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Laura Lagomarsino, PhD

@tropicalbotany.bsky.social
3K followers 1.1K following 676 posts

Botanist. Evolutionary biologist. Associate Professor and Herbarium Director, LSU 🐯. Passionate about plants 🌺, inclusive mentoring 👩‍🏫, and wooden jigsaw puzzles 🧩. Really into my doggo 🦮🌶️. Fulbright US Scholar 🇨🇴. www.lagolab.net

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Reposted by Laura Lagomarsino, PhD
Michael Hickerson @hickerlab.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
How much of the tree of life did you eat? Phylodiet scores a meal by phylogenetic diversity: type what you ate and it builds the dated tree of the organisms in it, from ~3,300 edible eukaryotes, back 2 billion years. Last night's dinner, below. 🧵 mjhickerson.github.io/phylodiet/app/phylodiet.html
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Laura Lagomarsino, PhD @tropicalbotany.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I have so much work to catch up on tonight, but The Algorithm started feeding me videos of cute pets in silly poses interpreted as Croissant, Shrimp, Baguette, Loaf, and Bun accompanied by a silly song, and I am feeling a deep urge to binge those videos. Must resist for at least two more tasks...
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Reposted by Laura Lagomarsino, PhD
Prosanta Chakrabarty @prosanta.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Exciting news! We here at the LSU Museum of Natural Science @lsumns.bsky.social and Dept. of Biological Sciences are looking for Curator and Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Paleobiology! Come work with us! We are fun, supportive and active! lsu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/LSU/jo...
lsu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
Assistant Professor
All Job Postings will close at 12:01a.m. CST (1:01a.m. EST) on the specified Closing Date (if designated). If you close the browser or exit your application prior to submitting, the application progre...
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Laura Lagomarsino, PhD @tropicalbotany.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I’m off to Bogotá 🇨🇴 for 2 months for the first of 3 visits that will form my Fulbright fellowship, so my lab had a “despedida” happy hour yesterday, before I disappear for most of the rest of the semester. The #LagoLab is currently small, but mighty- and they will be totally fine without me!
Four people smile for the camera on a rooftop bar with live oak canopies in the background.
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Reposted by Laura Lagomarsino, PhD
Boas Pucker @bpucker.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Excited to share our new paper is out in TPJ! 🌱 "Out of the blue: family-wide loss of anthocyanin biosynthesis in Cucurbitaceae" We explore the anthocyanin biosynthesis gene loss through comparative genomics: doi.org/10.1111/tpj.... @nancy-choudhary.bsky.social @puckerlab.bsky.social #Evolution
Synteny analysis supports the loss of crucial genes in the anthocyanin biosynthesis across Cucurbitaceae. Details and figure reference: https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.71136
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Laura Lagomarsino, PhD @tropicalbotany.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Just got of my first Very Formal committee meetings in Spanish, and despite speaking a whole lot of Spanish in my personal and professional lives and considering myself fluent, I present my current mood:
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Reposted by Laura Lagomarsino, PhD
Ainsley S @americanbeetles.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
this one's for the botanists
poster for the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical "South Pacific" except it's three genera of spiky plants in the subfamily Madiinae
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Laura Lagomarsino, PhD @tropicalbotany.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Mi corazón está con Villa de Leyva, y las colecciones biológicas nacionales de Colombia allá ❤️ www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/202...
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Reposted by Laura Lagomarsino, PhD
Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
All this is spelled out in the paper itself:
cell.com
Phylogenomics and museomics reveal five distinct species of tiger cats in South America
Lescroart, Nogales-Ascarrunz, et al. demonstrate that the contentious tiger cat species complex consists of five cryptic species. Based on analyses of 38 whole genomes from the Neotropical cat genus L...
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Reposted by Laura Lagomarsino, PhD
Megan Smith @snaildit.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
My lab is hiring a postdoc for an NSF-funded project on machine learning, model misspecification, and population genetics! Flexible start-date! Learn more about the lab: smithlabbio.github.io Job Ad: explore.msujobs.msstate.edu/cw/en-us/job... Please reach out if you have any questions!
smithlabbio.github.io
The Smith Lab — Mississippi State University
The Smith Lab at Mississippi State University studies diversification using genomic data, with a focus on terrestrial snails and slugs.
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Reposted by Laura Lagomarsino, PhD
Kelly Zamudio @kzutaustin.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Plant Colleagues! Open job for Director of the Billie L. Turner Plant Resources Center (PRC) at UT Austin. A great job for anyone addressing fundamental questions in evolution of plants and a commitment to herbarium administration and/or collections-based research. apply.interfolio.com/193263
a field of blooming bluebonnets, the state flower of Texas.
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Reposted by Laura Lagomarsino, PhD
Prosanta Chakrabarty @prosanta.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Awesome news - for now.
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Laura Lagomarsino, PhD @tropicalbotany.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I’m planning an October trip to Chile for the superbloom in the Atacama desert, and am so excited that I can throw in a day trip to the top of Andes (3700m) to see up to three species of flamingo!! I did not realize two of my bucket list items existed in such proximity 😍🦩🌺🏔️!!
static.klipy.com
Pink Flamingo Flock in Water
ALT: Pink Flamingo Flock in Water
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Reposted by Laura Lagomarsino, PhD
Dr. Brendan Anderson @fossilsndcoffee.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
500k plants, ok, then 6 million fish. Important, sure but that's one uni making a bad choice. Then 7 million fossils and modern mollusks (PRI), 19 million specimens at ANSP, soon we're talking big data right? specimens you can hold in your hand are real data www.atlasobscura.com/articles/nat...
atlasobscura.com
It's Hard to Be a Natural History Museum in the 21st Century
As belts tighten, rich collections of plant and animal specimens face relegation, dissolution, or worse.
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Reposted by Laura Lagomarsino, PhD
Society for the Study of Evolution @sse-evolution.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Applications are now open for the International Travel Stipends to attend #Evol2027! Funds cover registration, travel, meals, and lodging. The application deadline is earlier this year: November 1st! www.evolutionsociety.org/content/soci... @evolmtg.bsky.social
The San Juan coastline. Text: Evolution 2027, San Juan, Puerto Rico, June 25-29. Society for the Study of Evolution International Travel Stipends, Deadline: November 1.
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Reposted by Laura Lagomarsino, PhD
David Maddison @bembidion.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
The Tree of Life Web Project is back online! tolweb.org Thanks to Travis Wheeler (@wheelerlab.org), Danny Mandel, and Andrew Lenards, the original programmers for ToLWeb, for retooling the code to work on a modern OS! It is hard for me to believe it lives again.
tolweb.org
Tree of Life Web Project
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John Stinchcombe @johnstinchcombe.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
This is a "least bad" outcome of a self-inflicted problem from Duke University. Is it better than the collection being atomized and shipped all over the place? Yes. Is it a travesty that one of the world's wealthiest private Universities divested from their herbarium? Definitely yes.
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German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) @plantsciencedbg.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Laura Lagomarsino @tropicalbotany.bsky.social (Louisiana State University, USA): A Clade's Eye View of Plant #Evolution in the Andes 5/9
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Laura Lagomarsino, PhD @tropicalbotany.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Look, y'all— this is not the worst outcome, but it's also not great. Framing this as gaining a notably large herbarium is spin; the reality is a historic, important herbarium has lost its identity. The specimens were never going to be trashed; Duke still voluntarily truncated their botanical legacy.
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Celeste Labedz @celestelabedz.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
"Creating the third-largest university plant collection" may seem celebratory, but remember: this is happening because Duke administration decided to axe the herbarium as a cost-cutting measure. Natural history collections are a precious scientific resource, and too many are at risk of being lost.
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Reposted by Laura Lagomarsino, PhD
Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
NSF just announced its GRFP solicitation due in October - deadline varies by field: www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo... Now for the bad news... * NSF estimates they will issue 1,500 awards, down from 2,500+ last year. * NSF removed STEM Education and Learning Research as a Major Field.
nsf.gov
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)
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Andrew Hipp @andrewlhipp.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
new position at @morrisarboretum.bsky.social, endowed Molecular Ecologist. check it out: wd1.myworkdaysite.com/en-US/recrui...
wd1.myworkdaysite.com
John Otto Haas Molecular Ecologist; Morris Arboretum & Gardens
University Overview The University of Pennsylvania, the largest private employer in Philadelphia, is a world-renowned leader in education, research, and innovation. This historic, Ivy League school co...
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Reposted by Laura Lagomarsino, PhD
Michelle Facette @mfacette.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
UMass Amherst Dept of Biology is hiring a TT faculty member in Evolutionary Biology! careers.umass.edu/jobs/assista... We have a diverse and wonderful dept - please consider joining us!
careers.umass.edu
Assistant Professor - Evolutionary Biology - Amherst, Massachusetts, United States
Title: Assistant Professor - Evolutionary Biology Executive Area: Academic Affairs College/School/MBU: College of Natural Sciences Department: Biology Work Location: Amherst Schedule: Full Time Work A...
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Reposted by Laura Lagomarsino, PhD
Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Hey folks, this hasn’t gotten much attention, but remember those proposed OMB rule changes we all commented on recently? There’s a new attempt to sneak them just for NSF. We have three days to comment. Please don’t sleep on this!
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Laura Lagomarsino, PhD @tropicalbotany.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Member of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy (or would like to be) and have awesome plant photos to share? Submit them to our annual photo contest!! www.iaptglobal.org/photo-contes...
iaptglobal.org
Photo contest
Each year, IAPT will run a competition, seeking the world's best pictures of plants, algae and fungi, of people doing taxonomy and systematics, and of the great places where many of us do field work. ...
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Reposted by Laura Lagomarsino, PhD
Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
University professors generally do not make very much relative to our training levels. Most of us, especially in STEM, could make a lot more in industry (and deal with a lot less bureaucracy). Grant money mostly goes to paying students, postdocs, and staff, and is heavily vetted and scrutinized.
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Reposted by Laura Lagomarsino, PhD
Elizabeth Hobson @elizabethhobson.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Are you (or do you know someone) recently graduated from undergrad looking to beef up your skills and experience prior to starting grad school/career? Do you like social drama and parakeets? Come join my team! I'm looking for two people to start very soon!! tinyurl.com/59rf8jcy
Graphical ad for Hobson Lab Parakeet sociality & cognition Postbac Research Technician, with a graphic showing a flock of monk parakeets flying towards a social network, two unmarked monk parakeets perched, and examples of our individually color-marked birds showing their dye marks and color codes
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Laura Lagomarsino, PhD @tropicalbotany.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
It’s very telling of the moment we are in that my incoming grad student won’t be taking one, but TWO, seminars about AI in research this semester.
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Reposted by Laura Lagomarsino, PhD
Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
A site created by his former students
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DrArchivalGenomics @ehekkala.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
😡👇🧪🦠🧬🌏👩‍🔬#WomenInSTEM but we knew that already..
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Reposted by Laura Lagomarsino, PhD
Josef Uyeda @pseudacris.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Really nice article laying out the semantics of sex/sexes that causes persistent confusion and arguing in our community. It lays out the undisputed patterns in biology and makes clear any "lack of consensus" on sex/sexes is arguing across different levels. academic.oup.com/icb/article/...
academic.oup.com
Evolution, Development, and the Incoherence of Sex: A Framework for Multiple Sex Concepts
Synopsis. The word sex can refer to at least seven distinct, evolutionarily related biological phenomena (0–6 below). Bacteria and archaea use mechanisms f
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Reposted by Laura Lagomarsino, PhD
c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
You're looking at a long-nosed potoroo (Potorous tridactylus) Well, TWO, actually. These odd-looking animals native to Australia are in a group called "rat-kangaroos". They're also mighty 'truffle'-hunters. Let's talk about their neat relationship with subterranean FUNGUS.
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Campbell Hauschild @ca-haus.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Had the privilege of attending #Botany2026 last week to present the last of my work with Mentzelia! Got to connect with current and former members of the #LagoLab, as well as some old friends from OU! So excited to be joining such an outstanding community of researchers at LSU!! #plantpeopleFTW
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Reposted by Laura Lagomarsino, PhD
Albert Ruhí @albertruhi.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
We're hiring an ecologist at UC Berkeley! The Dept. of Integrative Biology is hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Ecology. Plants/algae, invertebrates, microbes, or marine systems a priority. Come join us!! Apply by Oct 5, 2026. aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05489 PS: Please share!
aprecruit.berkeley.edu
Assistant Professor –Ecology- Integrative Biology
University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!
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Leonie Moyle @speciationlab.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Interested in genetics, diversification, and speciation? We're hiring a Research Associate to help with our projects, including the convergent evolution of fruit color. Come and work with us! Feel free to contact me with questions. (Reposts appreciated!) Link: indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/33973
a matrix of 6 different Solanum (wild tomato) species with six different fruit colors, ranging from white to bright red.
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Science Magazine @science.org · 06/08/2026
Like most insects, the wings of tobacco hawk moths are covered in tiny hairs. But the tobacco hawk moth’s wing hairs do something researchers haven’t documented in any other insect: they help the animal smell. Learn more: scim.ag/4fLx1Mk
These moths smell with their wings
Never-before-seen ability may allow the insects to home in on their favorite plants
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Laura Lagomarsino, PhD @tropicalbotany.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
I’m so proud of @laufran.bsky.social for the #botany2026 Cooley Award from @amsocplanttaxon.bsky.social for work that began as an undergrad in the #LagoLab and continued as a collab during her PhD. She showed that introgression influenced trait evolution in my fave clade, Neotropical bellflowers.
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Ana Bedoya @botana-bedoya.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
If you are planning for #Botany2027 and did or did not attend #Botany2026, fill out this form if you need childcare!! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... please!! This year there was no childcare and the nursing room is more a custodian closet without a lock, AC, water/sink+light goes off very 5 mins
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Ana Bedoya @botana-bedoya.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Hey #Botany2026, mark your schedule for an amazing talk by Kelly González, postdoc in my research group on ecological niche modeling and whether riverweeds (Podostemaceae) care for anything other than river rapids!! Tomorrow at 2:15 pm at San Luis 1
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Molly Edwards, PhD @science-irl.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Hey #Botany2026! I'll be presenting a new video series in the Education & Outreach session that might be of interest to the herbarium crowd 👀🌿 Come by San Luis 2 at 11:45!
The title slide of Molly's Botany 2026 presentation. It is black with white text. The title at the top says "Hello from the Herbarium: a new social media series from Science IRL." Below that are 4 screenshots from the series featuring Molly with guest botanists in different herbaria. Below that, the text says "Molly B. Edwards, @science_irl"
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Elizabeth McCarthy @emccnicotiana.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Hey Botany! Come see my talk investigating whether polyploids have different patterns of flower evolution than diploids on Weds at 8:15am in San Xavier. Over 100 undergrads participated in this research! :) #PUIFTW #Botany2026 #PlantPeopleFTW
Slide screenshot with the text below and many front facing flower photos on a black background showing Nicotiana flowers with varying shape and color. Text: Patterns of flower evolution different in Nicotiana section Suaveolentes allopolyploids compared to those observed in Nicotiana diploids--Elizabeth McCarthy1, Marissa Mc Lean1, Kendra Muscato1, Francesca Gambale1, Erin Hamm1, Kaylee Hughen1, Kylie Nolan1, Colin Woodruff1, Jacob Landis2, Mark Chase3, Corinne Mhiri4, Marie-Angèle Grandbastien4, Douglas Soltis5, and Pamela Soltis5--1SUNY Cortland, USA, 2Cornell University, USA, 3Curtin University, Australia, 4INRAE, France, 5University of Florida, USA
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Patrick McKenzie @patrickmckenzie.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Major #Botany2026 FOMO, but the drive MA->OR starts this week. So, sharing from afar: I’m recruiting grad students for my new lab at OSU! Info: www.mckenzie-lab.org . We're going to have FUN with systematics, speciation genomics, methods, natural history, and more in North Am angiosperms. Reach out!
lab logo with a cartoon of white-flowering beebalm and the following text: "McKenzie Lab, Plant Evolution, Oregon State"
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Laura Lagomarsino, PhD @tropicalbotany.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Better late than never to compile the #botany2026 talks from research done in the #LagoLab! Check out talks by @laufran.bsky.social, Aislinn Mumford, and @evoyeyo.bsky.social tomorrow, and @laymonstera.bsky.social on Tuesday!
Poster with talks from the Lagomarsino Lab at LSU:

Lauren Frankel (former undergrad)
Introgression and trait evolution in the Neotropical bellflowers (Campanulaceae: Lobelioideae)
Monday at 8:45 in the Cooley Award Session 
Tucson C-D

Aislinn Mumford
Evolution of Color in Palicourea, a Genus of Neotropical Flowering Plants
Monday at 11:30 in Ecology I
San Pedro 2

Dr. Diego Paredes-Burneo (former PhD student)
Rapid Diversification and Phylogenomic Conflict Across the Tropical Andean Flora
Monday at 2:15 in the Cooley Award Session
Tucson C-D

Laymon Ball
Clarifying species boundaries in a Neotropical complex: Hillia subgenus Hillia (Rubiaceae)
Tuesday at 11:15 in Systematics & Taxonomy
San Ignacio

Each talk has an image of the speaker to the left and their study system to the right. It's purple and gold.
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Laura Lagomarsino, PhD @tropicalbotany.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
My heart is full— I’m so grateful to be part of these brilliant scientists’ journeys into full realization of their capacity and career goals. They’re also just a really fun hang and my favorite group of people, the hands down best part of my job. #LagoLab #botany2026
Seven people of many backgrounds stand smiling in front of a painting of Frida Kahlo with gerbers daisies.
We all look pretty cute in our first-day-of-conference chic.
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Laura Lagomarsino, PhD @tropicalbotany.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Just a little drink with #LagoLab alums @laymonstera.bsky.social and @evoyeyo.bsky.social to kick off #Botany2026
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Laura Lagomarsino, PhD @tropicalbotany.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
🌵Botanists🌺 on the move: make sure to say to our 🦜ornithologist🦩 friends on their way to #AOS2026 when you pass them in the airport in route to #Botany2026! (The Baton Rouge airport could have been a @lsumns.bsky.social seminar audience early this morning 😅.)
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Laura Lagomarsino, PhD @tropicalbotany.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Good news- the #LagoLab is at a steady state! Incoming grad student @ca-haus.bsky.social moved into Baton Rouge yesterday. He’ll be at #Botany2026 too! 🎉 Campbell will be the first grad student who doesn’t have any overlap with my first grad students. A true generational turnover 😭.
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Dr. Hilary Rose Dawson @hilaryrosed.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
I can't make it to #Botany2026 this year, but I don't want to miss out on all the cool plant science being presented. I've made a starter pack to follow along from home (and to find more great botanists to follow year-round). Reply here to be added! go.bsky.app/HdDpDrW
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Carrie M. Tribble, PhD @tribblelab.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Tribble Lab & University of Washington Herbarium crew at #Botany2026!
A grid of six portraits of researchers from the Tribble Lab, each with their name and presentation topics, with floral graphics above the title "TRIBBLE LAB."

Poster Session
Grand Ballroom
M 5:30–7:00 

Elizabeth Kenny
The morphology and systematics of Allium crenulatum (P254)

Emily Humphreys
Which came first? A modeling approach for examining the role of preadaptation in plant evolution onto harsh soils (P158)

Hayden Wright
The Columbia River Basin: an under-recognized hotspot for vascular plant endemism in central Washington State (P20)

Makoa de Almeida
Habitat heterogeneity and insularity affect fern reproduction strategies (P210)

Fanya Yuan
Investigating the optimal herbarium plant tissue storage protocol (P232)

Cooley Awards
M 8:45, Tucson C-D

Lauren Frankel
Introgression and trait evolution in the Neotropical bellflowers (Campanulaceae: Lobelioideae)

Macroevolution
W 9:30, San Xavier

Carrie Tribble
Umbels mediate faster diversification rates and radiation in a Neotropical radiation
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Laura Lagomarsino, PhD @tropicalbotany.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
After seven fun, productive years as a #LagoLab PhD student, @laymonstera.bsky.social is off to a postdoc Berkeley with Sarah Kocher. I’m going to miss her but she’s so ready for her career ahead!! (We’d all be crying in this goodbye photo if we weren’t going to see her on Sunday at #botany2026 😅)
Four woman and one very hot yellow lab smile at the camera.
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