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Laura Kelly @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social · 8d

I chose a good day to check for seed in our Fraxinus collection at @rbgkew.bsky.social 🌞🌳🍁 Looks like a bumper crop for most species - these are valuable material for @forest-protection.bsky.social funded research to tackle threats to ash trees 🌿 #Fraxinus #ashtrees #treehealth

Ash trees showing autumn colour at Kew Gardens

A view of Kew Gardens with a small ash tree in the foreground

A large ash tree at Kew Gardens, with leaves turning golden for autumn

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Laura Kelly @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social · Aug 18

Willow and birch trees already looking very yellow last week in Yorkshire 😬🍁🍂

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Laura Kelly @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social · Aug 8

A few of the interesting trees we saw this week while collecting data for our NERC funded project on the evolutionary response to ash dieback disease 🌳🌿 I never fail to be amazed at all the weird ways trees grow 😀 #Fraxinus #ashtree #ashdieback

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Laura Kelly @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social · Jul 23

New @rbgkew.bsky.social research project on ash dieback disease as part of @forest-protection.bsky.social 😀 with @rbuggs.bsky.social and @danielwood1992.bsky.social We’ve been busy collecting samples this week for genomic analysis 🌳🧬👩‍💻

Centre for Forest Protection @forest-protection.bsky.social · Jul 21

📢 PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENT 📢

🌳 Could genetic resistance save ash trees from dieback?

🔬 Our scientists are investigating just that and aim to develop a tool to identify & breed resistant ash trees.

🔗 Read more: forestprotection.uk/project/cfp2...

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Laura Kelly @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social · Jul 21

Preprint now out for our Fraxinus excelsior pangenome 🌿🧬🌿🧬🌿🧬🌿 - huge thanks to @danielwood1992.bsky.social for working so hard on this!

Daniel Wood @danielwood1992.bsky.social · Jul 21

Check out our preprint presenting the construction and application of a pangenome for European ash @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social @rbuggs.bsky.social

bioRxiv Genomics @biorxiv-genomic.bsky.social · Jul 21

European ash pangenome reveals widespread structural variation and a diverse genetic basis for low ash dieback susceptibility https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.16.665114v1

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Laura Kelly @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social · Jul 19

Still time to apply for a six-month internship with @forest-protection.bsky.social - applications for positions based at Kew close on 22nd July!

Centre for Forest Protection @forest-protection.bsky.social · Jul 17

🌳Have you heard about our fantastic new #treehealth and #forestprotection internship opportunities with @forestresearchuk.bsky.social & @rbgkew.bsky.social?

🔗Click for more info: www.forestprotection.uk/2025/07/04/c...

#CentreForForestProtection #ForestResearch #RoyalBotanicGardensKew #Internship

A group of six young people standing on a gravel path in front of the Millennium Seed Bank - a building with parallel, barrel-vaulted structures inspired by local barn shapes.

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Laura Kelly @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social · Jul 16

Excited to be contributing to this new project looking at the combined threat to ash trees from ash dieback and the emerald ash borer 🌿🍄🪲🌳

Centre for Forest Protection @forest-protection.bsky.social · Jul 16

📢 PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENT 📢

🌳 Our scientists are studying whether resistance to ash dieback helps or hinders ash trees against the emerald ash borer beetle.

🏅Goal: breed resilient UK ash trees. Read more:
forestprotection.uk/project/cfp2...

#ForestProtection #TreeHealth #PlantHealth

Dodging the double whammy – ash dieback and emerald ash borer - Centre for Forest Protection

forestprotection.uk

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Reposted by Laura Kelly

Centre for Forest Protection @forest-protection.bsky.social · Jul 14

📢 NEW RESEARCH PROJECTS 📢

🌳 Earlier this year, the #CentreforForestProtection was awarded £4m in #Defra funding to support 16 new research projects in 2025/26.

🔬 Over the coming weeks, we will be showcasing each project across our social media channels, so keep an eye out to learn more!

Homepage - Centre for Forest Protection

The Center for Forest Protection safeguards forests, trees, and woodlands with science, research, advice, and training.

www.forestprotection.uk

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Laura Kelly @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social · Jul 4

Six-month internships available as part of the Centre for Forest Protection - including two with @danielwood1992.bsky.social working on ash trees! 🌳🧬

Centre for Forest Protection @forest-protection.bsky.social · Jul 4

📢INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES📢

🌳Are you interested in #treehealth and #forestprotection? Then check out our exciting new internships based at @forestresearchuk.bsky.social and @rbgkew.bsky.social, two of Britain’s leading research institutes!

Click on the link below to find out more!

#Internships

Centre for Forest Protection Internship Vacancies – 2025/26 - Centre for Forest Protection

We are recruiting six new interns across Forest Research and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to work on a wide range of projects. Take a look to see if there is one for you!

www.forestprotection.uk

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Reposted by Laura Kelly

Kew Gardens @rbgkew.bsky.social · Jun 27

BIG NEWS! We’ve found that ash trees are fighting back against ash dieback disease! 🌳💪

Scientists at Kew & QMUL ‪@qmul.bsky.social have discovered that young ash trees are evolving resistance to this devastating fungus - & fast 🌍

Read the story👉 www.kew.org/read-and-wat...

#PlantScience #SciNews

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Laura Kelly @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social · Jun 27

Some good news for ash trees 🌳🌿 congratulations @carey-metheringham.bsky.social on all your amazing work for this study, and to our other co-authors, especially Richard Nichols and Richard Buggs at QMUL and Kew! I am very happy to have been able to play a small part ☺️

Carey Metheringham @carey-metheringham.bsky.social · Jun 27

After three long years, the last part of my PhD work is now published in Science!

We found that ash trees in the UK are evolving (some) resistance to ash dieback; a rare case where natural selection is happening quickly enough to see within a single generation.

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

Rapid polygenic adaptation in a wild population of ash trees under a novel fungal epidemic

Rapid evolution through small shifts in allele frequencies at thousands of loci is a long-standing neo-Darwinian prediction but is hard to characterize in the wild. European ash tree (Fraxinus excelsi...

www.science.org

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Laura Kelly @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social · May 12

NERC-funded internships for undergraduate and integrated Master’s students - opening for applications soon!

Trees DLA @treesdla.bsky.social · Apr 15

We are sowing the SEEDS for our NERC-funded summer internship programme—Supporting Equity, Engagement and Development in Science ... (SEEDS).

For information about SEEDS, please visit www.trees-dla.ac.uk/seeds-summer...

The page includes a link to sign up to the SEEDS mailing list.

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Reposted by Laura Kelly

Phil Stevenson @philstevenson.bsky.social · Mar 13

We have a new vacancy in my Section for a Kew Research Fellow in Plant & Fungal Science. This is an opp for an early-career researcher to develop their science portfolio & skills in a vibrant research environment, working
@KewScience please RP
careers.kew.org/vacancy/kew-... Deadline 20/04/2025🧵

Kew Research Fellow (Trait Diversity and Function) - Careers | Kew GardensMenuClose menu

We are seeking applications from promising early-career scientists with interesting, innovative, and viable research ideas for the Kew Research Fellowship in Plant and Fungal Science. The Kew Research...

careers.kew.org

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Laura Kelly @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social · Feb 19

Kew Research Fellow @danielwood1992.bsky.social also contributed to this new study 🌱☺️

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Laura Kelly @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social · Feb 18

A great series of webinars coming up on tree health and adaptation from the Centre for Forest Protection, including two by my group on ash genomics and predicting biotic risks to non-native trees 🧬🌿🐛🌳👇

IPSN @ipsn-bgci.bsky.social · Feb 18

📢 A series of webinars on #plathealth in March (next month ) from our friends at The Centre for Forest Protection (an joint initiative by Kew Gardens and Forest Research UK).

🌳 👇

Centre for Forest Protection Webinars - Centre for Forest Protection

Join us at the end of March to hear about our latest research findings.

buff.ly

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Laura Kelly @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social · Feb 17

PDRA opportunity at Kew - chance to work on an exciting new project with a wonderful boss! (speaking from first hand experience ☺️)

Jonathan Wendel @jonathanfwendel.bsky.social · Feb 17

Post-doc alert: Evolutionary genomics of diploidization of polyploids, with a terrific team
careers.kew.org/vacancy/post...

Post-doctoral Researcher in Evolutionary Genomics of Polyploids - Careers | Kew GardensMenuClose menu

We are seeking a highly motivated post-doctoral researcher to play a key role in helping to deliver an exciting new 4-year multi-partner BBSRC research project focused on understanding genome evolutio...

careers.kew.org

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Laura Kelly @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social · Feb 16

This sounds very exciting! My group is investigating the role of SVs in adaptation of ash trees to the ash dieback epidemic in our @ukri.org and @forest-protection.bsky.social funded projects so looking forward to reading this soon 😀

bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology @biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · Feb 14

Comparative population pangenomes reveal unexpected complexity and fitness effects of structural variants https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.11.637762v1

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Laura Kelly @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social · Feb 11

More bad news for beech trees 😕

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences @pnas.org · Feb 11

Warmer summers are causing European beeches to produce seed more often, depleting the trees’ stored resources—an indirect effect of climate change that is threatening the sustainability of Europe’s most widespread forest tree. In PNAS: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Branch of beech tree, Fagus sylvatica, with nuts and green leaves.

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Laura Kelly @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social · Feb 10

A new preprint from our team 🌳🍂🍄‍🟫 #ashdieback #fraxinus

bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology @biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · Feb 9

Molecular convergence analyses identify candidate genes for low susceptibility to the ash dieback pathogen https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.08.637240v1

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Laura Kelly @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social · Feb 6

Congratulations to former and current Kew colleagues, including @metallophyte.bsky.social and @danielwood1992.bsky.social and especially first author Sarah Coates (whose MSc project I had the great pleasure to supervise some years back 🙂), on their new paper in PNAS!

Alex Papadopulos @metallophyte.bsky.social · Feb 6

Our new paper shows that plasticity that has evolved to deal with one stressful situation, can help plants to adapt rapidly to new stressful situations. doi.org/10.1073/pnas... @meebangor.bsky.social @rbgkew.bsky.social @ukri.org @pnas.org

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Laura Kelly @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social · Feb 5

Congratulations @gabnocgenomics.bsky.social on your new paper! Great to see this exciting research from a former member of our Plant Health & Adaptation Team at Kew ☺️

Sam Yeaman @samyeaman.bsky.social · Jan 2

Gabriele's paper is out in PNAS! He found a large number of genes with repeated sweeps in multiple plant species. Most interestingly: they tend to be peripheral in co-expression networks (low pleiotropy), consistent with mig-sel theory!! @gabnocgenomics.bsky.social www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

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Reposted by Laura Kelly

Sam Yeaman @samyeaman.bsky.social · Jan 2

Gabriele's paper is out in PNAS! He found a large number of genes with repeated sweeps in multiple plant species. Most interestingly: they tend to be peripheral in co-expression networks (low pleiotropy), consistent with mig-sel theory!! @gabnocgenomics.bsky.social www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

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Laura Kelly @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social · Feb 4

Does she approve of the colour choice?

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