Adriana Romero-Olivares, PhD

The more time I spend on this earth, I learn more about scientists who have carefully crafted a reputation for being super woke about social justice and equity, use this as a way to recruit minoritized students into their labs, and then can't be bothered to give them the time of day.

NSF GRFP applicants (and mentors): Was your application Returned Without Review and deemed ineligible despite fitting in the allowed topics?
1) Write NSF
2) Write your Congressperson
3) CC us at grfp@grant-witness.us so we can compile + follow up

Details and template at grant-witness.us/grfp-letter

The allotetraploid lycophyte Selaginella rupincola growing among the boulders at Cochise Stronghold in the Dragoon Mountains southeast of Tucson, Arizona.

Xanthisma spinulosum growing outside a gym in Tucson, Arizona.

Selaginella arizonica X eremophila hybrid zone at Alamo Canyon in Organ Pipe National Monument.

A Dieteria sp. being visited by a skipper in the White Mountains of Arizona.

I'm recruiting PhD students for the Barker Lab @uofa-eeb.bsky.social We study plant evolutionary genomics - polyploidy, hybridization & machine learning for genome evolution. Work with Selaginella, Xanthisma, Brassica & more. Funding available via CAMBIUM Fellowships. Reach out if interested! 🧬🌵🤖

Quantifying potential abiotic drivers of the ‘nurse plant effect’ in two dominant shrub species of the northern Chihuahuan Desert - Oecologia Aggregations of plants surrounded by sparsely vegetated areas in drylands can arise when larger plants facilitate the recruitment of smaller “protégé” plants—a phenomenon referred to as the “nurse plant” effect. Numerous drivers can generate a nurse plant effect; efforts to simultaneously quantify multiple drivers are rare. Given higher densities of protégés beneath the foundational shrubs Larrea tridentata and Neltuma glandulosa, multiple potential mechanisms underlying the nurse plant effect were quantified in the Chihuahuan Desert, New Mexico, USA. As expected, there was a greater concentration of soil nutrients and lower photosynthetically active radiation and soil temperatures beneath shrubs. Throughout the study, however, soil moisture was consistently higher in interspaces despite the greater water holding capacity of soils beneath shrubs. Nutrient concentrations were greater beneath N. glandulosa than L. tridentata, while protégé numbers did not significantly differ among the species. The canopy size of both species was positively related to understory shading, and the size of N. glandulosa was positively related to soil nitrogen and microbial biomass. The results of this study suggest that much of the abiotic nurse plant effect of this low-latitude system is explained by radiation interception and concomitant reductions in temperatures experienced by protégé plants as opposed to the direct effects of shrubs on soil water availability. As global change pressures intensify in drylands, a loss of perennial plant cover could have negative effects on soil biogeochemical pools and plant diversity. Quantification of the mechanisms driving the nurse plant effect across environmental and climatic gradients could improve our understanding of plant community dynamics in drylands.

Our most recent labor of love, "Quantifying potential abiotic drivers of the ‘nurse plant effect’ in two dominant shrub species of the northern Chihuahuan Desert" #drylands #desert_ecology link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Where can I find a reprint of this vintage Smokey's #mushroom poster? Found a store on Etsy, but the mushroom one is sold out 😭
#SmokeyBearHistoricalPark

Omg I was just saying this exa t same thing to a colleague this morning. also at least for me, waaaay less emails than in last semesters. At some point, I went into canvas to double check my announcements and modules were up 😅😅

Scientists no Longer Find Twitter Professionally Useful, and have Switched to Bluesky Synopsis. Social media has become widely used by the scientific community for a variety of professional uses, including networking and public outreach. For

Hey everybody! @drjuliawester.bsky.social and I have a new paper!

We surveyed over 800 scientists, science communicators, and science educators who use social media.

Conclusion: Scientists no longer find Twitter useful or pleasant, and many have switched to Bluesky! 🧪🌎🦑

doi.org/10.1093/icb/...

Acabo de crear un starter-pack para ecologós en América Latina - !!! favor de sugerir más gente !!!!
go.bsky.app/BdhnF3f

☝🏽🙏🏽 Yo soy latinoamericana pero vivo en Estados Unidos. Se puede? 😰

Please stop by to check out the work of students in my lab on Wed, Aug 13 at #ESA2025 #microbes #fungi #bacteria #climatechange

Don't miss our session at #ESA2025 at 3:30 today (Monday Aug 11) 🧬🌎🧫🦠🍄‍🟫
#microbes #anthropocene #drylands

🌿 Are you presenting at #ESA2025 in Baltimore?
📢 Add your presentation to the ESA LAC Chapter database using the QR code. Let's connect, support, and amplify each other! 🌎💚

#ESALAC #Ecology #LatinAmericanScientists #CaribbeanScience #SciComm

Enjoying the cool weather in Baltimore this week for #ESA2025. Come hear about the long-distance movements of lesser long-nosed bats that my colleagues and I have been documenting this Thursday at 8:45am (COS 128 - Behavior: Migration and Movement 1). Please don't be afraid to say hi!

The Laverty Lab A conservation science and wildlife ecology lab at NMSU

Also if you're at #ESA2025 and interested in bats (maybe birds too), bioacoustics, arid landscapes, and thinking of a PhD, please say hello. I plan to recruit 1-2 grad students. Spring or fall 2026 start with a focus on desert waters or renewable energy. lavertylab.org

Happy to meet up!

OOS 05 - Beyond Budburst–Connecting Phenological Transitions Among Tissues and Times in Woody Plants Monday, August 11 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM EDT Hilton Key 8 Session Type: Organized Oral Session

Presentations OOS 05-01 - Seasonal underground phenology of ectomycorrhizal fungi varies by group and host tree traits Monday, August 11, 2025 at 3:30 PM – 3:45 PM EDT Presenting Author - Nicholas Medina OOS 05-02 - Genetic structure across a poplar hybrid zone will cause variation in phenological responses to a warming climate Monday, August 11, 2025 at 3:45 PM – 4:00 PM EDT Presenting Author - Alayna Mead

OOS 05-03 - Aridity decouples carbon assimilation and growth in temperate deciduous oaks Monday, August 11, 2025 at 4:00 PM – 4:15 PM EDT Presenting Author - Mukund Palat Rao OOS 05-04 - Cold hardiness connects bud development in the summer and fall with budbreak in the spring Monday, August 11, 2025 at 4:15 PM – 4:30 PM EDT Presenting Author - Al Kovaleski

OOS 05-05 - Phenology of tree reproduction; environmental cues and vetos Monday, August 11, 2025 at 4:30 PM – 4:45 PM EDT Presenting Author - Jalene LaMontagne OOS 05-06 - Macrophenology: expanding the taxonomic and geographic scope of phenology research using volunteer- and network-collected observations Monday, August 11, 2025 at 4:45 PM – 5:00 PM EDT Presenting Author - Amanda Gallinat

I'm giving a talk on Monday at #ESA2025, in the OOS about #phenology "Beyond Budburst" (3:30-5:00pm), organized by Luke McCormack & Christy Rollinson. There's a great list of speakers. I'm presenting at 4:30pm.
Room: Hilton Key 8

🚨 NOTE: Individual talk times within the session were updated today!

Agree! I'm not on "the other site" any more 😬

If you're attending #ESA2025 and identify as a #WOC or #NB #POC don't miss the #WoCinEEB session on Monday, Aug 10💜
We will discuss mentoring and teach you how to effectively build your network of mentors👯‍♀️👯‍♀️👯‍♀️👯‍♀️👯‍♀️
We're planning a social later that day, so let me know if you'd like to join🙌🏽

New faculty position at Stanford University focused on Traditional Ecological Knowledge! Join us! I will be at ESA 2025 next week, happy to chat a bit! #esa2025 @sacnas.bsky.social @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social @stanforduniversity.bsky.social Apply: facultypositions.stanford.edu/en-us/job/49...

Thank you!! 🙌🏽🙌🏽

My lab is moving! 🍄

Starting Jan 2026, we'll be at @ucriverside.bsky.social in the Dept of EEOB!

We will keep investing #microbes (fungi and sometimes bacteria) under global change and looking at ecosystem-scale consequences 🍄🧫🦠🌎🧬

I'm grateful to my friends, colleagues, and students at NMSU 🌟

Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning Drowning is not the violent, splashing call for help that most people expect.

Thanks for the reminder @janemunday.bsky.social. Every summer, I repost this article DROWNING DOES NOT LOOK LIKE DROWNING. To date, I know of FOUR kids who were saved after someone who'd clicked on the link learnt how to spot actual drowning. Take time to read and pass on.

slate.com/technology/2...

A mature black morel mushroom peeks out of the fallen leaves of the spring forest floor, its black ridges stippled and illuminated by sunshine. All photos by me

Here is a nice mushroom

Junior/Assistant Specialist - Koskella Lab - Department of Integrative Biology University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!

Know any soon to graduate or recently graduated postbac researchers interested in / with experience working with phages? We are hiring a junior specialist/research tech! Apply here: aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF04863 (start date more flexible than stated in ad!)

Faculty Focus: Adriana Romero Olivares, College of Arts and Sciences Adriana Romero Olivares joined the Department of Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences in August 2020 as an assistant professor. Her day-to-day activities vary greatly depending on the day...

I do feel very lucky for the most part! The rest of the time, it's mostly an existential life crisis 😝

"Some days, I feel like I’m the luckiest person on the planet because of the work that I get to do and the students that I get to work with."

newsroom.nmsu.edu/news/faculty...

And a cute mini puffball

Field work + dust storm = trauma bonding 🥲🫂 and lichens! 🤩🤗
#Chihuahuan #Desert #biocrusts #dryland #microbes

Protect US racial affinity groups On its first day, the Trump administration released several executive orders terminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, calling them “illegal,” “immoral,” and “discriminatory” (1, 2)...

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/...

mickey mouse is climbing up a ladder in a black and white cartoon ALT: mickey mouse is climbing up a ladder in a black and white cartoon

ECRs of my generation

A small amanita mushroom popping through the soil. It is round and red.

Hello friend 👋
#fungifriends

#FungiFriends