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Do you study human microbiomes? Have you used the word "commensal"? Then this paper was written with you in mind! It was an absolute pleasure to write this with the incomparable @ginalewin.bsky.social journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

People working in microbial ecology and evolution in Southern California, specially if you have some great undergraduates consider register for #MEEHubs2026 at meehubs2026.oa-event.com We will still open the opportunity for local poster presentations and we have funds to cover students.

When two species hybridize, do all genes flow equally? Not quite. Won best graduate student poster at Rutgers Newark Research Week showing that introgression between lizard species is asymmetric and selection may be filtering which loci cross the species boundary. #Evolution #Genomics #Hybridization

Want to learn about ant biology, systematics, taxonomy, field ecology, and so much more? Join us for #AntCourse Oct 12-22 at the Colorado State University Todos Santos Center in Baja California Sur, Mexico! Applications due July 1 www.antcourse.org

🚨Job claxon🚨 4-year #Postdoc available in our lab in @camzoology.bsky.social developing molecular and anatomical approaches to mapping evolutionary changes in the brain, using #Heliconiini butterflies. Come join us, we are nice. 🧪 www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...

My latest: To be single, childless, and then to lose a parent. A compound grief for what I thought my midlife would be. I've been trying to fill the void with beauty-- but ended up with blood and shattered glass. When Beautifying Your Grief Doesn't Work open.substack.com/pub/karenatt...

Happy to share this perspective about better integrating the microbiome and symbiosis fields, starting with a call to be more accurate with our terminology journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... Was the best experience to write this article with the amazing @khadlily.bsky.social #microbiome #microsky

On May 1 the lab celebrated the end of a tough but productive semester! Five papers submitted and a lot of work put in. The lovely Ariane Peralta send over an Edible Arrangement to celebrate Lily's tenure packet submission and we all chowed down :)

An overarching goal in microbiome research is to understand how the complex communities in our bodies contribute to health and disease, and ultimately, we aim to leverage and control these communities to promote health. To continue advancing this work, we need conceptual frameworks that aid in understanding the relationships between us and our microbiota. Conceptual frameworks can ensure that we avoid doing our science in silos by unifying work across disciplines, and they can help form hypotheses and questions for future research. In human microbiome research, there have been various conceptual frameworks that have advanced our science (1–4). In this perspective, we highlight the symbiosis framework and definitions in connection to microbiome research, with the hope that adoption of this framework will advance our ability to study the human microbiome.

Lots of people have reached out asking how they can support us after the devastating fire in the MSL building, the heart of @cmarinescience.bsky.social Here’s one way, a GoFundMe organized by our graduate students - gofund.me/4373c6ff3. Please share widely, and thanks for helping our community!