Patrick McKenzie
@patrickmckenzie.bsky.social
Postdoc in Harvard OEB -- Hopkins lab. systematics, speciation, hybridization in flowering plants. Natural history via community science. Previously Eaton lab at Columbia. Birder, Arkansan, he/him
micro-break from paternity leave to catch @martinebotany.bsky.social talk for NEBS. Awesome examples of the value of natural history for generating new questions
November 8, 2025 at 12:09 AM
micro-break from paternity leave to catch @martinebotany.bsky.social talk for NEBS. Awesome examples of the value of natural history for generating new questions
Behold: Monarda diversity!
November 4, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Behold: Monarda diversity!
Fitting in a bit of fall birding at the little park across the street from our apartment. Just in the past couple days: orange-crowned warbler, red-tailed hawk subsp abieticola, purple finch, eastern towhee
October 9, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Fitting in a bit of fall birding at the little park across the street from our apartment. Just in the past couple days: orange-crowned warbler, red-tailed hawk subsp abieticola, purple finch, eastern towhee
Family of four 🏡
October 8, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Family of four 🏡
We implement the math in ipcoal, and we validate against coalescent simulations. Finally, we demonstrate that there is information from observed waiting distances alone for fitting MSC parameters (Ne, divergence times, recombination rate).
September 11, 2025 at 7:43 PM
We implement the math in ipcoal, and we validate against coalescent simulations. Finally, we demonstrate that there is information from observed waiting distances alone for fitting MSC parameters (Ne, divergence times, recombination rate).
This *explicitly* links observable turnover in local ancestry to MSC model parameters.
September 11, 2025 at 7:41 PM
This *explicitly* links observable turnover in local ancestry to MSC model parameters.
alignments are mosaics of autocorrelated genealogies... nearby bases share ancestry until recombination alters the local tree. We derived the distributions of waiting distances for tree-change and topology-change events, extending prior single-population results to arbitrary species tree models.
September 11, 2025 at 7:40 PM
alignments are mosaics of autocorrelated genealogies... nearby bases share ancestry until recombination alters the local tree. We derived the distributions of waiting distances for tree-change and topology-change events, extending prior single-population results to arbitrary species tree models.
Awesome Penstemon genetics work from @trinitydepatie.bsky.social !!! meticulous crossing design and such a clean result 🤯
July 29, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Awesome Penstemon genetics work from @trinitydepatie.bsky.social !!! meticulous crossing design and such a clean result 🤯
Come see me at the poster session tonight (P16) for two separate applications of @inaturalist.bsky.social in Monarda… showcasing iNat’s help for understanding organismal biology at both super broad (thousands of observations) and super targeted (single observation) scales 🙂 #Botany2025
July 28, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Come see me at the poster session tonight (P16) for two separate applications of @inaturalist.bsky.social in Monarda… showcasing iNat’s help for understanding organismal biology at both super broad (thousands of observations) and super targeted (single observation) scales 🙂 #Botany2025
Awesome (allo)polyploid Phlox presentation from @christeinecke.bsky.social … a ton of fieldwork behind it #Botany2025
July 28, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Awesome (allo)polyploid Phlox presentation from @christeinecke.bsky.social … a ton of fieldwork behind it #Botany2025
Fun getting to see the live version of my favorite paper title of the year: Deeper Bulbs are Larger. Super fun work by @wile-phylote.bsky.social
July 28, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Fun getting to see the live version of my favorite paper title of the year: Deeper Bulbs are Larger. Super fun work by @wile-phylote.bsky.social
Some great talks in the Botanical Research Across Borders symposium this morning, starting with a broad survey of botanists about equity of US / Mexico collaboration #Botany2025
July 28, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Some great talks in the Botanical Research Across Borders symposium this morning, starting with a broad survey of botanists about equity of US / Mexico collaboration #Botany2025
Not much Monarda in Southern California… so Monardella will have to suffice 🙂 (pretty sure this is Monardella australis but not 100%)
July 26, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Not much Monarda in Southern California… so Monardella will have to suffice 🙂 (pretty sure this is Monardella australis but not 100%)
Poster printed, presentation slides prepared……. Palm Springs tomorrow! #Botany2025
July 24, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Poster printed, presentation slides prepared……. Palm Springs tomorrow! #Botany2025
other species seemed to be more consistent with their behavior in this particular Monarda fistulosa stand. e.g. I saw exclusively nectar-robbing behavior from carpenter bees and honeybees (which struggle to access nectar through the mouth of the flowers)
July 23, 2025 at 9:35 PM
other species seemed to be more consistent with their behavior in this particular Monarda fistulosa stand. e.g. I saw exclusively nectar-robbing behavior from carpenter bees and honeybees (which struggle to access nectar through the mouth of the flowers)
even with there only being a couple of them, strategy 3 is super obvious because (a) very small bee, and (b) *usually* highly visible pollen baskets
July 23, 2025 at 9:22 PM
even with there only being a couple of them, strategy 3 is super obvious because (a) very small bee, and (b) *usually* highly visible pollen baskets
strategy 3: pollen collector! again have only seen very small bees do this, but I think still B impatiens... Only a couple bees in the whole Monarda stand doing this. (please forgive my cinematography)
July 23, 2025 at 9:14 PM
strategy 3: pollen collector! again have only seen very small bees do this, but I think still B impatiens... Only a couple bees in the whole Monarda stand doing this. (please forgive my cinematography)
strategy 2: nectar robber! For B impatiens (again I think this is correct ID but bee people please check me). I see this with especially small bees and assumed it was a different species, but now I think not (tons of lit I don't know well about intraspecific Bombus body size variation)
July 23, 2025 at 9:10 PM
strategy 2: nectar robber! For B impatiens (again I think this is correct ID but bee people please check me). I see this with especially small bees and assumed it was a different species, but now I think not (tons of lit I don't know well about intraspecific Bombus body size variation)
spent time today watching different foraging strategies among (I *think?*) the same species of bumblebee (B impatiens), all right next to each other. Starting with the classic nectar dive, which seems to be by far the most common... but notice that the anthers and stigma project way out over the bee
July 23, 2025 at 9:07 PM
spent time today watching different foraging strategies among (I *think?*) the same species of bumblebee (B impatiens), all right next to each other. Starting with the classic nectar dive, which seems to be by far the most common... but notice that the anthers and stigma project way out over the bee
Monarda mayhem!
July 20, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Monarda mayhem!
A distinguishing character of Monarda fistulosa and its close relatives is a fun tuft of hairs at the top of the upper corolla lobe. Endearingly it persists all through flower development (and is arguably even more fun in the early stages)
July 17, 2025 at 5:14 PM
A distinguishing character of Monarda fistulosa and its close relatives is a fun tuft of hairs at the top of the upper corolla lobe. Endearingly it persists all through flower development (and is arguably even more fun in the early stages)
We visited her burial site (it was lovely) on the way home from seeing family and visiting the JMU herbarium last month. She seems to keep coming up. so it’s extra special to see her Monarda blooming now!
July 11, 2025 at 8:40 PM
We visited her burial site (it was lovely) on the way home from seeing family and visiting the JMU herbarium last month. She seems to keep coming up. so it’s extra special to see her Monarda blooming now!
M brevis was first described by Lena Artz, who contributed a ton to botanical science in Virginia. Andrea Weeks recently wrote an amazing profile about her in Castanea and helped develop an exhibit about her life at Fort Valley Museum: www.winchesterstar.com/winchester_s...
July 11, 2025 at 8:15 PM
M brevis was first described by Lena Artz, who contributed a ton to botanical science in Virginia. Andrea Weeks recently wrote an amazing profile about her in Castanea and helped develop an exhibit about her life at Fort Valley Museum: www.winchesterstar.com/winchester_s...
Monarda brevis finally blooming in the greenhouse!!! My first time ever seeing the flowers on a living plant. This species is endemic to limestone outcrops in a tiny part of West Virginia. one of the coolest Monardas imo with these waxy leaves, creeping habit, and dainty flowers
July 11, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Monarda brevis finally blooming in the greenhouse!!! My first time ever seeing the flowers on a living plant. This species is endemic to limestone outcrops in a tiny part of West Virginia. one of the coolest Monardas imo with these waxy leaves, creeping habit, and dainty flowers
Father’s Day and sample processing (aka getting tissue into the freezer) after restorative week of family + fieldwork
June 15, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Father’s Day and sample processing (aka getting tissue into the freezer) after restorative week of family + fieldwork