Do you work on Scottish open ecosystems, whether that’s species-level, habitat-specific or whole landscapes? 🌿🦋🐦🐑 Join us for the Scottish Open Ecosystems Research Day🌾Hosted by CSFL, @n-t-s.bsky.social and @thebotanics.bsky.social 📅 11 May 2026 10:00–17:00 📍 ECCI (Edinburgh) 💻Register by 30 April
Susan Eshelman
@s-eshelman.bsky.social
(she/her) Postdoc at RBGE, Research Associate Univ. of Edinburgh| Exploring global grassland diversity & drivers of grass functional traits 🌾🌍 🔎 Open to collaboration 📬 DM to connect! 😊 linktr.ee/susan.eshelman
Very excited to share that my first first-author paper is out in the Journal of Vegetation Science! 🌱🥳 Our paper used a 20-year grazing experiment in the Scottish uplands to assess how grass community traits shift in response to grazing. 📖 Paper here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
🚩Dig into plant functional ecology! 🌱⛏️ Join the 8th Go Belowground! PhD course (13–19 Sep 2026, Czech Republic) Lectures, hands-on field, lab training ▶️ 1url.cz/2ziQz #clonality #budbank #belowground #mophology #roots #traits #GoBelowground #ExFuMo @czechacademy.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social
Come work with us! #PhD position on #ecosystem and #biodiversity effects of large #herbivores on the Eurasian steppes now announced: www.euraxess.de/jobs/395512 Nice combination of fieldwork and meta-analysis, co-supervised by @jonastrepel.bsky.social and ejlundgren.github.io
Catch my talk today at 16:15 in the Ecosystems and Functional Ecology session (Kilsyth) at #BES2025 🙌🌍 Exploring how environment 🌦️ (including fire 🔥) shape grass traits 🌾, with a look ahead to linking traits with biodiversity 🦋 and carbon storage 🌳
I'm very sad to say William Bond, of the University of Cape Town & Fellow of the Royal Society (@royalsociety.org ), has passed away. It is a great loss. He was an enthusiastic ecologist and a critical thinker. I learned a lot, and I still had a lot to learn from him. RIP. 😢 🧪🌎🔥🌿🌳🪴🌐 #PlantScience
Less than two weeks until #BES2025! 😁 I’ll be presenting my work modelling Malagasy grass trait-environment relationships on Tuesday 16th at 16:15 in the Ecosystems and Functional Ecology session (Kilsyth). Come hear how using herbarium traits can reveal grass differentiation across Madagascar 🇲🇬
After so many years of hard work, I can finally say my PhD journey has come to an end!🌾🥳🎉 Thanks to Caroline (@caroaceae.bsky.social) Graham (Stone) for being such great mentors through this process! #PhDone
Congrats 🎉 Dr Eshelman!! @s-eshelman.bsky.social graduated her PhD having completed fab work on the functional ecology of grasses + grazing. Look out for her papers on grazing lawns, intraspecific trait variation and using herbarium specimens to examine grass life histories across Madagascar. 🥂😊👏
Does anyone have specific leaf area (SLA) or leaf mass per area (LMA) measurements for adult leaves of #Eucalyptus pellita or #Corymbia tessellaris that they'd be willing to share with me? 🧪 #PlantTraits #ecophysiology #physiology #WildOz #botany #ecology #AusTraits
Had such a beautiful day last week at @thebotanics.bsky.social new staff induction 🌿 Learned about the garden’s history, met new colleagues from across departments, and even got a peek 👀 inside the refurbished glasshouse before the plants return! #science #postdoclife
Three years ago, I joined this fabulous group of researchers in western Norway for the sixth Plant Functional Traits Course. Now, we've published the dataset covering morphological traits, spectroscopy, carbon flux, and more: doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05509-4 🧪 #OpenAccess #Botany #PlantTraits 🧵
Really enjoyed the ACE Early Career Symposium yesterday! Great to present my work on intraspecific adaptations of Scottish grasses, chat with other early career academics, and hear from the panel on the many different ways careers can develop. Thanks to the ACE team for hosting an incredible event!
Yesterday I started as a Research Fellow in Biodiversity Science at @thebotanics.bsky.social ! 🌿 Over the next 6 months I’ll be continuing my work exploring Madagascar’s biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics… and enjoying more time in the beautiful gardens😍 #postdoc
Last week I was at the @bes-rewildinggroup.bsky.social workshop in Northumberland 🌿 Great to connect with researchers & practitioners from northern England & Scotland to discuss UK #rewilding- challenges, new tech 🎮, long-term monitoring, & the value of collaboration! Lots to think about! 🤔
That's a wrap! Thank you to the wonderful attendees of our inaugural @bes-rewildinggroup.bsky.social field event with @northwildlife.bsky.social and with support from @britishecologicalsociety.org . I have learnt loads & met many excellent people working on #rewilding in the region! 👍🌱
Brilliant day this week on the Tropical East Asian Savanna Network workshop- out on Salisbury Crags with the Global Grassy Group practicing ground layer data collection and loving the #grasses! @s-eshelman.bsky.social @wieczor.bsky.social @naomibschwartz.bsky.social @royalsoced.bsky.social
This week I attended the Tropical East Asian Savanna Symposium at RBGE and helped lead a Global Grassy Group Surveying workshop with visiting researchers in Holyrood Park. It’s been great connecting with scientists working in a region I haven’t explored much in my own research 🌏🌾😊
The Tropical East Asian Savanna Symposium is today! Join us in person or online to hear from some truly fantastic speakers. Online via teams Meeting ID: 374 127 860 994 5 Passcode: Yq3je9Jo or in person at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 9:30-4:30 @royalsoced.bsky.social 🌐🌏 #ecology #savanna
Out in the Pentlands yesterday with the first-year field ecology students, playing the role of ‘grass specialist’. Shared some ID tips for common UK grasses –fingers crossed I converted a few into budding grass enthusiasts. 🌾👀 #grassgang #fieldecology 🧪 🌍 🌱
As an international PhD graduate who has lived in the UK for almost 5 years, the recent changes to immigration guidelines are devastating. (1/6) #InternationalStudents #AcademicLife #UKImmigration #PhDLife
“We recognise the importance of graduate visa holders getting good jobs. Therefore we will make it harder for them to do so by making their prospects more insecure and deterring employers from offering them good jobs.”
Yesterday, I successfully defended my thesis! 🍾🥳🎉 Huge thanks to my committee –James Bullock (@jmbecologist.bsky.social), Tiina Särkinen, and Catherine Kidner – for an incredible viva experience discussing grasslands, traits, and conservation management. From now on, it’s Dr. Eshelman! 👩🏻🎓🌍🧪 #PhDone
Submitted my thesis today 🥳🥳🥳 It’s been a journey—wild, exhausting, amazing 🌾🌾🌾Thanks to everyone who help me along the way! Next step… viva (after some well deserved weeks off 😊)
Fantastic FunkyBio presentations from @anyacourtenay.bsky.social @wieczor.bsky.social @adamdevenish.bsky.social @s-eshelman.bsky.social @jess-rickenback.bsky.social at the Savanna Science Network Meeting. Thanks to SANParks for always hosting a brilliantly collegiate conference. Till 2026!
Feeling grateful for the opportunity to attend #SSNM2025 and share my work on Malagasy grasses 🌾. After an incredible week in the bush🐆🦓🦏🐘🦒, it’s time to head back to reality—just three weeks left to wrap up my PhD! 😅
Tomorrow (9.30), I’ll be giving a quick talk at #SSNM2025 on Malagasy 🇲🇬 grassy flora—using herbarium traits to explore how top-down and bottom-up drivers shape grass structures and life history strategies. Looking forward to sharing this work from my PhD! 🌾🌾🌾
Halfway through #SSNM2025 and it’s been wild so far! 🐘🐆🦓Great science, great people, and great game drives! What more could I ask for? 🤷🏻♀️
Applications for the 2025 TBA Field Course are still open! Visit tropical-biology.org/courses/ for more information and to submit your application. Share this opportunity with interested and qualified applicants. Deadline: 14th March 2025
Not just USA: L'Oreal offers awards for women postdocs around the world. Application deadlines vary. For the Aus/NZ award, you just need to be based in the region, no citizenship requirement. www.forwomeninscience.com/map/ 🧪 #WomenInSTEM
For Women in Science
forwomeninscience.com
The L’Oréal USA For Women in Science program awards women postdoctoral scientists. Candidates must have their PhD, started their postdoctoral research position, and be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Applications due 5:00pm ET on Friday, February 14. www.loreal.com/en/usa/pages...
Senior scientists who will be reviewing tenure & promotion files in the future - please remember that the effects of many of these executive orders will disproportionately affect researchers from marginalized groups - often the same folks penalized by COVID-related delays, childcare issues, etc. 🧪