mad about these days, but something that always cheers me up is to see talented student get the recognition they deserve. Talented PhD student @alpha423.bsky.social from my lab won first place in our department's Three Minute Thesis (#3MT) competition! #ProudMentor

Welcome to the Bluesky account for Stand Up for Science 2025! Keep an eye on this space for updates, event information, and ways to get involved. We can't wait to see everyone #standupforscience2025 on March 7th, both in DC and locations nationwide! #scienceforall #sciencenotsilence

I have had a TON of people asking how they can help...here is what would help us the most right now: SHARE SHARE SHARE SHARE SHARE! Tell us why you #standupforscience2025! Send flyers to your colleagues and labs! Change your bluesky banner! Tell your professional orgs and departments!

That the White House feels the need to push back on this is good news. It means they are feeling the heat, and it's not just being seen as an inside baseball issue. Because it's not. Keep pushing! Keep calling! Keep fighting!

Just saw a farmer say, "you don't have to admit you were wrong, you have to admit you were lied to, " and idk that seems like a good framing to call people in

How can we respond to the onslaught of attacks on higher ed? Feb 13 at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT: workers & allies from around the US will come together in a national strategy call. Register: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi... @uaw.org @aftunion.bsky.social @cwaunion.bsky.social @aaup.bsky.social

The Trump Administration's list of censored scientific terms that get NSF grant proposals flagged contains "women” and “female”, but no mention of “men” or “male.” There is “black” and “indigenous” on this list, but no “white.” The only identity not censored is mine. youtu.be/dHXbpj1Z3UU

Thrilling to see a former student getting the recognition they deserve. Josie is a rising star!

Here’s where I’m at: 1. @asm.org has good track record helping advance IDEAA within science world 2. I know people in charge truly care about advancing IDEAA 3. Mistakes were made on this, coupled with poor communication 4. The track record here is worth grace for this mistake

I’m on one of ASMs IDEAA committees and we have received 0 communication from ASM staff on why this is happening. I had to find out via social media. Extremely disappointing.

This requires an immediate response from @asm and @vscooper.micropopbio.org

Found this gem in an arcane NSF doc...key to know: The Constitution and law SUPERSEDES exec orders! "In the event of a conflict between policies issued at a lower tier versus policies issued at a higher tier, the higher tier policy will take precedence" nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/Resear...

If you're wondering if your personal physician is a MAHA freak you can check to see if their name is on this list and then find a new physician. H/t @charlesornstein.bsky.social www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...

Microbiome science needs more microbiologists- A new commentary authored by myself and @abaumler.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

(Please share) As scientists, our academic societies have a big role to play in organizing us in opposition to threats to our profession. @asm.org has long done this through their Action Alerts page. Please consider reviewing current actions and doing what you can. asm.org/Articles/Pol...

Looks like the following programs in #NSF BIO have been 'archived': BRC-BIO - new.nsf.gov/funding/oppo... BIO-LEAPS - new.nsf.gov/funding/oppo... PRFB - new.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

As a new PI, I have to imagine these recent developments are going to hurt... Hang in there everyone!

Friends, please help spread the word about our microbiology REU program at Montana State University. www.montana.edu/mbi/reu/ Each student receives a stipend ($7000 for 10 wks). Travel compensation, room, and board are also provided. Details in the attached pic--Feb 13 deadline 🧫🧪🦠#microsky

I'm looking for a good review article on the history of pandemics. Does anyone have a favorite? #MicroSky #Pandemics

After 24 years of work, I’m thrilled to announce the TYMEFLIES dataset, which comprises metagenomes from Lake Mendota (Madison, WI), collected roughly every 10 days (471 samples) for 20 years! @quendi.bsky.social @robinrohwer.bsky.social rdcu.be/d5put A thread…

Abstract accepted and registration complete for #Dros25! Who else on here is planning to attend? #Drosophila #SymbioSky #Wolbachia

Excellent opportunity to get a PhD!

Dinner with most of the lab tonight to celebrate the end of another successful semester! Such a wonderful group of people. I feel so incredibly lucky to get to work with them every day! #ProudMentor #LifeSciences #Lehigh

"#Drosophila larvae use their taste system to detect bacterial peptidoglycans in their environment and respond by modulating the activity of their cellular immune system. We show that specific PeptidoGlycan Receptor Proteins act in bitter taste neurons, via the IMmune Deficiency pathway" #Preprint

Happy birthday #Wolbachia! Still so many mysteries to uncover! #symbiosky

Come join us!

Ever wonder how to count very rare and unculturable #microbes? Our new #preprint 🥳 shows that we can use #ddPCR to count as few as 12 #endosymbiont genomes in a 20 uL reaction!🤯 Yes, this is a teaser for things to come.😉 #Wolbachia #Drosophila #SymbioSky #Entomology www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

"We describe a #mtDNA variant that confers protection against variety of pathogens in #Drosophila. This protection was at least partially caused by enhanced cell-mediated innate #immunity, including higher numbers of immune cells prior to and during infection." journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...

Great place to work!

Drosophila and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum in the spotlight (again), what a wonderful model (disclaimer I am biased ;-) ). Congrats Will and team! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Today let’s honor Lynn Margulis (1938-2011), visionary scientist and co-developer of the #Gaia hypothesis with James Lovelock ✨. 🔑 Her work on microbial symbiosis reshaped our understanding of life’s interconnectedness and its role in Ecosystems self-regulation. 🌍💚 👉 bit.ly/4f5xiqS 🧪🌍🌐

So cool! When bacteria take the reigns!

Officially the place to be!

Wolbachia releases can have protective effects against dengue that reach beyond the release zone www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...

I was initially hesitant about joining another social platform, but Bluesky has exceeded my expectations. The scientific community here is incredibly active and engaging. Plus, the ability to curate my feed and avoid algorithmic noise is a game-changer. Looking forward to learning from you all!