Mary Heskel
@maryheskel.bsky.social
plant ecophysiologist, SLAC professor, studies plants and carbon across scales.
Decoupled carbon assimilation and growth responses to aridity in temperate deciduous oaks Led by @mukund24rao.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Decoupled carbon assimilation and growth responses to aridity in temperate deciduous oaks
Long-term carbon sequestration as woody biomass in oaks is decoupled from photosynthesis and more sensitive to climate change.
science.org
This spring I took over and redesigned the only Gen Ed on plants here #IB103. We walked through every core aspect of plant bio in lectures & labs, but also through art & design. I had a blast, the evaluations are rewarding (4.9/5), the redesign got an award from the college, and a little press too!
Starting my department chairship on June 1. Drop/share all your pro-tips, books, essays, hacks, escape hatches, excuses, invisibility cloaks, etc. Thank you!
Monday ice update - #Arctic sea ice extent is currently the *lowest* on record (JAXA data)... • about 490,000 km² below the 2010s mean • about 830,000 km² below the 2000s mean • about 1,240,000 km² below the 1990s mean • about 1,790,000 km² below the 1980s mean More: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...
Naming your biology LLM after Rosalind Franklin is… hell is not hot enough
How wonderful that Cambridge University is offering a botany course based on Henslow's original materials! #Darwin #Cambridge #botany
Cambridge offers botany course that inspired Darwin after rare archive uncovered
University’s botanic garden will use study materials created by John Stevens Henslow, the naturalist’s mentor, 200 years ago
theguardian.com
@aiym-bakytbaikyzy.bsky.social profiled by the Bell Museum made my day! Love to see former students do cool research!
Bell Museum@bellmuseum.bsky.social · 6mo agoMeet Aiym Bakytbaikyzy, a 2025 Graduate Award & Fellowship Recipients! Aiym studies how fungi & bacteria interact to shape the fate of carbon in decaying wood. Learn more at: https://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/grad-awards/2025-graduate-award-and-fellowship-recipients/aiym-bakytbaikyzy/
Every day is a good day for sharing one of the most useful papers about research data ever written. PLEASE get your people to understand and follow this advice. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
It's wild how if fewer than 10 people on the entire planet were removed from power, things would improve by magnitudes. Even factoring in any destabilizing effects. They're that fucking terrible.
I'm super excited to share that this article was published today in Science! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... All made possible by the fantastic group of donors, volunteers and scientists at The American Chestnut Foundation (tacf.org), HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, and our collaborators.
Genomic approaches to accelerate American chestnut restoration
More than a century after two introduced pathogens killed billions of American chestnut trees, introgression of resistance alleles from Chinese chestnuts has contributed to the recovery of self-sustai...
science.org
John Lovell@jotlovell.bsky.social · 2y agoOur paper on the past, present, and genomics-enabled future of American chestnut (Castanea dentata) tree breeding for resistance to invasive pathogens is on BioRxiv. 🧵with some background and a few things we found 👇 bsky.app/profile/bior...
BREAKING: The federal government has filed a motion seeking to end asylum claims for the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, according to the lawyer representing the family.
DHS has requested expedited deportation proceedings against family of Liam Conejo Ramos
The federal government has filed a motion seeking to end asylum claims for the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, according to the lawyer representing the family.
mprnews.org
This morning, federal agents staged at the Powderhorn Park Recreation Center lot and began to throw chemical irritants at observers. They also kidnapped an observer. Our parks are meant for our children, youth, and neighbors. They should never be militarized zones meant to separate families. 1/
Important education message: "independent research has made clear that technology rarely boosts learning in schools—and often impairs it." A few profit and the most vulnerable pay www.economist.com/united-state...
Ed tech is profitable. It is also mostly useless
Independent research identifies few learning gains
economist.com
A federal judge, in a published order, so very much on the record: “ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”
AkivaMCohen@akivamcohen.bsky.social · 8mo agowooooow
my expectation of democratic senators is that they find 1/10th of the bravery of your average 70 year old lutheran lady following ICE around mpls in her subaru crosstrek
Last week in Minnesota, I watched ordinary people risk their lives to protect their neighbors. In the process, they not only won a significant—though not final—victory against authoritarianism, they proved virtually every MAGA social theory wrong. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
This is a really incredible piece. Share it widely 🎁https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/01/minneapolis-uprising/685755/?gift=C-rzmQ8PsUHt15odxTKJDn7xrpPNxSpotkNz_P27oI0
Welcome to the American Winter
In the frozen streets of Minneapolis, something profound is happening.
theatlantic.com
The majority of organizing happening in Minnesota isn’t just peaceful, it’s INVISIBLE. Moms showing up who won’t be interviewed on TV, people whose ICE patrols don’t turn into viral video. The grocery runs, the donations, the people filming bc they happen to be there. Please remember this.
tomorrow, StandWithMinnesota.com will hit a million site visits and over 650,000 unique visitors. i made it 10 days ago with $600 from you guys for hosting and cloudflare. thank you. thank you.
Stand With Minnesota Donation Directory
Stand With Minnesota is a hub for supporting, learning, and taking action to support Minnesotans impacted by ICE and federal enforcement.
standwithminnesota.com
Just saw on KARE 11 that this boy was sent to a detainment facility in Texas and that his family didn't know his whereabouts for almost 24 hours.
Disco@discosaurus.bsky.social · 8mo agoThis picture making the rounds on reddit, Columbia Heights. I'm not OK.
Minnesota: "School officials say the [5-year-old] child was used as bait. They say [ICE] agents made little Liam knock on the door to ask to be let in in order to see if anyone else was home."
minnesotans are prepping for a massive statewide protest on friday, a day where it will be -10. that’s how much we hate ICE.
One week countdown When Trees Testify Science Wisdom History and America's Black Botanical Legacy debut (@henryholtbooks.bsky.social / @macmillanpubusa.bsky.social ) Jan. 20, 2026! Pre-order your copy today & have it hand in seven days: us.macmillan.com/books/978125... I'm excited beyond measure!
This is two blocks from my workplace. Those apartments in the background are off-campus student housing.
Denise Wheeler@denisedwheeler.bsky.social · 8mo agoThey are literally abducting people from their cars. This is at the same Speedway gas station in St. Paul, MN, where they dragged a man off like a sack of potatoes. Look at the brutality and violence they are using here.
ICE has murdered an American citizen in Minneapolis. They're claiming self defense but witnesses say the woman they killed was complying with their orders to get her car out of their way. www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
Live updates: ICE says agent, ‘fearing for his life,’ kills woman in south Minneapolis
ICE officials say the woman was shot and killed Wednesday morning in south Minneapolis after attempting to run over agents with her car. Witnesses dispute ICE’s version of what happened. Mayor Jacob F...
mprnews.org
The beautiful idea of NCAR, to improve understanding of our planet through a cooperative, shared and open intellectual team effort, is literally what has got me out of bed every morning for nearly two decades. This cannot, CANNOT be allowed to happen. eu.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
Trump moves to dismantle major US climate research center in Colorado
The Trump administration is breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric Research, taking aim at one of the world's leading climate research labs.
eu.usatoday.com
Emily Dickinson's herbarium – a forgotten treasure at the intersection of poetry and science www.themarginalian.org/2017/05/23/e...
Emily Dickinson’s Herbarium: A Forgotten Treasure at the Intersection of Science and Poetry
An elegy for time and the mortality of beauty, composed with passionate patience and a sensuous cadence.
themarginalian.org
The USDA's shutdown messages are increasingly unhinged. I discovered this looking up lecture materials & the banner blamed the "Radical Left Democrats". Today's is much worse. Other agencies have a simple, uncharged heading.
