Elena Litchman
banner
elenalitchman.bsky.social
Elena Litchman
@elenalitchman.bsky.social

Microbial community ecologist, professor at Michigan State University | Traits, temperature, biodiversity, resilience, microbiomes, harmful algal blooms
https://www.kl-lab.group
📷: Lake Michigan

Elena Litchman is a professor of aquatic ecology at Michigan State University known for her research on the consequences of global environmental change on phytoplankton.

Source: Wikipedia
Environmental science 44%
Geography 15%
Pinned
How will climate change affect human gut microbiomes? In a new @thelancetplanet.bsky.social paper, I analyze the main mechanisms — changes in food availability & nutritional quality, environmental microbiomes, enteric pathogens, increased host stress — and their interactions.
tinyurl.com/27kny9z9
Climate change effects on the human gut microbiome: complex mechanisms and global inequities
Ongoing global climate change is affecting all aspects of life on Earth, including human health. The gut microbiota is an important determinant of health in humans and other organisms, but how climate...
www.thelancet.com
Our new paper Just in @globalchangebio.bsky.social

Climate change is boosting suitability for key malaria vectors across Africa. Between 200M-1000M more people could live in high-risk areas by 2100

doi.org/10.1111/gcb....

#climatechange #malaria #globalhealth #biodiversity #Africa #vectors
Climate Change Favors African Malaria Vector Mosquitoes
Malaria is a deadly parasitic disease that is transmitted by mosquitoes. This study investigates occurrence patterns of malaria mosquito species to predict how climate change will affect their range ...
doi.org

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Prepare for the impact!
A new study from @natgeosci.nature.com says "In a future scenario with high carbon dioxide emissions, daily extreme precipitation over land could increase by about 41% by 2100".
#GlobalWarming #ClimateChange #ClimateAction
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Future extreme precipitation amplified by intensified mesoscale moisture convergence - Nature Geoscience
Extreme daily precipitation events over land could increase by about 41% by 2100 under a high-emissions scenario with an increase in mesoscale moisture convergence, according to an ensemble of climate...
www.nature.com
Excited to share our latest research in @natmicrobiol.nature.com . We uncover hundreds of inhibitory interactions between common chemical pollutants and human gut bacteria. A thread🧵 (1/10) #microbiomesky #microsky @kiranrpatil.bsky.social lab @mrc-tu.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Industrial and agricultural chemicals exhibit antimicrobial activity against human gut bacteria in vitro - Nature Microbiology
Screening of 1,076 compounds reveals 168 chemical pollutants with inhibitory effects on gut bacteria and genetic screens indicate commonality between pollutant and antibiotic resistance.
www.nature.com
So happy to announce our new preprint, “A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes.” We cultured a novel amoeba from Lassen Volcanic NP (CA, USA) that divides at 63°C (145°F) 🔥 - a new record for euk growth!
#protistsonsky 🧵

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Putting on my hat as @asn-amnat.bsky.social
ASN President for announcements, please share widely!!!
2. ASN Early Career Investigator awards are now open for application. Self-nominations okay! Due Jan 5
nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
Applications for the 2026 ASN Early Career Investigator Award
<p>Nominations/Applications for the 2026 Early Career Investigator Award are <strong>due January 5, 2026</strong></p><br/>
nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Reposted by Elena Litchman

New #ISEPpapers! Pangenome biology and evolution in harmful algal-bloom-forming pelagophytes www.cell.com/current-biol... #protists #algae #microbes #pangenome #genomics #evolution

Reposted by Elena Litchman

📅Our speaker next week is Ágnes Móréh (HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Hungary) presenting:

⭐Simultaneous invasion by two species: consequences for their success and for the resident community⭐

Zoom Link: iite.info/seminar/
Global times: www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/f...

See you there!

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Seasonal flu kills about 700,000 people each year across the world—

(This Data Insight was written by @eortizospina.bsky.social.)

Seasonal influenza is sometimes seen as a mild illness, but it remains a major cause of death.

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Policy to Power the Microbes of the Future.

Mining the “Microbial Dark Matter” Using Artificial Intelligence: Where We Are and How to Proceed?

Long-Term Dynamics of Environmental Microbiomes.

Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics of Phages and Their Roles in Horizontal Gene Transfer.

Reposted by Elena Litchman

AI will be trained on federal datasets that are the accumulation of decades of world-class research. The admin has also decimated that research infrastructure.
Of the 8000 plant species introduced to cities around the world, about 300 are in cities on every continent and about 90 are basically in every city. Urbanization has selected for a common set of species that are the fingerprint of our activity: The urban florome.

onlinelibrary.wiley....
🚨 Job alert 🚨 Postdoc position in ecological forecasting 📈 as part of the Horizon Europe OSCARS call. The postdoc will be based in lovely Sevilla (fantastic place to live) and will include working closely with several European forecasting projects. Apply by Dec 11! 🌎🧪 globalchangeeco.com/jobs

Reposted by Elena Litchman

15-year-old bug 😐 in an industry that has the highest profit margins possible pretty much

www.theguardian.com/science/2017...
Bye bye, “DOGE”.

It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.

@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...

Reposted by Elena Litchman

www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Make America Cancerous Again?

This is bonkers. Why? Why? Why would they do this? (Eg who is paying them)
EPA just approved new ‘forever chemical’ pesticides for use on food
Critics warn the EPA’s approvals of new PFAS pesticides could expose more Americans to “forever chemicals” through their food.
www.washingtonpost.com
Time to publish responsibly: DAFNEE, a database of academia-friendly journals in ecology and evolutionary biology url:

academic.oup.com/jeb/article/...

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Finding research funding can be tough—AGU made easier.

AGU Grant Finder, a powerful resource that suggests funding options based on your research profile or lets you search by keyword/funder, exclusively for AGU Members. Join today: agu.org/membership

👉 buff.ly/nISSCx0

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Our second 🍱 Lunchbox Models 🍱 seminar takes place next Wednesday (26 November), at 12 CET with guest speaker Vasilis Dakos from CNRS & Uni Montpellier!

Find the talk abstract and zoom link here: www.yomos.org/lunchbox-mod...

See you at lunch! 🦊

#ecology #seminar #online #lunch #modelling #fish
It’s awful. I’ve finally decided I need to demo how bad it is. In my intro lecture, I have several in class activities where I show the students chat GPT output and have them identify what’s wrong.

This attempt at the carbon cycle was in this week’s classes.
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

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Hoping to attend the #ASLO-SIL Meeting in Montreal next year but not sure if you can make it in-person? Check out the #ASLOECC hosted #AmplifyingVoices session and consider submitting!! @aslo.org

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Warm‐Loving Species Perform Well Under Limiting Resources: Trait Combinations for Future Climate

🔗
buff.ly

Reposted by Elena Litchman

🧪🌊🦠Cyano-lovers🦠🌊🧪, consider our session on Cyanobacteria adaptations and expansion across different habitats and conditions #ASLOSIL26 @aslo.org
I am currently searching for a new postdoctoral researcher to study the evolution, genetics, and physiology of cold acclimation and freezing tolerance in switchgrass at Michigan State University. This work will be funded by a newly funded five-year DOE grant. careers.msu.edu/jobs/researc...
Research Associate-Fixed Term - East Lansing, Michigan, United States
Position Summary The Lowry Lab at Michigan State University is searching for a postdoctoral research associate to conduct molecular and physiological experiments to understand the causes of genetic va...
careers.msu.edu

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Taking place right now...

... including frank discussion of an unprecedented anti-science push from political appointees, DOGE's use of algorithm-enabled firing that undermined mission readiness, concerns on data safety, removal of ACIP members, and mass shooting attack on Decatur HQ.
Data gaps + agency shake‑ups = big challenges for health journalists. Hear insider views from former CDC leaders in our upcoming webinar “Trust, public health reporting and the CDC: Insider perspectives.” TODAY, 1pm EST— don’t miss it. healthjournalism.org/event/trust-...
Trust, public health reporting and the CDC: Insider perspectives
In this webinar, we'll talk with former CDC officials on where to go for reliable reporting resources after the dismantling of the agency.
healthjournalism.org
Science People: We at NSF are still recovering/catching up/getting our lives together. But the agency posted these FAQs about post-shutdown resumption of operations which might answer a lot of Qs for you: www.nsf.gov/resumption-o...
Resumption of Operations at NSF
Information for NSF staff and the research community regarding the agency's resumption of operations after a lapse in appropriations.
www.nsf.gov
Hi people. Today in "one day, one paper", thermal tolerance breadth in plants exceeds local climate ranges, shaped mainly by heat, cold, and aridity. Desert species show extreme resilience, revealing partial support for climate variability hypothesis and highlighting microclimate-driven plasticity🌎🍁
Drivers of thermal tolerance breadth of plants across contrasting biomes
The results provide partial support for the climate variability hypothesis in plants: photosystem thermal tolerance breadth was greatest in more thermally variable biomes. This relationship was large....
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
In a win for polluters, the Trump regime proposed a rule to limit the EPA’s authority to regulate pollution in wetlands and waterways. This would strip federal protections from 55 million acres of wetlands (85% of all wetlands nationwide!), threatening lots of people's drinking water.
E.P.A. Rule Would Drastically Curb Protections for Wetlands
www.nytimes.com
A 🆕 Contribution in the ESA Bulletin: Thinking about grad school? Here are 15 questions that can help you find the right lab fit — and avoid surprises along the way

📄Fifteen Questions to Ask Before Attending Graduate School
doi.org/10.1002/bes2...
Fifteen Questions to Ask Before Attending Graduate School
Click on the article title to read more.
doi.org