Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Emil Ruff @emilruff.bsky.social · 2d

Looking for a cutting-edge and fun conference in 2026?
How about:

GRC Geobiology in Ventura, CA - January 11-16, 2026
www.grc.org/geobiology-c...

AbSciCon in Madison, WI - May 17-22, 2026
www.agu.org/abscicon

🤩The Ruff Lab will be there with sessions and presentations on Dark Oxygen Production 🥳

2026 Geobiology Conference GRC

The 2026 Gordon Research Conference on Geobiology will be held in Ventura, California. Apply today to reserve your spot.

www.grc.org

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Emil Ruff @emilruff.bsky.social · 2d

🤩 BONCAT-Live for isolation and cultivation of active environmental bacteria 😍
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

BONCAT-Live for isolation and cultivation of active environmental bacteria | mBio

Dynamic microbial activity transforms environments and impacts health and disease in associations with plants and animals, including humans. Identifying the contribution of individual microbes to thos...

journals.asm.org

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Emil Ruff @emilruff.bsky.social · 7d

Finally! This idea deserved to be broadly discussed for decades.

Nature @nature.com · 7d

The obsession with economic output as a measure of human development puts sustainability on the back burner

go.nature.com/4pNC96G

End GDP mania: how the world should really measure prosperity

The obsession with economic output as a measure of human development puts sustainability on the back burner. Researchers can now help to devise better indicators.

go.nature.com

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Emil Ruff @emilruff.bsky.social · 11d

Looks amazing! Can I take your course sometime?! 🗻

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Emil Ruff @emilruff.bsky.social · 27d

Spend the summer at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, conducting your own
original research. Applications open now.

grassfoundation.org/application-...

@mblscience.bsky.social

Apply for the Grass Fellowship – The Grass Foundation

Priority Deadline: October 15, 2025 Applicants who apply by this date will have the opportunity to receive technical feedback and update their proposal accordingly prior to the final deadline. Letters of reference must be received by December 15, 2025.

grassfoundation.org

Reposted by Emil Ruff

Monir Moniruzzaman @giantvirus.bsky.social · Aug 19

We’re recruiting a PhD student (Fall 2026) to study the ecology & evolution of aquatic giant viruses! Research spans lab experiment, field sampling, & bioinformatics. Background in microbiology/bioinforamtics encouraged.

More info & contact email here: monirlab.com/join/

Please share. Thank you!

Join the Lab | Monir lab

monirlab.com

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Reposted by Emil Ruff

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · Aug 15

The White House budget proposal includes an $18B cut to NIH research funding in FY26. Explore the anticipated economic impacts in communities nationwide & click on any district to learn more and get a shareable scorecard.

New from our #SCIMaP team: scienceimpacts.org/fy26

SCIMaP - Impacts of Federal Cuts to Science and Medical Research

View Projected Impact of the FY2026 Budget Cuts to the NIH

scienceimpacts.org

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Reposted by Emil Ruff

Nichole Ginnan 🦠 @botanichole.bsky.social · Aug 8

Great publication from Maggie Wagner (KU) and Manuel Kleiner (NCS) on how to design microbiome (+ other Omic) projects with downstream statistics in mind!

A must read for trainees!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

How thoughtful experimental design can empower biologists in the omics era - Nature Communications

Here, the authors discuss principles of experimental design that are relevant for all biology research, along with special considerations for projects using -omics approaches, highlighting common expe...

www.nature.com

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Emil Ruff @emilruff.bsky.social · Jul 28

This generous gift will have positive ripple effects throughout the entire community in and around Woods Hole. 🥂🧪🎊🔬🥳
www.mbl.edu/news/mbl-ann...

MBL Announces Largest Ever Gift for Its Renowned Biological Education and Research Programs | Marine Biological Laboratory

Cell Biology Researcher Mark Terasaki’s $25 Million Unrestricted Gift Will Support Operations and Infrastructure Contact: Samantha Cummis [email protected]; 973.800.4119

www.mbl.edu

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Emil Ruff @emilruff.bsky.social · Jul 8

Very exciting! ✨ would love to hear all about it. Maybe we can chat about #darkoxygen in the coming weeks.

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Reposted by Emil Ruff

Riikka Kietäväinen @riikkakie.bsky.social · Jul 8

Excited to present our DODGE project (#Safer2028) results on dark oxygen in the deep continental biosphere today at the #Goldschmidt2025 conference in Prague. It's session 9e in the Small Hall - see you there if you are around!

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Emil Ruff @emilruff.bsky.social · Jun 23

For ANME enthusiasts & for those who wonder how a methanogen turns into a methanotroph

👇New work by Orphanlab

Identification of key steps in the evolution of anaerobic methanotrophy in Candidatus Methanovorans (ANME-3) archaea
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

@caltech.edu @mblscience.bsky.social

Identification of key steps in the evolution of anaerobic methanotrophy in Candidatus Methanovorans (ANME-3) archaea

Modification of core carbon and energy metabolism aided a recent evolution of anaerobic methanotrophy in archaea.

www.science.org

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Reposted by Emil Ruff

Beate Kraft @beatekraft.bsky.social · Jun 16

Two Postdoc Opportunities in Environmental Microbiology!

Join us and work on microbial key players exposed to oxygen depletion.

Please share widely!
Deadline: 25 July

More information can be found here:
tinyurl.com/4kwzzt6p

Two postdoc positions on the ecology and physiology of microbial key players exposed to oxygen depletion

Application deadline: 25 July 2025 at 23:59 hours local Danish time

tinyurl.com

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Emil Ruff @emilruff.bsky.social · Jun 16

Watch out for two new grad students at U of Amsterdam and U of Miami. We are so thankful, Eleanor and Jaden, for your fantastic work and all the wonderful times here at @mblscience.bsky.social

@jadenhansen.bsky.social

www.linkedin.com/in/eleanor-g...

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Emil Ruff @emilruff.bsky.social · Jun 11

This week: Holden Thorp, Editor-in-Chief, Science Magazine talking about “Staying True to the Indispensable Values of Science”.
Don't miss MBL Friday evening lectures. Like every year the line-up is excellent. In person & virtual.

www.mbl.edu/events/frida...
@mblscience.bsky.social @science.org

2025 Friday Evening Lectures | Marine Biological Laboratory

Join us for these venerable MBL events bringing our local and global communities together live.

www.mbl.edu

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Reposted by Emil Ruff

Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · Jun 9

"We are speaking on behalf of hundreds of NIH staff who are standing up together to say: WE DISSENT.

I am so scared about doing this but I am trying to be brave for my kids because it's only gonna get harder to speak up."

Thank you to Dr. Jenna Norton and NIH scientists for your courage!

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Reposted by Emil Ruff

A. Murat Eren (Meren) @merenbey.bsky.social · Jun 5

We have a new 3-year postdoc position in our group at the @hifmb.de to study plasmids and plasmids systems of the marine environment to survey their utility in microbial responses to environmental change.

Please see the official job ad here, and spread the word:

jobs.awi.de/Vacancies/20...

PostDoc in ecology and evolution of plasmids in polar waters at HIFMB (f/d/m)

Layout AWI HIPP extern, englisch

jobs.awi.de

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Emil Ruff @emilruff.bsky.social · Jun 5

Feeling rather assoured and rëvoltive

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Emil Ruff @emilruff.bsky.social · Jun 4

WellWatcher!

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Emil Ruff @emilruff.bsky.social · Jun 3

👇
www.mpg.de/20566192/max...

Max Planck-Weizmann Postdoctoral Programme

The Max Planck Society (MPG) and the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) jointly offer outstanding postdoctoral researchers in the fields of physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science and earth...

www.mpg.de

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Emil Ruff @emilruff.bsky.social · Jun 2

Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons...
Application Deadline July 31, 2025

Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution

The purpose of these awards is to provide support for students entering U.S.-based Ph.D. programs with a plan to perform research in ecology and evolution. While we will consider all projects in ecolo...

www.simonsfoundation.org

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Emil Ruff @emilruff.bsky.social · Jun 2

What an inspiring read! Thanks Jen, for this wonderful review.

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Reposted by Emil Ruff

Dr. Jennifer Glass (she/her) @methanojen.bsky.social · Jun 2

Review of methane through space and time, coauthored with @planetdr.bsky.social, is out (OA) in @annualreviews.bsky.social.

Hopefully a helpful resource for community and courses. www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Schematics of atmospheric CH4 cycling on (a) modern Earth, (b) Archean Earth, and (c) Titan. (a) On modern Earth (20% O2), CH4 emissions originate primarily from wetlands, ruminants, and the fossil fuel industry. Methane is oxidized chemically in the troposphere by hydroxyl radicals (OH), with an average lifetime of 10 years. Hydroxyl radicals originate from reactions between ozone (O3), UV radiation (<320 nm), and H2O vapor. The O3 layer originates from reactions between UV radiation and O2. (b) On the Archean Earth (<0.0001% O2), in the absence of O3 and O2, CH4 would have had a much longer atmospheric lifetime (∼10,000 years), with eventual destruction by UV photolysis, leading to H escape and/or, when CH4/CO2 was greater than 0.1, polymerization to yield organic haze in the upper atmosphere. (c) On Titan, with temperatures near the CH4 triple point, there is a CH4 cycle of evaporation, photolysis to yield ethane (C2H6) and H2 (lost to space), and condensation of C2H6, whereupon it participates in surface processes.

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Reposted by Emil Ruff

Dr. David Miller 🏳️‍🌈 @davidimiller.bsky.social · May 30

🚨🚨 Friday night news drop from National Science Foundation!! 🧪

NSF just released its detailed budget request for next year: nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00-NSF...

We knew it was going to be bad...and it lives up. Guts direct NSF support for a **quarter million people**

🧵 on some highlights...

Senior Researchers 60,400 --> 16,900
Other Professionals 14,400 --> 4,100
Postdoctoral Associates 5,500 --> 1,000
Graduate Students 41,500 --> 12,400
Undergraduate Students 37,300 --> 8,000
PreK-12 Teachers 42,900 --> 8,200
PreK-12 Students 128,100 --> 39,400
Total Number of People 330,100 --> 90,000

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