Our phylogenetic classification of >400 diatom genera is now published in Journal of Phycology. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Awesome Master’s degree level #Phycology job at UC Berkeley! aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05258?fbc...

Trying to imagine my time at UT without discussions of parsimony vs. likelihood.

Happy birthday to one of my favourite haters, Charles Darwin

No I cannot be on your important panel, sorry. No I cannot review your exciting grant, sorry. No I cannot review your groundbreaking paper, sorry. No I cannot help you with your awesome outreach project, sorry. Because all of this^ is invisible on my uni workload model and therefore worthless. 🤷‍♀️

This is a real timelapse video of the Moon transiting in front of the Earth. It was captured by the Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft in November 2022 while flying at it's furthest point from the Earth. The video covers about 3.75 hours of real time. 🔭🧪

Our paper on the need for field studies to test ocean iron fertilization as a climate solution is out - please read it, share widely, and let me know what you think!

❤️

The Brown Lab at Mississippi State University seeks a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Phylogenomics. Applicants should have sequencing data analysis experience, preferably in Python/R. Details at: https://explore.msujobs.msstate.edu/cw/en-us/job/510010 #postdoc

I would not have a job.

Two live sets I listen to repeatedly this time of year. Had both of them on cassette in the 90s. youtu.be/iavST2Uecm4?...

🧪📍🌊 🦑🍎 Marine Scientist Position – Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), full-time, permanent Marine Scientist position based in Panama. Application review begins February 15, 2026 (open until filled). Early-career researchers are strongly encouraged to apply. www.stri.si.edu

Back in the day, I spent a lot of effort pointing out that many claims of lateral gene transfer between taxa were better explained by other phenomena, like gene loss, duplicaiton and deletion, convergence, bad informatics, etc 1/n

Deep deep organisms that might live for thousands of years aeon.co/essays/the-d...

I’ve released a tool to sketch and edit phylogenetic trees! yawak.jp/PhyloWeaver/ Load a Newick file and intuitively add/remove/resize branches. Useful for quick conceptual trees, extracting subtrees, or turning ideas into Newick.

Conserved genetic markers reveal widespread diatom sexual reproduction in the global ocean www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs 🌊

The amoeba Difflugia bacillifera builds its shell from things that contain silica, and it is not particular about the source. These ones have incorporated whole shells from another testate amoeba (Euglypha), along with diatoms, algal cysts and chunks of rock. #Amoebae #ProtistsOnSky #peatlands

oh, what I'd give to see one of these . . . www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...

New results from our lab: Polyploidization in diatoms accelerates adaptation to warming. Nat. Clim. Chang. (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Recent MDPI paper including diagram of a bacterial cell with a mitochondrion 🤦‍♀️ The authors propose a mechanism for the toxicity of silver nanoparticles: "Ag+ ions in AgNPs bombard the bacterial mitochondria’s electron transport chain, resulting in cell death".

The buff-tip moth (Phalera bucephala) has mastered a very particular kind of camouflage. When they close their wings up, they resemble a broken twig. Native to large parts of Europe, there's regional pattern variation that reflects the local tree species. This one best resembles birch twigs?

"Useless" and/or "silly" federally-funded research has turned the United States into the world’s leader in science and technology over the past 75 years. Such science is under attack throughout the federally-funded agencies in the United States. More at: www.americanscientist.org/article/%E2%...

How do microbes become permanent partners? 🌊🔬🦠 Check out our new study published in Current Biology showing how cyanobacterial genomes evolve step-by-step into endosymbionts of diatoms. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @currentbiology.bsky.social @mehrshmali.bsky.social

This is one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed, the craft here is impeccable.

🚨🚨 New tenure track position in #ConservationBiology @oberlincollege.bsky.social in the #Biology department--come join us, and contribute to our brand new Environmental Science major too! #biologyjobs #ecologyjobs jobs.oberlin.edu/postings/16671

Please share! Our lab is recruiting a PhD student to join us starting fall 2026. Our group is broadly interested in plant molecular evolution and comparative genomics. More info about our lab and grad programs at Colorado St. is available on our lab website. sites.google.com/site/danielb...

Are you interested in how diatoms communicate with each other? Exciting post-doc position available in my lab to study the signalling mechanisms of cell-cell communication in diatoms. Deadline 14th July. @kehelliwell.bsky.social @thembauk.bsky.social www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNO210/p...

📜 A host organelle integrates stolen chloroplasts for animal photosynthesis 🧑‍🔬 Corey A.H. Allard, Amy S.Y. Lee, @nbellono.bsky.social, et al. 📔 @cellpress.bsky.social 🔗 www.cell.com/cell/abstrac... #️⃣ #PlantScience #Kleptosomes #Sacoglossan #SeaSlug #Photosynthesis

Looking back on last week's Molecular Life of Diatoms conference 🌊. Honored to be hosting this tight-knit, creative and collaborative community in Ghent! Topics ranged from single-cell approaches, imaging breakthroughs, new insights into photosynthesis and symbioses etc. #protistsOnSky #MLD8

Many amoebae incorporate diatoms in their shells, but Cylindrifflugia bacillariarum is the master. Third and fourth pics are close views of the glue that holds it all together. #ProtistsonSky #Amoebae #Peatlands

New paper on diatom phylogenomics from our lab. Ten years in the making, but it always took a backseat to student and postdoc papers. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

I had a chance to talk about the importance of #NSF on our local public radio station. www.kuaf.com/show/ozarks-...

Dear @bsky.app, please let @atrupar.com keep posting so we don't have to go to the bad place to see his much needed videos.

Sigh. academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...

Delighted to see our work on #diatom motility published in @pnas.org !🎉 doi.org/10.1073/pnas... These abundant single-celled algae are responsible for a significant portion of the air we breathe yet often overlooked. Here we show how how diatom (raphe) shape impacts their gliding function... 1/3

I lost my job at the National Science Foundation yesterday, along with 167 of my colleagues, including some dear friends. This was the best job I've ever had, and I thought it would be my last. The PI community has been sympathetic and supportive, without exception. I will miss working for you.

madlib losing his house and record collection to the eaton fire is illustrative of just how large of an archival loss there’s been in LA this past week. definitely won’t be the last www.brooklynvegan.com/madlib-lost-...

The Pease Lab in the Dept of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology at The Ohio State University is looking for a Postdoc interested in genotype-phenotype-environment evolution in plant and animal genomes. Details at osu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/OSUCar... and more info at www.peaselab.org

Dan Campbell telling KOC “I’ll see you in two weeks” is the best I’ve felt all night. Thanks Dan. #skol

Two live sets I listen to repeatedly this time of year. Had both of them on cassette in the 90s. youtu.be/iavST2Uecm4?...

Big news from Finnish publication forum. Almost all MDPI and Frontiers journals will be downgraded to level 0 and thus are not considered as properly peer reviewed trustworthy scientific journals. julkaisufoorumi.fi/en/news/chan...

As I look back on another semester of teaching Evolutionary Biology with @phylieu.bsky.social, I think what stands out the most was the student who, in earnest, told us he had a question about Harvey-Weinstein Equilibrium.

diatoms.org is holding a fundraising campaign to the keep the site going. It's a wonderful resource. Go to the CU Boulder fundraising page and search "diatom" in the gift designation field. Choose "Diatom Lab Research Fund". giveto.colorado.edu/campus-prima...

I am looking for a PhD student to start in fall of 2025 at MSU. Potential topics include trait-based approaches to plankton community resilience, temperature effects on communities, harmful algal blooms and many others. Please get in touch if interested. More info: www.kl-lab.group.

NSF makes you say who you got conflicts (coauthored) with. We (really just Jordan Matelsky) just built you a tool for that. Literally one click: bib.experiments.kordinglab.com/nsf-coa