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Yolanda Chen

@yolandachen.bsky.social

1.1K followers 270 following 25 posts

Evolution, agroecology, genetics, epigenetics, and history buff. Interested in how people have shaped the success of insects in agriculture. #cropdomestication #sustainableagriculture https://blog.uvm.edu/yfanslow/

blog.uvm.edu

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Yolanda Chen @yolandachen.bsky.social · Nov 27

Hi Blueskyites, I am grateful for this new platform to restart my research news feed.

We (Insect Agroecology and Evolution Lab) explore how the origins of #agriculture and human selection shapes the #ecology and #evolution of #insects in #agroecosystems. blog.uvm.edu/yfanslow/

Insect Agroecology and Evolution Lab

blog.uvm.edu

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Carly Ziter @carlyziter.bsky.social · Aug 16

We’re recruiting for a multi-university (and ECCC) cross-city project on urban biodiversity, connectivity, and ecosystem services: 1) a Concordia or U Laval MSc student (PhD possible), 2) a UBC MSc student, 3) a postdoc.

I’ll link to each position below. Please share broadly!

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Brooke Fitzwater, PhD (she/her) 🐟🪱🏳️‍🌈♾️ @oceanfilly.bsky.social · Jul 16

Are you a PI in a biology field looking for postdocs? Here is a Starter Pack of early career biologists currently seeking postdoctoral positions! (Also if you are searching for a postdoc, let me know if you want to be added!) go.bsky.app/8zZNEGV

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Tom Hollenstein @tomhollenstein.bsky.social · Jun 5

My Canadian university, Queen's, is offering TWENTY 4-year funded PhDs (40k CAD/yr) for a student of ANY citizenship who has been accepted at a top 100 US university but have had offer rescinded OR are reconsidering offer due to US policy.
Details found here👇

www.queensu.ca/grad-postdoc...

Queen’s Special U.S. Doctoral Recruitment Initiative | School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral AffairsDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown arrowDown...

Queen’s University is a globally engaged, research-intensive institution dedicated to attracting and supporting exceptional PhD students who will significantly advance our research mission.

www.queensu.ca

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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.bsky.social · Jun 3

🔔Trump’s Fool’s Gold EO is facing MAJOR backlash.

THOUSANDS of scientists, academics, & physicians - including us - are speaking out against this political assault on science.

Our Open Letter is featured here:
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/c...

The White House Gutted Science Funding. Now It Wants to ‘Correct’ Research.

www.nytimes.com

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Yolanda Chen @yolandachen.bsky.social · May 29

So excited to see this interview with my former student Dr. Erika Bueno featured in Entomology Today! entomologytoday.org/2025/05/28/e...
@insect-phd.bsky.social

How One Entomologist Puts a Childhood Love of Insects to Work in IPM

Meet Erika Bueno, Ph.D., postdoc in invasive species IPM at UC Davis and our next "Standout Early Career Professionals" profile.

entomologytoday.org

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Dr. David Miller 🏳️‍🌈 @davidimiller.bsky.social · May 22

🧪 Detailed data viz NYT article, out today, on the extent of funding cuts at the National Science Foundation.

This "broken pie chart" is neat & new to me: Powerfully shows the slowdown in new NSF awards across areas.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

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Scott Delaney @scott-delaney.bsky.social · May 14

My ongoing request:

If your NSF or NIH grant was terminated--whether at Harvard or elsewhere--please report it here.

NSF: grant-watch.us/submit-nsf.h...

NIH: grant-watch.us/submit-nih.h...

Our trackers are actively used in lawsuits and are often the only record that terminations ever occurred.

Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · May 14

NSF appears to be terminating hundreds of its grants to Harvard, per internal sources at NSF and at Harvard. At least one division has had all its grants cut.

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Lisanne Petracca @lisannepetracca.bsky.social · Apr 15

We are hiring an Assistant/Associate Prof of Quantitative Ecology! I'm on the Search Committee for this one. If you have any interest in the position & want to learn more about living in this v. cool part of the country, pls reach out!
tinyurl.com/2h6bdece

Assistant/Associate Professor in Quantitative Ecology

Job TitleAssistant/Associate Professor in Quantitative Ecology Agency Texas A&M University - Kingsville Department Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute Proposed Minimum SalaryCommensurate Job Locat...

tinyurl.com

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Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · May 3

This awesome @faseborg.bsky.social website offers detailed information about NIH and NSF funding to each and every state--use this a write!
www.faseb.org/science-poli...

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Christopher Douse @chdouse.bsky.social · Apr 17

Come to Lund! We are looking for a postdoc to join the team. #transposons #epigenetics

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Gabrijela Dumbović @gabrijelad.bsky.social · Mar 25

📣 Our lab is looking for a PhD student to join us in exploring RNA biology! Details in the announcement. Feel free to reach out with any questions—and please RT!

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Yolanda Chen @yolandachen.bsky.social · Mar 31

“Immigrants have long played a disproportionate role in scientific and technological advancement in the United States.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/31/b...

Trump Science Funding Cuts May Hurt Economy, Experts Say (Gift Article)

Since World War II, U.S. research funding has led to discoveries that fueled economic gains. Now cutbacks are seen as putting that legacy in jeopardy.

www.nytimes.com

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Yolanda Chen @yolandachen.bsky.social · Mar 20

Pleased to share a new article from my Phd student Jorge Ruiz-Arocho that examines how #cropdomestication and #nitrogen #fertilization affects #leaf traits for #maize, #beans, and #squash. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Direct and interactive effects of crop domestication and mineral fertilization over leaf traits: insights from squash, maize, and beans - Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution

Although crop leaf traits associated with acquisitive life strategies might largely be the result of inherence from their wild progenitors, more research is still needed to understand the roles that g...

link.springer.com

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Anurag Agrawal @anurag-asclepias.bsky.social · Mar 7

#Butterfly declines across the USA
www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...

Science Magazine - Rapid butterfly declines across the United States during the 21st century

The loss of vertebrate and plant species has been well documented (1-3), but recent attention has shifted to losses of the most diverse taxonomic group on

www.sciencemagazinedigital.org

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Yolanda Chen @yolandachen.bsky.social · Mar 2

Pleased to join @balachaudhary.bsky.social, @khadlily.bsky.social, and @wocineeb.bsky.social to remind Science why racial affinity groups help scientists of color to find support and belonging.

Dr. Bala Chaudhary @balachaudhary.bsky.social · Feb 28

Racial affinity groups are under attack. Now is the time to redouble our commitments to these vital organizations that make science better for all. Proud to pen this letter with @khadlily.bsky.social and many @wocineeb.bsky.social colleagues

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Protect US racial affinity groups

On its first day, the Trump administration released several executive orders terminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, calling them “illegal,” “immoral,” and “discriminatory” (1, 2)...

www.science.org

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Alexandra Klein @naturealexk.bsky.social · Feb 25

Postdoc Opportunity in #Pollination Research

The @uni-freiburg.de is hiring a Postdoc for the EU project VALOR, exploring the ecological and economic values of pollinators.

📅 Deadline: March 1, 2025
📅 Start date: June 1, 2025
💰 Salary: TV-L E13 (100%), 3 years

🔗 uni-freiburg.de/stellenangeb...

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Jack Iwashyna @iwashyna.bsky.social · Feb 20

Over on LinkedIn, the head of the Executive Secretariat of the NIH -- a central part of NIH leadership 🧪🩺-- resigned with a lettter worth reading

www.linkedin.com/posts/nathan...

February 18, 2024
TO:
Dr. Matthew Memoli, Acting Director, NIH
CC:
John Burklow, Chief of Staff, NIH
Julie Berko, Director, OHR, NIH
FROM:
Nathaniel James Brought, Director, ES, NIH
SUBJECT: Resignation
Dear Dr. Memoli,
On July 3, 2001, I stepped off a bus on Marine Corps Recruit Training Depot Perris Island. Scared out of my mind, I stood on a pair of freshly painted yellow footprints, raised my right hand, and recited the oath of enlistment:
I, Nathaniel James Brought, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.
For the last 23 years, 7 months, and 15 days, I like to believe I have faithfully carried out the duties of each office to which I've been appointed in my military and civilian service to this nation. That Service has taken me from the Marine Corps to 3 different federal departments, spanned 3 continents, included service in one war zone, and has included:
• For the Marine Corps and the National Security Agency, I worked on intelligence operations at the highest classification levels using bleeding edge intelligence tools to ensure America's special operators put boots-to-asses on America's enemies overseas (including commendations crediting my work for the kill or capture of dozens of terrorists), ensuring America's policy makers were able to track the movement of dangerous dual

nuclear technology across international borders, and monitored the flow of terrorist financing across the international banking system.
• Utilized information from all-source intelligence to ensure the continued security of America's homeland from international and domestic threats.
• Worked with some of the finest lawyers in the world to ensure America's security operations were effective, while upholding the rights of all those who interacted with them.
• Ensuring that America's rural communities had access to programs like rural development loans, farm aid, and that America's children wouldn't be hungry as they sat in their classrooms and tried to learn.
• Most recently, and frankly most dear to my heart, working with each of you here at the National Institutes of Health to advance the future of science and medicine. Not for Americans. Not for any one group of people. But for ALL of humanity.
I am unbelievably proud to be able to say that there are Americans who are alive, and terrorists who are not, because of the work I've done to serve this nation. I am proud to say that my service to this country has allowed me to ensure that my children have never faced the struggles of poverty that I grew up with. That service didn't begin because of some great altruistic impulse or drive. I didn't grow up saying "I want to do the great work that needs to be done to weave the fabric of America and ensure her people are not only safe, but healthy." Frankly, that service began because I was poor, and I was inspired. I grew up as a free lunch kid who lived in project housing. It was my fellow Americans who made sure I wasn't hungry in class and that I had enough food to excel academically the way I did. It was Americans who had more than we did that made sure I had good schools to attend where I could learn things that expanded my mind.
As I approached the end of high school, I dreamed of going to college and figuring out how to make a living that would allow me to do more tha…

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Entomological Society of America @entsocamerica.bsky.social · Feb 20

"The Department of Agriculture employs entomologists, botanists and mycologists — experts in insects, plants and fungi, respectively — who inspect agricultural products for pests and pathogens. Many of those specialists were also let go on Friday."

Trump Administration Has Fired Health Inspectors at Some Border Stations (Gift Article)

Scientists worry that the losses may open the door to human, plant and animal diseases that would otherwise have been caught.

www.nytimes.com

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Yolanda Chen @yolandachen.bsky.social · Feb 20

I am using this episode of Hidden Brain in class to discuss the importance of debate and dialogue for developing the most creative and robust solutions.

It is particularly timely right now to be able to separate a task conflict with a relationship conflict.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

You 2.0: How to Open Your Mind

Podcast Episode · Hidden Brain · 08/29/2022 · 52m

podcasts.apple.com

Reposted by Yolanda Chen

Dr. Cynthia Chang @drcynthiacchang.bsky.social · Feb 19

The committee on Science, Space, and Technology are collecting testimony of Federal employees fired in the past days. Please share with your colleagues and friends. The more testimony, the better we can argue against this injustice.

Were you fired by President Trump? | House Committee on Science, Space and Technology

The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology

democrats-science.house.gov

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Yolanda Chen @yolandachen.bsky.social · Feb 18

Exciting Phd opportunity in Denmark to study how plant-microbial interactions have been shapes by bean domestication.

candidate.hr-manager.net/ApplicationI...

PhD fellowship in Evolutionary Biology at the Globe Institute

A PhD fellowship in Evolutionary Biology is being posted in the research team lead by Assistant Prof Jazmín Ramos Madrigal commencing 1 July 2025 or as soon as

candidate.hr-manager.net

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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.bsky.social · Feb 12

Welcome to the Bluesky account for Stand Up for Science 2025!

Keep an eye on this space for updates, event information, and ways to get involved. We can't wait to see everyone #standupforscience2025 on March 7th, both in DC and locations nationwide!

#scienceforall #sciencenotsilence

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Armando Rosario-Lebrón @rosariolebronentomology.com · Feb 16

If you're an entomologist who lost your position in this nonsense, please message me. If you're an organization seeking a taxonomist or a broadly trained entomologist, reach out. I'm also looking for professors seeking PhD students, globally. #entomology 🧪

Armando Rosario-Lebrón @rosariolebronentomology.com · Feb 14

Today, the USDA lost experts in Psylloidea, Thysanoptera, Cerambycidae, Hymenoptera, Pseudococcidae, and Malacology. This is a devastating loss of expertise, occuring without warning. Their union's official statement on the issue can be found here: aginspectors.org/2-14-2025-a-... #entomology 🧪

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David Malakoff @davidmalakoff.bsky.social · Feb 14

Abandoned crops, fired scientists: Agricultural research hit by U.S. foreign aid freeze | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

Abandoned crops, fired scientists: Agricultural research hit by U.S. foreign aid freeze

A court ruling may temporarily ease funding problems, but for many projects the long term outlook remains uncertain

www.science.org

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Meredith Wadman @meredithwadman.bsky.social · Feb 14

‘Wrecking ball’: RFK Jr. moves to fire thousands of health agency employees | Science | AAAS brought to you by @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

‘Wrecking ball’: RFK Jr. moves to fire thousands of health agency employees

Supervisors deliver bad news across NIH, CDC

www.science.org

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