Taylor AuBuchon-Elder (she/her)
@taelder.bsky.social
botanist | data specialist Formerly - Donald Danforth Plant Science Center | Kellogg Lab 🌾 Currently - Missouri Botanical Garden | Conservation horticulture | views my own
Last night's poster session was a botanical blast! Here are some fun moments from 5 poster presentations, we wish we could show you them all! Be sure to stop by the #Botany2026 Exhibit Hall to check them out. Follow along all week for updates from the conference 🌿 #plantpeopleFTW
Not sure whether I can keep up with managing #Botany2026 conference posts on four platforms…. So this is my vote for making bsky the “official” one for next week.
Our paper is out in @society4conbio.bsky.social!
Conservation Biology@conbiology.bsky.social · 4w ago🌱Sucher et al shared that understanding how plant death erodes intraspecific variation in ex situ collections can guide adaptive management and conservation efforts. You can read their #recentlypublished article at doi.org/10.1111/cobi... #conservation #science #plantconservation #plants
Summary of Key Changes in OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule. Russell Vought is going destroy American Science. elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/summary-of...
Summary of Key Changes in OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule
Russell Vought is going destroy American Science
elizabethginexi.substack.com
Bad news Monday 🧪 RIP Peter Raven. news.mongabay.com/2026/04/pete... news.mongabay.com/2007/03/biod... is a good interview from several years back. 🧪
Peter Raven, botanist and advocate for biodiversity, has died, aged 89
Life on Earth is often described as a web, but for much of modern science it was catalogued as a ledger: names, specimens, distributions, relationships drawn in careful lines. Over the course of the 2...
news.mongabay.com
Kayla and I spent a gorgeous few days in Arkansas collecting maternal population vouchers of Crateagus ouachitensis for our team’s Priority US Trees Conservation Grant. Big thanks to the folks at Arkansas State Parks for helping us get the timing just right! #conservation #botanicgardens #usbg #bgci
Email your senators to urge them not to confirm Jim O’Neill as Director of the National Science Foundation. He's not a scientist, has no relevant expertise, promoted vaccine misinformation, helped gut the CDC, and his Silicon Valley ties raise questions about protecting the public interest. (1/2🧵)
Our paper is out in MBE! doi.org/10.1093/molb... We tracked TF binding site evolution across 589 grass species, and found that while binding preferences are pretty stable over 80 million years of evolution, individual binding sites have turned over a lot. Thread here: bsky.app/profile/char...
Charlie Hale@charleshale.bsky.social · last yr.New preprint from my PhD! How cis-regulatory evolution shaped grass diversification worldwide www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... We looked across 589 (!) grass species to ask: — What regulatory changes enabled grasses to adapt? — How can this inform crop breeding for resilience? Here’s what we found:
Super proud of @alyssa-phillips.bsky.social 's paper, now out on biorxiv! She resolves the origin(s) of polyploid big blue-stem, a dominant species in the midwest tall-grass prairie. Her common garden analysis also informs on environmental adaptation and hints at the impacts of polyploidy.
The origins and adaptive consequences of polyploidy in a dominant prairie grass
Polyploidy is ubiquitous across North American prairies, which provide essential ecosystem services and rich soil for agriculture. Yet the mechanism driving polyploid abundance is unclear. Multiple hy...
biorxiv.org
In Ste. Genevieve, volunteers with Abide in Love are helping ICE detainees stay in touch with their families. “Can you imagine not knowing where your spouse is for five or six days?" said one Abide in Love volunteer.
Activists in Ste. Genevieve connect ICE detainees with their families
Abide in Love volunteers say their goal is to provide basic aid to immigrants detained in a Ste. Genevieve jail.
stlpr.org
Had a wonderful time at #botany2025 this year in Palm Springs with my work bestie! Already missing the desert 🏝️ #botany #plantconservation
Starting off the final day at #Botany2025 with an analysis of post-fire change in vegetation at National Ecological Observatory Network #NEON sites. #Rosaceae and #Poaceae showed biggest changes with big gains for Bromus tectorum and Vulpia spp.
#Botany2025 moratorium on “But it’s a dry heat.”
Heading to #Botany2025? Curious how plants thrive in extreme deserts and drylands? Don't miss our Dryland Floras colloquium, we've lined up a great session! 🌵☀️ 🗓️ Monday, July 28 | 🕗 8:00am–12:00pm | 📍 Mojave Learning Center
Not a lot has been said about the inside covers of the new Southern Reach paperbacks, but take a look at the ones for Absolution. Gorgeous morphing of swamp sunflowers. Really, the whole package is so beautiful.
Jeff VanderMeer@jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · last yr.And in Oct, the trade paperback of Absolution...
Can't wait for #Botany2025! If you like Andropogoneae or Tropicos, please stop by my poster session for "The Andropogoneae Extended Specimen Project: Implementation"
Botanical Society of America@botsocamerica.bsky.social · last yr.The #Botany2025 Program is now available to view! Visit www.botanyconference.org and select the Program menu item. Don't forget that there is still time for registered attendees to add Lightning Talks or Recent Topics Posters to this year's conference through July 11th.
I know some of my climate colleagues have been downloading documents and website content from both climate.gov and globalchange.gov websites before they were stripped of content or shut down entirely. But is there a single new mirror site that has these all together? Anyone know?
Climate
NOAA experts provide data, tools and information to help people understand and prepare for a changing climate.
climate.gov
BREAKING NEWS: Senator Mike Lee Forced to Withdraw Plan to Sell Public Lands Thank you to everyone who spoke up by emailing and calling your senators. Your opposition worked, and over a million acres of public lands have been saved as a result.
Hey #botany2025 friends, is anyone going to the conference who wants to volunteer to be the "host" of the Botanists of Color affinity group meetup? The initial host can't attend the meetings :( Being host = being the contact person w/ BSA, and maybe saying a few welcome statements before event.
Let me tell you how well iNat works right now. 3 yrs ago, I saw & posted something unusual for an arid sagebrush ecosystem. Noted it as Coral Fungi, confirmed ID & good enough. But this past Spring, humans with real experience & knowledge constructively debated the observation. This is the way.
Dog Vomit Slime Mold (Fuligo septica)
Dog Vomit Slime Mold from W Saddlebow Dr, Reno, NV, US on April 8, 2022 at 07:49 AM by Marianne Denton. Hiking Whites Creek Trail for 19 years, and I’ve never seen this before.
inaturalist.org
The Los Angeles Police Department has stated that demonstrations in the city have remained peaceful. Let that sink in.
Thanks for the shout out 💚 @mobotgarden.bsky.social I work with some phenomenal women discoverandshare.org/2025/03/18/m...
Meet the Women in Horticulture: Part III - Discover + Share
Learn more about the women who work in horticulture at the Missouri Botanical Garden as we celebrate Women's History Month.
discoverandshare.org
🌱 BSA issues statement on Supporting our Community & Making our Voices Heard 🌱 "We are absolutely committed to supporting the well-being of all our members by providing safe spaces where they can connect, collaborate, and develop professionally." mailchi.mp/botany.org/b... #botany #iamabotanist
ASPB "remains committed to robustly supporting and strongly advocating for diversity and inclusion in the plant sciences, period." Read full statement 👉 https://blog.aspb.org/aspb-reaffirms-its-commitment-to-diversity-and-inclusion/.
Today is International Day of Women & Girls in Science. Marie Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. Her contributions have left an indelible mark on the world of science & health & continue to inspire generations of scientists & innovators. 🔬 #WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
Early-career botanists: Apply for the BSA Public Policy Award! Attend Congressional Visits Day (April 28-30, 2025) in DC, receive policy training & advocate for science. Apply by Feb 21! botany.org/home/awards/... #BSAawards #BSAEarlyCareerScientists #IamaBotanist
