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barkerms.bsky.social
Mike Barker
@barkerms.bsky.social
4.5K followers 4.7K following 180 posts
Professor & Assoc Dept Head UofA EEB (@uofa-eeb.bsky.social) in Tucson studying plant evolution, botany, polyploidy, chromosomes, and biodiversity. Views are my own. He/Him https://www.barkerlab.net
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barkerms.bsky.social
Night blooming cactus on my evening walk in Tucson tonight!
A tall columnar cactus with multiple ribbed stems blooming with cream and peach-colored flowers at night in Tucson. The cactus stands in a desert garden with purple flowering plants, gravel pathways, and a palm tree visible against a dark blue night sky. Close-up of a night-blooming cactus flower with ruffled white petals edged in coral-red, revealing a green center with yellow stamens. The delicate bloom is photographed at night against the ribbed, spiny stems of a columnar cactus in Tucson.
November 5, 2025 at 7:38 AM
barkerms.bsky.social
A round 'I Voted' sticker with red text at the top and a blue desert landscape design in the lower half. Text includes 'I Voted' in English, 'A:ñi 'ant wodalt' in Tohono O'odham, 'Yo Voté' in Spanish, and 'Pima County AZ' at the bottom. Saguaro cacti silhouettes decorate the desert scene.
November 4, 2025 at 4:47 PM
barkerms.bsky.social
Join us on Nov 18 at 2:30 PM MST to learn about CAMBIUM grad fellowships in biodiversity informatics & climate change @uarizona.bsky.social. For incoming Fall 2026 students interested in big data, ecology, evolution, climate adaptation & more. Register: events.trellis.arizona.edu/en/f44lNu67/... 🌵🧬🌐
Flyer for CAMBIUM (Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Through Biodiversity Informatics Education and Mentoring) Graduate Research Traineeship program. Right side shows a scenic photograph of tall saguaro cacti against desert mountains. Program highlights listed in a blue box include: professional development training in communication, teamwork, and professionalism; interdisciplinary research rotations; career and professional development; $34,000 stipend with paid tuition, fees, and health insurance coverage for 2 years; and a Certificate in Biodiversity Informatics. A red box announces an informational webinar on November 18th at 2:30 PM MST with link to the CAMBIUM program website at https://cambium.arizona.edu/. Eligibility requirements include U.S. citizenship or permanent residency, incoming graduate student status for Fall 2026, and acceptance contingent on graduate program admission. Bottom features a 'Register here!' button with registration link at https://events.trellis.arizona.edu/en/f44lNu67/cambium-informational-webinar-4a3UKgGu6U/overview, along with NSF, University of Arizona, and CAMBIUM NRT logos.
November 3, 2025 at 11:50 PM
barkerms.bsky.social
The CAMBIUM NSF NRT is recruiting PhD students @uarizona.bsky.social! Fellowships for interdisciplinary training in biodiversity big data to adapt to & mitigate climate change impacts. Great fit for evolutionary genomics, bioinformatics, plant adaptation, ecology & more. cambium.arizona.edu 🧬🌐🌎
A logo for the CAMBIUM NRT featuring stylized rings. An organ pipe cactus in the moonlight with a starry sky above.
October 24, 2025 at 5:19 AM
barkerms.bsky.social
I'm recruiting PhD students for the Barker Lab @uofa-eeb.bsky.social We study plant evolutionary genomics - polyploidy, hybridization & machine learning for genome evolution. Work with Selaginella, Xanthisma, Brassica & more. Funding available via CAMBIUM Fellowships. Reach out if interested! 🧬🌵🤖
The allotetraploid lycophyte Selaginella rupincola growing among the boulders at Cochise Stronghold in the Dragoon Mountains southeast of Tucson, Arizona. Xanthisma spinulosum growing outside a gym in Tucson, Arizona. Selaginella arizonica X eremophila hybrid zone at Alamo Canyon in Organ Pipe National Monument. A Dieteria sp. being visited by a skipper in the White Mountains of Arizona.
October 24, 2025 at 5:01 AM
barkerms.bsky.social
A vermilion flycatcher sitting on a branch of a flowering desert willow tree on this morning's walk in Tucson.
A vermilion flycatcher, a bird with a bright red chest and fuzzy head with black wings and back, sits on a branch of a desert willow tree with green leaves and pink-purple flowers blooming around it.
May 5, 2025 at 3:59 PM
barkerms.bsky.social
Fouquieria macdougalii in bloom on this evening's walk. An organ pipe cactus (Stenocereus thurberi) is in the background.
Red flowers of Fouquieria macdougalii hang in the center of the image with an organ pipe cactus in the background. Branches of the Fouquieria macdougalii are visible above with more flowers.
April 18, 2025 at 6:18 AM
barkerms.bsky.social
An ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) in bloom this evening.
Bright red flowers of an ocotillo on the end of a spiky branch with small green leaves against the dark night sky.
April 17, 2025 at 5:35 AM
barkerms.bsky.social
Join us on Wednesday, April 2 at 11 AM Pacific Time for the next #PolyploidyWebinar! The last webinar of the 24-25 season will feature @raymondcast.bsky.social and @erichagen.bsky.social! Sign up (if not already!) to get the zoom: www.barkerlab.net/polyweb
A flyer for the next Polyploidy Webinar on Wednesday, April 2, at 11 AM PDT. Featuring Raymond Castillo from Washington University presenting "Phylogenetic methods for modeling chromosome size and count" and Eric Hagen from the University of Toronto on "Using -SSE models to study diversification after neopolyploidy and paleopolyploidy"
March 29, 2025 at 1:28 AM
barkerms.bsky.social
A bright yellow sunflower inflorescence of Tithonia diversifolia blooming in Tucson against a clear blue sky.
March 10, 2025 at 7:47 PM
barkerms.bsky.social
Join us on Wednesday, March 5, at 11 AM PST for the next #PolyploidyWebinar! This month features Maya Wilson Brown on Capsella genetic variation and Nomar Waminal on the Crocus panrepeatome! Sign up (if not already!) to get the zoom: www.barkerlab.net/polyweb
Flyer for the March 5, 2025, Polyploidy Webinar that will take place at 11 AM PST. This webinar feature's Maya Wilson Brown from Michigan State University presenting "Genetic variation of allotetraploid Capsella bursa-pastoris in introduced range" and Nomar Waminal of the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research presenting "The Crocus panrepeatome: duplication, dynamics, and dysploidy".
March 1, 2025 at 2:25 AM
barkerms.bsky.social
Encelia farinosa and Sphaeralcea ambigua are blooming in Tucson now!
A bright yellow sunflower inflorescence of Encelia farinosa is in the center of the image with other inflorescences around the photo. In the background are the orange flowers of desert globe mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua). Orange flowers of Desert globe mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) are in the center of the image above a leaf of an agave with yellow Encelia farinosa inflorescences in the background.
February 15, 2025 at 9:02 PM
barkerms.bsky.social
Join us on Wednesday, February 5, at 11 AM PST for the next #PolyploidyWebinar! This month we have @cherrityg.bsky.social on apomixis and polyploidy in Malus and Christoph Rosche on herbarium specimens and invasive Centaurea! Sign up (if not already!) to get the zoom: www.barkerlab.net/polyweb
A flyer announcing the next polyploidy webinar on February 5, 2025, at 11 AM PST. Links to sign up for the zoom at barkerlab.net/polyweb. Featuring Charity Goeckeritz from the HudsonAlpha Institute on Genomics of triploid apples narrow the search for the genetic basis of apomixis in Malus, and Christoph Rosche from the University of Halle on Herbarium specimens reveal a cryptic invasion of polyploid Centuarea stoebe in Europe.
February 1, 2025 at 8:12 PM
barkerms.bsky.social
We had a fun end of the semester axe throwing and Sonoran dog day in the lab! This has become an enjoyable annual event! Here is @aast242.bsky.social throwing an axe with Geoff Finch and @skang.bsky.social with a winning throw!
Two men stand in a wooden cage with a two target boards at the far end. They are throwing axes at the target with one axe flying in the air towards the board. The sign of above the targets reads "St Hubert's Hatchet House." A woman stands in front of a target board with an axe stuck in the board. Two Sonoran style hot dogs sit on a table in two red baskets with a roasted chile güero pepper beside each hot dog. The hot dogs are wrapped in bacon and in a bun filed with diced tomatoes, onions, beans, a stripe of mustard, salsa, and mayo.
December 16, 2024 at 11:03 PM
barkerms.bsky.social
Their paper is a heavy, flax paper dyed with indigo, walnut, persimmon, and other natural dyes. It is often used for book covers, such as this special edition of Dune.
A copy of Frank Herbert's Dune bound in a speckled tan paper from Cave Paper in Tucson. A woman holding up a copy of the book Dune bound in a speckled tan paper made at Cave Paper.
December 15, 2024 at 12:13 AM
barkerms.bsky.social
We had a fun tour of Cave Paper (www.cavepaper.com) today! They are a handmade paper company in our neighborhood making custom paper from flax. We only recently discovered they have tours and classes so we signed up! It was really interesting!
A sign on the back wall says "Cave Paper: high quality handmade paper since 1994" with a table in foreground that has a could of pieces of their handmade paper with flax plants and fibers. A woman, Zoe, shows flax plants and fibers to people. The fibers are in soft balls on a plate and the flax plants are long, straw like bundle in the center of the photo.
December 15, 2024 at 12:08 AM
barkerms.bsky.social
The Baccharis sarothroides are in bloom and producing lots of fluffy seeds right now at Sweetwater Wetlands!
A large desert broom plant (Baccharis sarothroides) covered in white inflorescences and fluffy white seeds is centered in the photo with a pond and trees in the background. Multiple white inflorescences of Baccharis sarothroides up close with greenish-white centers and white ray florets.
December 9, 2024 at 12:51 AM
barkerms.bsky.social
We saw a group of Gambel's quails taking a dust bath today at Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson!
December 9, 2024 at 12:38 AM
barkerms.bsky.social
One of the broad-billed hummingbirds that lives in my backyard in Tucson near @uarizona.bsky.social. This one was chattering a lot and looking out for other hummingbirds to engage them in their daily skirmishes for the backyard.
A small broad billed hummingbird with bright turquoise feathers on chest, green in the back of the head, and bright orange red beak sitting on a mesquite tree branch surrounded by green leaves. Head is tilted to the side as it looks around. A small broad billed hummingbird with bright turquoise feathers on chest, green in the back of the head, white fluffy feathers underneath, snd bright orange red beak sitting on a mesquite tree branch. A white stucco wall is in the background with blue sky.
December 6, 2024 at 5:45 PM
barkerms.bsky.social
Walked into the middle of a coyote pack this evening near UofA in Tucson! Definitely a few more moving through the shrubs around me - probably five in total!
A coyote stands on a sidewalk at night with vegetation close around the sidewalk in Tucson. Two coyotes in the street at night with lights from apartment buildings in the distance.
December 4, 2024 at 5:55 AM
barkerms.bsky.social
🧪 Join us in Tucson! We will begin reviewing applications on December 9 for our tenure track faculty position on the genomics of resilience @uofa-eeb.bsky.social! Apply here: arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
A photo of a mountain road covered in snow with a rock wall on the right side and tall conifer trees on both side of the road. A bright orange sunset is in the background of the photo. Taken on Mt. Lemmon in the Santa Catalina Mountains above the city of Tucson, Arizona.
December 2, 2024 at 5:05 PM
barkerms.bsky.social
Somehow it is already December and time for advent calendars in our home! After several years of whisky advent calendars, this year it is a green tea calendar! Up first is a gyokuro cha musume - I look forward to enjoying this later today!
A red bag full of red envelopes in the top right corner of the image, a brown clay teapot sits in the top left, and an opened red envelope with a silver package of tea and a small card is in the lower center of the image. The tea package reads gyokuro chat musume Japan, and the card contains instructions for brewing the tea. It also reads "Shaded leaves rolled like pine, gyokuro makes the season divine".
December 1, 2024 at 4:52 PM
barkerms.bsky.social
Join us on Wednesday, December 4, at 11 AM PST for the next #PolyploidyWebinar! This month we have Pam & Doug Soltis presenting on the Polyploid Integration Institute and @trevorfaske.bsky.social on analyses of mixed-ploidy data! Sign up (if not already!) to get the zoom: www.barkerlab.net/polyweb
A flyer for the December 4, 2024, Polyploidy Webinar that will be at 11 AM PST on zoom. This month features Pam & Doug Soltis from the University of Florida presenting details on their new Polyploidy Integration and Innovation Institute and Trevor Faske from the US Geological Survey presenting Variance dissimilarities in mixed-ploidy genomic data cause irregular patterns in PCA and other clustering analyses. Sign up for the zoom link at https://www.barkerlab.net/polyweb
November 30, 2024 at 11:47 PM
barkerms.bsky.social
A creosote gall on a creosote (Larrea tridentata) in our yard! More on the creosote gall midge here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creosot....
A brown, dense ball of leafy material attached to a creosote stem. The ball is a creosote gall made by a gall inducing fly in Asphondylia.
November 30, 2024 at 11:01 PM
barkerms.bsky.social
Come join us in Tucson!! I am excited to announce a tenure track faculty position on the genomics of resilience
@uofa-eeb.bsky.social! Read more about the position in the updated link below! We will begin reviewing applications on December 9! arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
A photo of the Sonoran Desert at night with a saguaro cactus in the foreground with the top glowing from the moonlight. A field of stars is visible in the sky behind the cactus.
November 26, 2024 at 10:19 PM