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Dr. Miles Roberts

@milesroberts.bsky.social
531 followers 153 following 10 posts

PhD | NSF PRFB Fellow | UC Berkeley | Michigan State University | Genomics | Population genetics | k-mers | cats | math | pangenomics wannabe | 🏳️‍🌈

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Dr. Miles Roberts @milesroberts.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
I've been playing around with running my own AI agents on the Berkeley super computer with ollama and opencode, as an alternative to chatgpt, claude, etc. I am pretty impressed with the results. It's fairly helpful for speeding up some routine coding tasks
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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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Dr. Miles Roberts @milesroberts.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Do you like Arabidopsis thaliana? Do you like linked selection? Are you at #PEQG26? Well you're in luck! Come by my poster 244W tonight, June 10th, and hear about my attempts to estimate the extent of linked selection in Arabidopsis thaliana evolution experiments.
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David Lowry @davidlowry.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Big, big congratulations to our lab's PhD student, Madison Plunkert (@madisonplunkert.bsky.social), who is a recipient of this year's Donald R. Kaplan Dissertation Award in Comparative Morphology!!!!
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Dr. Miles Roberts @milesroberts.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Hello, world! I took a break from the internet for awhile, but I presented a poster at Bay Area Plant Hub Meeting in Berkeley, CA (@aspbofficial.bsky.social). For the past few months I've been attempting to estimate the extent of linked selection in Arabidopsis evolution experiments. More to come 👀
Miles stands in front of a poster discussing linked selection in Arabidopsis while holding a juice box
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Emily Josephs @emjo.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
New work from the lab: Miles @milesroberts.bsky.social tried out machine learning to estimate sweep times to fixation and (spoilers) it didn't really help www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... As always, we'd appreciate any feedback!
biorxiv.org
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Society for the Study of Evolution @sse-evolution.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
We are pleased to recognize two Honorable Mentions for the SSE Presidents’ Award this year: Skylar Berardi and Miles Roberts for their papers in Evolution Letters! shorturl.at/CpcoY @evolletters.bsky.social
Text: Society for the Study of Evolution, SSE Presidents' Award Honorable Mentions: Skylar Berardi, Drosophila melanogaster pigmentation demonstrates adaptive phenotypic parallelism over multiple spatiotemporal scales, Miles Roberts, k-mer-based diversity scales with population size proxies more than nucleotide diversity in a meta-analysis of 98 plant species.
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Emily Josephs @emjo.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
Hey #Botany2025 folks -- Asia Hightower @puffballove.bsky.social will be talking about leaf shape G x E x Development in Capsella bursa-pastoris. Tuesday Jul 29 at 9:15 in Mesquite B!!
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Dr. Miles Roberts @milesroberts.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
Got this email today that NSF is canceling the annual meeting for plant genome research (PGRP) awardees. I’m really sad that I’ll miss out on this amazing networking opportunity :(
Screenshot of an email saying that NSF’s PGRP awardee meeting is canceled
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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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Forrest @genomeofforrest.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
Proud to share my first first-author paper out this week! Can we leverage environmental data from germplasm banks to improve climate adaptation in maize breeding? journals.plos.org/plosgenetics... (1/3)
journals.plos.org
Environmental data provide marginal benefit for predicting climate adaptation
Author summary Populations of natural and cultivated plant and animal populations will be affected by more extreme climate events such as drought and flooding in the future. We explore whether charact...
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Gina Baucom @gbaucom.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
Last lab presentation today! Grace Zhang will be talking about her chapter 2 work examining the context dependency of tolerance in common morning glory. Put it on your list, Grace always gives a great talk!
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Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬 @smwadgymar.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead Very inspired by @evophd.bsky.social's talk at #Evol2025 today! @ncse.bsky.social
A woman standing in front of a podium at a conference. The slide behind her has a quote by Margaret Mead that says "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
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Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬 @smwadgymar.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
"Science depends on K-12 education." Kenneth Miller #Evol2025 The Scopes Symposium was excellent and timely.
A man at a podium delivering a talk during a conference. The slide behind him reads "Science depends on K-12 education", "we need to make ourselves available as resources to science educators", and "And we need to fight publicity to defend scince education at all levels".
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Emily Josephs @emjo.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
Hey, Miles' @milesroberts.bsky.social beautiful paper showing that sequence diversity missed by standard methods contributes to Lewontin's paradox is officially published in @evolletters.bsky.social. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
academic.oup.com
k-mer-based diversity scales with population size proxies more than nucleotide diversity in a meta-analysis of 98 plant species
Abstract. A key prediction of neutral theory is that the level of genetic diversity in a population should scale with population size. However, as was note
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Nick Johnson @nick-johnson.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Grateful to be chosen by the Genetics and Genome Sciences program for the Outstanding Student Award alongside my friend @milesroberts.bsky.social Huge thanks to my PI, Eric Patterson, and my committee member, Ning Jiang, for nominating me.
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Emily Josephs @emjo.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Lots of gloom this week but I'm so excited to be celebrating new Drs Pizza & Roberts with @lars-brudvig.bsky.social @rileypizza.bsky.social @milesroberts.bsky.social
Four smiling scientists in graduation robes.
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Dr. Arun Sethuraman @arunsethuraman.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Crazy times, but I'll be advertising for a 2 year postdoc to work with me on new comp. methods to estimate evolutionary history soon - specifically to develop methods to handle missing data (e.g. ascertainment bias, allele dropout). Are you a comp. biologist graduating with a PhD soon? Reach out!
media.tenor.com
a woman talking on a cell phone with the words " i 'd like to offer you a job " below her
ALT: a woman talking on a cell phone with the words " i 'd like to offer you a job " below her
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Genetics Society of America @genetics-gsa.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
The first session is on May 7, at 1:30 pm EDT. Space is limited so sign up now: buff.ly/lpRvLNP Find a full workshop schedule on the signup page! 2/2🧵
buff.ly
Sign up for GSA's Academic Writing Workshop with Carolyn Beans
Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.
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Lars Brudvig @lars-brudvig.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Congratulations Dr. @rileypizza.bsky.social! Amazing seminar, fantastic defense, and well done adding a new (champagne cork) dent to the lab ceiling. Congrats!!!!!!!
Dr. Riley Pizza presenting a dissertation on restoration seed sourcing Dr. Riley Pizza signing a champagne cork dent in the ceiling A signed champagne cork dent: RBP 2025
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Dr. Riley Pizza @rileypizza.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Life update
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Gina Baucom @gbaucom.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Are you a member of the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE)? I'm holding zoom chats during which I will get your feedback and thoughts about what the society can do for you and for the field! Everyone is welcome to join -- sign up for a time and pls RT this!!
Join the conversation with incoming SSE President! Have thoughts about the future of evolutionary biology? Want to provide feedback on how the Society for the Study of Evolution can best serve its members? Join one of our guided chats with SSE President-Elect Regina Baucom!

Upcoming Sessions:
4/4, 4/11, 4/25, 5/2, 5/23, 5/30
Where: Zoom (link provided upon RSVP)
Who: SSE members of all career stages
Topics include:
Vision for SSE's future
How SSE can best advocate for evolutionary biologists
Ways to get involved in SSE, build community, & network!

RSPV Now! https://forms.gle/ef6adb9rtUTHVoPv8
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Dr. Arun Sethuraman @arunsethuraman.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
Eduardo and I are teaching our 2nd version of this course in September 2025. Do join us, and share deets with your trainees.
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Ashish Nerlekar @ashishnerlekar.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
🔥🌾🦬New Pub in @botsocamerica.bsky.social ! We show that the flammability–palatability trade‐offs that operate in Africa also explain correlated suites of traits in #Texas #grasses. @tamu.bsky.social bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Grass functional traits reflect the long history of fire and grazers in the savannas of Texas
Premise Understanding relationships among grass traits, fire, and herbivores may help improve conservation strategies for savannas that are threatened by novel disturbance regimes. Emerging theory, ...
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Dr. Riley Pizza @rileypizza.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
I am thrilled to announce that I have accepted a postdoc offer to work with Dr. Sara Brownell at Arizona State University on a project to understand the challenges faculty face when implementing accommodations for students with disabilities. Excited to dig deeper into Biology Education research!🧪🏫♿
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Madison Plunkert (she/her) @madisonplunkert.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
Science funding is not government waste - see my opinion piece in the Lansing State Journal about why cuts to science funding are bad for Michigan. @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/opinio...
lansingstatejournal.com
Viewpoint: Scientific research is not waste. Funding cuts will harm Michiganders, economy
In 2024, over $1 billion in NIH funding went to Michigan, supporting $2.57 billion in economic activity, according to United for Medical Research.
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Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra @jrossibarra.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
Nearing 400 members on our Zeavolution slack! Want to interact with other members of the maize genetics community? We have a weekly webinar on maize diversity/evolution as well. DM me and I'll share a link to join the slack.
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Mike Barker @barkerms.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
The recording of this past week's #PolyploidyWebinar is now up on youtube! Join us on April 2 for the next one! youtu.be/nBLwF_vgGe8
youtu.be
Polyploidy Webinar 5 March 2025
YouTube video by Mike Barker
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Emily Josephs @emjo.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Standing up for science in Lansing MI
A group of protestors in front of the Michigan State Capitol
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Mags @bisexualbotanist.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
#standup4science
A protest sign that in large words states “Science saves lives” with different diseases that have vaccines scattered around the larger words
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Dr. Riley Pizza @rileypizza.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Catch me at the Michigan state Capitol this afternoon repping my intersectional identities! Trans people do science and science is better because of it! #StandUpForScience 🌱🧪
A poster that reads "Science Needs Diversity" and the "ER" in diversity are colored to represent the trans flag
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Nick Haddad @nickhaddad.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
Our paper is out, and it is distressing. Rapid butterfly declines across the United States during the 21st century | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Rapid butterfly declines across the United States during the 21st century
Numerous declines have been documented across insect groups, and the potential consequences of insect losses are dire. Butterflies are the most surveyed insect taxa, yet analyses have been limited in ...
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Dr. Emily Dolson @emilydolson.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Love to see it!
An email with the subject line: Re: Preliminary Injunction Order- Washington v. Trump

Text of the email: 

On Wednesday, March 5, 2025, a Federal Court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting certain actions related to Executive Orders 14187 and 14168, which is effective immediately. You can review the court’s order and the Executive Orders at https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/Washington-v-Trump-NoticeOfCourtOrder-3-5-2025.pdf.

 

The Order prevents NSF employees from withholding federal funding because a health care entity or health professional provides gender-affirming care.

 

The Court’s Order also prevents NSF from implementing the requirements contained in Sections 3(e) and 3(g) of Executive Order 14,168, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.

 

Pursuant to the Court’s directive this notice is being provided “to all Defendants, and agencies and their employees, contractors and grantees.”  

 

Sethuraman Panchanathan

Director
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Dr. Miles Roberts @milesroberts.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Our review on k-mers + pop gen is now published! doi.org/10.1093/molb...
doi.org
k-mer-based approaches to bridging pangenomics and population genetics
Abstract. Many commonly studied species now have more than one chromosome-scale genome assembly, revealing a large amount of genetic diversity previously m
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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
I'm building a Starter Pack of Early Career Evolutionary Biologists. It's hard to gather usernames using the search tool. Please add your name to this thread if you want to be added!
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Emily Josephs @emjo.bsky.social · 19/09/2024
New review on kmers and pop gen led by Miles Roberts & Olivia Davis w/ Robert Williamson from Rose Hulman: arxiv.org/abs/2409.11683
arxiv.org
k-mer-based approaches to bridging pangenomics and population genetics
Many commonly studied species now have more than one chromosome-scale genome assembly, revealing a large amount of genetic diversity previously missed by approaches that map short reads to a...
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