Julia Van Etten

Pretty excited to share our new preprint!
Non-photosynthetic Plastid Replacement by a Primary Plastid in the Making
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

When will all the US universities release a statement at the same time condemning threats to academic freedom?

I sincerely hope that Rutgers takes a stronger stand here and that universities across the US use their power (and don’t give in to bizarre threats from the federal government) to protect the faculty members that they’ve invested in.

young people learn and grow intellectually. When fascism takes root, the fascists always attack the academics and intellectuals first. This is becoming a really scary time for individual professors that are being attacked for reasons that don’t stand up to scrutiny at all.

Rutgers Expert on Antifa Flees to Spain After Death Threats

I am appalled by this and the further you get into the article the worse it gets. I don’t even know where to start honestly. But colleges, especially public universities like Rutgers (where I did my PhD, and my local U as a kid) are where free speech is supposed to flourish and where

Accepted version of our article "Half of microbial eukaryote literature focuses on only twelve human parasites" now out in ISMEJ!

Awesome effort led by undergrad Joanna Lepper and with @hbrappap.bsky.social.

Experimental evolution of a mammalian holobiont: bank voles selected for herbivorous capability evolved distinct and robust gut bacterial communities Abstract. According to the “hologenome” theory of evolution natural selection and evolution can act through a conglomerate biological unit, the “holobiont”

Pleased to share new work tinkering with and testing the concept of the holobiont
@isme-microbes.bsky.social

"Experimental evolution of a mammalian holobiont: bank voles selected for herbivorous capability evolved distinct and robust gut bacterial communities"
🌾🐭🦠

academic.oup.com/ismecommun/a...

The ISC - your new home at UMass Boston?

The view of Boston Harbor from front of campus

Heeeeey #Microbial #Ecology folk! My department has a job opening for a tenure track Microbial Ecologist! Feel free to DM me with questions. Come join our awesome supportive whip-smart & kind crew in the Biology Department of @umassboston.bsky.social! employmentopportunities.umb.edu/boston/en-us...

How to upgrade stolen organelles into permanent plastids: A comparative transcriptomic perspective | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1... #protistsonsky

Latest from ours: www.cell.com/cell-reports...

This is two stories in one: a case study/cautionary tale on developing genetic tools in new organisms, and the first hint at a gene regulatory network for choanoflagellate multicellular development (which turn out to involve a Hippo/YAP/ECM loop!) A 🧵

Bringing the uncultivated microbial majority of freshwater ecosystems into culture - Nature Communications A large fraction of aquatic bacteria remains uncultured. Here, the authors cultivated 627 strains of abundant freshwater bacteria from 14 European lakes, thus generating a collection that includes many previously uncultured, oligotrophic bacteria that may serve as model organisms.

⚠️New paper ➡️ isolating >600 freshwater microbes using dilution-to-extinction and low-nutrient, lake-mimicking media.

🤯Expands cultured diversity to ~70 % of detected genera and enables physiological studies of streamlined oligotrophs.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#protistsonsky

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

🚨GRFP DEADLINE ALERT!🚨 I missed this in my original solicitation read-through, so FYI 📣LETTERS ARE DUE BEFORE PROPOSALS📣 this year!

"Reference letters are due Friday, November 7 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET)."

www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

Open Rank Faculty Position on the Tenure Track - Newark, New Jersey (US) job with Rutgers | 12844885 MULTIPLE TENURE-TRACK FACULTY POSITIONS AVAILABLE The Dept. of Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Molecular Genetics at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

Rutgers Newark is hiring multiple new profs who work in microbial pathogenesis, structural bio, human/microbial genetics, genomics, biochemistry, or computational biophysics. I loved doing my PhD at Rutgers and I LOVE New Jersey. Reach out if you’re applying and have questions about the school/area.

We are looking for photos or videos of microscopy images and microbial ecologists at work! The winning photos and videos will be used to promote the ISME Society and our publications. Submit your entry by 11 November! More information: isme-microbes.org/call-for-mic...
#MicrobialEcology #microbes

Thanks 😊

Pics from a recent trip to Yellowstone where we collected microbial community samples from hot springs! We were led through the backcountry by collaborator Tim McDermott (MSU) who has been sampling at YNP for 31 years. I can’t share research photos (park rules) but here are some other highlights!

Under Trump, NSF faces worst crisis in its 75-year history Political directives have undermined agency's independence and record of supporting the best basic research

I wish we knew what was going on in these decision-making processes right now but the lack of transparency is a troubling theme across the federal government these days. I believe the program managers are doing all they can to keep these programs alive and this must be demoralizing for them.

I’m disappointed for the graduate students who were applying for the GRFP with hopes of being considered for a life-changing career opportunity, particularly those in their second year who had proposals written already, only to find out the rules have changed and they are no longer eligible.

Please share with anyone who cares about NSF support for graduate students and take 30 seconds to sign and leave a comment.

The deadline for the 2025 Graduate Research Fellowship Program is about one month away and literally no one can apply. #NSFGRFP

jasonjwilliamsny.github.io/grfp2025/

Anaerobic breviate protist survival in microcosms depends on microbiome metabolic function Abstract. Anoxic and hypoxic environments serve as habitats for diverse microorganisms, including unicellular eukaryotes (protists) and prokaryotes. To thr

Now completely published :)
Really proud of this paper led with Karla at @cstairs.bsky.social lab.
doi.org/10.1093/isme...

It should be needless to say, but it is perhaps at this moment worth saying, that transgender individuals have the same right as anyone else to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

On our way to Yellowstone for a quick sampling trip! (And then I’m staying for bit to take a vacation 😊) @bhattacharyalab.bsky.social

RFK Jr., American Psycho He needs to go. Now.

An absolute barnburner by @gregggonsalves.bsky.social!

www.thenation.com/article/soci...

I don’t even know what to say. He’s screaming his intentions and half of us are still not taking it seriously.

How do microbes become permanent partners? 🌊🔬🦠 Check out our new study published in Current Biology showing how cyanobacterial genomes evolve step-by-step into endosymbionts of diatoms. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@currentbiology.bsky.social @mehrshmali.bsky.social

Honestly, the only thing even in the same league as vaccines is sanitation.

Antibiotics are the next level down.

Analysis: Science or Trump? The impossible choice faced by the ousted CDC chief | CNN Politics The purge at the top of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention crystalizes the dilemma facing many professional officials across the US government.

The executive branch has deep antipathy towards scientists and researchers because what we do - collect, examine, and interpret evidence - is incompatible with what they do - demand fealty.

But we have choices & power.

A 🧵

www.cnn.com/2025/08/29/p...

The Resignation Letter Of Dr. Demetre C. Daskalakis Of The Centers For Disease Control "FIRE HIM"- wrote Senator Patty Murray tonight about the deeply malevolent Robert Kennedy after a day of extraordinary chaos

"We are seven months into the new administration, and no CDC subject matter expert from my Center has ever briefed the Secretary. I am not sure who the Secretary is listening to, but it is quite certainly not to us."

The C.D.C.’s Vaccine Chief on Why Quitting Was His Only Option Podcast Episode · The Daily · 08/29/2025 · 29m

The C.D.C.’s Vaccine Chief on Why Quitting Was His Only Option

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

New paper is out! We have studied the cute tiny Discocelia plataet sp. n. to obtain the first molecular data of the order Discocelida and clarify its cell structure. All this for a better understanding of the evolution of Cercozoa.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....