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Elizabeth Ostrowski

@elizostrow.bsky.social
1.2K followers 752 following 234 posts

Evolutionary genomics, genetic conflict, (micro)chimerism. Long-read sequencing proselytiser. 🇺🇸→ 🇳🇿 →🇺🇸 (sigh). Personal account. ecoevo.social/@elizostrow

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Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
The Fig Economy @figgityfigs.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Sometimes my wife and I like to send each other text messages as though they’re democratic fundraising messages, and I believe she has produced the jewel of the form.
, it's
and I
have some personal news to share with you.
Being a mom is one of the greatest joys of my life, and I feel deeply that we should have salad tonight
This year has been challenging in many ways, and I have immense gratitude for the kindness and support of family, community, and people like you who have continued to stand by me through everything. It means the world, and I wanted you to be among the first to know that squash is in the oven and kale is in the fridge.As many of you are aware, ve been navigating one of the most challenging periods of my day while waiting for dinner.
Facing baseless federal hunger brought on by not eating since lunch, fighting for the working kids of this country, and now caring for a mean toddler and helping him grow up in a world that isn't always easy. But it has also reminded me exactly why I do this work and who I do it for.
I will never stop working to eat dinner. I will never stop fighting for what is right, even when there is also some feta in the fridge. And I will never stop being so very thankful that you are by my side in this important work and that there is tahini in the pantry for dressing
With love and gratitude,
stop to end
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Daniel Burke - 🍺Innkeep @innkeep.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Le Guin on the idea that there is a secret to getting good at writing.
I will dispose of the first myth as quickly as possible. The “secret” is skill. If you haven’t learned how to do something, the people who have may seem to be magicians, possessors of mysterious secrets. In a fairly simple art, such as making pie crust, there are certain teachable “secrets” of method that lead almost infallibly to good results; but in any complex art, such as housekeeping, piano-playing, clothes-making, or story-writing, there are so many techniques, skills, choices of method, so many variables, so many “secrets,” some teachable and some not, that you can learn them only by methodical, repeated, long-continued practice — in other words, by work.
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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 28/07/2026
the current NZ govt is so anti-science that they've changed eligibility for the Prime Minister's Science Prizes to rule out awards to people doing basic science eg from 2026 the MacDiarmid is for work with "potential to generate econ, health, social, or env benefits for New Zealand" #nzpol
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Dan Quintana @dsquintana.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
I just rebuilt my website using Quarto 🎉 My publication list generates itself from my Zotero library, and papers include links to materials and OA versions. The website's first post is on how to build your own, featuring an app that does all the coding for you: dsquintana.com/posts/quarto...
Screenshot of Daniel S. Quintana's academic homepage. A circular profile photo of me sits above my name, title "Professor of Psychology · University of Oslo," and buttons for Email, Scholar, ORCID, OSF, LinkedIn, Bluesky, and YouTube. To the right, a bio describes him as a Professor of Psychology at the University of Oslo leading a lab on biological systems linking psychological and social factors to health, focused on neuroendocrine systems and the autonomic nervous system. Below are "Research interests" (oxytocin system in health and wellbeing, cardiac psychophysiology, evidence synthesis, meta-science) and "Featured papers" listing two publications with titles, authors, journals, and brief descriptions.Screenshot of the Publications page, introducing the Behavioral Neuroendocrinology Lab and noting that preprints and materials are linked where available. Under a "2026" heading, five publication entries are listed with full citations (authors, year, title, journal, DOI links), each tagged with badges like "Data & code," "Preprint," or "Open access article."Screenshot of the Talks page, noting that slides are posted on OSF. Under "2026," two talks are listed: "Recalibrating human oxytocin research: from methods to function to theory" (Harvard Interdisciplinary Oxytocin Research Initiative, online) and "Social media for academics" (NMBU, in-person), each with a "Slides" link. Under "2025," three more talks are listed: "Open science intro for psychology master students," "Start-up scholar workshop," and "Synthetic data workshop," all at the University of Oslo, in-person, each with a "Slides" link.Screenshot of a blog post titled "How to create a simple academic website," tagged "Website" and "Quarto," authored by Daniel S. Quintana and published July 25, 2026. The text explains that the site was built using the Quarto publishing system, describes advantages over his previous R-based approach (easier Zotero-based publication updates, links to open data/code, and open-access versions of paywalled papers), and introduces two methods for readers to build a similar site: cloning the GitHub repo or using a Shiny web app that generates the code with the user's own info.
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Also hard to catch via TV. I mostly recognize them only if I’ve known someone from there
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
She does but they all think it’s an English accent 😭
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
In 10 yo’s recent class presentation on New Zealand, I showed her how to use animation to introduce text slowly. She still heaps praise on me for my slide skills 😎
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Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 04/07/2026
1. A bit of evolutionary biology. I'm really intrigued by a new perspective piece from Steve Frank that explores connections between how natural selection creates systems that generalize and recent work in machine learning about the surprising capabilities of massively overparameterized systems.
academic.oup.com
Generalization as the great leap in evolvability: insights from machine learning
Abstract. Natural selection encodes learned information in the genome. Learned solutions may be tuned specifically to past challenges, failing in altered e
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Came here to say this!
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
NZ science funding is starting to feel like some sort of shell game. Scramble things so many times, no one notices science being robbed b2bnews.co.nz/news/marsden...
b2bnews.co.nz
Marsden Fund cut 29% as NZ kills blue-sky research funding
New Zealand's flagship discovery research fund is running its final round before being absorbed into a government-directed system. The 29% funding cut lands on a country that already spends half the O...
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Doesn’t sound like a full-throated repudiation 🤷‍♀️. But as you just pointed out, Kiwis are a bit, um, understated
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
I’m curious to know whether any of this will be tabled or reversed if a different party were to win the election. Honestly not sure.
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Man, it seemed so awful I had assumed I must be missing something. Apparently not 😢
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Yeah, that’s unfortunate. It’s the ONE place where you’d want basic scientists to be well-represented.
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Right? The national broadcast part threw me. How do you think it relates to NZ science funding?
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Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
G. Willow Wilson @gwillow.me · 14/03/2026
I realize that to people outside the PNW this is just an interesting news item, but if you're in the PNW, where tracking orca pods is a local religion, this is basically like being visited by alien gods
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Have you come across the On the Farm broadcast on RNZ? Found myself listening to it in the car one evening. Slice of NZ life I had not experienced before!
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
View from the lab today ❄️🌲😯
Big window with evergreen trees covered in snow.
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Is this the same type of tree? I’ve always loved the bark. (Taken in Cornwall Park, Auckland)
Kids’ hands on a mottled, camouflage looking tree trunk in New Zealand
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
I am looking for wide-ranging mammalian DNA samples for a class I am developing. Especially sought-after would be parent-offspring paired samples. Please retweet (re-skeet?), thank you!
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
I am looking for wide-ranging mammalian DNA samples for a class I am developing. Especially sought-after would be parent-offspring paired samples. Please retweet (re-skeet?), thank you!
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
I tried to avoid providing keys for exactly this reason — but I’ve given in to student demand. How do you get buy-in for this policy?
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
Rookie mistake, returning to the US: signed up for an FSA and forgot about it. In other (not unrelated) news, I am the proud new owner of a fancy foot massager 🙃
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Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
Tom Wenseleers @twenseleers.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
In our new study we were the first to experimentally simulate the origin of sociality! By controlling how many wasp 🐝daughters could help their mom, we found that early helpers don't just add to colony success—they multiply it!
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Here is a video that I think might be the best I’ve seen to give students an idea of what is involved in transfers and competitions. I’d like something less detailed/ specific to LTEE, though, while still covering logistics www.jove.com/v/65342/dail...
jove.com
Video: Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli
4.1K Views. The University of Texas at Austin. In 1988, Richard Lenski began an evolution experiment. He filled 12 Erlenmeyer flasks with a glucose-limited defined growth medium known as DM25. He ino...
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Hypothesis Fund @hypothesisfund.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
4/ #DYK during pregnancy🤰, cells are exchanged between mothers + offspring, & even twins? Awardee @elizostrow.bsky.social will study how microchimerism mediates genetic conflict and drive resource competition. 🍾 Congrats Dr. Ostrowski! @uwbothell.bsky.social 🙏 #HFScout @paulturnerlab.bsky.social
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Hypothesis Fund @hypothesisfund.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
3/ Awardee @mixotrophe.bsky.social aims to uncover how mixotrophs (marine microbes that harness energy from the 🌞 & organic matter) strategize their metabolisms. Her project may be key to understanding our changing ocean. 🎉 Congrats Dr. Moeller! @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social 🙏 #HFScout Ginger Armbrust
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Hypothesis Fund @hypothesisfund.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
2/ Awardee @megbehri.bsky.social will study how chaotic dynamics arise in microbial🦠 populations. Her research could transform how we predict microbiome dysbiosis across human health and beyond. 🥳 Congrats Dr. Behringer! @vuartsci.bsky.social 🙏 #HFScout @paulturnerlab.bsky.social
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Hypothesis Fund @hypothesisfund.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
✨Announcing our newest awardees, who are taking scientific leaps to uncover new knowledge across microbial ecology, marine microbiology, and mammalian genetics. Learn about their projects: bit.ly/HFAwardees Meet our awardees and hear from their #HFScouts in our 🧵/1
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Mark O. Martin @markowenmartin.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
I’m watching this! I could use the resources too.
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Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
"are you enjoying duo mobile" does a hamburger enjoy being made of quarks. does a fish enjoy linear time. does the mountain enjoy the first taste of a cup of hot chocolate when you get back to the ski lodge. your question means nothing to me. i couldn't enjoy duo mobile even if i tried
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Asher Leeks @asherleeks.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
Amazing example of influenza cheat/cooperator cycles in this recent paper - the repeatability of the oscillatory cycles is so striking Congrats to @alnajifg.bsky.social , @christopherbrooke.bsky.social , @vignuzzilab.bsky.social & friends www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧪 #socialviruses
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Does anyone have a favorite experimental evolution overview for undergraduates? Ideally one that goes into the details of fitness assays, marking strains, etc. Everything I’ve found doesn’t dig into the details sufficiently.
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Jeremy Yoder says no war @jbyoder.org · 24/11/2025
Treating emergent traits of the microbiome like quantitative genetic traits of the host reveals how environmentally acquired symbionts can contribute to hosts' adaptation
buff.ly
Quantitative genetics of microbiome-mediated traits
Microbiomes, the complex communities of microorganisms associated with multicellular hosts, play a vital role in shaping host traits and fitness. But how d
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Te Ara Paerangi Com - Research Advocacy Capability @te-ara-paerangi.community · 06/11/2025
David became a freelance bioinformatician due to the situation he describes 👇. Freelance workers are typically looking for the next contract. That's how it is. Maybe we could boost this signal so that people who appreciate David's experience and principles can find him?
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Frank Ashwood @frankashwood.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
These are the beautiful spore-producing structures of plasmodial slime molds. Which is your favourite colour? Originally considered Fungi, they are now classed as Ameobozoans - single celled organisms with thousands of nuclei... not animals or fungi but something else entirely! #SoilBiodiversity 🧪
A photograph of a slime mold fruiting body on a log. The slime mold is a round orange blob on a transparent stalk.A photograph of slime mold fruiting bodies on a log. The slime molds are a round white blobs on transparent stalks.A photograph of slime mold fruiting bodies on a log. The slime molds are a round black blobs on red stalks.
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Column three is 😍
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
And probably extroversion too
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
I dunno - I mean, this person is cool, they think just like me is going to result in hires of people reflecting the current dominant phenotype
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
Eg your earlier example of a faculty interview as being a vibe check
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
I would urge a lot of caution on using vibes if you’re in a position of power making these decisions.
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
That sounds very sensible. I don’t know why my subconscious brain pulls this scenario out over and over 🤷‍♀️
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
Oh no! I’m surprised that’s not my dream, actually
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James McInerney @jomcinerney.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
Here in the uk, the government has found that £1 of spending on R&D results in £8 of benefit: www.gov.uk/government/p...
gov.uk
The value of public R&D
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
Will I ever stop having that dream where I’ve forgotten that I signed up for a class, and today is the final? 😰
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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 28/10/2025
I appear to have spoken to a reporter who took seriously the gravity of NZ's science crisis does anybody have a newsroom pro subscription so that I can learn what other choice phrases I used on the record? newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/29/w...
newsroom.co.nz
Winner of top science prize blames ‘batshit’ Budget for brain drain
Dr Samuel Mehr says the Government values science, but their ‘idiotic’ approach to funding it will cost them their best and brightest.
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
🎯🎯🎯 But surely Kiwis are having heart palpitations from how direct this is 🤣🤣
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Why can’t I have more content like this?
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
OMG
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Elizabeth Ostrowski @elizostrow.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
Ooh that’s awesome. I missed an opportunity with UW. It’s shorter but not eliz
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