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Madison Plunkert (she/her)

@madisonplunkert.bsky.social

252 followers 330 following 53 posts

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

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...

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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Taken together, we've now shown three different, sequentially acting mechanisms for resilience under salt spray. Yellow monkeyflower is the first species where all three have been tested. We hope for many more! @msupri.bsky.social

Three panels representing three different salt spray resilience strategies in an salt-spray-susceptible inland plant and a salt-spray-adapted coastal plant. For salt spray escape, a tall inland plant contacting many salt spray droplets (represented by orange dots) is next to a short coastal plant that contacts few droplets. For salt spray exclusion, plant epidermal cells with a cuticle over them are shown, with many salt spray droplets entering the inland cuticle and few entering the coastal. For tissue tolerance, a plasmolyzed inland cell is shown with salt in the cytoplasm while a healthy coastal cell is shown with salt in the vacuole, illustrating the possible role of compartmentalizing salt in preventing cell damage.

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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 · 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 · 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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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Yellow monkeyflower in Mammoth Lakes, CA

Two yellow flowers with red spots surrounded by green leaves

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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 30/07/2024

Come hear about life history evolution on small spatial scales in monkeyflowers tomorrow in Life History IV! Cool purple rhizomes will make an appearance. #Evol2024

A monkeyflower plant uprooted from a pot to show purple rhizomes

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