Dr. Bala Chaudhary

Attention #ESA2025 soil types: check out our new journal npj Soil Ecology and feel free to contact me if you have questions!

#ESA2025! We would love to fill this up with signatures. Let's show support to the folks at NSF. Find it Wednesday morning at the spot below, and it'll be at the NSF funding session at 10-11:30am.

A poster board with a gold frame that says, "Thank you NSF folks!" and has some signatures. It's on a easel and there are markers available.

Orange sticky note that says, "Please sign!!"

🚨There's a "Thank you NSF folks!" poster board for people to sign at #ESA2025. It's near a coffee station & the LTER booth.

Please sign and show your support! And, share!

Thank you poster on easle

Please sign!

Hey #ESA2025! Help us spread some love to the wonderful program officers and staff at NSF! Located in the exhibit hall near coffee/booth 316!

I'm giving a talk on Tuesday about carnivores as dispersers of mycorrhizal fungal spores as part of a special session on fungal spore dispersal. Come check it out if you are here in Baltimore and like fungi, carnivores, or trophic interactions. #ESA2025

Full article here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

How climate shapes soil fungal traits Many soil microbes play a vital role in ecosystems, as they help plants access nutrients and water and assist in stress tolerance such as during drought and to defend against pathogens. One such group...

Our new global study led by @smriti-pehim-limbu.bsky.social is now out in @pnas.org. TLDR: Certain spore traits were linked to climate AND species range sizes! YES we can use traits to gain insight into env adaptations for microbes.

#mycorrhizas #spores #NSFfunded
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

Planning to attend @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social's upcoming #ESA2025 annual meeting in Baltimore?
Consider signing up for my short course w Gwen Bridge:
Decolonizing Ecological Praxis and Engaging Ethically with Indigenous Communities
Look for SC 02 when you register!
Curious but unsure? Ask me!

Climate-linked biogeography of mycorrhizal fungal spore traits | PNAS Climate-driven variation in traits is crucial for predicting ecological responses to environmental change, yet global patterns and drivers of micro...

Fungal spores reveal a global climate footprint on microbes' traits!
Incorporating microbial traits improves predictions of biogeographic shifts.
Fun project w @balachaudhary.bsky.social @smriti-pehim-limbu.bsky.social @sturmer.bsky.social @aguilart.bsky.social
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Annual grass invasion is associated with differences in the community structure and abundance of biocrusts and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi Abstract. Interactions between biocrusts and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi may increase plant resilience to environmental stress in native grasslands.

New paper out from the Cheeke Lab led by @raeberner.bsky.social with @balachaudhary.bsky.social & Geoff Zahn. Congrats Rae!
academic.oup.com/femsle/advan...

Started the day by reading the Declaration of Independence.

Happy 4th - the original No Kings Day 🇺🇸

A Nation's Story: “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” In July of 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered a speech titled “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?,” a call for the promise of liberty be applied equally to all Americans. Douglass’s speech empha...

You can celebrate the event’s significance AND still call a spade a spade. When we love something, we want to make it better with that love. Matthew 25:35-40 nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stor...

The npj journals are a boutique and impactful series of open-access journals within the Nature Portfolio.

Stay tuned as we grow the editorial board and build a vision to support a global and inclusive soil ecological research community!

Excited to share that I am taking on a new role as Editor in Chief of npj Soil Ecology, a new journal dedicated to communicating high-quality research and scholarship exploring all aspects of the ecology of soils from gene to ecosystem scales.

www.nature.com/npjsoilecol/

TraitAM, a global spore trait database for arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi - Scientific Data Scientific Data - TraitAM, a global spore trait database for arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

Access the full paper and data here! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Dartmouth Team Launches Public Database on Soil Fungi | Faculty of Arts and Sciences

“…that's the cool thing about basic science: you just don't know what information or knowledge it will generate in the future”

Our new open mycorrhizal fungal trait database is published! Read about our science journey:

fas.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/05...

"These $25,000 grants are for activities to address immediate needs following grant cancellations, including completing a wave of data collection, analyzing already collected data or writing, thoughtful project closure with community partners, or preparing grant proposals to continue the research."

Except DEI, of course. Talking about the benefits of diversity and equity risks having your NIH grant pulled so keep your trap shut. www.nih.gov/about-nih/wh...

While many companies in Europe are stopping their DEI efforts as a result of the Trump pressure, science should redouble its commitment.

🫶🏽

Thank you @mrillig.bsky.social!! Engagement and support (as opposed to silence) from our friends and colleagues across the pond is SO meaningful and appreciated!!

❤️🙏🏽💪🏽

Why supporting science and scientists is an important part of the #Resistance #HandsOffScience ↙️↙️↙️

NSF GRFP Awards by the Year:
2021 - 2074
2022 - 2193
2023 - 2555
2024 - 2036
2025 - 1000

Again, these funding cuts will have drastic longterm effects on the scientific future of the US.......

@jeremymberg.bsky.social @altnih4science.bsky.social

Banning DEI Is Catastrophic for U.S. Science (opinion) An attack on DEI is an attack on science itself, Joseph L. Graves Jr., Stacy C. Farina, Parvin Shahrestani, Vaughn S. Cooper and Gilda A. Barabino write.

"Removal of DEI programs will demoralize and disincentivize an entire generation of scientists in training. It will greatly reduce the scientific workforce and remove top talent from our training programs as funding mechanisms are dismantled."

www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...

Oh! I believe you!

Who else gets jazzed over protists?? Enjoy this video I took of protists having a party with AM fungus Ar. trappei. Sound on for commentary 😅

Thanks @geoffzahn.bsky.social for helping me unlock a new skill - awesome day on the scanning electron microscope!

Spores from two different AM fungal species, Ac. elegans on the left and Gi. albida on the right. Tell me spore traits don’t affect the ecology of these amazing microbes! #mycorrhiza

Learning so much at "spore camp" with @balachaudhary.bsky.social
Check out these AM #fungal spore micrographs. What bacteria are lurking in the sporosphere #microbiome?