I paid someone $$$ to detail my car today, including shampooing the upholstery- a car we’ve had for a decade without shampooing- and let me tell y’all, that’s some of the best money I have ever spent. It’s shiny clean, and I got to leave a nice tip the young, new business owner was thrilled about!

This afternoon's doodle features 3 species of Mole Salamanders. The females of some populations of Mole salamanders exist only as females, and mate with males of multiple other species. They then patchwork those genes into their daughters. This process is called Kleptogenesis.

Botanists x word nerds having fun with today’s NYT Connections: Things associated with angiosperms: flowers, Solti. Things associated with Florida: retire, melodramatic, Solti. Things that famously come in pairs: musical notes, cherry, Solti. (Alas! None the correct answer.)

Curator of Education job (tenure-track Assistant Professor) at the Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado Boulder! Salary $90-$100K, 9 month full time position. Apply by Jan 21. jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDeta...

Preprint up now! With @ferrisifolius.bsky.social, we found positive selection on leaf shape plasticity across the altitudinal range of the cutleaf monkeyflower. This experiment was a HUGE personal undertaking. If you give it a read, I’d love to hear your thoughts! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

I’m so proud of new PhD holder, @evoyeyo.bsky.social- now an @lsuscience.bsky.social and #LagoLab alum. He’s off to a postdoc at University of Arkansas with @phylieu.bsky.social!

Last day at @mobotgarden.bsky.social for what has been the loveliest sabbatical stay, and finally I got to have a good catch up over lunch with Prez Lúcia Lohmann! Her vision for the future of the Garden is so exciting, I’m so optimistic for the future of systematics in this hallowed institution.

Because of phantom references, refs in languages other than English, and incorrect refs, I could tell that ~60% of my 400 level ugrads outsourced their papers to LLMs. I asked them why they thought anyone would hire them to do a mediocre job they could just get AI to do themselves?

At that stage of recovery from a cold where coffee smells delightful again 😃😃!! But tastes absolutely terrible ☹️☹️. Still gonna drink it, been missing caffeine…

We 💚 the Stranger Plants—and now they’re on #BSAswag! The shirts feature bold illustrations by BSA’s own Catrina Adams, with a list of each species by common & scientific name on the back. BSA members (exp. 2026+) get 10% off—email [email protected] for code. www.bonfire.com/store/bsa-wi...

It’s reached that time of year again where I gently suggest you hang on to your manuscripts and submit them early in 2026. Otherwise they’re likely to just sit on a virtual to do list for the next 3 weeks sending auto-reminders to editors/reviewers. 🎄

Field botanist job with Virginia Natural Heritage, based in Roanoke, VA. $55-65K pay range. Please share widely! www.jobs.virginia.gov/jobs/field-b...

It's in print! My opinionated dive into the definition of "coevolution" is officially out in the December issue of @journal-evo.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/evol...

New time sink from my employer just dropped! Instead of likely inaccurately anticipating the number of times I'll be on a pier during future international fieldwork, I could be writing a grant. Whose indirect pays the personnel who approve these forms, and so the cycle continues...

Great question! 1) First and foremost, we evaluate a candidate based on the departmental guidelines and expectations provided. We don't hold the candidate to arbitrary standards, or even to those of our own institution unless asked to do so. We assess the materials against the guidelines provided.

A #botany achievement: I determined my first #Palicourea #Rubiaceae specimen to species- P. atlantica!! But my collaborator and coffee family mentor Charlotte Taylor’s name still made it to the label, since she is an author of the species. May not seem like much, but feels like a big deal to me! 🤓

The Black Death was history's worst documented demographic disaster. New research shows it was also a bizarre anomaly, the unlikely result of volcanic eruptions, multiple consecutive poor harvests in Italy, a war between Genoa, Venice and the Mongols, AND a Black Sea plague outbreak. @science.org

​The @mortonarboretum.bsky.social NSF REU program ​is open for summer 2026! $7500 stipend + housing / travel. Apply by 31 Jan 2026 and share with your networks! Details at ​​https://mortonarb.org/science/opportunities-in-science/research-experiences-for-undergraduates-program/

PhD position available in evolutionary genomics/bioinformatics (hoehnalab.github.io/job_adverts/...). Topic: analyzing gene expression evolution across several firefly species and linking expression changes to genomic architecture. The position is jointly supervised with @anaevolcatalan.bsky.social

The frequency and importance of polyploidy in tropical rainforest tree radiations Schley et al. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

I'm hiring a full time fixed-term 1yr lab tech to assist with field and greenhouse projects related to floral evolution and plant reproductive ecology. Please share! Ideal start date early 2026. jobs.clemson.edu/psc/ps/JOBS/...

My #PhySky folks, help me! I commonly hear that concatenation approaches are more appropriate than the MSC for phylogenetic datasets with lots of conflicting signal (like the ones we generate in my lab-- thanks introgression, ILS, and all the complexity of the Andes!). What citations support this?

Consider this your sign from the universe, your future self, and your unfinished Google Doc. We want your cool ideas, your weird ideas, or your ‘is-this-crazy-or-brilliant’ ideas! Just over two weeks left to submit a proposal for this special issue. Reach out if you have any questions ☺️

I got to hold first edition Linnaeus and first edition Darwin today, nbd. (Both jewels of the @mobotgarden.bsky.social library.)

Deportations actually _increase_ housing prices because they shrink the construction industry. The reduction in new houses being built swamps effects from lower demand

Goodness this is racist and also a good way to shoot our academic research system in the foot. Deliberately so, of course, as so many policies (and proposed policies) are these days.

NSF is open again! A few comments: *Please be patient. During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails. *Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th. *POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.

Scientific breakthroughs are rarely unique; someone else would’ve made them soon enough. But when prominent scientists cause harm, that harm isn’t inevitable; the world might simply have been better had the harm not been inflicted. liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...

Just realized that @laymonstera.bsky.social acknowledged my silly dog Rocoto in her recent @journal-evo.bsky.social ms! "Continued encouragement" = hot doggy breath over her shoulder when she's eating. Anyway, it's an excellent paper and you should check it out! academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...

Thinking only of Rosalind Franklin today, and what was stolen from her (and so many other female scientists alongside her).

Proud of @laymonstera.bsky.social’s @amsocplanttaxon.bsky.social webinar in her research on macroevolution of #Hillieae #Rubiaceae! She rocked it, and we had a fun little watch party here at @mobotgarden.bsky.social!

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

The 5th of 6 faculty positions in UNC Biology is posted. We're working with the @ncbg.bsky.social to fill a joint position as Director of the UNC Herbarium at @ncbg.bsky.social and as Associate Professor within the Department of Biology (BIOL). Please share 1/n unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/308...

Yet another way the GRFP will bias towards financially secure, non-working, networked students from large, well-resourced institutions. sigh. I *know* NSF POs understand the difficulties obtaining official transcripts, and certainly in the timeframe available. They might not have control over this.

Rocoto got to me @ixchelgr.bsky.social’s Patata today- just two very good Solanaceae pups hoping for a piece of stray pizza crust in a post-conference happy hour 🌶️🥔.

Incense, a biological material that releases fragrant smoke when burned, is one of the most ancient forms of scenting the air or perfuming oneself. Several plants are capable of producing resinous sap, when hardened, becomes able to be burned as incense. See these and more in #SmellingTheBouquet

A thought I never expected to have: House of Windsor currently beating the US government on transparency and accountability.

I hate application letter season...

"Charlie Kirk University?" New by me. open.substack.com/pub/robertma...

They pay less taxes for employing people with SNAP. They pay those people so little they have to stay on SNAP. And then because they've destroyed local grocery stores, they are the biggest beneficiaries of SNAP dollars. Nice racket, IMHO.

My first full week on sabbatical at @mobotgarden.bsky.social has been wonderful, full of beautiful #Campanulaceae specimens, a vibrant botanical community (including @jaguirresant.bsky.social !), and long, luxurious dog walks among the fall colors in Tower Grove Park 🥰🍂🔬🦮.

Eight new species of Greigia (Bromeliaceae) from the Andean cloud forests! Their pineapple-flavored fruits feed spectacled bears, their flowers smell like fermented milk, and one, G. muysca, honors the Indigenous Muysca people. Read more: doi.org/10.11646/

This work is the result of a lot of persistence, my co-authors especially @draverbee.bsky.social and @nicrodemo.bsky.social, greatly improved by reviewers and handling editors. Poricidal anthers evolved multiple times but this phenotype stayed in lineages 50 my after the origin of all angiosperms.

How many plant species are buzz pollinated? After more than six years in the making, our paper on the convergent evolution of buzz pollinated flowers is out in @journal-evo.bsky.social. Thanks @draverbee.bsky.social @roszenil.bsky.social and all co-authors for your hard work! doi.org/10.1093/evol...

Check out @laymonstera.bsky.social’s award winning #Botany2025 talk (and more) on Nov 7, hosted by @amsocplanttaxon.bsky.social! #LagoLab

Up next, small museums and outreach by Valerie Stampley #BINHMS

Excited to share I have defended my PhD dissertation. Thanks a bunch to colleagues and friends that helped and collaborated along this journey!

Starting day 2: Laymon Ball speaking about her work on #Herbaria! #BINHMS