Check out our new paper, Multilevel selection informs context-dependent mycorrhizal functioning! This is my very first first-authored publication, and I worked w some incredible folks to make it happen: @meafkhami.bsky.social @balachaudhary.bsky.social and Nancy Johnson! doi.org/10.3389/frmb...

Heading home after a fab week in Edinburgh Scotland to receive the 2025 British Ecological Society Equality & Diversity Champion Award. It’s been an emotional & overwhelming week & I’m grateful to my European colleagues for their support & solidarity. What a wonderful way to end the year! #BES2025

I’m beyond excited to be jumping the pond for the British Ecological Society Annual Meeting in just a couple days. So honored to receive this recognition and celebrate with colleagues and friends at one of my favorite meetings! First time back since pre-COVID! If you see me there say hi! #BES2025

Attention #ESA2025 soil types: check out our new journal npj Soil Ecology and feel free to contact me if you have questions!

#ESA2025! We would love to fill this up with signatures. Let's show support to the folks at NSF. Find it Wednesday morning at the spot below, and it'll be at the NSF funding session at 10-11:30am.

🚨There's a "Thank you NSF folks!" poster board for people to sign at #ESA2025. It's near a coffee station & the LTER booth. Please sign and show your support! And, share!

Hey #ESA2025! Help us spread some love to the wonderful program officers and staff at NSF! Located in the exhibit hall near coffee/booth 316!

I'm giving a talk on Tuesday about carnivores as dispersers of mycorrhizal fungal spores as part of a special session on fungal spore dispersal. Come check it out if you are here in Baltimore and like fungi, carnivores, or trophic interactions. #ESA2025

Our new global study led by @smriti-pehim-limbu.bsky.social is now out in @pnas.org. TLDR: Certain spore traits were linked to climate AND species range sizes! YES we can use traits to gain insight into env adaptations for microbes. #mycorrhizas #spores #NSFfunded www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

Planning to attend @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social's upcoming #ESA2025 annual meeting in Baltimore? Consider signing up for my short course w Gwen Bridge: Decolonizing Ecological Praxis and Engaging Ethically with Indigenous Communities Look for SC 02 when you register! Curious but unsure? Ask me!

Fungal spores reveal a global climate footprint on microbes' traits! Incorporating microbial traits improves predictions of biogeographic shifts. Fun project w @balachaudhary.bsky.social @smriti-pehim-limbu.bsky.social @sturmer.bsky.social @aguilart.bsky.social www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

New paper out from the Cheeke Lab led by @raeberner.bsky.social with @balachaudhary.bsky.social & Geoff Zahn. Congrats Rae! academic.oup.com/femsle/advan...

Started the day by reading the Declaration of Independence. Happy 4th - the original No Kings Day 🇺🇸

You can celebrate the event’s significance AND still call a spade a spade. When we love something, we want to make it better with that love. Matthew 25:35-40 nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stor...

Excited to share that I am taking on a new role as Editor in Chief of npj Soil Ecology, a new journal dedicated to communicating high-quality research and scholarship exploring all aspects of the ecology of soils from gene to ecosystem scales. www.nature.com/npjsoilecol/

“…that's the cool thing about basic science: you just don't know what information or knowledge it will generate in the future” Our new open mycorrhizal fungal trait database is published! Read about our science journey: fas.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/05...

"These $25,000 grants are for activities to address immediate needs following grant cancellations, including completing a wave of data collection, analyzing already collected data or writing, thoughtful project closure with community partners, or preparing grant proposals to continue the research."

Except DEI, of course. Talking about the benefits of diversity and equity risks having your NIH grant pulled so keep your trap shut. www.nih.gov/about-nih/wh...

While many companies in Europe are stopping their DEI efforts as a result of the Trump pressure, science should redouble its commitment.

Thank you @mrillig.bsky.social!! Engagement and support (as opposed to silence) from our friends and colleagues across the pond is SO meaningful and appreciated!! ❤️🙏🏽💪🏽

Why supporting science and scientists is an important part of the #Resistance #HandsOffScience ↙️↙️↙️

NSF GRFP Awards by the Year: 2021 - 2074 2022 - 2193 2023 - 2555 2024 - 2036 2025 - 1000 Again, these funding cuts will have drastic longterm effects on the scientific future of the US....... @jeremymberg.bsky.social @altnih4science.bsky.social

"Removal of DEI programs will demoralize and disincentivize an entire generation of scientists in training. It will greatly reduce the scientific workforce and remove top talent from our training programs as funding mechanisms are dismantled." www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...

Who else gets jazzed over protists?? Enjoy this video I took of protists having a party with AM fungus Ar. trappei. Sound on for commentary 😅

Spores from two different AM fungal species, Ac. elegans on the left and Gi. albida on the right. Tell me spore traits don’t affect the ecology of these amazing microbes! #mycorrhiza

Learning so much at "spore camp" with @balachaudhary.bsky.social Check out these AM #fungal spore micrographs. What bacteria are lurking in the sporosphere #microbiome?

I have been finding a lot of joy and peace this week in the lab. Back to basics, using skills I learned when I was 19 years old! Isolating AM fungal spores (like this Ac. elegans 🤩) for a new spore trait experiment with @geoffzahn.bsky.social

Proud to be part of this awesome team! Thanks to @balachaudhary.bsky.social and @khadlily.bsky.social, unstoppable forces in EcoEvo 💜💜 @wocineeb.bsky.social has done a lot for me and other POC in EcoEvo so please help us protect groups like this www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Racial affinity groups are under attack. Now is the time to redouble our commitments to these vital organizations that make science better for all. Proud to pen this letter with @khadlily.bsky.social and many @wocineeb.bsky.social colleagues www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Do you know someone who's doing good work right now? Making good trouble? Supporting someone vulnerable? Tell them you see their labor and you appreciate them! This is a marathon not a sprint and it's so easy to burnout. A word of thanks, encouragement, appreciation goes a long way

Many species experience years of very high reproductive output and we have lots of theories about why -- but does the phenomenon also happen across communities of different species? Find out February 26 @ 9 am PT (noon ET) LTER recent synthesis results lternet.edu/events/lter-...

"Those in the scientific community who enjoy the protections of academic and other freedoms afforded by the US Constitution’s First Amendment should do and say more...It is a strength of the scientific enterprise that we have diverse ideas, identities, and approaches to communication." 🧪

Join us tonight!

The committee on Science, Space, and Technology are collecting testimony of Federal employees fired in the past days. Please share with your colleagues and friends. The more testimony, the better we can argue against this injustice.

Yesterday was the darkest day of my professional life so far. Many of NSF’s best and brightest people fired indiscriminately. The terms of their firing cruel. My colleagues matter, they are valued and they make a difference. I have no words. www.npr.org/2025/02/18/n...

The daily resiliency training is getting old.

Pretty sad. Just got the email that CZI is canceling the second round of Diversity Leadership Awards. Private industry will definitely not fill the hole that NIH and NSF are leaving. 😢💔

Our best and brightest scientists who sacrifice their own research agendas for the good of science and our nation. My colleagues and friends. We see you.

I've worked really hard to get where I am today. Stuff like this makes me feel like my very existence and effort in getting here is a threat. Why do people want to erase my identity and path? Why do people want to erase my ability to help others? It is exhausting. clarksvillenow.com/local/books-...

Appreciate Dartmouth for highlighting our recent work! Recognizing Indigenous rights in our environmental data is not only good for the communities whom the data pertains to, but also produces better science that is grounded in the expertise of the communities that steward these data relations.

Did you know the most powerful force for climate action is LOVE—for our children, their future, and the world they’ll inherit? That's right! Research shows this message moves hearts 12x more than jobs and 2x more than extreme weather. Source: potentialenergycoalition.org/guides-and-r...

Professional societies stand together in defense of science & scientists. “science has led to humanity’s greatest advances, improving people’s lives & the health of our planet … (we’re) committed to supporting, elevating, & fighting for science & those who further it.“ www.unitedsciencealliance.org

Did you know the LTER maintains a thriving job board? From REU positions to faculty hires, our sites have dozens of openings each year. Several just got posted! You can check them all out here: lternet.edu/opportunities/

Is your NSF grant on this list? Reach out if so! Ted Cruz released a list of grants flagged for DEI or "neo-Marxist class warfare propaganda" from his Oct. report. NSF is using keywords from that report for their review, though Cruz's list is likely larger. www.commerce.senate.gov/2025/2/cruz-...

The freeze on NIH indirect cost cuts is now nationwide: www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/h...

It’s academically irresponsible to leave our students in the dark when the moment directly touches our classrooms. You’re not making a “safe space” by focusing only on yr topic. You’re not even covering your topic, because the moment has become part of it. 3/