It's a symphony of microbial processes that break down a human body after death. Expression of heat shock proteins shows the decomposers experiencing stress. It also seems that fungi, not bacteria, may be breaking down our fat tissues. Read more in our latest pub: doi.org/10.1093/fems...

Such a great team that included @sullivan-lab.bsky.social , @ab-knox.bsky.social, @jdebruyn.bsky.social, Debbie Lindell and so many amazing staff and students. And yes - still more to come from this project. artsci.utk.edu/ut-research-...

Paper jointly first-authored by two outstanding early career scientists: Naomi Gilbert scholar.google.com/citations?us... & Daniel Muratore scholar.google.com/citations?us... and a collaborative group spanning UT-Knoxville, UMD, Georgia Tech, Ohio State & Technion. Welcome any/all feedback! /🧵

How long do the effects of a decomposing animal last? Nine years after decomposing a colony of beavers, aka beaverhenge, we revisit the scene to find out.

A rainbow of soil profiles at the "Know Soil, Know Life" educator workshop, hosted by U of Minnesota

An awesome example of collaboration between citizen scientists and academic researchers here in our local community!