Silvia Coolen

Indeed

Incredible flower of my Stapelia hybrid carrion plant. Yes she stinks, but it is all woth it. #carrionflower #Stapelia #plant

Incredible to see the great camouflage of this shark moth (Cucullia umbratica). #insects #Entomology #moths

The Plant-Microbe Interactions group of @cornepieterse.bsky.social was well represented at #2025ISMPMI. Great to see all the interesting work that they do during one of the final presentations. @svanwees.bsky.social, @rlberendsen.bsky.social, @arsheed-sheikh.bsky.social #plantscience

Even the chairs at our hotel are really sciency #2025ISMPMI

The light, or the absence of light, in this room is terrible. I really struggled staying awake the last couple of days.

Last session of the day, starting at 21:00. Very long day at #2025ISMPMI.

A really nice insect talk by @nataliagupa.bsky.social. #2025ISMPMI

It was a pleasure to present our work on ‘the role of pest-associated microbes in insect-plant interactions’ at the #2025ISMPMI congress in Cologne. @mrogowska.bsky.social, @cuwelte.bsky.social, @robertsjansen.bsky.social, @guidopmi.bsky.social

Nice tags for different occasions during #2025ISMPMI

Nice and visual talk by Soyon Park about parasitic plant bidirectional communication with their host plant. #2025ISMPMI #parasiticplants #plantscience

Another rare animal living in our garden (Achterhoek, the Netherlands), the paper wasp Polistes nimpha. #paperwasp #wasps #entomology #biodiversity

Advert that reads: 13th Utrecht PhD Summer School​ ​ Environmental Signaling in Plants Utrecht University, Netherlands ​ August 24th-26th 2026 ​​​ Affiliated logos: SummerSchool Utrecht Universiteit Utrecht UU Plants Experimental Plant Sciences Graduate School of Life Sciences Photo of Utrecht cathedral (Dom) tower.

Save the date! The 2026 edition of UU Summer School in Environmental Signaling in Plants will be on 24th-26th August 2026!

@epsgraduateschool.bsky.social @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social

Really cool talk by Talia Karasov on how headless phages (tailocins) kill non-self bacteria, shaping bacterial populations. #2025MPMI #plantscience #microbiology #phages

Come and find me today at my #2025ISMPMI poster (nr 235) if you are interested in insect-associated microbes and their effect on insect-plant interactions. #plantscience #insectscience

Come and find me at my poster (Wed 13:30-15:15, P-235) or at my talk on “the role of pest-associated microbes in insect-plant interactions” (Wed 16:15, room P+Q). #2025MPMI #plantscience #insectscience

More light in this room would be great. Plants need light, but plant scientists too.

How the choice of words makes insect excrement research sound fancy “frassomics”. Finally an insect talk at #2025ISMPMI congress by Dapeng Li. #plantscience #insectscience

Amazing talk by Xin Li about Sclerotinia (plant pathogen) ascospores that have two nuclei to house their chromosomes. Also another plant pathogen, Botrytis, has multiple nuclei. I never realized this! Really cool to see how having two nuclei functions in mitosis and meiosis. #2025MPMI

Enjoying the evening with Translational Plant Biology colleagues at the Rhine river in Cologne after an inspiring day of #2025ISMPMI congress. #plantscience

Amazing to see so many (~1280) dedicated plant scientists following all the talks in an intense #2025ISMPMI program.

Really interesting talk by Macarena about how Pseudomonas can colonize root nodules and how it influences nitrogen fixation #2025ISMPMI

There we go, #2025ISMPMI congress on molecular plant-microbe interactions. #plantscience

On my way to #2025ISMPMI congress (Cologne, Germany) by train from Ruurlo the Netherlands. #plantscience

No better way for a biologist to start the summer holiday. Bought myself a new camera (Nikon Z8 + 105mm) and photograped the very rare thick-headed fly (Abrachyglossum capitatum) and the rare European treefrog (Hyla arborea) in my garden. #Nikon #biology #treefrog #diptera

Look at these beautiful box bug nymphs (Gonocerus acuteangulatus)! They look like small dragons with spikes on their backs. #insects #shieldbugs

Just love going out into the garden and explore nature….this is crown rust (Puccinia coronata), a pathogen to many oats, on its alternative host glossy buckthorn (Fangula alnus). Isn’t it beautiful? #phytopathology #plantpathogen #crownrust #Puccinia

Check out the #FEMSmicroBlog from Magda on our insect symbiont Sodalis nezarae, isolated from the Southern green schieldbug. #microbiology #entomology #symbiont #science @mrogowska.bsky.social
@cuwelte.bsky.social
@robertsjansen.bsky.social

Lecturer Silvia Coolen tracks down insects on weekends to keep her research going After spending some time working in industry, Silvia Coolen now teaches biology students in Utrecht, where she also studied and earned her PhD.

Recently I had an interview about my career track (phd, industry, postdoc, lecturer) with communications officer Niels Kesters of Utrecht University. The article is online now! www.uu.nl/en/news/lect... @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social #science #lecturer #symbiosis #entomology #plantbiology

Northern lights in the Netherlands right now. So beautiful! #aurora