Kirsten M. Prior

This gall looks like something you'd imagine a mythical fairy-like creature living in. It's shaped like a mushroom and has a small hole in the front.

The stem of a plant has a couple round growths with small holes in them.

'Tis the season to search for lumps on plants, aka galls! These growths are created in response to other organisms — often insects, fungi, or bacteria — injecting their chemicals into the plant. 🧵⤵️

Join the gall celebrations: tr.ee/ziMCEH

Myrmecochory Quest by PriorLab Play in your browser

Amazing undergradute, Andrew Desso, made a video game #myrmecochory quest! It has journal posts about organisms - native plants, Aphaenogaster #ants, an invasive slug, and obstacles to successful seed dispersal. @binghamtonu.bsky.social @harpurcollege.bsky.social priorlab.itch.io/myrmecochory...

This was a fun collaboration, led by Guerin Brown @guerin-brown.bsky.social in the Forbes Lab @lordforbington.bsky.social - our teams found European parasitoids emerged from North American oak gall wasp species in western and eastern North America, which were likely separate introductions.

“Why Are We Funding This?” Long-standing myths about “silly science” have contributed to the reckless slashing of government-supported research.

My latest for American Scientist Magazine helps give scientists the tools to fight back against politicized charges that our research is silly or pointless- tools that will work whether you’re asked “why are we funding this” from your asshole uncle at Thanksgiving or an asshole US Senator.
🧪🌎

Discovery of two Palearctic Bootanomyia Girault (Hymenoptera, Megastigmidae) parasitic wasp species introduced to North America Invasive species are among the greatest threats to ecosystems, but our ability to detect species introductions varies across taxa. Parasitoid wasps, though one of the most species-rich groups of all a...

A study to document two separate introductions of European parasitoids of oak gall wasps into North America.

#wasps #alienspecies #parasitoids ‪ ‪ @lordforbington.bsky.social @kirstenmprior.bsky.social

doi.org/10.3897/jhr....

A chocolate cake with red and white decorations and lit candles shaped as the number 75. Bold text reads: ‘The NSF Turns 75 Today. What has it done over the past 7 decades?’ The background is a celebratory red with a spray-paint texture.

HAPPY 75th, NSF!

We’re celebrating this milestone by highlighting some of NSF’s most transformative accomplishments—innovations that have shaped our world and continue to drive progress in health, technology, the environment, and beyond.

Read on 🧵(1/11):

Two women scientists discuss cultures on a plate in a laboratory.

We stand for science. ESA has signed on to an amicus brief filed by @ASBMB & other scientific societies in support of a lawsuit to restore cut research funding: esa.org/wp-content/u...

Read ASBMB's announcement: www.asbmb.org/advocacy/pos...

Julian defended his honors thesis in my lab—"Uncovering handling and nest benefits in an ant-mediated seed dispersal mutualism"—with interesting results suggesting that different mutualistic ant species may be "high-quality dispersers" but employ different strategies.

SaveNSF is a coalition of concerned scientists and allies who are working to save funding for scientific grants through the NSF.

The mission is to support and advocate for the continuation of vital research and innovation.

Join: www.savensf.com

Project to restore native wildflowers in the forest understory - Binghamton News Researchers are working in partnership with the NYS Parks Department

Rosebelle Ines leads a wildflower restoration project at Binghamton University and New York State Parks! - winning a fellowship from the Phipps Conservatory and a Provost's Sustainability Grant for this project www.binghamton.edu/news/story/5... @binghamtonu.bsky.social @harpurcollege.bsky.social

Congratulations to Catherine Farrell on her successful MS defense — on land use change impacts on forest arthropod communities! 🐜🌱🪲🕷️

BU Challenges the Community to Document Local Wildlife The "EcoBlitz" is an annual project at Binghamton University, hoping to gather information on the bio-diversity of the area's wildlife.

Binghamton University students in the local news! Engaging the community in citizen science at the Ross Park Zoo! @binghamtonu.bsky.social @harpurcollege.bsky.social
www.wicz.com/news/bu-chal...

The community is invited to study the natural world during the Ecoblitz - Binghamton News The third annual event has expanded from campus to include the Ross Park Zoo

The Ecoblitz is back! The citizen science event kicks off April 26 here on campus -- and there's an additional Ecoblitz going on at the Ross Park Zoo beginning April 18 and 19. Read more: tinyurl.com/4tevmk6k

20% of butterflies in the U.S. have disappeared since 2000 - Binghamton News According to new research featuring faculty at Binghamton University, butterflies are disappearing at an alarming rate.

Butterflies are disappearing at an alarming rate, according to new research by Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Eliza Grames. Populations in the U.S. fell by more than 20 percent since 2000. Read more: tinyurl.com/2presdd9

Academic hiring criteria are all wrong The most important criteria are: mentorship, mentorship, and mentorship

Imagine how much more healthy science would be if we hired and promoted faculty based on their mentorship, instead of merely counting pubs and grant dollars. 🧪

What a devastating loss. Thank you to the program officers and others who lost their jobs at NSF for your dedication to the science community and efforts toward advancing science.

Professors please pull up a chair.

I’ve been talking to my classes about what has been going on. I explained indirect costs to them. I talked to them about what a probationary employee is in the government.

At the end of class they asked if we could talk about it more. (1/)

My review of Cooperative Transport in Ants (and Elsewhere) has received it's 100th citation! To celebrate: cooperative transport media!

Oh, and of course a link to the paper:
myrmecologicalnews.org/cms/index.ph...

Post the amazing science things you have done with federal funding.

“Dead” plant stuff hold food for birds during winter, when food is scarce. Galls such as this goldenrod gall have insect larvae in them. You can see who knows what to do … 😊. My tiny brush again 🤓. This painting shows a cute downy woodpecker pecking on a goldenrod gall to get wasp larvae in winter. #birdsinart #botanicalart #naturalhistoryart #SciArt #natureart #conservation #oneearth

“Dead” plant stuff hold food for birds during winter, when food is scarce. Galls such as this goldenrod gall have insect larvae in them. You can see who knows what to do … 😊. My tiny brush again 🤓.
#birdsinart #botanicalart #naturalhistoryart #SciArt #natureart #conservation #oneearth

Non-native slug eats eliaosomes

Non-native slugs damage forest wildflower seeds, removing fleshy appendages necessary for dispersal by ants. New study led by Rosebelle Ines finds that slugs & ants prefer similar seeds. Yet, differences in foraging phenology dampen effects of slugs on seed dispersal by ants.
tinyurl.com/m86nh3x3

We work on biological invasions!

A woman (me) wearing a gray sleeveless shirt and red pants with hands in pockets standing on the side of the road in front of a scrub/desert field, which is in front of two nearby mountain peaks. It's a sunny day with no cloud in the sky. This was taken while doing fieldwork in California in May 2023.

Two yellow bilaterally symmetrical flowers of a Mimulus F2 hybrid in a greenhouse with a stem and leaves beneath them.

Hello world! I'd like to introduce myself to Bluesky - I'm a PhD student in the Sobel Lab at Binghamton University interested in ecological factors influencing divergence and reproductive isolation. I study ecological #speciation in two closely related taxa in #Mimulus.
#evolution #ecology

This Wasp Was Brought To Christmas Island In 2017—7 Years Later A Struggling Species Thrives An ecological upheaval involving crazy ants killed millions of red crabs and threatened the survival of the species on Christmas Island, Australia. Now, a micro-wasp has helped restore balance.

Interesting article describing how biocontrol was used in attempt to reverse the effects of a well-documented invasional meltdown. #bioinvasions
www.forbes.com/sites/scottt...

Are you interested in research in evolutionary genetics & genomics 🧬 (but maybe not ready to apply to graduate school)? Come work with me or one of my amazing colleagues at Rice University, University of Houston, or Texas A&M!

Apply to our #NSF funded post-bacc research program! (Please share!)

*Tap, tap* Is this on? Hello, everyone: This is Harpur College at Binghamton University reporting in! We're the home for liberal arts and sciences at the University, and will be sharing all sorts of great stories about research and more. Give us a follow!

I just got back from a conference, and let me tell you what I learned about moving forward in these United States:

We can't let them take our joy, and they will not take away science.

The first priority is caring for one another.

Building and growing equitable communities is winning.