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Rebecca Bloomer @rhbloomer.bsky.social · 15h

Well now I wanna go find the specimens! 8 years right next door and I only made it to the herbarium for the first time a fortnight ago, which is sort of ridiculous.

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Rebecca Bloomer @rhbloomer.bsky.social · 15h

Even better, that's ~150m away from where this particular plant is 🤩

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Rebecca Bloomer @rhbloomer.bsky.social · 16h

That's really cool!

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Rebecca Bloomer @rhbloomer.bsky.social · 20h

Today in "model organisms, they're just like real organisms": watched birds nicking inflorences off this wee dude out my office window today. For their nests, maybe?

Flowering arabidopsis with multiple inflorescences and maturing siliques, growing as a weed in gravel.

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Rebecca Bloomer @rhbloomer.bsky.social · 3d

Incredible.

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Rebecca Bloomer @rhbloomer.bsky.social · 3d

Ha, Ty is very kind about mine. The 5yo, on the other hand - brutal truthspeaker.

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Rebecca Bloomer @rhbloomer.bsky.social · 3d

Lilja, clearly we are reserving our judgement for the dusty man in question here. Get with the programme!

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Rebecca Bloomer @rhbloomer.bsky.social · 3d

Extremely Relatable Content.

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Rebecca Bloomer @rhbloomer.bsky.social · 10d

My new favourite thing is going directly from pump class to pub quiz so this post-workout choice has my wholehearted endorsement. I cannot say the same for your gorgeous doggo, he looks Big Mad.

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Reposted by Rebecca Bloomer

Robert McLachlan @robertmclachlan.bsky.social · Sep 7

More cuts to the Marsden Fund of @royalsocietynz.bsky.social. This takes it down to $10/capita in real terms when it was over $16 for most of this century. Australia's equivalent, the ARC, is NZ$42/capita, as is the US NSF (despite ongoing attempts to gut the latter).
www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Fewer Marsden Fund grants after government cuts

A major research fund has been forced to slash its grant allocation by more than $20 million next year.

www.rnz.co.nz

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Reposted by Rebecca Bloomer

Dr Lucy Stewart @lcsnz.bsky.social · Sep 6

Context: this knocks back Marsden funding levels next year a whole two decades to (inflation adjusted) the same level funding as the 2005 Budget.

Te Ara Paerangi Com - Research Advocacy Capability @te-ara-paerangi.community · Sep 6

More cuts to the Marsden Fund. This time $20 million from the annual budget cut starting next year. This is on top of previous cuts by this government. They are trying to skip the 'priming the pump' step of public research as a driver of the economy. How well that is going to work?
#NZPOL

Fewer Marsden Fund grants after government cuts

A major research fund has been forced to slash its grant allocation by more than $20 million next year.

www.rnz.co.nz

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Rebecca Bloomer @rhbloomer.bsky.social · Sep 4

If anything can improve on a day of statistically significant results, its adding a Port Hills sunset, an exercise playlist of xennial punk bangers and the world's best doggo for company.

Ty the foxy x working dog admires the view over Lyttleton Harbour to Te Ahu Pātiki/Mt Herbert at sunset.

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Reposted by Rebecca Bloomer

Troy Baisden @troybaisden.bsky.social · Sep 3

Did you catch news that the Universities Advisory Group (UAG) reports were released, but the government binned or balked on many of the key recommendations?

The whole process went from shelved to buried yesterday morning.

www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2025/09/03/u...

University sector changes announced - Expert Reaction

The Government will be changing aspects to New Zealand's higher education system, informed by a recently released report by the University Advisory Group. Changes include a new strategy for all of New...

www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz

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Rebecca Bloomer @rhbloomer.bsky.social · Sep 3

Nope! The conference budget is more MapNet this year 😅 hope its going well though... I'm hoping for a permanent move to Ōtautahi for QRW

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Rebecca Bloomer @rhbloomer.bsky.social · Sep 3

JULIE WHO ARE YOU SCHMOOZING FOR THESE

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Reposted by Rebecca Bloomer

ae @aelkus.bsky.social · Aug 27

even the lysenko comparison is at this point an insult to lysenko

Clay Ranck @clayranck.bsky.social · Aug 27

wtf is this nonsense? He thinks he can understand kid’s “mitochondrial challenges” just by looking at them?

This is an insane person.

Acyn
@Acyn
X.com
RFK JR: I'm looking at kids as I walk through the airports today...and I see these kids that are just overburdened with mitochondrial challenges, inflammation-you can tell from their faces, movements, and lack of social connection

TEXAS "MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN" LEGISLATION
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.
Health & Human Services Secretary
0:12
From CSPAN
C-SPANG*
15:04 • 8/27/25

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Reposted by Rebecca Bloomer

Milton Tan @mtanichthys.bsky.social · Aug 26

So if genome annotations contain errors and we take those genome annotations to annotate other genomes and then train AI on all the thousands of messy genome annotations than what's even real

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Reposted by Rebecca Bloomer

New Zealand Geographic @nzgeo.bsky.social · Aug 24

A tiny silly fun thing in the midst of all the chaos... We're on the hunt for a mate for Ned, a 1 in 40,000 left-spiralling snail. www.nzgeo.com/stories/lets...

Let's find a mate for Ned

One in 40,000 snails have the spiral on the left side of the shell, and they can only mate with other lefties. Can you help Ned find true love?

www.nzgeo.com

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Reposted by Rebecca Bloomer

North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee @naascarabidopsis.bsky.social · Aug 20

Plz share! (I am a co-author from NAASC) “An unwelcoming climate & culture at scientific conferences is an obstacle to retaining scientists w/marginalized identities. Here we describe..a professional plant science societies..collaboration to make conferences more inclusive.”
doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Making conferences in the plant sciences more inclusive through community recommendations

The ROOT & SHOOT project in the plant sciences has produced guidelines to help scientific societies organize conferences that are more inclusive and offer more supportive environments to all attendees...

doi.org

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Reposted by Rebecca Bloomer

Phil Garnock-Jones @theobrominated.bsky.social · Aug 21

After a decade of photographing & writing, I finally have an advance copy of my book. It'll be launched 10 October in Wellington and should hit the shops 9 October. Many thanks to talented designer Duncan Munro & the wonderful people at Auckland University Press. #pukapuka #bloomscolling #bloomsky

A new book, called He Puāwai a natural history of New Zealand flowers. The dust jacket is black with 24 individual flowers arranged in rows, all different colours. The title is purple and the subtitle teal.

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Rebecca Bloomer @rhbloomer.bsky.social · Aug 14

Actual cackled at that.

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Rebecca Bloomer @rhbloomer.bsky.social · Aug 13

Bonus points, you get to work with two great research groups between BSI and UoO, who will be amazing mentors.

How many PhDs is too many PhDs, asking for a friend 🤔

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Rebecca Bloomer @rhbloomer.bsky.social · Aug 11

They were, and I had some Cliched Divorcing Millennial feelings listening to... most of it, honestly. Physically paying for going out on a school night today, but mentally fully worth it.

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Reposted by Rebecca Bloomer

Juliet Gerrard @julietgerrard.bsky.social · Aug 5

www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/... Majority of Government’s $231m spend on Advanced Technology Institute funded through planned research funding cuts

Majority of Govt's $231m tech institute funded through research funding cuts

'It will be a cornerstone of our plan to grow a high-tech, high-value economy.'

www.nzherald.co.nz

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Reposted by Rebecca Bloomer

Jennifer Mach (she/they) @jennifermach.bsky.social · Jul 26

We are now discussing whether the re-emergence of lead sentences starting with "Plants, as sessile organisms..." is due to LLMs trained on the literature or what.

Plant Editors @planteditors.bsky.social · Jul 26

Our editors are here for meetings peripheral to #PlantBio2025. DM if you are interested in collaborating on #SciComm, #ImageIntegrity analysis, scientific #editing, or just saying hi!

American Society of Plant Biologists @aspbofficial.bsky.social · Jul 25

#PlantBio2025 Community: We hope your journey is going well! We look forward to welcoming you in #Milwaukee!🌿

#PlantScience

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