Senay Yitbarek

Microbes grow in spatially structured communities. Bäcker et al. comprehensively synthesize evidence that spatial organization drives microbial ecological and evolutionary processes across scales. #FEMSMicrobiolRev buff.ly/wceLoPr @bramvandijk.bsky.social

New paper showing that much of the apparent success of protein language models in predicting mutational effects is a mirage: These models mostly memorize sites. 1/
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Anyone up for this?

Introgression and parental conflict shape repeated occurrences of postzygotic isolation in Mimulus Postzygotic reproductive isolation is often thought to accumulate as a byproduct of neutral divergence. Yet it frequently evolves rapidly, in line wit…

I am SO THRILLED to share our first fully-lab lab paper!!!!!! Led by @hybridzones.bsky.social & @hagarsoliman.bsky.social, w/ a major assist from @pfschwarz.bsky.social!!!!!!!!!!!!! Read more below, if you're curious (you should be- it's AWESOME!!!!!!!)

link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

With @saramitri.bsky.social, @sonjalehtinen.bsky.social and L. Lehmann we’ve launched the UNIL Center for Theory in Ecology and Evolution @unil.bsky.social🇨🇭

To kick things off, we’re offering short visiting fellowships for theorists in ecology & evolution. Apply & pls RP 😀

tinyurl.com/2wem36zz

New preprint on the limits of detecting higher-order interactions in microbial communities.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We find that the dominance of additive and pairwise interactions on community function may not reflect biological simplicity, but fundamental limits of statistical detection.

Lemurs Love This Fruit That Is Choking Madagascar’s Forests

Our work with Dr Matt McCary and team was featured in NYTimes! www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/s...

📣Next week, we restart our online series with Theo Gibbs (NYU) @theogibbs.bsky.social, who will present:

⭐Do higher-order interactions promote coexistence in diverse ecological communities?⭐

Free and open!
Zoom link: iite.info/seminar/
Global time checker: www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/f...

Darwinian dynamics of Host-Pathogen interactions Epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) causes varied clinical outcomes across ruminants and geographical locations. Northern white-tailed deer experience infrequent, high-mortality outbreaks; southern wh...

New paper just out on the Darwinian Dynamics of Host-Pathogen Interactions in #MBE! Had a blast working on this with Sabrina Streipert & Yun Kang 😊

www.aimspress.com/article/doi/...

Researchers in the US might be having feelings about writing grants atm-I know I am!

We still need to write them. In this Evolution Exchange, I again chat with Sam Scheiner, who summarizes how to write a competitive proposal.

His advice is gold, and helpful regardless of funder. Pls RT!

AI Keeps Failing at Microbiome Prediction Why simple models keep winning, where deep learning still shines, and where the field is headed

AI has huge promise for genomics -- but it has consistently failed at microbiome-based prediction.

My new post on why simple models keep winning, where deep learning actually earns its place, and where the field is headed

blekhman.substack.com/p/ai-keeps-f...

UNC-CH Will ‘Scrap’ New Recording Policy, Chancellor Says The move comes less than three weeks after the controversial rules were enacted.

Congrats to @ncaaup.bsky.social & all who fought against this surveillance policy that would've allowed admin to hijack microphones in the classroom for secret recordings.

This move would've chilled classroom discussion & suppressed students' willingness to ask questions & take intellectual risks.

Back in the 1980s-2000s, there was an organization called
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility that worked to oppose irresponsible and dangerous uses of computers in warfare. Maybe it needs a reboot, in our new age of AI.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compute...

🦋✂️🧬 🧪 New preprint! Led by @donyaniyaz.bsky.social CRISPR‑Cas9 knockouts of ABCG transporters across butterflies & moths reveal how pigment pathways shape color during development. #CRISPR #Lepidoptera #pigmentation
Feedback welcome 👩‍🔬
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Genomic Perplexity and the Evolution of Context-Dependent Function Abstract. The fundamental principle that selection acts on a gene’s function often assumes implicitly that this function is fixed and intrinsic. However, e

New paper out in MBE! 🧵
"Genomic Perplexity and the Evolution of Context-Dependent Function"
The big idea: genes don't have fixed functions. Function emerges from context - genomic, cellular, environmental. And we can quantify this. academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...

Generalized dynamics of cross-feeding bacteria Abstract. Bacterial cooperation involves the exchange of metabolites, which can range from costless byproducts of metabolism to intentionally produced and

Check out our new paper on cooperating bacteria led by @janamassing.bsky.social w/ @thilogross.bsky.social and @akfbio.bsky.social, where we explore the costs and benefits of metabolitic trade on stability in non-spatial and spatial contexts... exciting! royalsocietypublishing.org/rsif/article...

Faculty Positions

We are hiring an Assistant or Associate Professor in Indigenous Environmental Governance and Management. Very excited for this position.

Please circulate widely among your networks:
www.sfu.ca/rem/about/em...

#academia #HigherEd #AcademicSky

In case you missed it: our review titled "Spatial structure: shaping the ecology and evolution of microbial communities" is out! 🚨

Let me hit you with some highlights on why spatial structure matters. (and why you should care!)

Sharing is appreciated 🙏 🧵👇

doi.org/10.1093/fems...

🗓️Complete schedule for this term, where we will have speakers covering higher-order interactions, metabolic scaling, niche dimensionalty, coexistence and more!

Look forward to seeing you there! All details and Zoom link: iite.info/seminar/

Excited to share a preprint of work from my postdoc with @paulturnerlab.bsky.social exploring how prophages can impact host thermal ecology and evolution. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Group photo of participants at conference held at Banff International Research Station

Had a great time at the “New mathematical theory in eco evolutionary modeling of host symbiont communities” workshop/conference at Banff International Research Station 🥳

Spatial structure: shaping the ecology and evolution of microbial communities Spatial structure naturally emerges in microbial communities, shaping growth, interactions, and evolution, and revealing how microscale processes scale up

Most microbes don't live in shaking flasks; spatial structure shapes how microbes interact and evolve at every scale, as we discuss in our recent review @jeroenmeijer.bsky.social @simonvanvliet.bsky.social @bedutilh.bsky.social @bramvandijk.bsky.social and others
academic.oup.com/femsre/artic... 🧵👇

UNC Admin Can Now, Officially, Secretly Record Faculty The new policy prohibits students from recording class without permission but explicitly allows administrators to surveil professors for any “lawful purpose.”

UNC Admin Can Now, Officially, Secretly Record Faculty

I am SO incredibly excited to announce the launch of a global list of Inspiring Black Scientists. You can use this list to nominate and connect with researchers. Please share and join us in highlighting these outstanding scientists for #BlackHistoryMonth and beyond!

www.wiley.com/en-us/resear...

Black scientists’ contributions to research throughout history This Black History Month, we’re recognizing Black scientists’ contributions to science throughout history.

STEM Black History Fact 5/28

Dr. Ruth Ella Moore was the first Black scientist to earn a PhD in microbiology and conducted key research on tuberculosis when TB was a leading cause of death.

Evidence for toxin-encoding coinfections driving intransitive dynamics between allelopathic phenotypes in natural yeast populations Abstract. Competitive intransitivity, or non-hierarchical competitive interactions, such as those exemplified by the rock-paper-scissors game where no sing

Evidence for toxin-encoding coinfections driving intransitive dynamics between allelopathic phenotypes in natural #yeast populations:

@tommytraverscook.bsky.social et al.

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Awesome opportunity for a 2 year mentored fellowship that transitions to a TT line at Stony Brook in ecological and/or evolutionary responses to global change through the SUNY Prodigy+ program: apply.interfolio.com/178040

The Importance of Biological Theory - Biological Theory Biological Theory -

I am happy to share this article, entitled "The importance of Biological Theory". It is my inaugural editorial as the new Editor-in-Chief of @biologicaltheory.bsky.social . In these complex and challenging times, theory is more important now than ever. Enjoy!

doi.org/10.1007/s137...

How MAHA Exploits the Flaws of Modern Science Opinion | The weaknesses in science’s processes have been weaponized against it. It’s time to confront those flaws and fix them.

"Take away college football tomorrow & watch college towns descend into chaos. But when they came for our pipettes & microscopes, almost nothing happened. "

New thoughts on the War on Science, 1 yr later, for @undark.org:

'How MAHA Exploits the Flaws of Modern Science '
undark.org/2026/01/28/o...