Registrations for the Stromlo Plant Pathogen Conference #StromPath25 are rolling in fast and the program is now full! Exciting lineup from Japan, Korea, USA, UK, NZ + strong local crew. Join us in Canberra — rego open until Nov 13. Program available here tinyurl.com/3e3tx9j2

Open Group Leader Positions at the IMB, UQ. Interested in joining us in sunny Queensland?

@arc-pbtc.bsky.social is seeking a #PhD student to explore how Australian growers engage with biosecurity preparedness and design strategies to boost on-farm readiness. Work with industry, growers & government on impactful research. Generous stipend + national network. tinyurl.com/ykwj97th

Ready to take molecular ecology into the wild? @arc-pbtc.bsky.social is seeking a PhD student to use eDNA to protect Northern Australia’s biosecurity. Mix molecular biology, remote fieldwork and real-world impact. Generous stipend + national training network. See link to apply tinyurl.com/mw5uk32z

So happy to have @mcdonaldmeganc.bsky.social with us for the day!

The views from 32000 ft over middle of 🇦🇺 … unreal to see water and all the creeks and tributaries that are rarely running.

Excited to be Plenary Speaker at the Combined Biological Sciences Meeting in Western Australia on Sept 19 at UWA! I’ll share a novel plant immunity pathway + a few career reflections. Can’t wait to reconnect with WA friends + hear top biology from the west! cbsmwa.au @cbsmwa.bsky.social #CBSM2025

Registrations are rolling in for the 2025 Stromlo Plant Pathology meeting in Canberra (Nov 27–28)! Secure your spot! Speakers: @yasukadota.bsky.social, Cecille Segonzac, @thamlab.bsky.social, @yichangsung.bsky.social, Tek Tay & @danielsyu.bsky.social. Register at tinyurl.com/3e3tx9j2 #strompath25

I don't think this gets the attention it deserves ... without significant policy change it won't end well ... www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Nothing at all to be concerned about here ... 🙄https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02221-6?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=07bf0162d5-nature-briefing-daily-20250716&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-33f35e09ea-48945063

A real treat to have Professor Yong-Hwan Lee from Seoul National University presenting at #APPS2025 in Sydney, Aus. As many would know, Yong-Hwan is a pioneer in the rice blast field and always a pleasure to hear his journey through his career as well as his many recent advances.

Excited to do a postdoc in beautiful Neuchatel / Switzerland🇨🇭? We have several postdoc positions open at the moment! Check our website for the full ads here: pathogen-genomics.org/jobs Happy to answer any question and please spread the word to anyone who might be interested!

Excited to announce that Tek Tay will be delivering a plenary presentation at #strompath2025. Tek is a leader in understanding the genome diversity of invasive insect pests inc FAW and CRB. Please click on the link for more information and registration details for the meeting. tinyurl.com/3e3tx9j2

Great talk by Chris Nellessen from the AUS Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry using MALDI-ToF as a biosecurity diagnostic. @arc-pbtc.bsky.social is working with DAFF to develop improved fruit fly diagnostic approaches - an important project with significant biosecurity implications.

Always interested in an early morning talk on coffee rusts! Great overview by Cathie Aime at APPS 2025 ...

Happy to announce that registration for the 2025 Stromlo Plant Pathology (and plant pests!) conference at ANU is now open (Nov 27-28). Plenary speakers confirmed include @yasukadota.bsky.social, Cecile Segonzac [email protected]. Please go to tinyurl.com/2rdxuap3 to register - all are welcome!

We are pleased to welcome AUSVEG as a new partner in the ARC Training Centre for Plant Biosecurity. Representing Australia’s vegetable, potato, and onion industries, AUSVEG will support our efforts to train postgraduates to address the growing threat of pests and diseases. @arc-pbtc.bsky.social

The ARC Training Centre in Plant Biosecurity @arc-pbtc.bsky.social is pleased to introduce postdoctoral research fellow Elle Saber to the Training Centre! Elle is a statistician working on quantitative methods in biology and values opportunities to collaborate with researchers from different fields.

We're officially launching the ARC Training Centre in Plant Biosecurity on the International Day of Plant Health, May 12. This is a 5yr, $10M investment into postgrad research training funded by Australian Research Council, 3 unis (ANU, JCU & UC) and 27 partner organisations @arc-pbtc.bsky.social

Not science but am having a lovely time visiting my daughter at GSU in Atlanta … weird times in this part of the world but still heaps of nice people that give me hope that they’ll see this through …

Chicago sunrise …

Awesome array of skills and techniques on display by @yithengchooi.bsky.social on mining for secondary metabolites in fungi. An exciting ride about to start! #ecfg17

Brilliant story presented by Naoyoshi Kumakura @ecfg172025.bsky.social #ecfg17 on how dihydroxyhexanoic acid mediates pore sizes in appresorium … see more here www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Nice story by @ifudal.bsky.social at @ecfg172025.bsky.social talking about conserved cooperating effectors in L. maculans

📣 Short-term #postdoctoral #position in plant disease epidemiology modeling @inrae-bioger.bsky.social @inrae-save.bsky.social @inrae-dpt-spe.bsky.social. Please share it! 🙏 eng-bioger.versailles-saclay.hub.inrae.fr/content/down...

Arrived in Dublin for @ecfg172025.bsky.social … keen for the meeting to start - but while I’m waiting …

A pretty damning indictment on university student experience - hard to see how this changes (other than fund universities properly and provide free education ...) www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Really looking forward to ECFG17 in Dublin @ecfg172025.bsky.social ... outstanding program ... pdf-program.abstractserver.com?congress=ecf...

Awesome to see this study out from @ashleycnelson.bsky.social ... great technique to use with our beloved wheat necrotrophs! apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/...

This is truly incredible ... D and L amino acids and all the required nucleotides ... www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Renewable energy sources counted for 46% of Australia's energy supply in the last 3 months of 2024 - BRILLIANT! This can only get better! www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Less than 5 weeks until ecfg17.org ... should be awesome (and hopefully a ECFG17 BlueSky account to come so we can promote the meetings/speakers ... 😉) ...

Question for PhD/grad students and postdocs ... what professional development courses would you like to have been offered when you started your PhD/grad program? What skills (not technical) would have been valuable in helping you through your PhD journey and beyond?

Work/life balance can have a serious impact on mental health whilst affecting your performance in the workplace and your life outside of it. Do you feel like you have an appropriate work/life balance? 1️⃣ Yes 2️⃣ No 3️⃣ Unsure 📊 Show results

Bouncing back after 4 weeks leave ... this will take a day or 2 ...

We're looking for a PhD student on disease mechanisms of the barley pathogen Ramularia collo cygni, supported by a (tax free) fellowship. Please RT.

A fascinating new study by Shaobin Zhong out of NDSU - great to finally see what this effector from Bipolaris sorokiniana is actually doing. Also another great example of dominant susceptibility in a necrotrophic interaction! nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

I have a real passion about mental health in academia and also appreciating the importance of a proper work-life balance. I wrote this blog several years ago but it is still relevant. Watch this space for future polls I am going to post asking colleagues about work/life! tinyurl.com/444ph9pn

This is horrifying and an insight into a potential trend globally ... slashed social science funding and demonstrable economic impact for STEM grants required ... really feeling for my NZ colleagues today. www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/governmen...

Awesome postdoc opportunity to join a strong highflying group in Birmingham UK. Exciting project seeking to understand the biochemical basis for horizontal gene transfer! @mcdonaldmeganc.bsky.social www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DKS973/r...

It’s a dark day for research in Aotearoa New Zealand and the ramifications for the country are huge. Minister Judith Collins has just announced our blue-skies funder will no longer fund humanities & social science research and that 50% of what is funded must have economic benefit.

We're hiring a PDRA in #proteindesign. If you're interested in developing #protein #cages for #vaccine therapeutics get in touch! #bionano #symbio #biochem

The Solomon and Williams labs are excited to announce that Emily Cross has joined the team. Emily brings a wealth of structural biology experience that has already significantly advanced our understanding of extracellular protein interactions! Watch this space!

A great PhD opportunity in the ARC Plant Biosecurity Training Centre to apply cutting-edge nanobody technology to protect Australia's borders! Applications welcome from 🇦🇺 citizens. tinyurl.com/59y6y4xs @arc-pbtc.bsky.social

Fall Army Worm is a major threat to global agriculture! Exciting new PhD project now available through @arc-pbtc.bsky.social to study FAW population genomics within ARC Plant Biosecurity Training Centre in Australia ... please share ... tinyurl.com/yc57n5zf

Applications are now open for fully-funded #PhD positions at the Max Planck Institute for Biology and Friedrich Miescher Laboratory. The new cohort starts September 2025. Find out more about the projects you could be working on: www.phd.tuebingen.mpg.de #IMPRS

Very challenging to play golf with all these obstacles in front of me!

@arc-pbtc.bsky.social is now accepting applications for EIGHT PhD scholarships in plant biosecurity! With integrated placement with our partner organisations and substantive professional development opportunities – these are PhDs with a real difference. plantbiosecuritycentre.edu.au/phd-opportun...

Never thought this would happen but my first ever post on Arabidopsis … a new world for my lab but exciting! PhD student Chen @1515185596.bsky.social has a healthy crop underway for a large scale gene expression analysis dissecting extracellular plant immunity.

Brilliant day listening to ANU Plant Science PhD students presenting 8 min summaries of their projects - a real skill! Here’s @nuren-tasneem.bsky.social doing an awesome job explaining the intricacies of extracellular plant immunity.