Nels Elde

Davis Summer Population Genomics Program Want to learn population genetics? Please fill out this form to indicate your potential interest in a 2-week intensive online summer population genetics course taught by Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra and Graham...

Fun news! @gcbias.bsky.social and I are teaching a 2-week online population genetics workshop this summer to raise money for the Center for Population Biology at UC Davis. We're trying to gauge interest -- please fill this out if you might be interested! And please share broadly!

Freeman Hrabowski III, the President Emeritus from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, giving a TED talk.

This is a powerful message from Freeman Hrabowski.

🧵

1/12

Jessie Diggins, Olympic cross-country skiing gold medalist, from the Twin Cities: “I want to make sure you know who I’m racing for…”

can’t not hear and see:

Here is the official announcement. Now more than ever, acknowledging the contributions of immigrants is so important. Thank you @vilcekfoundation.bsky.social, and congrats to my fellow awardees. Can't wait to meet you all.

The federal career civil service workers are under tremendous pressure and wake up every day and work hard to help improve other people’s lives. They represent the best of America and we as country need to rebuild, empower, and elevate the federal career civil service workforce. I believe we will.

I have been watching this Livestream.

Lots of interesting topics with loads of misinformation, poor policy development, and evidence of selection bias.

Here is a minor, insignificant point that still drove me nuts.

1/14

NIH Unified Funding Strategy Objective peer review, and HHS- and NIH- specific priorities, and a standardized, transparent process for incorporating NIAID-specific priorities will guide funding selections.

New NIH funding strategy has been formalized.

I really do hope scientists understand what this means for the future of science (funding) - it's not subtle.

www.niaid.nih.gov/about/unifie...

every time i see a white guy in their fifties radicalized by the twitter algorithm into racism and extremism i think about how it's a total failure of the youtube algorithm to instead radicalize him into home brewing, elaborate A/V setups, or DIY solar

Fantastic opportunity - Mari is an exceptional scientist and person and was an outstanding pillar of our lab!

I'm hearing from multiple people that students who submitted ecology GRFP proposals are having those proposals rejected without review, despite ecology being listed as an eligible field. If this is a programmatic change, this is devastating. Ecology is the study of Earth's life support systems.

Registration is open for the inaugural GRC conference in the Function of Evolving Systems. Aug 9-14, 2026, Waterville Valley. Truly stellar speaker lineup. Student/postdoc fellowships are available! Please come join us! www.grc.org/function-of-... @joybergelson.bsky.social

Uppsala in late autumn

Join us at the Evolutionary Biology Centre at Uppsala University. We’re searching for an Assistant Professor in Biology. www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...

UI researcher loses grant funding amid NIH shakeup - The Daily Illini A University influenza research lab lost its NIH funding after shifting federal rules on gain-of-function studies.

“What she told me is that (the grant) was terminated for violating guidelines that don’t exist...She told me she doesn’t even know if anyone’s working on developing the guidelines.” dailyillini.com/news-stories...

#governmentefficiency

U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies

U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s over last year www.science.org/content/arti... #jobs #STEM #science #research

Hey @leahgreenberg.bsky.social and I are both Carleton grads and this fucking rocks - love to see a college protect its students from the goons instead of cutting deals with the regime.

Minnesota National Guard members have arrived at a federal building and were directed to distribute donuts, coffee, and hot chocolate to anti-ICE protesters. Guard members were issued reflective vests so they would not be mistaken for federal agents.

"They say they're coming to save us from some evil? They're talking about our neighbors who take care of us ... Alex was murdered while he was helping. Mr Rogers said look for the helpers, & right now the helpers have a target on our forehead ... Mr Rogers would be here right now too, so I'm here."

Here's a time-lapse from yesterday as thousands of people marched through downtown Minneapolis to protest ICE.

📷️: Sydney Lewis/The Minnesota Star Tribune

Exclusive: key NIH review panels due to lose all members by the end of 2026 Thirteen of the agency’s advisory councils, which must review grant applications before funding is awarded, are on track to have no voting members.

🚨 New from me: Grant review at more than half of NIH's institutes could be frozen by the end of the year.

That's because crucial NIH grant-review panels are slated to be empty at those institutes by Jan 2027.

A wonky bureaucratic problem with big implications.

A short 🧵

Jack Smith: "My fear is that we have seen the rule of law function in our country for so long that many of us have come to take it for granted. The rule of law is not self-executing. It depends on our collective commitment to apply it."

My specific experience is with NIH, but I’ll stand up and say it:

The people who work at NIH are together one of the great wonders of the world. US biomedical science, cancer cures, dementia research all are built on their talent and dedication.

Getting asked about how academics can continue to do science & inspire trainees even in the midst of a continued (escalated) assault on science, reason, truth, & human rights. I don’t have great answers.

I would love to hear from mentors about advice they’re giving to trainees/ colleagues.

Opinion | They Were Ordinary Germans. We Are Ordinary Americans.

Powerful.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/o...

a close up of a brown surface with a few spots ALT: a close up of a brown surface with a few spots

The appropriations bill that includes NIH is being finalized.

The Senate bill includes a bipartisan amendment from Senators Capito (WV) and Baldwin (WI) limiting multi-year funding of grants.

The House version does not and OMB has issued a veto threat if the House includes such language.

1/3

Hi folks, I'm seeing a lot of "Eyes on Minneapolis" & "We support Minnesota" sentiment. Here's a tangible way you can help:

Trump just suspended federal funding for SNAP benefits to Minnesota. Second Harvest Heartland is an MN-based hunger-relief org.

Please donate what you can.

www.2harvest.org

State sees massive surge in measles outbreak with 124 cases reported since Friday The South Carolina outbreak, centred in Spartanburg County, has now recorded 434 cases as of Tuesday

www.independent.co.uk/news/measles...

It would take a two-word amendment to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to subject ICE agents and other federal law enforcement officers to the same liability for constitutional violations that local and state officers currently face.

If Congress actually cared about what it's seeing, it could pass that overnight.

NHLBI Institute Update Effective Jan. 31, 2026, Gary H. Gibbons, M.D., director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is

And then there were none. Latest in the purge of NIH institute directors by Matthew Memoli and Jay Bhattacharya. @maxkozlov.bsky.social @ddiamond.bsky.social @apoorvanyt.bsky.social www.nhlbi.nih.gov/news/2026/nh...

This is the kind of shit I like about America