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Reposted by Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃

Doug Parr @dougparr.bsky.social · 3d

In the first half of 2025, renewables became the biggest source of global electricity for the first time, as wind & solar growth exceeded global demand growth

Shocking that it's China & India leading - EU & USA have fossil power growing

ember-energy.org/latest-insig...

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Reposted by Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃

Temporal Ecology Lab @temporalecology.bsky.social · 3d

Our department at UBC is hiring for a professor of forest ecophysiology, including "tree ecophysiology; plant abiotic or biotic stress physiology; forest mortality and climate change responses; forest carbon balance; tree water relations; or nutrient use." Learn more at: tinyurl.com/5da56f5c

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Reposted by Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃

ESA Plant-Soil Ecology @esaplantsoilecol.bsky.social · 6d

Loyalty and nutrient trade… University of Western Australia researchers show how plants and fungi keep their partnerships alive—even in the face of cheating 🍃 ❤️ 🍄

#Mycorrhiza #Evolution

A simple plant–mycorrhizal fungal resource trade co‐evolution model explains mutualism stability, extinction and transitory parasitism via fitness feedback

The mutualism between mycorrhizal fungi and plants has persisted for over 400 million years, despite the mutualism paradox predicting that mutualisms should be evolutionarily unstable due to the fit.....

t.co

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Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃 @christinabirnbaum.bsky.social · 8d

The world needs more of Jane Goodalls and alike.
Dr Goodall was such an inspiration. I was fortunate enough to see her speak and meet at Tulane University speaking tour in 2016-2017, she came across so humble and gentle yet firm in her opinions and of course, very wise.
RIP, legend 💫

Greenpeace UK @greenpeaceuk.bsky.social · 8d

We’re heartbroken to learn that Dr Jane Goodall has passed away, aged 91.

Dr Goodall was one of the true conservation giants of our time. Let’s honour her legacy by choosing to make a difference in the world - by protecting it.

Thank you, Jane, for everything you did for our planet. 💚

"What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make" - Jane Goodall

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Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃 @christinabirnbaum.bsky.social · 14d

So many plant-soil enthusiasts out there or what's happening?!

Here is the link to the video if I got you intrigued: youtu.be/6elBF_ParMU?...

Understanding plant-microbe-soil interactions to improve plant conservation and restoration outcomes

YouTube video by Open Plant Pathology

youtu.be

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Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃 @christinabirnbaum.bsky.social · 14d

Started my Friday with this lovely E-Mail:
"Well I also happened to watch your interview on YouTube today and I must say you are truly an amazing person both inspiring and insightful." ☺️
So, I went and checked the above-mentioned interview, a talk actually, and it has 1.1 k views on YouTube! 🤯

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Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃 @christinabirnbaum.bsky.social · 17d

Meet Fiona, who snapped that adorable video of a mommy koala and her bub. As part of her MRES, Fiona is studying the leaf endophyte diversity in dry rainforests near Crows Nest, QLD. She is supervised by myself and John Dearnaley.

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Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃 @christinabirnbaum.bsky.social · 17d

What do leaf endophytes and koalas have in common?

They co-occur in our native ecosystems!
If you are keen to learn more or come and study with us, check out our programs 👇

unisq.edu.au/study/degree...

📷@unisq.bsky.social Master of Research student Fiona Stone captured this fab footage 💚

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Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃 @christinabirnbaum.bsky.social · 18d

Congratulations! 🥰

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Reposted by Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃

ESA Plant-Soil Ecology @esaplantsoilecol.bsky.social · 18d

“Nature conservation is not working unless it protects entire ecosystems with all their interacting members—big and small”

Fantastic opinion piece on advancing nature conservation to the next level by applying existing microorganism strategies to microbes.

Microbial conservation is essential for sustaining ecosystem functions and services | PNAS

Microbial conservation is essential for sustaining ecosystem functions and services

www.pnas.org

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Reposted by Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃

Jason Stajich @hyphaltip.bsky.social · 24d

Assistant Professor (Quantitative Microbe-Plant-Environment Interactions), Dept of Microbiology, Fall 2026 apply.interfolio.com/173345 at University of Tennessee - Knoxville. Position is part of a faculty cluster hire in Bioinformatics, Genomics and Quantitative-based Solutions for Food Security.

Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio

apply.interfolio.com

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Reposted by Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃

ESA Plant-Soil Ecology @esaplantsoilecol.bsky.social · 25d

Tiny organisms - big impact: microbes are finally receiving the attention they deserve 👏👏👏
www.monash.edu/news/article...

Big plans to conserve tiny organisms globally

A global body will promote conserving microbes, which are as important to biodiversity as plants, animals, and people.

www.monash.edu

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Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃 @christinabirnbaum.bsky.social · 28d

Love getting emails from my students:
"Dear Professor Birnbaum,
My name's X and I've just completed the course REN3302 - Sustainable Resource Use with you this trimester. I loved the course and found it very engaging [...]."

Also, Professor Birnbaum has a good ring to it 🤓

#teaching #academia

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Reposted by Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃

Angus Hervey @angushervey.com · Sep 10

Mini marsupial bounces back from the brink!

Once listed as Endangered, the crest-tailed mulgara expanded its range by more than 48,000 km² between 2015 and 2021, lifting its status to Least Concern. Biocontrol contributed to the heartwarming bounce-back.

https://f.mtr.cool/afllseseeb

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Reposted by Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃

Australasian Mycological Society @ausmycsoc.bsky.social · Sep 9

Save the date!
🗓️ Thu 25 Sep, 12pm AEST/2pm NZST

Our September seminar will feature Eric Asare from @EdithCowanUni on fungal pathogens of peppermint!

Free registration (donations welcome)

@ecolsocaus.bsky.social
@plant-pathogens.bsky.social

www.australasianmycologicalsociety.com/post/septemb...

September 2025 AMS virtual seminar: Eric Kumi Asare, on fungal pathogens of peppermint!

We invite you to attend our upcoming AMS virtual seminar. This month, we're excited to feature Eric Kumi Asare, a PhD student at the Edith Cowan University. Eric was also one of the awardees of the AM...

www.australasianmycologicalsociety.com

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Reposted by Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃

Ian Wright @ianjwright.bsky.social · Sep 9

📢🌿Available #traits #FunctionalTraits PhD position in my group @westsyduhie.bsky.social, closes 30th Oct. Topics: “Climate adaptations in Australian native grasses”; OR “Plant resource economics”. Apply via WSU Online Portal. Eligibility and other key info here: wrightlab.wordpress.com/news/

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Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃 @christinabirnbaum.bsky.social · Sep 10

Or give an invited or plenary talk ☺️

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Reposted by Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃

UniSQ School of Agriculture and Environmental Science @soaes-unisq.bsky.social · Sep 2

It’s #3MT season, and #PhDstudent Abby talks about this important little mouse and its impact on the world. Head to the link to watch and vote (by simply liking the video on YouTube) to help raise awareness about the tiny mouse and help Abby win!

youtube.com/watch?v=L1NLxg-inQA

3MT | Tiny mouse, big impact!

YouTube video by UniSQ Students

youtube.com

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Reposted by Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃

David Lowry @davidlowry.bsky.social · Sep 8

Super excited about this new Open Rank tenure-track faculty search for the MSU Plant Resilience Institute. We successfully hired two excellent new faculty in our last search and we are hoping to build on that success with this search. careers.msu.edu/jobs/assista...

Assistant/Associate/Full Professor Tenure System - East Lansing, Michigan, United States

Working/Functional Title Assistant/Associate/Full Professor Tenure System Position Summary The Plant Resilience Institute (PRI) at Michigan State University invites applications for multiple tenure-st...

careers.msu.edu

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Reposted by Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃

Christopher B. Cameron @invertevo.bsky.social · Sep 8

Please share with your big picture colleagues.
Join us @umontreal.ca as an Assistant Professor of Global Change Biology.
rh-carriere-dmz-eng.synchro.umontreal.ca/psc/rhprpr9_...

Careers

The applicant will contribute to strengthening research on global change in the Department of Biological Sciences and will participate in the integration of biology training into the faculty program in Environment and Sustainable Development (ESD).

rh-carriere-dmz-eng.synchro.umontreal.ca

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Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃 @christinabirnbaum.bsky.social · Sep 5

Great way to end the EMAPI 2025 conference with a field trip to Ōtamahua/Quail island - such a beautiful place 🤩

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Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃 @christinabirnbaum.bsky.social · Sep 2

Catching up on the latest plant invasion ecology science at EMAPI2025 this week in Lincoln, NZ - great talks and even greater reunions with old colleagues!
#conference #weeds

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Reposted by Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃

Methods in Ecology and Evolution @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social · Aug 30

📖Published📖

In this review paper, Ferrante and Lövei propose a standardised set of methods to monitor ecosystem functions that underpin ecosystem services and disservices 🌱 🌍 🧪 Read the article here 👇

buff.ly/2rAeHgq

Operational steps to implement the sentinel approach to measure ecosystem function intensities (herbivory and predation) across three habitat types. In the preparation phase, sentinels are produced in a standardised way to ensure consistency across sites and treatments. In the field exposure phase, sentinels are deployed in the selected habitats for a duration appropriate to the targeted ecosystem function (e.g. 2 weeks for herbivory and 24 h for predation). During the retrieval phase, sentinels are collected and assessed to quantify ecosystem function intensities. Finally, the resulting data are interpreted comparatively, allowing for the evaluation of differences in ecosystem function intensities among habitats or treatments. The sentinel approach is designed for relative comparisons rather than for generating absolute measurements.

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Reposted by Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃

John Scalzi @scalzi.com · Aug 27

FUCK YEAH SCIENCE

arstechnica.com/science/2025...

Bluesky now platform of choice for science community

It’s not just you. Survey says: “Twitter sucks now and all the cool kids are moving to Bluesky”…

arstechnica.com

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Christina Birnbaum, PhD 🍃 @christinabirnbaum.bsky.social · Aug 19

Hello! Yes I’m happy I found you here, too! 🤗

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