iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 16/09/2026

Authors!🚨 While you scramble for scarce $ 🤔 “Springer Nature reports revenue growth of 6.2%..and adjusted operating profit growth of 7.7%. They reported even more stunning submission growth of 30% and published article growth of 13%.” Publishing in society journals helps YOU not them👇🏻. Pass it on.

static.klipy.com

Man Lying on a Pile of Money

ALT: Man Lying on a Pile of Money

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Tom Turner @tomturner.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Thanks to the good people of iNaturalist, I can report that this is probably Protocystis, a member of the Challengeridae. www.inaturalist.org/observations...

inaturalist.org

Genus Protocystis

Protocystis on April 23, 2026 at 12:48 PM by Tom Turner. Found inside a sponge (Poecillastra sp.; the rest of the things in the images are sponge spicules...

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Ellen O. Martinson @waspvenom.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

The Martinson lab is looking for new PhD students! We have so much cool data and need help making sense of it all! If interested please contact me!

Flyer for position in Plant Genome Manipulation by Insects "We are looking for new members of our team to work on the molecular mechanisms behind gall induction. A gall is an abnormal growth on a plant that is induced by another organism (i.e., bacteria, fungi, mites, insects). Insect-induced galls are the most complex type, creating structures and pigments not seen in the normal development of the host plant. The insect evades host defenses and co-opts control of plant development redirecting resources away from the plant to create a structure comprised of multiple tissues that both provide nutrition to the insect’s offspring as well as protects them from harm. While some progress has been made in individual systems, we still do not understand how any insect induces a gall to form or whether the mechanisms behind this complex manipulation are conserved across galling species. The Martinson lab works in three independent galling systems to try to understand molecular toolkit used to hijack plant development is shared across distantly related gall-inducing insects or whether each lineage has evolved its own unique suite of effectors and signaling strategies. " If interested email emartinson@unm.edu.

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Tom Turner @tomturner.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

That is weird and concerning, but looking at the paper did make me feel better, since men and women were equally likely to agree to review for a female editor, and men were more likely to agree to review overall. Still not great, but not as bad as first assumptions might be.

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Cawa Tran, PhD @cawatran.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

The Dept. of Biology at the University of San Diego seeks two tenure-track assistant professors for Fall 2027, with experience in cell biology and/or organismal biology (both broadly defined) & strong interest in undergraduate-research mentoring. Please repost! jobs.sandiego.edu/cw/en-us/job...

jobs.sandiego.edu

Details - Assistant Professor, Biology

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Matt Bertone @bertonemyia.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

That's not excessive. THIS is excessive:

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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

PSA: @adambonica.bsky.social is a badass. So impressed with his piece on spam PACs targeting seniors. The Democratic party needs to get on top of this. Follow and subscribe to his substack! data4democracy.substack.com/p/hook-and-s...

data4democracy.substack.com

Hook and Squeeze

How Democratic consultants, committees, and party leaders built a fundraising spam pipeline that funnels money from a captive pool of elderly donors into their own operations.

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Noah Whiteman @nkwhiteman.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

I’m thrilled to share that our search for a tenure-track colleague in my *truly wonderful and collegial* Genetics, Genomics, Evolution and Development Division in the MCB Department at Berkeley @berkeleymcb.bsky.social is live! Please share this broad search widely: aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05481

aprecruit.berkeley.edu

Assistant Professor -Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development - Molecular and Cell Biology

University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!

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Mark Phillips @maphillips.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Oregon State University's Department of Integrative Biology is currently hiring up to three tenure-track faculty members, with an emphasis on organismal biology. Note: Previous links are no longer active due to a change in our hiring system. oregonstate.wd501.myworkdayjobs.com/OSU_Careers_...

oregonstate.wd501.myworkdayjobs.com

Assistant Professor

Department: Special Instructions to Applicants: To ensure full consideration, applications must be received by 10/1/26. Applications will continue to be accepted after the full consideration date, unt...

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Tom Turner @tomturner.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Many thanks to the Ocean Census and the Nippon Foundation for supporting our work!

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Tom Turner @tomturner.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

I've seen a bleeding-heart aracari, but this is a Shotgun-blasted Aracari

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Tom Turner @tomturner.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

I'm glad I did the puzzle before looking at Bluesky. Uncool of you to spoil it for many today.

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Dr. Elizabeth Santos @lizmillermacroevo.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

I am recruiting Ph.D. students this cycle. Students interested in deep-sea fishes and phylogenetic comparative methods are an especially good fit.

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Bill McKibben @billmckibben.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Well, Chevron has figured out their candidate. Always helpful to know who Big Oil is rooting for. As for me, I think Tom Steyer will take on the oil and utility industries, and save Californians a bundle. Which is why those industries hate him.

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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

If you live in California like me, it's election season. I'm voting for 3 climate champions: Tom Steyer for Governor, Josh Fryday for Lt. Governor and Ben Allen for Insurance Commissioner. Get out there and vote!

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Tom Turner @tomturner.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Any guesses who made this shell? I found a couple of them in a deep-water sponge from Alaska. @elizabethbeston.bsky.social

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Tom Turner @tomturner.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

It is probably either Antho lithophoenix or Dragmacidon mexicanum. Good chance neither are in your old guides.

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Bye, Country Joe! Unfortunately, your song remains relevant as the President discusses bringing back the draft. And it's one, two, three, What are we fighting for ? Don't ask me, I don't give a damn, Next stop is in Iran.

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

NSF Update (Awards through 2/27/26) Directorates to follow 1/10

A line graph showing NSF grant awards made through 2/27/26 for fiscal year 2026 compared with grant awards for fiscal years 2021-2025.

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Mia Levine @levine-lab.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

So excited to share this manuscript led by the inimitable Cara Brand, who discovered that Topoisomerase II evolution causes hybrid female lethality in Drosophila. Congrats to Cara, @nickbr0wn.bsky.social, Anirban, and @buszczaklab.bsky.social! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

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Tom Turner @tomturner.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Oh, I taught the same topic at UCSB today. It was quite stormy, and only 10% of the class chose to attend in person, so I missed most of the confused frowns.

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Roy Zang @cellulo-evo.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

How do #sponges coordinate their bodies despite lacking neurons and true muscles? We show that sponges use monoamines to control water flow in their canals — reminiscent of how adrenaline regulates blood vessels. My PhD story, now on BioRxiv: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... #Evolution

Evolution of monoamine reception and its role in cellular contractility.

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Minnesota Star Tribune @startribune.com · 30/01/2026

Thousands of people filled the streets of downtown Minneapolis in protest of federal immigration enforcement for the second consecutive Friday. 📷️: Aaron Lavinsky

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Dan Warren @danlwarren.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Back from holiday and it's finally time to post about this. I am taking on a section editor role for the new diamond open access journal Biogeography, put together by @biogeographyjfab.bsky.social. That means that it's free to publish and free to read. (thread) biog.journals.sup.org/index.php/bi...

biog.journals.sup.org

Biogeography

Biogeography is an academic-owned, diamond Open Access journal, published by the academic, non-profit, Stanford University Press (SUP), using the Public Knowledge Project’s Open Journal Systems platfo...

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Paco Cardenas @paccardenas.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

Some baby sponges grow inside their mothers, and little baby sponges are later released. This is the case in deep-sea golf ball sponges (genus Craniella). Want to know more? Read our new article 🙂 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

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Holly Moeller @mixotrophe.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

📣We're Hiring!📣 Come join us as a marine micro lab tech in sunny Santa Barbara! A great position for a 2-year post-bacc or starting point for a long-term technician position. Apply by 9 October for full consideration, and please share widely! careerspub.universityofcalifornia.edu/psp/ucsb/EMP...

careerspub.universityofcalifornia.edu

An error has occurred.

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Tom Turner @tomturner.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

Thanks to @joanaxavier.bsky.social, Javier Cristobo, and everyone else for a lovely 12th International Sponge Conference in Vila do Conde, Portugal. @wscommunity.bsky.social

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Dr. Princess Vimentin PhD | Cancer Biologist @princess-vimentin.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Yet another study (Danish) has found no association between aluminum in childhood vaccines & 50 different health conditions, including autism, asthma & autoimmune diseases. In this study, they tracked 1 million kids over 21 years. 🧪🔗 en.ssi.dk/news/news/20...

en.ssi.dk

Large Danish Study: No link between vaccines and autism or 49 other health conditions

A new Danish study finds no association between aluminum in childhood vaccines and 50 different health conditions, including autism, asthma, and autoimmune diseases. The findings reaffirm the safety o...

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Matt Bracken @brackenlab.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

“Fulfilling Koch’s postulates, V. pectenicida strain FHCF-3, cultured from the coelomic fluid of a diseased sunflower sea star, caused disease and mortality in exposed sunflower sea stars, demonstrating that it is a causative agent of SSWD” (www.nature.com/articles/s41...) 🦑🌊🧪 #MarineLife

nature.com

Vibrio pectenicida strain FHCF-3 is a causative agent of sea star wasting disease - Nature Ecology & Evolution

The causative agent of sea star wasting disease has been elusive. This study used genetic datasets and experimental exposures to demonstrate that a strain of the bacterium Vibrio pectenicida caused di...

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Tom Turner @tomturner.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

We named the sponge Halicnemia weltoni after him in this paper. www.mapress.com/zt/article/v...

mapress.com

The order Axinellida (Porifera: Demospongiae) in California | Zootaxa

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Tom Turner @tomturner.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Welton took the lead on producing a key to the sponges of California, which required a monumental effort due to the state of the literature at the time. I wouldn't have started working on sponges if this key didn't exist, so we are very directly building on his work.

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Chris Mah @echinoblog.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

While it is still #spongethursday, it is w/sadness that I note that the sponge taxonomist, Dr. Welton Lee who famous described the carnivorous "harp sponge" in 2012 w/ @mbarinews.bsky.social & a host of co-authors passed away earlier this year in March. A good man and apparently QUITE the violinist!

A young man in a tuxedo holding a violin

4 lobed harp or candelabra shaped sponge with balls along the top that are used to feed on prey

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

So this morning, as I sip my coffee and get ready for a day of meetings, I'll be thinking of Will, who was moved to ICE detention in South Texas on Tuesday morning. I can't imagine what's going through his mind, the anxiety & fear. Fear of losing the only home he's ever known.

abcnews.go.com

Korean PhD student detained in California despite green card, lawyer says

A green card holder from South Korea who has lived in the United States since the age of five was taken into government custody by immigration authorities.

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Jesús Martínez-Gómez @jesusgm.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

A little belated but I've started a faculty position at Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology department at @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social. I'm absolutely stoked! I'll be recruiting at all levels and will be at #Botany2025 Reach out! www.martinezgomezlab.com

Tom Turner @tomturner.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

I saw lots of good echinoderms in Juneau, too. www.inaturalist.org/observations..., www.inaturalist.org/observations...

inaturalist.org

Blood Stars (Genus Henricia)

Blood Stars from Bird Island, Juneau, AK, USA on June 27, 2025 at 02:40 PM by Tom Turner

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Cara Giovanetti @idontevencara.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

They all find savings associated with turning up or off your A/C while you're out. Air conditioning accounts for 19% of energy consumption in US homes! Any little bit you can do to reduce your A/C usage can save you money on your energy bills and fight climate change. 9/9

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Daniel Swain @weatherwest.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

This shouldn't even be a particularly "hot" take in the sense that it's objectively & quantitatively correct! In formal studies on return on investment for federally funded research at universities, the enormous value is very clear. It is even (dare I say it?) a very *efficient* public expenditure.

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Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

He resolved that he would not stop either, even though it was a huge sacrifice on his part. I believe this is what we owe our trainees: so long as they are invested in their work, we must be as well, even if it seems like the world is on fire around us, both literally and figuratively. 10/

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Graham Coop @gcbias.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

Done. Please comment, click on public comments on left bar. Suggestions in thread. bsky.app/profile/free...

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Chris Mah @echinoblog.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

OOF! @Pacificklaus captures this video of a CRAB occupying this urchin's ANAL BULB! youtu.be/yyGMrOXNn5Y?...

youtu.be

The Special Sea Urchin Crab

YouTube video by Pacificklaus

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Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

In addition to the terminations of existing awards, new NSF grants are still stopped completely since DOGE was granted access to systems a week ago. Last Thursday, an agency spokesperson said "NSF continues to issue awards." That does not appear to be the case.

Graph of NSF awards. Compares April 2024 to April 2025, which levels off.

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