Patrick McKenzie
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patrickmckenzie.bsky.social
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
Pinned
Hot off the presses and so so thrilled. Thanks to @inaturalist.bsky.social + computer vision we found something beautifully simple: Red and orange flowers bloom later than all the other colors in the eastern United States. Paper here: authors.elsevier.com/a/1kwzh3QW8S...
Reposted by Patrick McKenzie
Join @amsocplanttaxon.bsky.social for the first webinar in our 2026 series: "Taxonomy: What is it good for?"

Free to all! Join us to hear @sandyknapp.bsky.social's "Of course taxonomy matters! The story of the mega-genus Solanum (Solanaceae)"

Pls register & share:

us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
January 12, 2026 at 7:19 PM
I wrote in the most recent issue of Arnoldia about using @inaturalist.bsky.social and, more generally, about the continuing role of natural history in motivating questions in evo bio + my excitement about community science for unlocking new scales of analysis: arboretum.harvard.edu/arnoldia-sto...
January 9, 2026 at 4:26 PM
Reposted by Patrick McKenzie
Come stop by P40 and chat with me about an east coast Penstemon species - Penstemon canescens! I'll be presenting the early stages of my masters thesis and would love to bounce morphology research methods off people!
January 6, 2026 at 5:07 PM
Reposted by Patrick McKenzie
I started getting reports of an unseasonal Joshua tree bloom in the last few weeks, and looking over records on @inaturalist.bsky.social it's pretty widespread! So we're putting out the call for folks to record this "bonus bloom" and help us study it 🌿

lab.jbyoder.org/2025/12/10/w...
Weird wet weather has Joshua trees flowering early — or late? Help the Yoder Lab map this “bonus bloom” to understand why
A flowering tree in Yucca Valley, CA, observed by iNaturalist contributor wanderingmojave on December 9. A tree with lots of flowers in Tehachapi, CA, observed by iNaturalist contributor tina9294 o…
lab.jbyoder.org
December 10, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Reposted by Patrick McKenzie
I'm recruiting a Ph.D. student for Fall 2026.

Interested in comparative studies and trait evolution in fishes?

Send me an email with a CV and research interests. Please take a look at my website (jcorush.github.io ) for more information about my research.

#hybridization #minnows #mudskippers
Corush Lab
jcorush.github.io
December 4, 2025 at 12:38 AM
Reposted by Patrick McKenzie
Super happy to share the *first* lab publication. Out today in Molecular Ecology - a review of methods used to identify repeated adaptation using genomic data (1)

Molecular Ecology | Molecular Genetics Journal | Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 22, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Patrick McKenzie
We are recruiting field technicians to contribute to a field study of adaptation to climate in Chamaecrista fasciculata in Raleigh/Chapel Hill, NC. My collaborators at UGA will soon post similar positions in Ithaca, NY and Archbold Biological Station, FL. Please share jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/225...
Temporary Plant Evolutionary Ecology Field Technician
The Sheth plant evolutionary ecology lab in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC) is currently seeking field technician to participate in an NS...
jobs.ncsu.edu
November 20, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Reposted by Patrick McKenzie
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
November 20, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by Patrick McKenzie
Aaah! New preprint from the Sethuraman Lab has dropped! Tamsen and I have been working on this for a while, and we can’t wait for your feedback. Short thread on our swanky new polyploid genome simulator, DemographiKs, and its functionality.
Hidden in Plain Sight. How Ks histogram dynamics can reveal and obscure ancient whole genome duplications. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.19.689290v1
November 20, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Reposted by Patrick McKenzie
I’ve released a tool to sketch and edit phylogenetic trees!
yawak.jp/PhyloWeaver/

Load a Newick file and intuitively add/remove/resize branches.
Useful for quick conceptual trees, extracting subtrees, or turning ideas into Newick.
PhyloWeaver – Interactive phylogenetic tree editor
Edit and visualize phylogenetic trees directly in your browser. PhyloWeaver lets you interactively rearrange tree topologies and export high-quality figures for publications and presentations.
yawak.jp
November 18, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Reposted by Patrick McKenzie
🐜 Ants are her business. Welcome Dr. Megan Barkdull, one of our two new Entomology Curators, and discover some of the secrets hiding in ant DNA: go.nhm.org/megan-barkdull
November 18, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Reposted by Patrick McKenzie
After years of being curious but lazy, I finally got around to documenting what's inside the black walnuts in my yard. In the process I became obsessed with the strange wasp that hunts down the pupae of the resident flies. 🌿 #wasps #diapriidae #nature #diptera colinpurrington.com/2025/11/life...
Life inside rotting walnut husks » Colin Purrington's blog
There’s an eastern black walnut (Juglans nigra) on my neighbor’s property that rains down fruit every fall, and I finally got curious about what species might be inside. So far I’ve found four flies, ...
colinpurrington.com
November 16, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Available now in @asn-amnat.bsky.social ! Taking on some big-scale natural history: processed >40k @inaturalist.bsky.social images of Monarda fistulosa using computer vision to query for flower presence and phenotype flower color: doi.org/10.1086/739413
November 14, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Reposted by Patrick McKenzie
ROOT & SHOOT 2026 travel awards are open for SACNAS, MANRRS, or AISES student/mentor pairs. Up to $3,000 per pair (US) / $4,000 (intl) to attend select plant-science conferences.

Apply by Dec 5, 2025.

Details & application:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
NSF Research Coordination Network: ROOT & SHOOT. 2026 travel award application for members of SACNAS, MANRRS, or AISES
The NSF-funded LEAPS: RCN: ROOT & SHOOT (Rooting Out Oppression Together and SHaring Our Outcomes Transparently) aims to strengthen plant science to become more welcoming to all. Part of this mission ...
docs.google.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by Patrick McKenzie
The Undergraduate Community at Evolution program provides travel funding, mentoring, and a presentation opportunity at #Evol2026. Please share with undergrads in your lab! www.evolutionsociety.org/content/educ...
@asn-amnat.bsky.social @systbiol.bsky.social @evolmtg.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 2:29 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
November 8, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Reposted by Patrick McKenzie
New and improved! (as of today, now with page numbers and an issue number ;)

"Evidence for ancient selective sweeps followed by differentiation among three species of Sphyrapicus sapsuckers"

Led by Dr. Libby Natola:

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Evidence for ancient selective sweeps followed by differentiation among three species of Sphyrapicus sapsuckers
Abstract. Genomic differentiation usually accompanies speciation, but that differentiation is often highly heterogeneous across the genome. Understanding w
doi.org
November 6, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Behold: Monarda diversity!
November 4, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Patrick McKenzie
I am pleased to share this paper. A beautiful and useful collaboration between a group of researchers and lecturers who care about plant Science education.
Thank you to all that contributed!
Check it out! nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Very excited to announce that our collaborative manifesto for 🌱 #PlantScience #Education has now been published! Educators from >10 countries and 30 institutions have contributed to it and we are incredibly proud of the final output. Here is a short thread 🧵1/4 doi.org/10.1002/ppp3...
A manifesto for plant science education
Plants provide oxygen, food, shelter, medicines and environmental services, without which human society could not exist. Tackling pressing and global challenges requires well-trained plant scientists....
doi.org
October 30, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Reposted by Patrick McKenzie
Making a recurring donation to your local food bank is one of the easiest & most effective ways to help people in your community. Now is a great time to either set one up or increase your existing support. Find a food bank near you: www.feedingamerica.org/find-your-lo...
October 26, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Patrick McKenzie
Friday, 11/7 at 5:30 pm, join NEBS for Dr. Chris Martine's lecture, “‘Discovering’ Species, Exploring Plant Partnerships, and Spotlighting Sexual Diversity While Using a SciComm & SciArt Underdog Outreach Approach.”
*Free, held in Cambridge, MA and over Zoom. Non-members must register rhodora.org
October 20, 2025 at 3:47 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
October 9, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Family of four 🏡
October 8, 2025 at 8:20 PM