J. Sebastian Tello

The cognitive dissonance of getting up every morning and making coffee and walking the dog and going to meetings and answering emails and wondering what to make for dinner while there is a real live actual coup d’etat happening is BONKERS

Laura showing what happens to tonic water under a black light - more magic from the fever tree

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Such a nice job by @tropicalbotany.bsky.social presenting this month’s #LSUsciencecafe it was a packed house and besides lots of cool facts about botanizing in the Andes, Laura made a compelling argument to #savetheNSF and reaching out to your representatives to stop this grant freeze

Join the Missouri Botanical Garden! If you are interested in conservation, restoration, or plant systematics in Latin America, this is a great opportunity to work at an institution driven by a passion for describing and conserving plants. One more week to apply!

jobs.dayforcehcm.com/en-US/mbg/CA...

The role of rivers in the origin and future of Amazonian biodiversity - Nature Reviews Biodiversity Amazonia features a highly biodiverse range of organisms and habitats. This Review explores the geological history and characteristics of Amazonian rivers and their role in shaping the biodiversity of...

New review: the role of rivers in the origin and future of Amazonian biodiversity www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Latin America in 2024: politics, turmoil and hope Throughout a year in which Latin America saw elections in six countries and prepared for the biodiversity COP16 in Colombia, the region continued its struggle with extreme weather events, criminal act...

In 2024, Latin America continued facing chronic issues of deforestation, ecosystem contamination, violence, habitat loss and political turmoil.

Read more on how the year has been for Latin America:

Amazon’s Boiling River gives scientists a window into the rainforest’s future “You’re engulfed in waves of steam and sweating buckets and there’s no cool water anywhere,” Kenneth Feeley, a professor at the University of Miami, tells Mongabay. He’s describing the Boiling River i...

Scientists studying Peru’s Boiling River found 11% fewer tree species for every 1°C (1.8°F) increase in temperature - hotter areas not only had fewer species overall but were dominated by heat-tolerant trees that typically grow in the warmest parts of South America.

Read more:

The costs of competition in distributing scarce research funds | PNAS Research funding systems fundamentally influence how science operates. This paper aims to analyze the allocation of competitive research funding fr...

Interesting read:
💰The high costs of peer review & grant writing
📊Bibliometrics as a partial alternative to peer review
🚀Exploring better ways to evaluate impact & fairness
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
#grantwriting #funding #science #peerreview #bibliometrics

This role offers an exciting opportunity to build on MBG's strengths and develop new initiatives to advance scientific knowledge and conservation in Latin America.

We’re looking for a dedicated researcher with expertise in plant biodiversity sciences—particularly plant systematics, conservation, or restoration ecology—to drive impactful research and conservation efforts in the region.

The Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG) is seeking a Scientist to join our Latin America Program!

The successful candidate will establish a collaborative research program, with a focus on the Tropical Andes or other regions where MBG is engaged.

Apply here: jobs.dayforcehcm.com/en-US/mbg/CA...

This is a groundbreaking initiative to expand plant knowledge, drive innovation on biodiversity research, and train the next generation of botanical experts! 🌟

This also is a major investment in the future of botany by training postdocs and dozens of young botanists in taxonomy and botanical curation. 🌱

Thousands of tropical tree species will be studied through hyperspectral data collection, unlocking new insights into plant traits and diversity. 🌳

This project will digitize over 6M herbarium specimens from around the world, creating a global resource for plant biodiversity research and conservation. 🌿

The Missouri Botanical Garden is launching a major initiative to revolutionize species identification! By combining data from our 8-million-specimen herbarium with AI tools, we aim to advance the study of plant biodiversity and provide unique insights for its conservation. 🌿

shorturl.at/tccro

We are excited to host Alejandro, Vanina, Yeison, Ana María, Ricardo, Juliene, Melisa, and Derek in 2025 and look forward to supporting many more future fellows in the years to come!

The International Fellowship Program was established to empower early-career scientists and practitioners. By providing access to MBG’s resources and fostering connections, the program supports fellows in advancing their careers while making meaningful contributions to their fields and communities.

We are delighted to announce the winners of the 2025 Missouri Botanical Garden International Fellowships! 🌿

This year, we proudly welcome eight exceptional fellows from five countries. Their selection reflects MBG’s ongoing commitment to advancing plant biodiversity and conservation research.

Fabien Condamine trying to make sense of the results of a large study on the evolution of the tropical plant family Annonaceae

Diversification of #Annonaceae. Unravelling the evolutionary history of this major tropical plant family using a near complete species level phylogeny. With ERC GLOBAL project postdoc Laura Holzmeyer & Fabien Condamine from CNRS.

Soil microbiomes show consistent and predictable responses to extreme events - Nature Soils from 30 grasslands across Europe were subjected to 4 contrasting extreme climatic events under drought, flood, freezing and heat conditions, with the results suggesting that soil microbiomes fro...

It’s out!! We subjected soils from 30 different locations across Europe to extreme events and found that soil fungal and bacterial communities showed consistent responses that could be predicted from their origin! With @knightjar.bsky.social and many collaborators!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Felicidades!! 🥳

Identifying Major Factors for Success and Failure of Conservation Programs in Europe - Environmental Management In Europe, various conservation programs adopted to maintain or restore biodiversity have experienced differing levels of success. However, a synthesis about major factors for success of biodiversity-...

Identifying Major Factors for Success & Failure of #Conservation Programs: #Natura2000, #WaterFrameworkDirective & #RewildingEurope 🌿 Challenges: #biodiversity damaging subsidies & conflicting policies; facilitators: outreach & stakeholder involvement -see our study
link.springer.com/article/10.1...