Madison Plunkert (she/her)

New paper by former MSc student @christeinecke.bsky.social! ⭐ A behemoth effort to apply artificial selection on clonal reproduction in #Mimulus guttatus. We show that clonality evolves quickly, but not symmetrically in both directions, and multivariate life history traits are altered too! 🧪🌾

The new #NSF #GRFP application now excludes 1000’s of students, including those who were told they could apply this year, or who planned to apply next year.

We have a new specific petition urging #NSFGRFP undo this harmful action. If you are impacted sign here: laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/

Application review begins in one week for the MSU herbarium director position!!!! More info here: plantbiology.natsci.msu.edu/job-postings...

Late to the party, but I'm so excited about the first paper from our lab: ✨Unique genetic bases of repeated life-history divergence associated with high altitude adaptation in Mimulus perennials ✨

This work was led by the ABSOLUTE ROCKSTAR Hongfei Chen!

Please share — Michigan State Plant Biology is searching for an Herbarium Director! Tenure stream, open rank faculty position balancing research, teaching, service, and admin responsibilities. Join us! Reach out to me or @emjo.bsky.social with questions!

plantbiology.natsci.msu.edu/job-postings...

Flyer for the Lattes and Letters event showing a cup of coffee and the Statue of Liberty on a green background. Text reads: Learn how science helps you, one cup at a time. Take action now! Grab some coffee and chat about research funding with local scientists. Learn how to write a letter to your elected officials and we’ll send it off! August 16th, 2025 9:00am - 2:00pm Community Table at Hooked 3142 E. Michigan Ave. Lansing, MI 48912

Stop by the community table at Hooked in Lansing tomorrow to speak out for science funding! We'll be there from 9am-2pm.

I’m proud to present the main work from my postdoc, 3+ years in making from scratch, my ultimate #MimulusPropaganda up till now:

The Moment
That
Symmetry
Breaks.

#plantscience #development #imaging #microscopy 🧪🌸🔬
w. Captain Yaowu & @biancatash.bsky.social

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

We’re hiring for a major role in the US, an investigative journalist to cover what’s happening with science in the US and beyond. This is extremely important territory for us. 🧪

workforus.theguardian.com/jobs/795 The Guardian :: Senior Science Investigative Reporter

Coming up! Find an action near you www.goodtroubleliveson.org

Maybe staring with laser-like intensity will help the transformation work better

All Marylanders at risk with cuts to science funding | GUEST COMMENTARY Funding science is an investment in Maryland’s future, writes Madison Plunkert.

See my newest op-ed for the Baltimore Sun about how cuts to science funding harm Maryland. Now is the time to call your members of congress to protect the NIH and NSF! www.baltimoresun.com/2025/06/23/a...

Hi #evol2025, our paper came out yesterday and I'd love to chat about it. We used an underused tool for studying parasite local adaptation, the Host Reciprocal Transplant, to study switchgrass and its fungal rust.

doi.org/10.1111/nph....

Thanks to @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social for support with editing!

All Marylanders at risk with cuts to science funding | GUEST COMMENTARY Funding science is an investment in Maryland’s future, writes Madison Plunkert.

See my newest op-ed for the Baltimore Sun about how cuts to science funding harm Maryland. Now is the time to call your members of congress to protect the NIH and NSF! www.baltimoresun.com/2025/06/23/a...

My latest cover for @newyorker.com "On Parade"

Science is pure awesome. I hope we can all keep doing it.

Cuts have consequences, illustrated. As seen on TV 📺

On Friday, my son stayed home from school because he had a sore throat and wasn’t feeling well. He went with my husband to his office for the morning while I handled our daughter. When he came back at lunch, he was not interested in eating, saying his throat hurt too much. 1/n

🙏 We need your help 🙏

The government continues to cancel grants at both NIH and NSF to censor science it doesn't like.

We're tracking terminations to organize and advocate. Please report your terminated grants:

NIH:
forms.gle/J2znQ7y7YpeP...

NSF: airtable.com/appGKlSVeXni...

w/ @noamross.net

Rescinding the Definition of “Harm” Under the Endangered Species Act The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively referred to as the Services or we) are proposing to rescind the regulatory definition of "harm" ...

I found instructions for how to leave a public comment online, which didn't work for me, and a mailing address: www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

Gee... who'd a thought the racist guy who sunk the economy in his first term would do it again? Go figure.

You want our science? Then you get ALL of us. You need to stand up for ALL of our identities. When you don't, you give ammunition to the people who want us to disappear.

I've only grown it myself under 16 hour days, but my understanding is that continuous light is faster and the plants will be a bit less robust. I can't find where I read that but here's something: docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcont...

Viewpoint: Scientific research is not waste. Funding cuts will harm Michiganders, economy In 2024, over $1 billion in NIH funding went to Michigan, supporting $2.57 billion in economic activity, according to United for Medical Research.

Science funding is not government waste - see my opinion piece in the Lansing State Journal about why cuts to science funding are bad for Michigan. @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/opinio...

Viewpoint: Scientific research is not waste. Funding cuts will harm Michiganders, economy In 2024, over $1 billion in NIH funding went to Michigan, supporting $2.57 billion in economic activity, according to United for Medical Research.

Science funding is not government waste - see my opinion piece in the Lansing State Journal about why cuts to science funding are bad for Michigan. @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/opinio...

There are all sorts of wrong here. I want to point out one more. The US government makes promises. Recipients of funds expect promises to be honored. Without this surety, how do we plan, whether for USAID work, NIH grants, or ???

Reputation is a terrible thing to squander.

The Evolution of Locally Adaptive Chromosome Inversions in Mimulus guttatus Chromosomal inversion polymorphisms are ubiquitous across the diversity of diploid organisms and play a significant role in the evolution of adaptations in those species. Inversions are thought to op...

We have a new paper out today, where, among other things, we find evidence that a locally adaptive chromosomal inversion likely trapped an even older inversion along its path to becoming the supergene it is today. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

If you have experienced direct harm to your work/lab/job due to recent changes at US NSF, & are willing to share this on behalf of the Am. Society of Naturalists and NSF, please DM/ email me ASAP (this is time-sensitive) or submit story here sites.google.com/view/scienti...
Please share widely

Flyer for the March 5, 2025, Polyploidy Webinar that will take place at 11 AM PST. This webinar feature's Maya Wilson Brown from Michigan State University presenting "Genetic variation of allotetraploid Capsella bursa-pastoris in introduced range" and Nomar Waminal of the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research presenting "The Crocus panrepeatome: duplication, dynamics, and dysploidy".

Join us on Wednesday, March 5, at 11 AM PST for the next #PolyploidyWebinar! This month features Maya Wilson Brown on Capsella genetic variation and Nomar Waminal on the Crocus panrepeatome! Sign up (if not already!) to get the zoom: www.barkerlab.net/polyweb