Michelle Henson, Ph.D.
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michellehenson.bsky.social
Michelle Henson, Ph.D.
@michellehenson.bsky.social
61 followers 57 following 4 posts
USFWS biologist, ecologist, mom, & sourdough bread enthusiast.

Views are my own.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Michelle Henson, Ph.D.
yyachung.bsky.social
🍄 UGA Plant Pathology is hiring TT faculty in Mycology/Fungal Biology/Fungal Ecology at the Asst/Assc level! Please pass along this opportunity to anyone you know who may be interested. I'm on the search committee and happy to answer questions. 🍄 www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/445...
Assistant or Associate Professor - Fungal Biology/Mycology
The Department of Plant Pathology in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) at the University of Georgia is recruiting for the position of Assistant or Associate Professor in Fu...
www.ugajobsearch.com
August 21, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Reposted by Michelle Henson, Ph.D.
jgpausas.bsky.social
New paper: The role of fire on Earth
doi.org/10.1093/bios... BioScience @aibsbiology.bsky.social
Fire affects all major components of the Earth system: atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, anthroposphere, & biosphere. Fire is an intrinsic factor on our planet.

🧪🌍🔥🌳🌿🌐 wildfire
August 25, 2025 at 10:59 PM
michellehenson.bsky.social
Great day monitoring T&E plants for a long-term demography study on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Also, hoola hoops make for fun quadrats 🙂‍↕️
August 15, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Reposted by Michelle Henson, Ph.D.
mkfeeney.bsky.social
Censoring mis/disinformation research is just the beginning. All scientific research in the US is under threat. Now is the time for scientists in all fields to act. Some small steps each of us can take:
Eight tangible things you can do: 1. call congressional representatives 2. push universities to advocate against cuts 3. activate professional associations 4. attend a protest 5. follow researchers working in these areas 6. educate your neighbors and friends 7. join a group that supports science 8. demand federally funded research be free of partisan interference
April 26, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Reposted by Michelle Henson, Ph.D.
nffe-fsc.bsky.social
This is legal help for all feds, not just bargianing unit! Please share #bettertogether #unionstrong #unionsMatter nffe.org/nffe_news/nf...
NFFE & Labor Allies Launch Legal Defense Network | National Federation of Federal Employees
Rise Up: Federal Workers Legal Defense Network is a new organization connecting lawyers who can provide pro bono counsel to current and former federal workers.
nffe.org
April 16, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Reposted by Michelle Henson, Ph.D.
yyachung.bsky.social
Microbiome folks! My powerhouse PhD student Jordan is looking for amplicon sequencing funding to understand the impacts of hemiparasitic plant litter on soil microbes. Any suggestions? He has independently funded his dissertation thus far and this is the last bit! TIA 🌍🍄🦠🌾🧪
shorturl.at/rkI8u
Sub-alpine Robinhood: Castilleja as drivers of ecosystem processes — Jordan Cleo Argrett
jordanargrett.com
April 10, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by Michelle Henson, Ph.D.
botsocamerica.bsky.social
🔥🌱 From the upcoming #AJB Special Issue: “Understanding novel fire regimes using plant trait‐based approaches" 🌱🔥

Extreme #fire severity interacts with seed traits to moderate post-fire species assemblages
By @ryantangney.bsky.social, @markooiecol.bsky.social, et al.

doi.org/10.1002/ajb2... #botany
Photo of a prescribed fire (Credit: Mark Ooi).
March 24, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Reposted by Michelle Henson, Ph.D.
drewharwell.com
Every news outlet reporting Elon Musk's comment about accidentally canceling Ebola prevention efforts and quickly restoring them should also say they haven't been restored, they're still canceled, the outbreak-fighting teams are dismantled, the money is gone

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Musk says DOGE ‘restored’ Ebola prevention effort. Officials say that’s not true.
USAID’s initiatives to fight Ebola and other diseases have been gutted, current and former agency officials said.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 27, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Michelle Henson, Ph.D.
altusfs.altgov.info
Only wildlife biologist for 500K+ acres among terminations.

“I'm not opposed to finding efficiencies in our government. But the tools being leveraged today are hammers, not scalpels. They are breaking the agencies tasked with critical work, not refining them.”

✍️: actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...
I was fired from my dream job today (along with 3400 other FS staff). A job that I worked over 20 years to achieve. A job that would never get me rich, but one that I truly believed in. Essentially, I worked for the American people to monitor and manage all the animals on 500,000+ acres of land that is the Pisgah National Forest as the (only) Wildlife Biologist. A geography that contains a fantastic diversity of life near and dear to my heart. I work on all sorts of projects, from monitoring rare species, to improving habitat conditions for game animals, to restoring spruce-fir forest and wetlands, to prescribed fire. For those of you advocating for a trimming of the work force, how many biologists should we have on that much land? We now have zero. And that's in the aftermath of a natural disaster of unprecedented scale and severity. Pisgah is ground zero for Hurricane Helene. One creek I visited recently had 55 landslides and a debris jam the size of a football field. For the last several months, Helene recovery is all I've worked on (from 1-40 reconstruction to evaluating how rare critters responded to the floods and landslides). Much of my work in the coming years would have been focused on making our floodplains more resilient, addressing fuel risks, and working to keep rare species on the landscape. The legalese for firing me? "The Agency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the Agency would be in the public interest." I have only had stellar performance reviews, and no infractions on file. My supervisor submitted the paperwork necessary to advance me to career status, based upon that satisfactory performance (my 12 month probation ends in 2 weeks). I also can't access my performance evaluations any longer as I'm now denied access to the online portal. On top of that, filing an appeal is futile because the Merit Systems Protection Board no longer has enough appointees to have a quorum to evaluate my claim. What America do you want? I'm not opposed to finding efficiencies in our government. But the tools being leveraged today are hammers, not scalpels. They are breaking the agencies tasked with critical work, not refining them. Without my and other critical positions filled, Pisgah National Forest will be unable to meet statutory law requirements as it navigates both Helene recovery and every day work (Rx fire, sylviculture projects, etc). Most importantly, we won't have the bandwidth or expertise to conceptualize and implement these recovery efforts when we are so understaffed. Our most dedicated public servants were fired right when we need them most. As an Asheville local grieving the aftermath of Helene, talk about a devastating sucker punch. The only wildlife biologist for the Pisgah National Forest has been terminated. Here the employee takes a very happy selfie with a large venomous snake in the distant background, in a lush wooded environment with ferns and trees. Forest Service employees have assisted with response to devastating landslides across the western North Carolina region. A landslide in the blue ridge mountains carves a ravine into a much green hillside while a Forest Service employee looks on.
February 20, 2025 at 1:12 AM
michellehenson.bsky.social
I was one of the probationary federal employees that lost their job on Friday. I was one month (+7 months of internship) into my career with USFWS.

Devastated is an understatement. This was my dream job. I loved my agency, our mission, and my position, deeply. Solidarity to all of my fed family. 💔
February 16, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by Michelle Henson, Ph.D.
kcox-bioguy.bsky.social
Alright so to brighten the mood...

Who's ready for another iteration of 28 Days, 28 Black Plant Scientists/Botanists? 💪🏾🌱

For those that want more background here's a link from last yr. While I search through names myself, I'm happy to hear any nominations via DM/email!

plantae.org/2024-black-h...
2024 Black History Month: Black Plant Scientists Spotlight | Plantae
An initiative originated by Kevin Cox Jr., PhD, Plantae carries on Kevin’s tremendous effort of bringing visibility to several exceptional scientists and their work across the science community.
plantae.org
January 24, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Reposted by Michelle Henson, Ph.D.
arthurobuntspecht.bsky.social
we perform a global meta-analysis of 13,209 global change factors in experimental observations across the world’s land ecosystems to quantify plant (biomass and diversity) and soil biota (biomass, diversity, and abundances) responses to GCFs in different biomes www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Decoupled responses of plants and soil biota to global change across the world’s land ecosystems - Nature Communications
Understanding how global changes affect both aboveground plants and belowground soil organisms is essential for preserving ecosystem functions and biodiversity. This study synthesizes extensive data, ...
www.nature.com
November 30, 2024 at 8:08 AM