Julia Van Etten
@couchmicroscopy.bsky.social
Incoming assistant professor at University of Maryland, College Park • NSF PRFB postdoc • PhD from Bhattacharya lab @RutgersU • Passionate about algae / protists + genomics + evolutionary biology + microscopy • vanettenlab.org #NewPI
Opinions are my own.
Opinions are my own.
It was an honor this week to speak about DNA transfer in the Sex Across Origins symposium at @sicb.bsky.social! It was interesting to step out of the genomics world for a bit and think about non-meiotic recombinative processes like HGT as “Sex0” in the “sex by numbers” framework. #SICB2026
January 8, 2026 at 11:12 PM
It was an honor this week to speak about DNA transfer in the Sex Across Origins symposium at @sicb.bsky.social! It was interesting to step out of the genomics world for a bit and think about non-meiotic recombinative processes like HGT as “Sex0” in the “sex by numbers” framework. #SICB2026
Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn’t Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Alice In Chains
December 28, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn’t Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Alice In Chains
There is an entire Wikipedia page for the “Obama tan suit controversy” but the current president just posted this and we’ll all forget it by tomorrow when he posts something even worse or attacks another Venezuelan ship. I’m short circuiting trying to understand how this has become acceptable.
December 15, 2025 at 4:01 PM
There is an entire Wikipedia page for the “Obama tan suit controversy” but the current president just posted this and we’ll all forget it by tomorrow when he posts something even worse or attacks another Venezuelan ship. I’m short circuiting trying to understand how this has become acceptable.
This dinosaur menorah has been going strong for at least 30 years.
December 15, 2025 at 2:42 AM
This dinosaur menorah has been going strong for at least 30 years.
It’s a very exciting day at Rutgers today! The 100th anniversary of the Chrysler Herbarium! Thanks to @drgentian.bsky.social and Megan King for organizing, training so many students/botanists, and taking such good care of the collections! It’s been really fun to learn from you over the years!
October 24, 2025 at 2:22 PM
It’s a very exciting day at Rutgers today! The 100th anniversary of the Chrysler Herbarium! Thanks to @drgentian.bsky.social and Megan King for organizing, training so many students/botanists, and taking such good care of the collections! It’s been really fun to learn from you over the years!
Pics from a recent trip to Yellowstone where we collected microbial community samples from hot springs! We were led through the backcountry by collaborator Tim McDermott (MSU) who has been sampling at YNP for 31 years. I can’t share research photos (park rules) but here are some other highlights!
September 30, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Pics from a recent trip to Yellowstone where we collected microbial community samples from hot springs! We were led through the backcountry by collaborator Tim McDermott (MSU) who has been sampling at YNP for 31 years. I can’t share research photos (park rules) but here are some other highlights!
On our way to Yellowstone for a quick sampling trip! (And then I’m staying for bit to take a vacation 😊) @bhattacharyalab.bsky.social
September 6, 2025 at 1:48 PM
On our way to Yellowstone for a quick sampling trip! (And then I’m staying for bit to take a vacation 😊) @bhattacharyalab.bsky.social
I don’t even know what to say. He’s screaming his intentions and half of us are still not taking it seriously.
September 4, 2025 at 10:52 PM
I don’t even know what to say. He’s screaming his intentions and half of us are still not taking it seriously.
The GRC Photosynthesis conference is not only fun and valuable intellectually. Today @bhattacharyalab.bsky.social, @sergiophyceae.bsky.social, and I learned archery and saw lots of real life photosynthesis going on in the mountains 😂
July 29, 2025 at 9:20 PM
The GRC Photosynthesis conference is not only fun and valuable intellectually. Today @bhattacharyalab.bsky.social, @sergiophyceae.bsky.social, and I learned archery and saw lots of real life photosynthesis going on in the mountains 😂
I’m thrilled to announce that next summer I’ll be joining the University of Maryland Department of Biology as an assistant professor! The Van Etten lab will study how horizontal processes (DNA and gene transfer + organelle acquisition) drive and are driven by ecology and evolution. vanettenlab.org
July 16, 2025 at 3:59 PM
I’m thrilled to announce that next summer I’ll be joining the University of Maryland Department of Biology as an assistant professor! The Van Etten lab will study how horizontal processes (DNA and gene transfer + organelle acquisition) drive and are driven by ecology and evolution. vanettenlab.org
Another beautiful but very sweaty day sampling on the Pettaquamscutt River in Rhode Island for our “ecological HGT” project!
July 11, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Another beautiful but very sweaty day sampling on the Pettaquamscutt River in Rhode Island for our “ecological HGT” project!
The best part of working in Woods Hole is seeing so many long lost scientist friends. Today I got lunch with my first mentor, Athula Wikramanayake, who taught me everything I know about molecular techniques (and animal development-although I use that knowledge less these days). So nice to catch up!
July 8, 2025 at 7:00 PM
The best part of working in Woods Hole is seeing so many long lost scientist friends. Today I got lunch with my first mentor, Athula Wikramanayake, who taught me everything I know about molecular techniques (and animal development-although I use that knowledge less these days). So nice to catch up!
Getting to the beach before the crowds (and your friends) and having the most peaceful, quiet morning at MBL @mblscience.bsky.social
July 4, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Getting to the beach before the crowds (and your friends) and having the most peaceful, quiet morning at MBL @mblscience.bsky.social
I got back to WHOI today and immediately went to the beach and was greeted by this beautiful double rainbow.
July 3, 2025 at 12:00 AM
I got back to WHOI today and immediately went to the beach and was greeted by this beautiful double rainbow.
I didn’t realize the goal of basic science was to fix manufacturing! I feel like at this point I could write a grant saying my algae will use their tiny green hands to personally build us all cheaper trucks and someone will say, “wow I think she’s onto something; let’s make her surgeon general”
June 25, 2025 at 11:22 AM
I didn’t realize the goal of basic science was to fix manufacturing! I feel like at this point I could write a grant saying my algae will use their tiny green hands to personally build us all cheaper trucks and someone will say, “wow I think she’s onto something; let’s make her surgeon general”
If that link is funky, here’s another one: doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...
June 20, 2025 at 7:58 PM
If that link is funky, here’s another one: doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...
I believe that if you’re a scientist being silent right now, you’re making a bad choice and when you finally feel compelled to speak up, it will likely be too late. We need to keep building momentum and raising awareness for the ongoing attempts to eliminate the American scientific enterprise.
May 31, 2025 at 1:45 PM
I believe that if you’re a scientist being silent right now, you’re making a bad choice and when you finally feel compelled to speak up, it will likely be too late. We need to keep building momentum and raising awareness for the ongoing attempts to eliminate the American scientific enterprise.
RIP Elon. I’ll never forget when you canceled my paychecks for weeks and then sent a team of 20 year old boys to arbitrarily fire all my friends from their jobs, causing decades of damage to the scientific enterprise, killing numerous lab-raised endangered species, and ruining countless lives.
May 29, 2025 at 1:49 AM
RIP Elon. I’ll never forget when you canceled my paychecks for weeks and then sent a team of 20 year old boys to arbitrarily fire all my friends from their jobs, causing decades of damage to the scientific enterprise, killing numerous lab-raised endangered species, and ruining countless lives.
Lots of fieldwork done the last few weeks. Lots of samples collected and progress on two big projects. Very exciting. But BOY DOES MY BACK HURT.
May 27, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Lots of fieldwork done the last few weeks. Lots of samples collected and progress on two big projects. Very exciting. But BOY DOES MY BACK HURT.
I’m looking into it. I haven’t done much with my logo because I didn’t think anyone really wanted any logo items but I’m having fun designing stuff on here right. Still have to figure out if they pay well. What do you think of this?
May 19, 2025 at 8:54 PM
I’m looking into it. I haven’t done much with my logo because I didn’t think anyone really wanted any logo items but I’m having fun designing stuff on here right. Still have to figure out if they pay well. What do you think of this?
An old video of a Nassula sp. (ciliate) cell swimming around in darkfield where you can get a sense of its 3-D structure, but I also feel like it just looks like a jellybean. #protistsonsky
May 18, 2025 at 10:38 PM
An old video of a Nassula sp. (ciliate) cell swimming around in darkfield where you can get a sense of its 3-D structure, but I also feel like it just looks like a jellybean. #protistsonsky
North Carolina brackish water diatoms stitched together and a video of a ciliate in darkfield, full of diatoms it ate, at various stages of digestion. Some non-Paulinella finds from the weekend.
May 15, 2025 at 2:26 AM
North Carolina brackish water diatoms stitched together and a video of a ciliate in darkfield, full of diatoms it ate, at various stages of digestion. Some non-Paulinella finds from the weekend.
In the field with @burnsajohn.bsky.social and @andrewilloughb.bsky.social. We found our first photosynthetic Paulinella cell of the day! Only took 4 hours to find 🥴. Now isolating this and the other few we’ve found since! Very very hard, tedious work but we are in good spirits.
May 10, 2025 at 7:32 PM
In the field with @burnsajohn.bsky.social and @andrewilloughb.bsky.social. We found our first photosynthetic Paulinella cell of the day! Only took 4 hours to find 🥴. Now isolating this and the other few we’ve found since! Very very hard, tedious work but we are in good spirits.