@couchmicroscopy
Incoming assistant professor at University of Maryland, College Park • NSF PRFB postdoc • PhD from Bhattacharya lab @RutgersU • Passionate about algae / protists + genomics + evolutionary biology + microscopy • vanettenlab.org #NewPI Opinions are my own.
“she was crazy” or “her personality was bad” or “she was wrong about flagella” (this one is true), but I cannot think of a better role model for female scientists my age. Reading about her journey and struggles to find legitimacy in the 1960s in her other books has made my own dream attainable (2/2)
I would not be a scientist without Lynn Margulis. I never would have gotten a PhD or developed a curiosity for the research topics I currently work on if I didn’t read her book, “Symbiotic Planet” when I was 21. So many male scientists I’ve worked with knew her and many say things like…(1/2)
I had an incredible time in Cambridge this week to give the Harvard University Herbaria seminar! I got to meet with scientists whose work I’ve been following since college, explored the Museum of Natural History, and spent a day in the algae collection at the Farlow Herbarium. I’m still smiling!
Literally
Sargassum natans: Sargassum is a floating, fast-growing algae that constantly extracts CO2 from the atmosphere
🚨 Post-doctoral position alert! 🚨
The Bhattacharya Lab at Rutgers University is seeking a postdoc in the field of algal multi-omics and metabolic engineering 🌊 🦠 🧬
Ideal start by June. Applications will be reviewed as received. Please share widely :)
jobs.rutgers.edu/postings/269...
#evobio
It’s not a one-time thing but it won’t be every year. It’s brand new but the idea is that it will probably happen every 2-3 years. So there won’t be a call for this next year.
Posting again!
Final version @nature.com of our paper describing unconventional multicellular development in a choanoflagellate inhabiting an extreme environment. A ton of new data since the first @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social preprint (which we've kept updating).
A brief 🧵 (carried over from the old place)
Congress rejected massive cuts to US science budgets for 2026, but much of the money still isn’t flowing to researchers.
The culprit? The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is quietly slow-walking the release of funds. 🧵👇
The National Science Foundation is systematically being converted to the National AI and Quantum Research Foundation.
“I see it as the administration exerting political control over what has traditionally been NSF’s ability to fund the best science.”
I second the one on the right! But they’re both great!!
Hi, I’m on my soapbox today ✨
Posting again!
I saw this live on the news this morning and my hat is off to this guy. 🎩
Has anyone else realized that the RFK Jr. + Kid Rock #MAHA video where they wear jeans and drink milk in the gym is literally the fight milk video from #alwayssunny?
It was great being involved in this paper. Check it out for an update on what’s going on in the world of Cyanidiophyceae biology!
Registration is now open! The 4th edition of the Mendel Early Career Symposium will take place on 21-22 May at the GMI, part of the @viennabiocenter.bsky.social. This two-day event brings together researchers across career stages to discuss the latest research in all areas of plant science.
It did! I have seriously sent this paper to at least five people and every once in a while I’m explaining an HGT concept and I’m like, “they saw this on cheese rinds” lol.
They do need to be from UMD Bio. But I would LOVE to talk with you at some point!! I really enjoyed your cheese rind paper and I actually cited it in a review paper I have that’s about to come out. It was pretty inspirational for some of the thoughts I’ve been having lately about community HGT.
Exciting announcement! My new department is launching a postdoc fellowship in quantitative biology. Fellows will be co-advised by two Bio faculty, one that is quant focused (not me) and one that is not (me???). I would love to co-sponsor a postdoc and build a collaboration so please reach out!
I’ve wanted to be a scientist since I was a little kid and would’ve loved to go to a camp like this. Trump science cuts and antipathy are now trickling down and likely stopping an entire generation of children from learning about the natural world and seeing science as an attainable career option.
Happy birthday to a relatable fellow complainer.
Exciting announcement! My new department is launching a postdoc fellowship in quantitative biology. Fellows will be co-advised by two Bio faculty, one that is quant focused (not me) and one that is not (me???). I would love to co-sponsor a postdoc and build a collaboration so please reach out!
Yes, 10-14ppt salinity when I’ve measured it!
Regulation of #chloroplast biogenesis and differentiation
academic.oup.com/jxb/advance-...
@tamara-hverdeja.bsky.social @jxbotany.bsky.social @sebplants.bsky.social @sebiology.bsky.social @chloroplastics.bsky.social @cellwalldynamics.com @charlotte-dlslle.bsky.social @biogenesis.bsky.social
Time lapse of an odd little monster. Presumably some kind of cercozoan from brackish water. #protistsonsky
An intracellular meteor shower. EB3 comets tracking growing microtubule plus-ends in a cultured cell.
New paper out! Here's a puzzle: phototrophy, the ability to use light for energy, is one of life's great innovations. It evolved early and transformed the biosphere. But it evolved 2x. Why not just once, why not more? Our work suggests the answer is priority effects.
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
BERNIE SANDERS: Do vaccines cause autism?
BHATTACHARYA: I do not believe that the measles vaccine causes autism
SANDERS: Nah. Uh uh. I didn't ask measles. Do vaccines cause autism?
BHATTACHARYA: I have not seen a study that suggests any single vaccine causes autism
Do microbes get more food by swimming or staying still? Turns out both work, and cilia help them pull in nutrients no matter the strategy.
buff.ly/vK3GmK5
