Reposted by Rachel Shepherd 🪴CNY ASM @cnyasm.bsky.social · 07/06/2026Did you know that thermophilic amoeba have been isolated by researchers at Syracuse University from a steam vent at SUNY ESF? artsandsciences.syracuse.edu/biology/news... You can visit this geyser of the built environment when you come to our first fall meeting, held at SUNY ESF this year! 1166
Reposted by Rachel Shepherd 🪴ISEP @isepprotists.bsky.social · 20/04/2026New #ISEPpapers by @ankarn.bsky.social et al.! Living together: evolutionary and ecological dimensions of #protist endosymbiosis academic.oup.com/microlife/ar... #Protists #Microbes #Symbiosis #Evolution 03512
Rachel Shepherd 🪴 @rmshepherd.bsky.social · 16/04/2026What an amazing conference! Is there anything better than spending 4 days talking about soil with fantastic soil researchers? Until next time #GSB2026!! 171
Rachel Shepherd 🪴 @rmshepherd.bsky.social · 13/04/2026Hey #GSB2026! Want to hear about soil protists? Want to learn more about long-read sequencing and assembling protist genomes? My talk tomorrow morning in the "Technological, Methodological, and Omics Advances - II" session will highlight some recent advancements in these realms 🦠🧬 183
Rachel Shepherd 🪴 @rmshepherd.bsky.social · 27/03/2026Undergraduate researcher extraordinaire @melpaige05.bsky.social presented some of her recent findings on the role of temperature for the three life stages of a Heterolobosean protist (Fumarolamoeba sp.) today! Melanie's passion for pink posters and characterizing this amoeba is inspiring 💓🦠 0123
Reposted by Rachel Shepherd 🪴Holly Moeller @mixotrophe.bsky.social · 25/02/2026Help! We're struggling to choose between these two images of #Mesodinium #karmachamaeleon and its cryptophyte prey, one more "documentary" and one more "action shot," as cover image submissions (to a society journal). If you were an editor, which one would more likely catch your eye? #protistsonsky 13365
Reposted by Rachel Shepherd 🪴Carlos Aguilar-Trigueros @aguilart.bsky.social · 05/03/2026Mycelial networks doing their "carbon" magic in soils! 0154
Rachel Shepherd 🪴 @rmshepherd.bsky.social · 27/02/2026Hot off the press! If you’ve ever wondered how ecosystem-engineering gopher tortoises shape soil microbial and nematode communities, this paper is for you! 🐢💚 link.springer.com/article/10.1...link.springer.comGopher tortoise influence on soil biodiversity is constrained by historical land use - Biodiversity and ConservationKeystone species and ecosystem engineers play critical roles in maintaining and enhancing biodiversity by modifying their environment and creating ecological niches that support a wide range of organi... 182
Reposted by Rachel Shepherd 🪴Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 25/02/2026Finally, the bug is back with a round of the Guinness. 9283791785
Reposted by Rachel Shepherd 🪴Soil Ecology Group @bes-soilecogroup.bsky.social · 13/02/2026Soil Critters: Illuminating a Hidden World Have you visited Frank Ashwood's website? We are obsessed with these photos! 🐜🐞https://www.frankashwood.com/macrophotography @frankashwood.bsky.social Can you ID this species in the comments? Send us your own photos to feature in our newsletter. 1206
Reposted by Rachel Shepherd 🪴John Burns @burnsajohn.bsky.social · 06/02/2026Time lapse of an odd little monster. Presumably some kind of cercozoan from brackish water. #protistsonsky 2166564
Reposted by Rachel Shepherd 🪴Hannah B. Shulman ₊˚ʚ 🌀 ₊˚✧ ゚. @hannahshulman.bsky.social · 09/12/2025A poem I wrote while doing fieldwork at high-elevation ecosystems (@rmblscience.bsky.social) is now published online by Poets for Science! poetsforscience.org/sub-alpine-o...poetsforscience.orgSub-alpine omens - Poets for ScienceThree-legged cow— Omen of endurance, of merciful husbandry, of balance learned on the ridges knife-edge, moving through the wound. Wolf at the treeline— Omen of return, of old laws testing new borders... 022
Reposted by Rachel Shepherd 🪴H. B. Beryl Rappaport @hbrappap.bsky.social · 25/11/2025And finally all at SyracuseU - @shaharsu.bsky.social @jessniblo.bsky.social for protein analyses, @rmshepherd.bsky.social for culturing, & @oliverio.bsky.social for leading this effort with me! 1173
Reposted by Rachel Shepherd 🪴H. B. Beryl Rappaport @hbrappap.bsky.social · 25/11/2025So happy to announce our new preprint, “A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes.” We cultured a novel amoeba from Lassen Volcanic NP (CA, USA) that divides at 63°C (145°F) 🔥 - a new record for euk growth! #protistsonsky 🧵 16507166
Reposted by Rachel Shepherd 🪴The Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative @thegsbi.bsky.social · 18/11/2025🚨Check out the first blog of our GSB4 ECR series!🚨 Dr. Sabrina Sadiq discusses the path to discovering a vast diversity of viruses in Australian soils, and why we must know more! 📢Be sure to check out the talk at the #GSB4 conference in April! www.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/blog-beneath...globalsoilbiodiversity.orgAustralian soils are rapidly expanding the known RNA virosphere — Global Soil Biodiversity Initiativeby sabrina sadiq, the university of sydney (australia) Soils and sediments harbour extraordinary biodiversity, with up to 10¹⁰ microbes per gram of soil. As RNA viruses likely infect all forms of lif... 044
Reposted by Rachel Shepherd 🪴Julie Maresca @micromaresca.bsky.social · 25/11/2025Oh hey congratulations @oliverio.bsky.social @rmshepherd.bsky.social @hbrappap.bsky.social on the awesome thermophilic amoeba story! 0199
Reposted by Rachel Shepherd 🪴Evgenii Protasov @evgenii-protasov.bsky.social · 09/11/2025A Novel Protistan Trait Database Reveals Functional Redundancy and Complementarity in Terrestrial Protists(Amoebozoa and Rhizaria) #protists #eukaryotes #amoeba onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 1174
Reposted by Rachel Shepherd 🪴The Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative @thegsbi.bsky.social · 31/10/2025📣🪱 New Paper Alert: Novel tools for characterizing soil eukaryomes using NEON data 🪱📣 Open Access: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1...onlinelibrary.wiley.comCharacterising Soil Eukaryotic Diversity From NEON Metagenomics DatasetsBelowground eukaryotic diversity serves a vital role in soil ecosystem functioning, yet the composition, structure, and macroecology of these communities are significantly under-characterized. The Na... 053
Reposted by Rachel Shepherd 🪴Germán Bonilla-Rosso @germusthermophilus.bsky.social · 02/11/2025We are our best when we collaborate. 🧪🦠🔬🧬🌍🍄 This mural about the invisible #soil #biodiversity in Moers(🇩🇪) resulted from the collaboration between my friend Dr. Arne Schwelm, the people from sci:moers and the Stiftung für Umwelt und Entwicklung under the artistic direction of #cokyone. 26921
Reposted by Rachel Shepherd 🪴angela oliverio @oliverio.bsky.social · 15/11/2024Super cool update!! @rmshepherd.bsky.social was able to culture some thermophilic amoebae from our built environment steam vent samples on campus that can happily grow at at least 50C! They are most closely related to Fumarolamoeba (isolated from... yep... fumaroles!) #protistsOnSky #MicroSky 2154
Reposted by Rachel Shepherd 🪴angela oliverio @oliverio.bsky.social · 21/08/2024sampling some local @sunyesf.bsky.social built environments (steam vents!) in pursuit of extremophile protists with @micromaresca.bsky.social and @rmshepherd.bsky.social #MicroSky #ProtistsOnSky 1142
Reposted by Rachel Shepherd 🪴angela oliverio @oliverio.bsky.social · 14/03/2024Happy to share that work led by PhD student @rmshepherd.bsky.social is now out in Soil Biology & Biochem: sciencedirect.com/science/arti... We sought to shed light on how soil micronutrients (Fe, Zn, Mn ...) regulate belowground microbiomes. #MicroSky 🦠🧫🧪 #MicrobiomeSkysciencedirect.comMicronutrients modulate the structure and function of soil bacterial communitiesSoil micronutrients are increasingly recognized as critical regulators of biogeochemical cycling and terrestrial ecosystem processes. Despite substant… 072
Rachel Shepherd 🪴 @rmshepherd.bsky.social · 13/12/2023Hey AGU23! If you’re interested in soil + microbes, I’ll be presenting some of my research at 11am🥼🔬🧬 021
Reposted by Rachel Shepherd 🪴angela oliverio @oliverio.bsky.social · 31/10/2023our lab group decided to go super scary this year for halloween... 😱😱😱 coding error messages we've had recently 😱😱😱 @rmshepherd.bsky.social @nimshika.bsky.social @hbrappap.bsky.social 3215