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Madison Plunkert (she/her)

@madisonplunkert.bsky.social
252 followers 329 following 53 posts

Evolutionary genetics in monkeyflower. Plant biology PhD student at Michigan State University.

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Reposted by Madison Plunkert (she/her)
Caroline Bartman @cbartman.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Are there key discoveries made with spatial RNA seq? Or what are your favorite spatial rna seq papers? Pls reski!
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MSU Plant Resilience Institute @msupri.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
On windswept coasts in Oregon & California, an unassuming flower manages to withstand salty blasts that kill its inland counterparts. Known as the yellow monkeyflower, researchers in @davidlowry.bsky.social's lab are unlocking the secrets to its survival. #PlantScience 🔗 eeb.msu.edu/news/monkeyf...
An announcement for a research news article that includes an image of bright yellow flowers with green leaves and seed pods growing up against a brown rock on a sandy beach. The following text is contained in a green box underneath the image, “These coastal wildflowers thrive in salt-laden air that kills other plants,” with the Michigan State University and Plant Resilience Institute wordmark logos at the bottom.
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Come join our lab!!
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
New preprint! Concerning Erythranthe angulosa, a charming little monkeyflower from the Eastern Sierra that makes up for its lack of extrafloral nectaries with striking morphological variation.
A small herbaceous plant (Erythranthe angulosa) with developing fruits and small swellings at the base of some leaves, growing appressed to a granite rock.
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
New preprint! Concerning Erythranthe angulosa, a charming little monkeyflower from the Eastern Sierra that makes up for its lack of extrafloral nectaries with striking morphological variation. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
A small herbaceous plant (Erythranthe angulosa) with developing fruits and small swellings at the base of some leaves, growing appressed to a granite rock. There is a pen that says "Plant Resilience Institute" in the bottom of the image.
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
See our new paper examining how monkeyflowers handle salt spray landing on their leaves! Salt spray lands on plant leaves in coastal habitats around the world, yet we know little about how plants survive this stress.
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Pleased to share a new preprint with Ousseini Issaka Salia, Sam Pérez, Esther Woolcock, and @jeffreykconner.bsky.social! We used replicated mapping populations to investigate the genetic architecture of short stamen number variation in Arabidopsis thaliana. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Shared QTLs underlie loss of a conserved trait in replicate mapping populations of Arabidopsis thaliana
The evolutionary mechanisms leading to nonfunctional trait loss are not well understood. Some Arabidopsis thaliana populations display incomplete loss of short stamens, floral organs that do not contr...
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Pleased to share a new preprint with Ousseini Issaka Salia, Sam Pérez, Esther Woolcock, and @jeffreykconner.bsky.social! We used replicated mapping populations to investigate the genetic architecture of short stamen number variation in Arabidopsis thaliana. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Shared QTLs underlie loss of a conserved trait in replicate mapping populations of Arabidopsis thaliana
The evolutionary mechanisms leading to nonfunctional trait loss are not well understood. Some Arabidopsis thaliana populations display incomplete loss of short stamens, floral organs that do not contr...
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Reposted by Madison Plunkert (she/her)
Chenxin Li, PhD @chenxinli2.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Literally targeting people like me.
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
I find it literally insane that people don’t respond to the experience living in this smoke by demanding a transition away from fossil fuels.
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David Lowry @davidlowry.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
I am thrilled to see this paper finally out. The study faced many challenges, including a field season upended by the global pandemic and then saved by heroic efforts. The results were also complex and unexpected. Great work by Kathy Toll to see this through. academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...
academic.oup.com
Plant hormone manipulation impacts salt spray tolerance, which preempts herbivory as a driver of local adaptation in the yellow monkeyflower, Mimulus guttatus
Abstract. A major challenge in evolutionary biology is identifying the selective agents and phenotypes underlying local adaptation. Local adaptation along
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Dr. Hilary Rose Dawson @hilaryrosed.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Can we please quit with the oversized 'try AI!' popups on scientific papers that take up readable space? This popup on @newphyt.bsky.social doesn't even have a way to shrink it so I have to give up the bottom couple of inches on my screen.
Screenshot of a New Phytologist article that has a large 'Try AI Companion' bubble that persistently floats on top of the text in a not-subtle way.
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 11/07/2026
🚨 HEADS UP: If you haven't submitted a comment on the OMB proposal yet, there's still time - but it's running out! There are only 2 days left to push back against Russell Vought's attempt to give political appointees unprecedented control over federal research funding. Take Action: zurl.co/qTjQP
Graphic from Stand Up for Science urging action on a federal funding proposal. Large text reads: "2 Days Left" and "Help Us Stop Vought From Destroying American Science." A portrait of Russell Vought appears beside the U.S. Capitol. A banner along the bottom reads: "Submit a comment on the OMB proposal | Link in bio to take action." The Stand Up for Science logo appears in the top left.
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
How do plants locally adapt to challenging habitats despite ongoing gene flow? Come find me tomorrow at poster 236W to chat about life history divergence on small spatial scales in the yellow monkeyflower! #PEQG26
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Chenxin Li, PhD @chenxinli2.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Write to your representatives. Talk to your scientific society about what it can do. There is a partisan effort to discredit, restrict, and dismantle the US scientific enterprise. We can't just shut up and take it.
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Gina Baucom @gbaucom.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Head's up SSE members: Virtual Evolution is next week! Join us for the SSE Presidential Symposium on May 21 for talks from SSE leaders and past presidents on sustaining research, supporting trainees, navigating funding uncertainty, and strengthening evolutionary biology. Pls RT!
SSE Presidential Symposium –  Navigating Uncertainty: Individual Resilience and Collective Action in Evolutionary Biology
May 21, 9:15 AM - 12:30 PM
This year’s SSE Presidential Symposium will consist of two linked sessions designed to address the current climate of uncertainty surrounding federal funding and its implications for evolutionary biology. Together, these sessions are designed to move from personal grounding to community-level strategy, offering both immediate support and longer-term vision.

Part 1: Recommendations for the Community
Lightning Talks from Past SSE Presidents and Leaders in the Field
May 21, 9:15 AM - 10:30 AM EDT

This session will feature past SSE Presidents and leaders in the field, each giving a 5-minute lightning talk offering concrete, actionable ideas for maintaining research programs, supporting trainees, and strengthening the field during periods of funding constraint. The emphasis will be on practical recommendations at multiple scales—individual researchers, departments, universities, the society, and the field as a whole. There will be a 30-minute Q&A following the talks.

Prothama Manna
Postdoctoral Fellow at Clemson University, SSE GSAC Chair
“What Trainees Need in Uncertain Times: Paths to Resilient Science”

Mohamed Noor
Executive Vice Provost and Professor of Biology at Duke University, 2014 SSE President and former Evolution Editor-in-Chief
“How to ask for help in uncertain times”

Ruth Shaw
Professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior at the University of Minnesota, 2020 SSE President and former Evolution Editor-in-Chief
“Realigning scholarly evaluation to support scientists' agency”

Joseph Graves
MacKenzie Scott Endowed Professor of Biology at NC Agricultural and Technical State University
“What Departments Can/Must Do to Support Junior Faculty in an Anti-Science Climate”

Scott Edwards
Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Curator of Ornithology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard Universit…
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Thank you so much to David, @botsocamerica.bsky.social , and the Kaplan family! I am so excited to spend the next year figuring out how monkeyflowers make their rhizomes.
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Go Belowground! @exfumo.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
#GoBelowground is going international again! 🇧🇷 This time we go to Brazil. #Functional #morphology #course Go Belowground! will bring students together to explore #storage organs, #clonal plants, and the hidden half of #plant life. #ExFuMo #ecology @czechacademy.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Little micro-action (that falls short of what's needed here) is click the NSF feedback form and indicate that this page was *not* helpful.
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
My speech last week for the #StandUpForScience National Day of Action rally at the Michigan State Capitol. When we protect science, we protect democracy too. #Lansing @standupforscience.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSMZ...
youtube.com
Stand Up For Science - Lansing, MI - Part 1 of 3
YouTube video by Madison Plunkert
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Reposted by Madison Plunkert (she/her)
Pauline Raimondeau @paulineraim.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Introgression fuelling reproductive isolation? 👀 Impressive work & fascinating story ✨
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Sandra @lilysch.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
#StandUpForScience Lansing, Michigan
Colorful protest sign that reads
Science Saves LivesProtest sign reading Defunding Science is Doge-ShitProtest sign reading
Stand Up For Science:
Earth is not flat
Vaccines work
We‘ve been to the moon
Chemtrails aren’t a thing 
Climate Change is realProtest sign reading 
Science is a Mus-t (letter k crossed out and replaced with that last t)
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Stand Up For Science! @standupforscience.bsky.social
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Join me from 1-3pm in Lansing, Michigan! fight2win.standupforscience.net/Lansing-March/
fight2win.standupforscience.net
Stand up for Science
Stand up for Science
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Reviewing these speakers' prepared remarks is the highlight of rally prep! Michigan, don't miss this event!
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Indivisible Central Michigan @indivcentralmi.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Are you standing up for Science on Saturday? Our nearest rally is at Michigan State Capitol!
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Science is part of a healthy democracy. Join us at the Capitol in Lansing to Stand Up for Science! March 7 from 1-3pm. @standupforscience.bsky.social
Statue of liberty in red overlaying black/navy text. Text reads: Stand Up for Science National Day of Action. Take back our science, health, and democracy! March 7th, 2026. Lansing, MI. Michigan State Capitol, East Lawn. 1:00pm-3:00pm. Visit website to register, volunteer, and donate! standupforscience.net/march7
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Chenxin Li, PhD @chenxinli2.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
$128 million can pay for more than a hundred NSF proposals. A handful of NSF awards over a 15-year period can establish and launch multiple careers for the PI and trainees alike. We could have supported entire cohorts of young scientists, but we get concentration camps instead. #AbolishICE
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Science is part of a healthy democracy. Join us at the Capitol in Lansing to Stand Up for Science! March 7 from 1-3pm. @standupforscience.bsky.social
Statue of liberty in red overlaying black/navy text. Text reads: Stand Up for Science National Day of Action. Take back our science, health, and democracy! March 7th, 2026. Lansing, MI. Michigan State Capitol, East Lawn. 1:00pm-3:00pm. Visit website to register, volunteer, and donate! standupforscience.net/march7
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Proud of MSU 💚🤍 www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/l...
lansingstatejournal.com
Hundreds of protesters battle cold on MSU's campus to protest ICE
More than a dozen MSU student groups organized the protest held five days after a second person was shot and killed by federal agents in Minnesota.
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Reposted by Madison Plunkert (she/her)
Seema Sheth @seemasheth.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
We are recruiting field technicians to contribute to a field study of adaptation to climate in Chamaecrista fasciculata in Raleigh/Chapel Hill, NC. My collaborators at UGA will soon post similar positions in Ithaca, NY and Archbold Biological Station, FL. Please share jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/225...
jobs.ncsu.edu
Temporary Plant Evolutionary Ecology Field Technician
The Sheth plant evolutionary ecology lab in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC) is currently seeking field technician to participate in an NS...
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David Lowry @davidlowry.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
I am currently searching for a new postdoctoral researcher to study the evolution, genetics, and physiology of cold acclimation and freezing tolerance in switchgrass at Michigan State University. This work will be funded by a newly funded five-year DOE grant. careers.msu.edu/jobs/researc...
careers.msu.edu
Research Associate-Fixed Term - East Lansing, Michigan, United States
Position Summary The Lowry Lab at Michigan State University is searching for a postdoctoral research associate to conduct molecular and physiological experiments to understand the causes of genetic va...
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David Lowry @davidlowry.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
New preprint from former Lowry Lab postdoc, Kathy Toll, providing evidence that delayed flowering time by coastal perennial Mimulus guttatus may be advantageous through avoidance of high wind speeds and salt spray. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Figure 1. (a) Map of collection localities of coastal perennial (dark blue circles), inland annual
(red squares), inland perennial (yellow diamond), near-coastal annual (orange triangle), and
near-coastal perennial (light blue triangles) populations used in the experiment, (b) photograph of
experiment at Bodega Marine Reserve (photo credit: K Toll), (c) plot of average daily wind speed
at the Bodega Marine Reserve in 2023, and (d) plot of sodium accumulation on filter paper traps
during the spring and summer exposure periods in exclosures (brown) and controls (green). Wind
speeds were higher in the spring cohort compared to the summer cohort (c, pink vs green), and
exclosures significantly reduced Na accumulation in both seasons (d, green vs brown).
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
Check out our new preprint on monkeyflower salt spray adaptation, with coauthors @pcdurant.bsky.social, Katherine Egeler, and @davidlowry.bsky.social! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Diagrams of salt spray resilience mechanisms in sensitive inland (left) and resilient coastal (right) plants and tissues. (A) Salt spray avoidance shown as a tall inland and short coastal plant, with salt spray (shown as orange circles) landing mostly on the tall plant. (B) Salt spray exclusion shown as the cuticle and leaf epidermal cells of a leaf surface, with salt spray entering one leaf surface at a greater rate than the other. (C) Tissue tolerance shown as two plant cells with cell wall, plasma membrane, vacuole, and nucleus shown. One cell is plasmolyzed due to salt exposure, with salt found in the cytoplasm, while the other cell is healthy with salt found in the vacuole.
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Game-changer for evolutionary genetics!
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Jannice Friedman @jannicefriedman.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
New paper by former MSc student @christeinecke.bsky.social! ⭐ A behemoth effort to apply artificial selection on clonal reproduction in #Mimulus guttatus. We show that clonality evolves quickly, but not symmetrically in both directions, and multivariate life history traits are altered too! 🧪🌾
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Jason “Obstacle to Progress” Williams @jasonwilliamsny.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
The new #NSF #GRFP application now excludes 1000’s of students, including those who were told they could apply this year, or who planned to apply next year. We have a new specific petition urging #NSFGRFP undo this harmful action. If you are impacted sign here: laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/
laurenkuehne.github.io
Petition to NSF to Restore Eligibility for the 2026 Graduate Research Fellowship Program Competition
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Emily Josephs @emjo.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Application review begins in one week for the MSU herbarium director position!!!! More info here: plantbiology.natsci.msu.edu/job-postings...
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Jenn Coughlan @jenncoughlan.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Late to the party, but I'm so excited about the first paper from our lab: ✨Unique genetic bases of repeated life-history divergence associated with high altitude adaptation in Mimulus perennials ✨ This work was led by the ABSOLUTE ROCKSTAR Hongfei Chen!
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Andrea Case @andreacase.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
Please share — Michigan State Plant Biology is searching for an Herbarium Director! Tenure stream, open rank faculty position balancing research, teaching, service, and admin responsibilities. Join us! Reach out to me or @emjo.bsky.social with questions! plantbiology.natsci.msu.edu/job-postings...
plantbiology.natsci.msu.edu
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
Stop by the community table at Hooked in Lansing tomorrow to speak out for science funding! We'll be there from 9am-2pm.
Flyer for the Lattes and Letters event showing a cup of coffee and the Statue of Liberty on a green background. Text reads: Learn how science helps you, one cup at a time. Take action now! Grab some coffee and chat about research funding with local scientists. Learn how to write a letter to your elected officials and we’ll send it off!
August 16th, 2025
9:00am - 2:00pm
Community Table at Hooked 3142 E. Michigan Ave. Lansing, MI 48912
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闵娅(Min Ya; Minya) PhD @minyaaa.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
I’m proud to present the main work from my postdoc, 3+ years in making from scratch, my ultimate #MimulusPropaganda up till now: The Moment That Symmetry Breaks. #plantscience #development #imaging #microscopy 🧪🌸🔬 w. Captain Yaowu & @biancatash.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
We’re hiring for a major role in the US, an investigative journalist to cover what’s happening with science in the US and beyond. This is extremely important territory for us. 🧪 workforus.theguardian.com/jobs/795 The Guardian :: Senior Science Investigative Reporter
workforus.theguardian.com
The Guardian :: Senior Science Investigative Reporter
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50501: The People’s Movement ❌👑 @50501movement.bsky.social · 13/07/2025
Coming up! Find an action near you www.goodtroubleliveson.org
goodtroubleliveson.org
Good Trouble Lives On
On July 17, five years since the passing of Congressman John Lewis, communities across the country will take to the streets, courthouses, and community spaces to carry forward his fight for justice, v...
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
See my newest op-ed for the Baltimore Sun about how cuts to science funding harm Maryland. Now is the time to call your members of congress to protect the NIH and NSF! www.baltimoresun.com/2025/06/23/a...
baltimoresun.com
All Marylanders at risk with cuts to science funding | GUEST COMMENTARY
Funding science is an investment in Maryland’s future, writes Madison Plunkert.
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Acer VanWallendael @aceraceae.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
Hi #evol2025, our paper came out yesterday and I'd love to chat about it. We used an underused tool for studying parasite local adaptation, the Host Reciprocal Transplant, to study switchgrass and its fungal rust. doi.org/10.1111/nph....
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
See my newest op-ed for the Baltimore Sun about how cuts to science funding harm Maryland. Now is the time to call your members of congress to protect the NIH and NSF! www.baltimoresun.com/2025/06/23/a...
baltimoresun.com
All Marylanders at risk with cuts to science funding | GUEST COMMENTARY
Funding science is an investment in Maryland’s future, writes Madison Plunkert.
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David Plunkert @davidplunkert.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
My latest cover for @newyorker.com "On Parade"
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