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Reposted by José Dinneny

North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee @naascarabidopsis.bsky.social · 2d

University admin & faculty- read this and consider what your core beliefs are- are they: free expression, rewarding merit, and inclusion?

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 2d

MIT President Sally Kornbluth just issued a statement to the campus community saying NO to Trump’s authoritarian compact

“And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.”

Dear Madam Secretary,
I write in response to your letter of October 1, inviting MIT to review a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education." I acknowledge the vital importance of these matters.
I appreciated the chance to meet with you earlier this year to discuss the priorities we share for American higher education.
As we discussed, the Institute's mission of service to the nation directs us to advance knowledge, educate students and bring knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges. We do that in line with a clear set of values, with excellence above all. Some practical examples:
• MIT prides itself on rewarding merit.
Students, faculty and staff succeed here based on the strength of their talent, ideas and hard work. For instance, the Institute
was the first to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirement after the pandemic. And MIT has never had legacy preferences in admissions.

• MIT opens its doors to the most talented students regardless of their family's finances. Admissions are need-blind. Incoming undergraduates whose families earn less than $200,000 a year pay no tuition. Nearly 88% of our last graduating class left MIT with no debt for their education. We make a wealth of free courses and low-cost certificates available
to any American with an internet
connection. Of the undergraduate degrees we award, 94% are in STEM fields. And in service to the nation, we cap enrollment of international undergraduates at roughly
10%.
• We value free expression, as clearly described in the MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom. We must hear facts and opinions we don't like - and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree.

These values and other MIT practices meet or exceed many standards outlined in the document you sent. We freely choose these values because they're right, and we live by them because they support our mission - work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health and security of the United States. And of course, MIT abides by the law.
The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific
funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
In our view, America's leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that tree marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences.
Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.

As you know, MIT's record of service to the nation is long and enduring. Eight decades ago, MIT leaders helped invent a scientific partnership between America's research universities and the
U.S. government that has delivered extraordinary benefits for the American people.
We continue to believe in the power of this partnership to serve the nation.
Sincerely,
Sally Kornbluth
CC
Ms. May Mailman
Mr. Vincent Haley

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 2d

MIT President Sally Kornbluth just issued a statement to the campus community saying NO to Trump’s authoritarian compact

“And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.”

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José Dinneny @josedinneny.bsky.social · 2d

Mens et manus! Thanks for standing up to bullies, MIT!

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Laura Lopez @ohdearz.bsky.social · 12d

Ohio State just advised all staff and students not to attend the SACNAS (Society for the advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science) annual meeting of 6000+ scientists -- which is in Columbus, OH this year! -- saying it may be exclusionary, even though it is open to all.

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 12d

Compelling and quite disturbing...

LorennaCleary.bsky.social @lorennacleary.bsky.social · 12d

Land of the free. Home of the brave.

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Cris Argueso @cargueso.bsky.social · 13d

I attended a really inspiring talk by Jose Dinneny today as the Thornton-Massa speaker at Colorado State University. His vision for the future of agriculture with synthetic biology was really thought-provoking. It’s great to learn AND get inspired! @josedinneny.bsky.social @csuagbio.bsky.social

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Aug 23

I just sent this email to Director Bhattacharya and am sending him a hard copy by registered mail.

1/14

August 22, 2025

Dear Director Bhattacharya:

I write to you regarding your plans after the Supreme Court ruling yesterday. As you know, the Supreme Court did allow a stay on the required grant reinstatements based on a controversial jurisdictional issue but also found that the grant termination processes used were likely illegal.

I know you are deeply concerned about public trust in NIH. I hope that you understand that proceeding to fail to reinstate or to re-terminate grants that had been found to have been illegally terminated will not increase the public trust in NIH. This would also be substantially damaging to science.

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Sebastian S. Cocioba @atinygreencell.bsky.social · Aug 23

Catching some falling stars

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Maizel lab @maizel-lab.org · Aug 5

Final Program announced for the Mech. of Plant Development FASEB (Aug 24-28 in Southbridge MA USA).: tinyurl.com/2cfa8keo

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Yasin Dagdas @plantophagy.bsky.social · Aug 7

Junior #GroupLeader position @mpipz.bsky.social
on Plant Development & Diversity ‼️ #plantsci www.mpipz.mpg.de/5697690/job_...

Group leader (m/f/d) | Plant Development and Diversity

The successful applicant will be expected to build an independent research group to study plant development and/or its natural variation.

www.mpipz.mpg.de

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Magdalena Skipper @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social · Aug 7

“For decades we have known that our burning of fossil fuels is the chief driver of the current global warming. Gutting today’s climate research won’t change that”

Donald Trump’s war on climate science has staggering implications

🧪

economist.com/by-invitatio...
from The Economist

Donald Trump’s war on climate science has staggering implications

Even a policy of “drill, baby, drill” would imply more climate research, not its evisceration, says Ralph Keeling

economist.com

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bioRxiv Plant Bio @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social · Aug 3

Cellulose Synthase Complex and Remorin Nanodomains Mediate Stress Resilience Through Cell Wall-Plasma Membrane Attachments https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.01.664786v1

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闵娅(Min Ya; Minya) PhD @minyaaa.bsky.social · Aug 4

I didn't know what personate flowers are until I heard about @trinitydepatie.bsky.social's Penstemons. My conclusion is that these cute little flowers in fact dial up discrimination to max, and they make the entrance of their corolla tube sooo occluded that only the most buffed bees can enter. 👀🧪

Botanical Society of America @botsocamerica.bsky.social · Aug 4

The unique morphological basis & repeated evolutionary origins of personate flowers in #Penstemon

New #AJB research by @trinitydepatie.bsky.social & @carriewessi.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1002/ajb2...
#botany #plantscience #phylogenomics #evolution #snapdragon

Personate flowered Penstemon hirsutus (top) and a closely related species with open flowers, P. smallii (bottom).

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Jonathan D G Jones aka JJ @jonathandgjones.bsky.social · Aug 4

www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

‘This wasn’t obvious’: the potato evolved from a tomato ancestor, researchers find

Hybridisation event took place about 9 million years ago, helping to ‘spark the emergence of a new organ’

www.theguardian.com

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Plant Science @plantscience.bsky.social · Aug 4

This includes a Director position at one of the world's leading #PlantScience institutes, the @mpipz.bsky.social.

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft @maxplanck.de · Aug 1

Director at Max Planck - a unique position! The Open Call for Expressions of Interest in Max Planck Directorships is open now and can be submitted by the 31st of October 2025. ➡️ mpg.de/directors - Please share the Open Call among potential candidates.

Open Call for Expressions of Interest in Max Planck Directorships:
Expressions of interest can be submitted until 31 October 2025.

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Antony Dodd @antdodd.bsky.social · Aug 4

New group leader opportunity at @johninnescentre.bsky.social!

We're looking for interests in (but not limited to) growth and development, environmental / organismal interactions, physiology, signalling, quantitative cell biology, biochemical and modelling approaches.

www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/gr...

Group Leader in Discovery Plant Sciences | John Innes Centre

The John Innes Centre (JIC) seeks a visionary Group Leader to lead research on Discovery Plant Science.

www.jic.ac.uk

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Juan Alonso-Serra @jalonsos.bsky.social · Aug 14

Excited to share our improved paper now in @NatureComms
We found that growth-induced water potentials shape the pattern of water fluxes in shoot meristems, aiding boundary formation.

rdcu.be/dQPWq

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José Dinneny @josedinneny.bsky.social · Aug 3

Very proud to share our latest preprint: postdoc/LRSF fellow Yue Rui studies the mechanisms regulating attachment of the cell wall to the plasma membrane. The Cellulose Synthase Complex and REMORINs determine the extent of attachment and root osmotic stress tolerance. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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José Dinneny @josedinneny.bsky.social · Jul 12

It’s been an amazing privilege to serve my Arabidopsis and plant biology community!

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North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee @naascarabidopsis.bsky.social · Jul 9

Announcing the 2025 NAASC Arabidopsis Community Impact Awardees:
Early Career Category: Jade Bleau, Univ. of Dundee, Scotland
Later Career Category: José Dinneny, Stanford Univ., USA & Joanna Friesner, NAASC, USA www.arabidopsiscommunity.org/news-events/...

Three scientists recognized for their dedication to positively impacting the Arabidopsis Community — Arabidopsis Community as supported by NAASC

The North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee (NAASC) is deeply committed to the development, participation and recognition of Arabidopsis researchers from a diversity of backgrounds and experienc...

www.arabidopsiscommunity.org

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Plant Cell Atlas @plantcellatlas.bsky.social · Jul 9

The last day for applications is July 13th!
To Apply to the GRC: lnkd.in/gvkMxuKR

Meet The Speakers of the Single-Cell Approaches in Plant Biology GRC Conference!

To Learn More About Dr. Dinneny's Research: dinnenylab.me

@josedinneny.bsky.social

Promotional image for the "Single-Cell Approaches in Plant Biology GRC Conference" focusing on meeting the speakers. This promo includes an image of Dr. Jose Dinneny from Stanford University with a short bio on Dr. Dinneny.

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The Stanford Biology Preview Program @stanfordbpp.bsky.social · Jun 24

Applying to Biology PhD programs this year? Let us help!

At BPP, we aim to support students from all backgrounds through the grad school application process. Learn more about grad student life and receive 1-on-1 feedback on your application materials!

Apply here: forms.gle/EvTyUWXFMRSL...

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Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · Jun 25

The 500 additional GRFPs NSF awarded were not very evenly distributed across fields, it seems.
www.science.org/content/arti...

Plot showing skewed distribution toward comp science and applied physics

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · Jun 25

I know there’s a lot of news right now but this is really crazy. They’re booting the National Science Foundation out of its newish building with no plans for where 1800 people are going to go.

National Science Foundation Staff Booted From Headquarters - Eos

Staff at the National Science Foundation (NSF) were notified on 25 June that the agency’s office space, located in Alexandria, Va., will be taken over by Department of Housing and Urban Development (H...

eos.org

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