iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Our paper describing two new photosynthetic Paulinella species is out today in JPhycol! This is the kind of work I love to do and even it though took many years to finish, we had a lot of fun stomping around together in the marsh! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #protistsonsky

26523

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

I had an incredible time in Cambridge this week to give the Harvard University Herbaria seminar! I got to meet with scientists whose work I’ve been following since college, explored the Museum of Natural History, and spent a day in the algae collection at the Farlow Herbarium. I’m still smiling!

0120

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Has anyone else realized that the RFK Jr. + Kid Rock #MAHA video where they wear jeans and drink milk in the gym is literally the fight milk video from #alwayssunny?

140

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

I’ve wanted to be a scientist since I was a little kid and would’ve loved to go to a camp like this. Trump science cuts and antipathy are now trickling down and likely stopping an entire generation of children from learning about the natural world and seeing science as an attainable career option.

030

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

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

0141

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn’t Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Alice In Chains

120

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

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.

150

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

This dinosaur menorah has been going strong for at least 30 years.

180

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

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!

1143

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

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!

2160

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

On our way to Yellowstone for a quick sampling trip! (And then I’m staying for bit to take a vacation 😊) @bhattacharyalab.bsky.social

030

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

I don’t even know what to say. He’s screaming his intentions and half of us are still not taking it seriously.

040

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

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 😂

030

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

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

2117424

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

Another beautiful but very sweaty day sampling on the Pettaquamscutt River in Rhode Island for our “ecological HGT” project!

050

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

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!

130

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

Getting to the beach before the crowds (and your friends) and having the most peaceful, quiet morning at MBL @mblscience.bsky.social

0120

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

I got back to WHOI today and immediately went to the beach and was greeted by this beautiful double rainbow.

060

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

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”

0111

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

If that link is funky, here’s another one: doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...

010

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Your silence will not protect you. 5000 people came out to Princeton today in the rain. #NoKings

0353

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

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.

120

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

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.

1132

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

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.

080

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

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?

100

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

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

1395

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

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.

2341

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

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.

0365

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

There is something satisfying about packing so many fieldwork materials nicely into a single box.

2200

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

This is so backwards. “Research projects with more narrow impact limited to subgroups of people based on protected class or characteristics do not effectuate NSF priorities.” www.nsf.gov/updates-on-p...

020

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

Wow, this is SO efficient. Thanks Elon! You’re so smart and handsome. You’ve fixed science 💗💗💗 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

0132

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

It was also so much fun visiting my college roommate/bff (and soon to be asst prof at Mississippi State) @the-phil-osopher.bsky.social at U of Indiana and learning about his work on dung beetles! We’ve come such a long way since we were both undergrads collecting sea urchin and ctenophore sperm.

180

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Thanks to @sergiophyceae.bsky.social for inviting me to give this week’s bio seminar at Purdue! I had a great time exploring Indiana and meeting so many new people (and catching up with old protist conference buddies) and learning about all the great research going on there!

1130

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Some highlights from today’s protest in Princeton, ft. my mom and @bhattacharyalab.bsky.social. Every sign was so different because there are one million bizarre and illegal things going on at the same time. Truly crazy era we are in.

181

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

After two years, I’ve revived the Tiny Living Beings podcast and season 2 ep 1 is out! Bolton Howes, a sedimentary geologist, gives us a history of the Earth and does a great job, especially navigating my dinosaur excitement. Found everywhere you get podcasts. open.spotify.com/episode/0zix...

1184

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Some highlights from a #StandUpForScience rally today. Crazy that we have to spend our lunch break defending our existence but the solidarity felt nice.

0289

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

As a very small act of resistance, which is to continue creating reliable science content for non-scientists, I’ve decided to revive my podcast from 2022. The first episode of season 2 will be released on March 10th on all podcast platforms!

22412

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

If you look at any research publication, you can find a section (at the very top or bottom) where the scientists list their funders. Lots of work goes into getting science funded and then a lot more work goes into publishing findings. 1/2

130

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

I posted a while ago asking for recommendations for courses or resources to learn Python as a scientist who works with big data. Most of the responses were that there isn’t a great resource. I bought this book secondhand and I’ve found it realllllly helpful! By Martin Jones.

293

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

If you’re looking for a protist-forward holiday gift for someone who also likes New Jersey (very niche, I know), these are now for sale in my little online store! www.couchmicroscopy.com/store

082

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 10/11/2024

Obsessed with this chair covered in lichen.

0164

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 24/02/2024

I got my PhD yesterday!!! So thankful for my family, friends, my amazing committee, and of course the Bhattacharya lab!

061

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 15/02/2024

How can we understand ecological dynamics or solve global crises when we have such an incomplete accounting of which organisms exist that create these phenomena? New scicomm article out in Global Water Forum about biodiversity, protists, + microscopy. www.globalwaterforum.org/2024/02/15/b...

043

Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 22/12/2023

My k-mer paper won the Systematic Biology Pulisher’s award! This was the hardest project I’ve ever worked on (thank you Tim and DB for your help + guidance), so this is one of those rare times when hard work pays off in tangible ways. I feel very honored!!! Paper link: doi.org/10.1093/sysb...

131