Interested in microbial predation? Join us in Ticino Switzerland on July 27-31, 2026!
More info at microbialpredation.ethz.ch
#predation #ecology #evolution #microbes
So I pleased to announce the conceptual spawn of FigTree: PearTree (acronym still to be finalised). If you want to dive right in it is hosted as a web app here: artic-network.github.io/peartree (click the “Example...” button for immediate candy and then click every button you can find).
The first version of FigTree was released nearly 20 years ago and it is still widely used (including by me). But there are currently 85 issues on the GitHub repo (github.com/rambaut/figt...) and some of them I don’t really like the look of.
That state park is pretty far from the coast. For the rest of the hike, my husband would just periodically say, “A horseshoe crab? I mean, a real one?” It was weird.
I just remembered the time I was hiking at Cloudland Canyon in northwest Georgia and scrambled down a ravine because I saw something that might have been an injured person. Turned out to be a pink sweatshirt with “Unforgettable” printed on it and an enormous horseshoe crab carapace.
!!!!!!
The moment you’ve all been waiting for…
🦠 SAVE THE DATE! 🦠
BBM2026 will be held from June 22nd - 23rd at Boston University’s George Sherman Union. Our featured speaker this year is Dr. Eric Skaar from Vanderbilt University!
Registration opens soon!
More info at: bostonbacterial.org
#BBM2026
⏰ Reminder: Peggy Cotter Travel Award apps due Feb 16!
We have 3 $1,650 travel awards for ASM Microbe 2026!
👩🔬 Early-career professionals (≤15 yrs from terminal degree)are eligible
📧 Apply: jegoff@esf.edu
🧬 ASM + CNY ASM membership are required
Learn more: sites.google.com/view/cnyasm/...
That Amber Dance article about some of the speediest microbes on earth is up on Smithsonian Magazine with my artwork if you missed it the first time around
www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...
Cichlids 2026!
Updating my AI reading list:
In the last few weeks, I finished
Empire of AI
and
How to Think About AI: A Guide for the Perplexed by Richard Susskind (2025)
Five classes I took in college:
1) Contemporary Irish Literature
2) Peoples and Cultures of East Africa
3) History of the Civil Rights Movement
4) Brass Techniques
5) Microbiology (of course)
We just released #anvio v9, "eunice" 🎉
This version represents over 2,000 changes in the codebase since v8, increasing the total number of programs in the anvi'o ecosystem to 176.
Read the release notes:
github.com/merenlab/anv...
Visit our up-to-date web page:
anvio.org
ALERT: Abstract submission deadline is tomorrow (21 January) for the ASM Applied & Environmental Microbiology Meeting within ASM Microbe 2026 in Washington, D.C. (4-7 June). @asm.org
asm.org/events/asm-m...
🧵 for more information including themes for Contributed Abstracts for In-Depth Sessions:
We are accepting applications for up to 3 Peggy Cotter Travel Awards ($1,650 each) to support early-career professionals attending ASM Microbe 2026. Apply by Feb 16, 2026 by emailing a 1-page letter to jegoff@esf.edu. ASM membership required; branch membership may be completed once that is live.
ATTENTION STUDENTS: Are you looking for an internship? Join us on Friday, February 6 for NASW’s Virtual Internship Fair. Pre-registration by January 27 is required.
GET ALL THE DETAILS AND REGISTER: www.nasw.org/2026Int...
Not a member? Join now via www.nasw.org/join
Depending on your level of command line proficiency, you might like Practical Computing for Biologists. I used this with my Genomics lab. It’s a good introduction to command line. I keep hoping they’ll do a 2nd edition!
Young Investigator Travel Award
The Young Investigator Travel Award provides support for young researchers (postdoctoral researchers and graduate students) to attend SMBE2026.
📨 Award applications
smbe2026.org/abstracts
#SMBE2026
Sarah sounds like a wonderful person who lived her life with courage and compassion. My condolences to you and your children.
I gave this a try and got an excellent one-word guiding principle for me in 2026:
Here’s what I got:
A good guiding principle for me in 2026
He said, “Whoa, I didn’t know that! Do you have an extra mask?”
Unfortunately, I didn’t. Or I definitely would have given it to him!
It was a good reminder that sharing public health info is a community effort. I’m glad he felt comfortable asking! And I hope he dodges the flu this season. (2/2)
On my grocery run today, I masked, along with quite a few other folks.
An employee said, “I see a lot of people with masks on today. Can I ask you why? Is there something I should know?”
I said there’s a lot of influenza virus circulating right now, and I hope to avoid getting the flu. (1/2)
You've heard of elf on the shelf, but...
Nice.
My dog Song and I outside. Song is wearing a yellow jacket.
2025 was wild! I worked on ~165 projects, which includes ~100 word blurbs on recent research, while others were features w/ multiple sources or marketing collateral writing that required multiple meetings/revisions. Just though I'd share a few of my bylines from the year (and my fav co-worker Song)
Putting on my hat as @asn-amnat.bsky.social ASN President for a minute for a string of announcements, please share widely!!!
1. Student research awards are open for applications, to fund research expenses for 10 graduate students ($2000 each)
nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
Congratulations!
Many thanks to Liz Sockett and the folks in her research group in Nottingham who patiently hosted and taught me during my visit to their lab back in 2011. They were very generous, and I learned a lot!
Applications for the ASM Career Development Grant for Postdoctoral Women are due February 17!
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, this grant renewed my confidence in my career and helped me launch my predatory bacteria research program. How might it help you?
asm.org/fellowships/...
