Fay-Wei Li

Duke Biology has two faculty positions we're searching for: 1) Assistant Professor in Cellular and Molecular Systems 2) Assistant Professor of the Practice with a focus on Ecology. See here the following link for more details and how to apply: biology.duke.edu/about-us/jobs

5 (+?) independent plant lineages evolved to text the same bacteria for nitrogen. we just need to learn the language they're using. www.cell.com/trends/plant...

Thank you BTI and Cornell for the fantastic support, collaboration, and mentorship over the past 10 years. Now we are starting a new journey at Duke Biology!!!

Sharing for no reason www.nasonline.org/directory-en...

Breaking news: Indiana University plant microbiologist Roger Innes has been locked out of his laboratory by the school in response to a request by one of his federal funders. The move comes after Innes complained about the government’s prosecution of Chinese postdocs. https://scim.ag/4tsDqRr

Hornwort pyrenoids: a terrestrial exception with engineering lessons. @tarobison.bsky.social @fernway.bsky.social @laura-gunn.bsky.social @jcarlosvillarreal.bsky.social academic.oup.com/plphys/advan...

WE GOT FERNS, folks. I hope you like ferns. If you don’t, just listen and you will like ferns. 🌿🌿🌿 Dr. Li is hilarious and charming and you will love him. And ferns. In conclusion: ferns. www.alieward.com/ologies/pter...

Now accepting applications for the Jane Silverthorne Postdoctoral Fellowship Program at BTI! 🌿 Supporting bold scientists tackling plant science frontiers with cross-disciplinary approaches. Full funding for high-risk, high-reward research. Apply by Jan 15, 2026! 🧬 spf.btiscience.org

Join us for the 4th annual NonSeed Plant Meeting in Norwich this year! @johninnescentre.bsky.social

Michigan State University is hiring a new Director of our herbarium! This is an open rank, tenure-stream faculty position, with research focus in plant or fungal systematics, ecology, and/or evolution Please consider applying and help spread the word! plantbiology.natsci.msu.edu/job-postings...

The NMNH Department of Botany is looking for a Museum Specialist. Please spread the word!

Botany is already happening in the Denver airport #botany2025

Shameless self-promotion continues...🙃 You might find this #fern book in your local bookstores! mailchi.mp/btiscience/f...

New on This Green Earth: “Survival of Nature’s Fittest May Go to Ferns.” BTI’s @fernway.bsky.social & Jacob Suissa explore their new book Ferns: Lessons in Survival. 400 million years of resilience—what ferns can teach us today. www.kpcw.org/show/this-gr... #PlantScience #ferns

Meet the authors behind Ferns: Lessons in Survival from Earth's Most Adaptable Plants! BTI's @fernway.bsky.social and Jacob S. Suissa explore the ancient, resilient world of ferns — plants that have thrived for over 400 million years. Learn more go.btiscience.org/ferns. #FernsBook #PlantScience

Exclusive: National Science Foundation staff were told today that the agency’s 37 divisions—across all eight directorates—are being abolished and the number of programs within those divisions will be drastically reduced.

Travel 400M years in a flip. FERNS explores the evolution, survival, and modern ties of Earth’s most adaptable plants. By @fernway.bsky.social & Jacob Suissa, illustrated by Laura Silburn. Out May 6: go.btiscience.org/ferns #FernsBook #PlantScience

My NSF PRFB on the genetics of female polymorphism in hummingbirds was terminated yesterday. I don't have much to say, I'm just sad. We've discovered so much, and could have gone so much further. If anyone else is in the same boat, esp postdocs, please reach out, it would be good to connect.

NSF has spent decades—and billions of dollars—trying to attract more women and members of underrepresented groups into STEM. Not anymore. scim.ag/3RUtgZg

Jacob Suissa and I wrote a #book about #ferns! It's beautifully illustrated by the amazing artist Laura Silburn. Will be released in May and you can preorder from Amazon. We hope this book could help you forget all the bad things happening on Earth right now. More here: mailchi.mp/btiscience/f...

apprendre plus sur les anthocérotes et leur importance potentielle ? #photosynthese www.pourlascience.fr/sd/biologie-... @fernway.bsky.social @tarobison.bsky.social

"I want parents who have children to know that opportunities for your kids, if they aspire to be scientists or engineers, are being stripped away right in front of you," the NSF employee told Axios. www.axios.com/2025/03/10/a...

The National Science Foundation benefits communities in every state.

Just extended the deadline to March 21 for this position in the Plant Phylogenomics group at the University of Vienna. It is sort of a "post doc plus" position funded for up to six years. Please reach out if you want to chat - I'd love to talk to you about it! jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Universi...

As many of you know, ~170 Program Officers at #NSF were fired on Tuesday, including a number that worked in Divisions important to the EEB community (e.g., DEB and GEO/OPP). 1/3

A tiny plant with a powerful secret! The Li Lab discovered that hornworts have a unique CO₂ booster that could supercharge photosynthesis and boost crop yields by up to 50%! Could this be the future of agriculture? Find out more: ambrook.com/research/stu... @fernway.bsky.social #PlantScience

Firings happening right now at the NSF.

1/6 Super excited to share with you our work on Marchantia intra-specific diversity and pan-genomics, just out @naturegenet.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41... Everything on the discoveries in the thread by @chloe-beaulieu.bsky.social I want to emphasize 5 additional points:

Some good news: just got an email attempting to reschedule an NSF panel that was cancelled last week.

- 10,000 research grants flagged for review by NSF Program Directors - Reviews due by 5 p.m. today - They flag grants with "broadening participation" language, foreign aid, climate science, domestic energy, and "discriminatory programs including illegal DEI"

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Our first lichen paper led by ⁦‪@metalichen.bluesky out today is out today - Complexity of the lichen symbiosis revealed by metagenome and transcriptome analysis of Xanthoria parietina - congratulations & thanks to all coauthors

Some additional #NSF thoughts. As always, these thoughts are mine alone. But here goes, It seems the damage this situation has already caused to the research enterprise in the US may be catastrophic (and irreparable?).

National Science Foundation suspends salary payments, leaving researchers unable to pay their bills www.statnews.com/2025/01/30/t... Story by @ericboodman.bsky.social

To update people on the NSF PRFB situation: despite the court challenge and rescinding the original memo, the NSF has continued to comply with the executive order. They have not communicated with us at all and our paychecks are still canceled indefinitely. I know people who cannot pay their rent.

The FT reports OpenAI suspects DeepSeek of "a potential breach of intellectual property." As a columnist for NYT, which is suing OpenAI for copyright infringement, and the author of nine books OpenAI apparently used to train its model, I couldn't possibly comment. www.ft.com/content/a0df...

My NSF panel later this week finally officially cancelled. "Aim to reschedule." I'm so sad for the early career folks who this will impact - I hope this can get rescheduled so that funding decisions can still be made... 🧪

Reports of ICE harassing even indigenous people are an extra layer of disturbing that I didn't forsee. But here's what should happen! Please share #laloalcaraz cartoons

For the record this doesn't appear to be a blanket cancel of all panels (yet).

In Nazi Germany, some citizens passed on information about their neighbours, family, and friends to the Gestapo . This was called informing. www.theholocaustexplained.org/resistance-r...

It's a good week for rubisco enthusiasts - very cool preprint from Ron Milo lab www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... impressive screening of +250 genes spanning available diversity of rubisco, this then used to predict activities of 68,000 known sequences revealing role of phylogeny and habitat

PRFB panels for applications submitted in 2024 round are still happening!!

Hi All - As some have alluded to, there are a mix of things going on here. Some programs were archived before the transition, some are just pending updates to the solicitation, but everything is being looked at for compliance. I would not assume everything is cancelled though.

Extremely thrilled to share that our @annualreviews.bsky.social went online. We discuss advancements in the field and why streptophyte algae are not only evolutionary giants but offer unique opportunities for plant science. www.annualreviews.org/content/jour... @watertoland.bsky.social