Adam Frew

Adam Frew

@frewecologist.bsky.social

Group Leader at Umeå Plant Science Centre | Lecturer in Mycorrhizal Ecology at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment | (He/Him) 🏳️‍🌈 | Editor @plantspeopleplanet.bsky.social‬ | Assoc Editor @funecology.bsky.social www.frewlab.com www.ausamf.com

1.8K followers1.6K following77 posts

Adam Frew
@frewecologist.bsky.social

Yesterday I had the privilege to be on the examination panel for Kohsuke Tanigawa's PhD defence. My first experience in this role in Sweden. An impressive PhD & many interesting discussions. It was also great to meet Steven Allison, Johannes Rousk, and Kristiina Karhu.

Adam Frew reposted

ARC Tracker
@arc-tracker.bsky.social

Research students: Government guarantee of minimum wage would be nice? Edu Minister @jasonclaremp.bsky.social: Nah. Universities can pay that if they want. Unis: We’re sacking researchers & defunding our research scholarship programs. What a “system”! Below-minimum wage = below-minimum research

theguardian.comPhD student Maxim makes $18 an hour to research children’s cancer – it’s barely above Australia’s poverty lineSkyrocketing living costs and lack of government support are deterring potential PhD candidates. Experts say the obvious solution is to lift the stipend

Adam Frew reposted

Plants, People, Planet
@plantspeopleplanet.bsky.social

The innovations presented in this #SpecialIssue make clear that solutions to many of our most pressing global challenges lie beneath our feet. www.newphytologist.org/news/from-in... #PlantScience @katiefield4.bsky.social @jurriaanton.bsky.social @frewecologist.bsky.social

newphytologist.orgLatest Special Issue: Plant and soil sciences for people and planetThe innovations presented in this Special Issue make clear that solutions to many of our most pressing global challenges lie beneath our feet.

Adam Frew reposted

Umeå Plant Science Centre
@umeaplantsciencecentre.se

Thanks for notifying us. This is the correct link: www.nature.com/naturecareer...

nature.comAssistant professor (Tenure Track) at Umeå University - Call for expression of interest - Umeå, Sweden job with Umeå University | 12856892Expression of interest for a Tenure-track assistant professor position focused on early-career researchers, with promotion path to associate professor
Umeå Plant Science Centre@umeaplantsciencecentre.se

🧪🌾Take the next step towards an independent research career! @umeauniversitet.bsky.social invites expressions of interest for Assistant Professor (tenure-track) positions across disciplines, including plant science. More info: www.nature.com/naturecareer... Contact: @johanneshanson.bsky.social

nature.comnature.com

Adam Frew reposted

Umeå Plant Science Centre
@umeaplantsciencecentre.se

🧪🌾VACANCY - Postdoc in fungal ecology & modelling🧬 This 2-year postdoc focuses on mycorrhizal fungal biogeography using large-scale metabarcoding data and species distribution models.🌍 Join the group of @frewecologist.bsky.social and work with us @umeaplantsciencecentre.se! 📅 Apply by 30 April

Adam Frew@frewecologist.bsky.social

Postdoc (2 years) in mycorrhizal fungal biogeography & species distribution modelling @umeaplantsciencecentre.se Work with large-scale metabarcoding data and modelling. Deadline is 30th April www.umu.se/en/work-with...

umu.sePostdoctoral scholarship (2 years) in mycorrhizal biogeography and species distribution modelling
Adam Frew
@frewecologist.bsky.social

PhD opportunity: How flexible are AM fungi? This project explores fungal trait plasticity and consequences for plant growth and nutrient uptake. Experimental + quantitative focus. www.upsc.se/jobs/6672-ph...

upsc.seUmeå Plant Science Centre - PhD position in plant science with a focus on plant-fungal interactions: Phenotypic plasticity in mycorrhizal fungiUmeå Plant Science Centre - A centre of excellence for experimental plant biology in Umeå Sweden. ©UPSC
Adam Frew
@frewecologist.bsky.social

I enjoyed reading this paper. Many hypotheses focus on plant performance only, treat the mycorrhizal fungi as interchangeable. When should fungal identity and fitness should be front and centre in theory and experiments? doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

doi.orgMycorrhizal ecology: in the land of the one-eyed kingThis review pulls together the theory on mycorrhizas from before the era of modern community sequencing and the theory of today, and hierarchically cluster

Adam Frew reposted

ARC Tracker
@arc-tracker.bsky.social

The massive delays ARC announced for all grant schemes – with longer processing times & 3-month announcement windows – were examined in Senate Estimates recently. Here’s John Ross reporting on it, & the confusing Estimates hearing, for Times Higher Ed👇 www.timeshighereducation.com/news/grant-d...

timeshighereducation.comGrant delays feared as ARC ramps up ‘due diligence’Researchers brace for renewed funding uncertainty as security checks prove ‘more time-consuming than imagined’
Adam Frew
@frewecologist.bsky.social

Some news: I’m joining Umeå Plant Science Centre at Umeå University next month as a group leader! Expanding the mycorrhizal adventures to new systems, forests, collaborations & opportunities. I’ll recruit students & postdocs soon Very much still part of the HIE! with my research continuing there

Adam Frew reposted

Carlos Aguilar-Trigueros
@aguilart.bsky.social

Disperal ecology meets fungi! It is more than just spores people! Check this paper led by ECR @sarahcuprewich.bsky.social and Kristin Barbour! Fun collab supported @cu-esiil.bsky.social One hundred unanswered questions on the dispersal ecology of fungi url: academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...

academic.oup.comOne hundred unanswered questions on the dispersal ecology of fungiAbstract. Fungi comprise millions of species that play numerous varied roles in Earth’s natural and managed ecosystems, engaging in a multitude of positive

Adam Frew reposted

Carlos Aguilar-Trigueros
@aguilart.bsky.social

Filamentous growth everywhere! It is really fascinating that no matter if you are the fungus that grows as a "mold" in bread or on decomposing wood, in very unrelated lineages; the trademark is filamentous network growth!

Adam Frew reposted

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈
@whysharksmatter.bsky.social

Please enjoy our research paper on how Bluesky is the preferred home of academics of all stripes, including professors of rare moths. (Yes, we actually have lots of entomologists here). academic.oup.com/icb/article-... 🧪

academic.oup.comScientists no Longer Find Twitter Professionally Useful, and have Switched to BlueskySynopsis. Social media has become widely used by the scientific community for a variety of professional uses, including networking and public outreach. For
Tom Cox@dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social

Someone told me lately "Bluesky is just like Twitter." I argued that was untrue on the basis that last time I had a Twitter account most times I got a new follower their bio said "single & looking for fun" & here when I get a new follower it tends to say something like "professor of rare moths".

Adam Frew reposted

ARC Tracker
@arc-tracker.bsky.social

Replying to @arc-tracker.bsky.social

#ARCschedule Jan26 update ARC announced huge delays & 3-month announcement windows (used to be 2 weeks). Delay in months per scheme: 🔹LP25: 1–4 🔹IC/IH26: 1–4 🔹FT26: 1–3 🔹LP26: 2.5–5.5 🔹LE27: 2–5 🔹DE27: 1.5–4.5 🔹DP27: 3–6 Just … appalling. Unworkable. Data ▶️ docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Adam Frew
@frewecologist.bsky.social

We need more of these kinds of studies. A better grip on these fundamentals of AM fungal biology & ecology is needed if we hope to actually use AM fungi either as predictive signals or in land-management etc. @sturmer.bsky.social @1pantunes.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.comVariability among Acaulosporaceae taxa challenges assumptions of trait conservatism in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungiUnderstanding trait variation in arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi is critical for developing effective inoculants and predicting their ecological per…

Adam Frew reposted

Carlos Aguilar-Trigueros
@aguilart.bsky.social

Excited to share our new paper! (1/4) Fungi grow as networks, but how much these networks actually vary? Turns out: not as much as we think. Across four species, network traits stayed consistent, even when grazed by soil fauna! doing.https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ele.70281

onlinelibrary.wiley.comNot Extremely Plastic: Testing the Limits of Morphological Plasticity in Fungal Mycelia in Response to Soil GrazersUsing image analysis to track the development of fungal networks in the presence of predators, we found that even in modular organisms, plasticity is more nuanced and limited than previously assumed....
Adam Frew
@frewecologist.bsky.social

Turns out fungi aren’t as plastic as we might think, their responses to grazers are much more species-specific. Very cool work from the fungal wizard @aguilart.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

onlinelibrary.wiley.comNot Extremely Plastic: Testing the Limits of Morphological Plasticity in Fungal Mycelia in Response to Soil GrazersUsing image analysis to track the development of fungal networks in the presence of predators, we found that even in modular organisms, plasticity is more nuanced and limited than previously assumed....
Adam Frew
@frewecologist.bsky.social

What are the major questions unanswered relating to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi? It is just me, or are too many fundamentals still not resolved around some basic biology and ecology? Their genetics, their growth patterns, host-preferences, sporulation, and so on.

Adam Frew
@frewecologist.bsky.social

I find so often in writing a grant or paper etc. I'm reminded of the basics we still don't know. Tired of repeating the same caveat "we still lack XYZ basic knowledge". Its hard to move forward when funding agencies aren't interested in foundational stuff.

Adam Frew reposted

ESA Plant-Soil Ecology
@esaplantsoilecol.bsky.social

We are excited to share the latest in plant-soil research in Australia today! Come join our symposium in Riverbank room 2 from 13:30-17:00👇

ESA Plant-Soil Ecology@esaplantsoilecol.bsky.social

Ecological Society of Australia conference is already next week! Our symposium "Functional biodiversity and bold insights from plant-soil ecology" will be on Wed (Nov 26) afternoon 130-530pm. Cracker talks on 🔥❄️⛰️🚱🧬🫧🌿🐮🌾🍄 (did you guess them?!) @ecolsocaus.bsky.social esa2025.org.au

Adam Frew reposted

Vasilis Kokkoris
@vkokkoris.bsky.social

I had such fun thinking, reading and writing this Tansley Review on #arbuscular #mycorrhizal #fungal mycelia. We need a more fungal-centric view to better understand not only the AM fungi, but also their many ecological roles. @newphyt.bsky.social 🔗 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/DHGB3S....

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.comnph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
New Phytologist@newphyt.bsky.social

✨ Paper spotlight ✨ Mycelial Dynamics in Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... (🧵 1/5) Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi form vast underground hyphal networks that support plant life.