At the PCA Core Network Participant (CNP) meeting, Noah Fahlgren and Yuying Xie shared a key lesson: use AI differently based on your expertise. For beginners, it's a learning partner. For experts, it's a collaborator. How you use AI matters.
Noah Fahlgren
@noahfahlgren.bsky.social
Director of Data Science and Principal Investigator at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. Developer of PlantCV: https://plantcv.org
Dashboard with analysis of comments & github source link omb-financial-assistance-comments.netlify.app
The 5th Annual PCA Core Network Participant (CNP) Meeting took place this past weekend in St. Louis, MO! It was a great opportunity to celebrate accomplishments from the past year, connect with colleagues from across the network, and discuss the next phase of the PCA.
Send us your proposals!
Maggie R Wagner@maggie-r-wagner.bsky.social · 2mo agoCall for papers! I'm co-editing a special issue #AJB #AppsPlantSci highlighting research and methods that integrate root & shoot traits to study how plants connect aboveground & belowground ecosystem processes. Propose a paper by 31 August, submit by 5 April 2027! Details: tinyurl.com/AJB-APPS-CFP
New research! Danforth Center PI Erin Sparks & Bayer used the SMURF device to show that shorter corn plants have more flexible roots — helping them take wind damage at less than half the rate of conventional corn. Watch the SMURF in action 👇
Now out in an issue! doi.org/10.1002/pld3...
Quantifying Growth and Lodging in Tef (Eragrostis tef) With Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS)
Lodging is a major contributor to decreased yield in tef, a staple cereal crop in Ethiopia. Semidwarf varieties have been developed with a goal to increase yield through reduced lodging, but studying....
doi.org
Noah Fahlgren@noahfahlgren.bsky.social · 7mo agoQuantifying growth and lodging in Tef (Eragrostis tef) with UAS. New preprint with @keelybrownphd.bsky.social @kmurphyphd.bsky.social and others, using geospatial analysis in @plantcv.bsky.social to estimate plot height and lodging with RGB and LiDAR sensors www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Congratulations to Dr. Ashley Snouffer, the new Director of our Plant Transformation Facility! From cassava regeneration breakthroughs to pioneering work with emerging tools, her research is helping unlock the future of crop improvement.
Very excited for this to dataset to contribute to a growing interest in understanding macroalgae evolution! 🥳
Áki Jarl Láruson@akijarl.bsky.social · 3mo agoOur new article on sugar kelp genomics across western Iceland is now out. We find substructure across a North-South and inner- to outer-bay gradient. SNP association with key environmental variables suggest local adaptation and/or density dependent selection is having an effect. rdcu.be/ffacn
Nadia Shakoor, PhD, has been selected to receive the inaugural Innovation Award from the Academy of Science – St. Louis! Nadia is a principal investigator at the Danforth Center and the Chief Science Officer of Agrela Ecosystems, a St. Louis–based technology company. Congratulations, Nadia! 🎉
Danforth Center scientists are co-authors on a landmark study published today in @nature.com: the 1st comprehensive sorghum pangenome. Breeding better sorghum has been limited by an incomplete picture of its genetic diversity—until now. https://www.danforthcenter.org/news/global-sorghum-pangenome/
Global Sorghum "Pangenome" Published in Nature Accelerates Discovery of Resilient Crop Traits - Danforth Plant Science Center
Danforth Center scientists publish a sorghum pangenome in Nature, revealing hidden genetic diversity to accelerate breeding of drought- and heat-resilient crops.
danforthcenter.org
901 curious minds showed up for PlantTech Jam 2026 to connect with Danforth Center scientists. Thanks to you, we had a blast! See the highlights and photos from the day: https://www.danforthcenter.org/news/planttechjam/
I don't know how the US will recover from the effect this will have on an entire generation of early career researchers. Devastating.
Jeremy Berg@jeremymberg.bsky.social · 5mo ago2/10
Danforth Center Scientist Antonio Brazelton's research on heirloom collard greens at JJK FAN is blending community, culture, & science in powerful ways. 🥬 Watch to see how: https://www.danforthcenter.org/news/hec-media-cultivating-a-better-collard-green/ #plantscience #collardgreens #urbanfarming
(HEC Media) Cultivating a Better Collard Green - Danforth Plant Science Center
Antonio Brazelton, a scientist at Danforth Center, is working to improve a crop with a rich cultural history: collard greens.
danforthcenter.org
Preprint!!!! This is the result of an ongoing collaboration between us and the genomics core to make genetics cheap and easy. A synergy between library prep and analytical approaches. This one hinges on recognizing 1. that DNA molecules are shaped by evolution and 2. we have friends everywhere.
bioRxiv Genetics@biorxiv-genetic.bsky.social · 5mo agoLife, the universe, and everything for $42: ultra-low pass sequencing of maize for genotyping, mapping, and pedigree analysis https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.20.707111v1
🌱 Now published in Bioinformatics Advances: "Challenges and opportunities: Computational biology and the future of agriculture" Explore the full study: https://doi.org/10.1093/bioadv/vbag003 Authors include: @noahfahlgren.bsky.social
🎉 Congratulations to @kmurphyphd.bsky.social, Principal Investigator and Director of the Phenotyping Core Facility at the Danforth Center—she has been selected to receive the Science Educator Award from the Academy of Science – St. Louis! Read more: www.danforthcenter.org/news/danfort...
Danforth Center Principal Investigator Honored for Her Contributions to the Advancement of Science - Danforth Plant Science Center
Danforth Center Principal Investigator Katie Murphy, PhD, receives the Science Educator Award from the Academy of Science – St. Louis for excellence in science education.
danforthcenter.org
In an international effort funded by the Gates Foundation, Nigel Taylor, PhD, & the Danforth Center are partnering on the new Rwanda Capacity Building (BioCap) Project, led by @cipotato.org, to establish a Rwandan Centre of Excellence for Crop Biotechnology & advance food security. loom.ly/4KW17iM
International Collaboration Aims to Improve Key Crops for Rwandan Farmers - Danforth Plant Science Center
The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is part of a newinternational initiative to establish a Centre of Excellence for Crop Biotechnology at the RwandaAgriculture and Animal Resources Development B...
loom.ly
Check it out! We use an open-source python package to analyze drone images to estimate plot height. Look out for more info on PlantCV-Geospatial in the coming year 😎
Noah Fahlgren@noahfahlgren.bsky.social · 7mo agoQuantifying growth and lodging in Tef (Eragrostis tef) with UAS. New preprint with @keelybrownphd.bsky.social @kmurphyphd.bsky.social and others, using geospatial analysis in @plantcv.bsky.social to estimate plot height and lodging with RGB and LiDAR sensors www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Quantifying growth and lodging in Tef (Eragrostis tef) with UAS. New preprint with @keelybrownphd.bsky.social @kmurphyphd.bsky.social and others, using geospatial analysis in @plantcv.bsky.social to estimate plot height and lodging with RGB and LiDAR sensors www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Quantifying growth and lodging in Tef (Eragrostis tef) with Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS)
Lodging is a major contributor to decreased yield in tef, a staple cereal crop in Ethiopia. Semidwarf varieties have been developed with a goal to increase yield through reduced lodging, but studying ...
biorxiv.org
New preprint from the PlantCV team! This paper on PlantCV v4 presents the work of the 62 contributors to the project since v2: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #plantphenotyping #computervision #machinelearning
PlantCV v4: Image analysis software for high-throughput plant phenotyping
PlantCV is an open-source Python project aimed at developing tools to address a range of image-based, plant phenotyping questions. PlantCV has been used for more than 10 years to automate trait collec...
biorxiv.org
Nominations are now open for awards to be presented at the 2026 North American Plant Phenotyping Network Annual Conference. This is a great opportunity to recognize our outstanding colleague’s contributions to plant phenotyping research and innovation. mailchi.mp/ce99f293f3f6...
Call for Award Nominations – NAPPN 2026 Annual Conference
mailchi.mp
Reminder: tomorrow (Oct. 31) is the deadline for submitting an abstract to be considered for a talk and PlantCV travel award applications for the 2026 NAPPN conference: www.plantphenotyping.org/abstracts
2026 Annual Conference — North American Plant Phenotyping Network
The 2026 NAPPN annual conference is an in-person and streamed event held at Michigan State University. Join us for exciting scientific content, the NAPPN General Assembly meeting, and more!
plantphenotyping.org
Noah Fahlgren@noahfahlgren.bsky.social · 10mo agoThe @plantcv.bsky.social team is hosting a workshop at the @nappn.bsky.social 2026 conference in Feb. at Michigan State and is able to support the travel of up to 20 participants. Please apply for the workshop and submit an abstract to the conference if you are interested: mailchi.mp/3afecdddf6de...
New @genomejournal.bsky.social special collection “Early Leads: Plant Biology Side Projects with Big Potential”. We’re looking for short, self-contained studies with big impact. Deadline July 31st, 2026. OA, no pub. fees, ECRs! Questions? Reach out to us (Olivia and @zoejolylopez.bsky.social)
The @plantcv.bsky.social team is hosting a workshop at the @nappn.bsky.social 2026 conference in Feb. at Michigan State and is able to support the travel of up to 20 participants. Please apply for the workshop and submit an abstract to the conference if you are interested: mailchi.mp/3afecdddf6de...
PlantCV travel awards for NAPPN 2026
mailchi.mp
It is eternally irritating to go from software tool to tool trying to find one that has reasonable instructions for running locally or a functional webserver. Truly frustrating to see how many tools are basically unusable even a few months after publication. 🧪💻
P2P provides training and career development for folks looking to transition to plant biology. I'm currently mentoring one of this year's Fellows, so feel free to reach out if you have questions about this incredible program!
Botanical Society of America@botsocamerica.bsky.social · 11mo agoApplications for the 2026 Pivot to Plants Fellows Program at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center are now open. Location: St. Louis, MO Application Deadline: October 15, 2025 Dates: Jan. 5, 2026 – Dec. 23, 2026 Estimated Stipend: $37,275 Learn more: www.danforthcenter.org/our-work/edu...
Raspberry Pi–powered temperature monitoring of growth chamber microclimates New in #AppsPlantSci by Ballenger, @kmurphyphd.bsky.social, @maliagehan.bsky.social et al bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... @plantcv.bsky.social @danforthcenter.bsky.social #RaspberryPi #phenotyping #botany
New paper - build a Raspberry Pi phenotyping chamber for imaging and temperature sensing! Thanks to Malia Gehan and her team for leading this work. bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Raspberry Pi–powered temperature monitoring of growth chamber microclimates
Premise While controlled environments are desirable for growing and measuring plants, growth chambers and greenhouses typically have microclimates that impact plant growth, development, and stress r.....
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Applications open now for our Pivot 2 Plants program! Please share widely, 1 year paid opportunity to transition to careers in plant and data science. www.danforthcenter.org/our-work/edu...
Pivot to Plants: Training Program for Plant and Data Science | Danforth Plant Science Center
The Pivot2Plants Fellows Program is a 1-year training program for people interested in pivoting to a career in plant science or data science but have limited research experience.
danforthcenter.org