iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Last night was a beautiful night out in Portland, lucky to see Liz Phair and Sleater-Kinney play to an enthusiastic crowd. S-K closed with a tremendous, energetic & suitably LOUD rendition of 'Entertain' off of their classic album The Woods. Highly recommend seeing them live if you can!

A concert stage with four band members visible, along with bright red & blue lighting and fog. Two guitarists are in the front, Carrie Brownstein on the left and Corin Tucker on the right. A large crowd is in front of the stage, visible as the tops of many heads.

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

All seeds for this year’s nursery are in the ground, leaf samples were collected from those plants germinating early, and many weeds have been removed. Maize geneticists in Corvallis Oregon are happy!

Four smiling people wearing hats, outside on a sunny day. A plowed field with some marker stakes is in the background, with a few small plants visible. At least one hoe is visible, with dirt on it indicating recent use.

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Overall, the work shows that genotype‑dependent differences in pollen fitness can create subtle but significant spatial inheritance patterns in maize, and suggests these effects may be more common than expected. The outcomes of pollen competition are thus shaped by the landscape of the ear

Pollen grains germinating in vitro on the left, designated 'Plants'; and an unpollinated maize ear, with silks exposed, on the right, designated 'Landscape'.

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Notably, alleles of the sperm‑cell mutant gex2 can show a “true quadratic” pattern, with highest transmission at both apex and base. Other gex2 crosses show highest transmission at the apex, or at the base. We speculate these differences reflect unknown ear heterogeneities, e.g., ovule maturity.

(c) Ear from a gex2::Ds-GFP/+ pollen cross showing more fluorescent kernels at both ends. (e) Quadratic GLM fit for the ear in panel (c), illustrating a “true quadratic” pattern.

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

We found one allele with an expected phenotype - bag1, which is less competitive (i.e., reduced GFP transmission) in long silks leading to the ear base. In fact, 5 of 10 mutant alleles affecting pollen fitness had reproducible spatial effects. However, surprise, there are other patterns!

(a) Ear from a bag1::Ds-GFP/+ pollen cross, showing more fluorescent kernels toward the apex. (b) Linear‑fit lines for ears from all 30 bag1 crosses are overlaid, with about half showing a significant upward trend in transmission toward the apex. Blue lines mark significant increasing patterns on an ear (p ≤ 0.05); grey lines are not significant.

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

We used a set of mutants that are marked with an endosperm-expressed GFP, and thus could track how mutant pollen fares in competition with wild-type pollen in maize silks of different lengths. Undergrad Michelle Bang came up with the critical statistical pipeline, EarScape, guided by Prof Duo Jiang.

The EarScape pipeline highlights non‑random spatial patterns in kernel transmission across a maize ear. (a, b) A computer vision pipeline identifies the centroid positions of fluorescent and non‑fluorescent kernels, oriented from base (left) to apex (right) for a cross from a heterozygous bag1*/+ parent. (c) The ear is divided into 16 equal sections, and transmission rate is calculated in each as GFP kernels (green) relative to wild‑type (purple). (d) These counts are used to fit a linear GLM that tests for increasing or decreasing spatial trends (blue line; one‑tailed p ≤ 0.05).

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Very pleased to see this work from the group out in The Plant Journal - led by PhD student Diana Ruggiero from the Leiboff group, a truly collaborative project, addressing the question: how often does pollen genotype influence spatial patterns of inheritance? onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Mutant alleles that affect pollen fitness can generate spatial inheritance patterns on maize ears – see the article by Ruggiero et al. Top Left: Maize pollen grains germinated on a silk, with pollen tubes (stained with aniline blue) growing into the silk interior. Image Credit: Caity Smyth. Bottom Left: Unpollinated maize ear with silks arranged to show that silks derived from ovules at the base of the ear are longer than silks from ovules at the ear apex. Image Credit: Elyse Vischulis. Right: Ear projection from a mature ear pollinated with the pollen from a plant heterozygous for the bag1*::Ds-GFP insertion, oriented apex-to-base top-to-bottom (as in bottom left ear/silk image). The GFP-marked bag1* allele is associated with a spatial pattern of fewer fluorescent kernels towards the base of the ear – i.e., kernels generated following pollen tube growth down the longest silks.

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Corn and crows. After I had a very bad day in the field, when crows had decimated nearly an entire plot of seedlings, my youngest surprised me with this drawing. Treasured artifact. In the end, probably worth the loss in the field.

A drawing in black pen by a youthful aspiring artist, with three stick figure people (one with multiple tears shown), and a bird attacking an apparently full size corn plant. The sun, a swing set and a building are also present. Above the scene are the eords “Dear Daddy I hope you have a Nice Day a especially because Brids ate your corn! We love Your corn and You! Love liza!”

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

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

The cover of Liz Phair’s 1993 debut album, Exile in Guyville. The cover is a cropped photo of Phair topless in a photo booth.

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

And, the inflatables were grooving too

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

Trays of 100s of drying ears of corn, all labelled with colored tape.

Closeup of several drying ears of corn, many with fluorescent (glowing) green kernels; a few kernels have sectors (patches) of purple (anthocyanin) pigment. Tape labels indicate the parents of the kernels on each ear.

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

Busy day in the field today; got the pollinations done before temperatures forecast with today’s heat advisory got too bad. Thanks lab folks!

Corn plants in a field, with many red-striped pollination bags set up on tassels. Trees & the foothills of the Oregon Coast range in the background.

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

For those without a subscription to the newspaper, here's a screenshot of the viewpoint, with a link to the full text in the Alt text

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Rx8qRzr2oKWGhMr-OYDn1ydwUCVeH6YPMIFevtSpKes/edit?usp=sharing

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

The writing was inspired by guidance & support from @snapcoalition.bsky.social and @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social (you can still participate!), with additional suggestions from @ehaswell.bsky.social & @gernblanzden.bsky.social. Thanks all!

A graphic for The McClintock Letters. There is a drawing of Barbara McClintock next to an ear of corn and a DNA double helix. The text reads "The McClintock Letters. Improving communication between scientists and the public is crucial for rebuilding trust and addressing misinformation. Share your science story. Who: You! and other graduate, post-doctoral, and faculty-level researchers. When: Submit to local papers early June to publish on ~June 16th, Nobel Prize-awarded geneticist Barbara McClintock's birthday. What: Collectively publish over 1,000 letters to the editor in local hometown newspapers across the U.S. - https://blogs.cornell.edu/asap/events-initiatives/the-mcclintock-letters/

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

Celebrate the events that bring you joy, even if the world around you seems difficult. SO, I'm going to celebrate the appearance of happily growing maize seedlings from our first planting, and all the potential cool discoveries that are still mostly under the soil, as we complete our third planting.

Two week old corn seedlings, peeking up through the soil at the OSU Botany Farm in Corvallis OR

A plot planted for maize genetics, stakes identifying the locations for different families of plants, mostly cool mutants. At the OSU Botany Farm in Corvallis OR

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

I've been to a lot of protests/marches in Corvallis over the years, and fully expected a good-sized crowd today. BUT, the number of folks (and the energy, and the awesomeness of the SIGNS) was greater than I've ever seen. The American People > Co-Presidents Trump & Musk.

A large crowd at the #HandsOff2025 rally against Trump/Musk, in front of the courthouse in Corvallis OR. Also, trees blossoming with springtime!

A van parked at the #HandsOff2025 rally in Corvallis, OR, painted with slogans - eg 'Make America Democratic Again'. A large number of protestors with signs surround the van, including on its roof.

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

Heron on the shoreline of Lake Washington, campus of UW

Silhouette of a heron against a body of water, buildings in the distance

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

They always seem genuinely happy to see us return - even if it’s just so we can open the door to the yard for them :) , it’s a ‘welcome home’ I’m happy to receive!

A small fuzzy dog, wearing a leopard spot coat, sits by a closed sliding glass door; waits for his person to open it…

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 25/10/2024

Harvest complete for the 2024 field season!

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 20/10/2023

and RESULTS! C25x417-1 is super exciting, a cross from a new mutant with a near-absolute pollen fitness defect...

Three maize ears, segregating mutant/green-fluorescent kernels. The two ears on right and left show the expected 1:1 ratio, whereas the central ear shows a highly aberrant ratio, indicating a strong effect of the mutant on pollen fitness.

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 20/10/2023

About half the field harvested, packed up, ready for the dryer! Results, results, results just waiting to be imaged and seeds counted...

Ears of corn in mesh bags in bins in the back of a truck.

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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 02/09/2023

Super happy with folks in the research group this summer - this past week was peak pollen, and they stayed on top of it! Looking forward to assessing several hundred more ears segregating Ds-GFP elements in pollen genes after harvest...

Image of a corn field in Corvallis OR, with many many pollen bags up on tassels, and the Oregon Coast Range in the distance.

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