Ed McAssey
LightNews LightNews
emcassey.bsky.social
Ed McAssey
@emcassey.bsky.social
540 followers 580 following 10 posts
Assistant Professor in Residence, UConn EEB
Plant Evolutionary Biology
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Ed McAssey
botsocamerica.bsky.social
CALL FOR PAPERS 🌿 DEADLINE NOV 30

Submit your proposal for the #AppsPlantSci special issue: “Beyond #phylogenomics: Innovative applications of target capture data”

More info at: botany.org/home/publica... @yannickwoudstra.bsky.social @erikarmoore11.bsky.social @emcassey.bsky.social #genomics
The text at the top reads: “APPS Special Issue Call for Papers: Beyond phylogenomics: Innovative applications of target capture data”. The image beneath the title: On the left side of the image is a large circle divided in two halves: the left side of the circle comprises four images of flowers/herbarium specimens and the right side of the circle contains the text “Target Capture.” Five dotted line arrows point from the large circle to five smaller circles on the right. Smaller circles (clockwise from top): (1) “Off Target”, (2) “Biodiversity assessments”, (3) “Population genomics”, (4) “Evo-Devo”, (5) “Species identification”. The text beneath the image reads: “Proposal deadline November 30, 2025”. The Applications in Plant Sciences logo is in the bottom left corner, and a QR code is in the bottom right corner. Image credit: Yannick Woudstra.
November 24, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
newphyt.bsky.social
#TansleyInsight: Could photoperiodic responses have evolved before the emergence of #CircadianClocks?

@jabbur.bsky.social & Carl Hirschie Johnson
👇

📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#LatestIssue
(a) Model for how photoperiodic time measurement works across different species. (b) Examples of the photoperiodic pathways in plants (upper) and mammals (lower).
November 22, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
jacquelyngill.bsky.social
Study after study shows that using LLMs is bad for cognition, bad for learning, bad for understanding, bad for mental health. So why are our schools and universities still relentlessly pushing them?
us.theconversation.com The Conversation U.S. @us.theconversation.com · 7d
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.

Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
mossmatters.bsky.social
Because the Big XII championship game is during final exams, our Provost suggests faculty choose from ideas including "exempt students from the exam" and "change your whole method of assessment" with 1 week notice

More than usual I'm feeling I work for a football team with a school on the side.
Exempt the final exam for students who have maintained a high average in the course. Give students a choice to adjust grading by weighting another exam more heavily or revising the grading schema. Contact [email redacted] for assistance with changes in RaiderCanvas. Replace the final exam with an alternative assignment that meets the course’s learning goals. Move the final exam online and consider a broader testing window. Continue with your scheduled exam time on Saturday, Dec. 6.
November 18, 2025 at 2:16 AM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
botsocamerica.bsky.social
CALL FOR PAPERS 🌿 DEADLINE NOV 30

Submit your proposal for the #AppsPlantSci special issue: “Beyond #phylogenomics: Innovative applications of target capture data”

More info at: botany.org/home/publica... @yannickwoudstra.bsky.social @erikarmoore11.bsky.social @emcassey.bsky.social #genomics
The text at the top reads: “APPS Special Issue Call for Papers: Beyond phylogenomics: Innovative applications of target capture data”. The image beneath the title: On the left side of the image is a large circle divided in two halves: the left side of the circle comprises four images of flowers/herbarium specimens and the right side of the circle contains the text “Target Capture.” Five dotted line arrows point from the large circle to five smaller circles on the right. Smaller circles (clockwise from top): (1) “Off Target”, (2) “Biodiversity assessments”, (3) “Population genomics”, (4) “Evo-Devo”, (5) “Species identification”. The text beneath the image reads: “Proposal deadline November 30, 2025”. The Applications in Plant Sciences logo is in the bottom left corner, and a QR code is in the bottom right corner. Image credit: Yannick Woudstra.
November 17, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
bgrueskin.bsky.social
Gotta love how Jon Karl and ABC News had this graphic ready to go *the very moment* that Hassett rolled out his Walmart anecdote.
WALMART'S THANKSGIVING MEAL DEAL TOTAL PRODUCTS TOTAL UNITS GENERIC BRAND 2025 15 22 60% VS 2024 21 29 45% abc H NEC DIRECTOR HASSETT THE POWERHOUSE ROUNDTABLE EPSTEIN DIVIDES MAGA DEMS' SHUTDOWN BLOWBACK
November 16, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
erikarmoore11.bsky.social
Consider this your sign from the universe, your future self, and your unfinished Google Doc. We want your cool ideas, your weird ideas, or your ‘is-this-crazy-or-brilliant’ ideas!

Just over two weeks left to submit a proposal for this special issue. Reach out if you have any questions ☺️
botsocamerica.bsky.social Botanical Society of America @botsocamerica.bsky.social · 18d
CALL FOR PAPERS 🌿 DEADLINE NOV 30

Submit your proposal for the #AppsPlantSci special issue: “Beyond #phylogenomics: Innovative applications of target capture data”

More info at: botany.org/home/publica...

@yannickwoudstra.bsky.social @erikarmoore11.bsky.social @emcassey.bsky.social #genomics
The text at the top reads: “APPS Special Issue Call for Papers: Beyond phylogenomics: Innovative applications of target capture data”. The image beneath the title: On the left side of the image is a large circle divided in two halves: the left side of the circle comprises four images of flowers/herbarium specimens and the right side of the circle contains the text “Target Capture.” Five dotted line arrows point from the large circle to five smaller circles on the right. Smaller circles (clockwise from top): (1) “Off Target”, (2) “Biodiversity assessments”, (3) “Population genomics”, (4) “Evo-Devo”, (5) “Species identification”. The text beneath the image reads: “Proposal deadline November 30, 2025”. The Applications in Plant Sciences logo is in the bottom left corner, and a QR code is in the bottom right corner. Image credit: Yannick Woudstra.
November 15, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
drandrewthaler.bsky.social
In the century leading up to 1975, nearly 6000 freighters went down in the Great Lakes.

The Edmund Fitzgerald was the last.

The last. In 50 years, not a single commercial freighter has been lost in the Great Lakes.

Why?

It's NOAA. Of course it's NOAA.
November 11, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
botsocamerica.bsky.social
CALL FOR PAPERS 🌿 DEADLINE NOV 30

Submit your proposal for the #AppsPlantSci special issue: “Beyond #phylogenomics: Innovative applications of target capture data”

More info at: botany.org/home/publica...

@yannickwoudstra.bsky.social @erikarmoore11.bsky.social @emcassey.bsky.social #genomics
The text at the top reads: “APPS Special Issue Call for Papers: Beyond phylogenomics: Innovative applications of target capture data”. The image beneath the title: On the left side of the image is a large circle divided in two halves: the left side of the circle comprises four images of flowers/herbarium specimens and the right side of the circle contains the text “Target Capture.” Five dotted line arrows point from the large circle to five smaller circles on the right. Smaller circles (clockwise from top): (1) “Off Target”, (2) “Biodiversity assessments”, (3) “Population genomics”, (4) “Evo-Devo”, (5) “Species identification”. The text beneath the image reads: “Proposal deadline November 30, 2025”. The Applications in Plant Sciences logo is in the bottom left corner, and a QR code is in the bottom right corner. Image credit: Yannick Woudstra.
November 10, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
atrupar.com
Chris Murphy: "There will be pretty substantial damage to a Dem brand that has been rehabilitated if on the heels of an election in which the people told us to keep fighting, we immediately stop... if we surrender without having gotten anything, I worry it'll be hard to get them back up off the mat"
November 7, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
governorwalz.mn.gov
The lengths Trump will go to keep Americans hungry knows no bounds.

apnews.com/article/snap...
Supreme Court issues emergency order to block full SNAP food aid payments
The Supreme Court has granted the Trump administration’s emergency appeal to temporarily block a court order to fully fund SNAP food aid payments amid the government shutdown.
apnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
sfgate.com
As the park's temperatures top 120°F, one native species thrives.
Scientists conduct groundbreaking study in Calif.'s Death Valley National Park
As the park's temperatures top 120°F, one native species thrives.
bit.ly
November 7, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
newphyt.bsky.social
🆕 Our #LatestIssue is online now!

📚 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14698137...

Highlights include:
🌱 #Leaf #evolution
🌱 #Light signal transduction in #plants
🌱 The path towards a unified trait space
On the cover of New Phytologist volume 248, issue 5: Photo of a Joshua tree (Yucca jaegeriana) at dawn in the Mojave Desert.
November 6, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
newphyt.bsky.social
On the cover of our #LatestIssue: Photo of a Joshua #tree (Yucca jaegeriana) at dawn in the Mojave #Desert. Image courtesy of Karolina Heyduk.

📖 See Heyduk et al. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
On the cover of New Phytologist volume 248, issue 5: Photo of a Joshua tree (Yucca jaegeriana) at dawn in the Mojave Desert.
November 6, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
botsocamerica.bsky.social
CALL FOR PAPERS 🌿 DEADLINE APPROACHING

Submit your proposal by Nov 30 to the #AppsPlantSci special issue: “Beyond #phylogenomics: Innovative applications of target capture data”

botany.org/home/publica...

@yannickwoudstra.bsky.social @erikarmoore11.bsky.social @emcassey.bsky.social #genomics
The text at the top reads: “APPS Special Issue Call for Papers: Beyond phylogenomics: Innovative applications of target capture data”. The image beneath the title: On the left side of the image is a large circle divided in two halves: the left side of the circle comprises four images of flowers/herbarium specimens and the right side of the circle contains the text “Target Capture.” Five dotted line arrows point from the large circle to five smaller circles on the right. Smaller circles (clockwise from top): (1) “Off Target”, (2) “Biodiversity assessments”, (3) “Population genomics”, (4) “Evo-Devo”, (5) “Species identification”. The text beneath the image reads: “Proposal deadline November 30, 2025”. The Applications in Plant Sciences logo is in the bottom left corner, and a QR code is in the bottom right corner. Image credit: Yannick Woudstra.
November 3, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
chanda.blacksky.app
vanderbilthustler.com/2025/10/18/v...
GUEST COLUMN: Vanderbilt’s steep decline in Black student enrollment is America’s warning
Vanderbilt’s precipitous drop in Black enrollment in 2024 signals a larger crisis in higher education, denying students the benefits of diversity and deepening inequality in an increasingly multicultu...
vanderbilthustler.com
October 19, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social
Transposable elements drive much of naturally occurring genetic lethality in Drosophila melanogaster https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.16.682755v1
October 16, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
jmbrkphd.bsky.social
We're hiring! Please spread the word. We have an opening for an Assistant Professor in Plant Synthetic Biology for Strategic Resources Research. See ad for details – and apply to join us here in Athens, GA! 🪴 #PlantBiology #SyntheticBiology #PlantScience #AcademicJobs #UGA
Faculty job ad for a position in Plant Synthetic Biology for Strategic Resources Research in the Department of Plant Biology at the University of Georgia.
October 16, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
princess-vimentin.bsky.social
I can relate.

I have been a stutterer since I was a child. I hated being the only one who did. Figuring out the best way to work a sentence w/o stuttering is still exhausting.

Graduate school forced me to work extra hard on presentation skills. I got better.

🧪 www.science.org/content/arti...
How my stutter is teaching me humility—in science and beyond
“I will always face the burden of coaxing my body to do what comes naturally and effortlessly for most,” this assistant professor writes
www.science.org
October 16, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
mikegrillo.bsky.social
I am hiring a postdoc to examine the genomic and evolutionary basis of plant microbiome variation in legumes. There are opportunities to gain teaching experience. Chicago is a great city to live in! Please help spread the word.
share.google/gukbzS1zdIx6...
Postdoctoral Researcher in Plant Evolutionary Genomics
The postdoctoral researcher will work in Dr. Michael Grillo’s plant evolutionary genetics lab. The goal of this research project is to understand the genomic basis of plant-microbiome variation in leg...
share.google
October 10, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
kheyduk.bsky.social
Awesome postdoc opportunity!
martinebotany.bsky.social Chris Martine | Plants are Cool, Too! @martinebotany.bsky.social · Oct 1
Excited to begin the search for the next (6th) Burpee Post-Doctoral Fellow in Botany here in my lab at Bucknell! Funded research and teacher-scholar training embedded in the primarily undergraduate institution (#PUI) environment.

#iamabotanist

Details (+ application portal) here:

lnkd.in/eVsbe7K5
Photos of past Burpee postdocs with some of our great students at Bucknell.
October 1, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
martinebotany.bsky.social
Excited to begin the search for the next (6th) Burpee Post-Doctoral Fellow in Botany here in my lab at Bucknell! Funded research and teacher-scholar training embedded in the primarily undergraduate institution (#PUI) environment.

#iamabotanist

Details (+ application portal) here:

lnkd.in/eVsbe7K5
Photos of past Burpee postdocs with some of our great students at Bucknell.
October 1, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
wyden.senate.gov
Every single one of these clips was taken today in downtown Portland. Portland doesn’t want or need a federal takeover. If Trump insists on sending federal “resources” he can start with funding health care, bridges, affordable housing, and wildfire protection to name a few.
September 27, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
plantpostdocs.bsky.social
Dr. Erika Moore-Pollard is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Connecticut whose research focuses on photosynthetic metabolism and functional trait tradeoffs in Bromeliaceae. @erikarmoore11.bsky.social
I am Erika Moore-Pollard, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Connecticut. My current research focuses on photosynthetic metabolism and functional trait tradeoffs in Bromeliaceae. I earned my PhD at the University of Memphis, where I investigated the phylogenomics, genomics, and systematics of Asteraceae, with a particular focus on the complex genus Packera. My overall research goal is to uncover the molecular drivers of plant diversification, with an emphasis on how polyploidy, hybridization, and convergent evolution shape trait innovation and ecological success across angiosperms.
September 26, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Reposted by Ed McAssey
emjo.bsky.social
Application review begins in one week for the MSU herbarium director position!!!! More info here: plantbiology.natsci.msu.edu/job-postings...
September 26, 2025 at 1:33 PM