Elena Litchman

@elenalitchman.bsky.social

4.6K followers 650 following 110 posts

Microbial community ecologist, professor at Michigan State University | Traits, temperature, biodiversity, resilience, microbiomes, harmful algal blooms
https://www.kl-lab.group
📷: Lake Michigan

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Elena Litchman is a professor of aquatic ecology at Michigan State University known for her research on the consequences of global environmental change on phytoplankton.

Source: Wikipedia

Environmental science 44%

Geography 15%

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Elena Litchman @elenalitchman.bsky.social · Feb 25

How will climate change affect human gut microbiomes? In a new @thelancetplanet.bsky.social paper, I analyze the main mechanisms — changes in food availability & nutritional quality, environmental microbiomes, enteric pathogens, increased host stress — and their interactions.
tinyurl.com/27kny9z9

Climate change effects on the human gut microbiome: complex mechanisms and global inequities

Ongoing global climate change is affecting all aspects of life on Earth, including human health. The gut microbiota is an important determinant of health in humans and other organisms, but how climate...

www.thelancet.com

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Andrej Spiridonov @andrejpaleo.bsky.social · 9h

Please save the dates and register for the online workshops on the quantitative and hierarchical methods in biogeosciences:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Macroecology

Poster:
Quantitative and Hierarchical Methods in Biogeosciences

Reposted by Elena Litchman, Greg Linden

Our World in Data @ourworldindata.org · 10h

@hannahritchie.bsky.social's new book, “Clearing the Air”, will be published in North America on February 17th! (link to pre-order now in 🧵 )

Hannah, our Deputy Editor and Science Outreach Lead, published her first book, “Not the End of the World”, in 2024...

A picture of Hannah Ritchie's book Clearing the Air

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Dr. Jessica L Ware @jessicalwarelab.bsky.social · 11h

Everything you wanted to know about aquatic insects---RES is hosting a virtual event called "Aquatic Ecosystems in the Data Age"!
Date (time in GMT): Thursday 26 February 2026 (9.30am – 3.30pm) and Friday 27 February 2026 (9.30am – 12.30pm)
www.royensoc.co.uk/event/aquati...

Aquatic Insects Special Interest Group (SIG) 2026 - Royal Entomological Society

Aquatic Ecosystems in the Data Age Date: Thursday 26 February 2026 (9.30am – 3.30pm) and Friday 27 February 2026 (9.30am – 12.30pm) Venue: Online Our Aquatic Insects Special Interest Group event bring...

www.royensoc.co.uk

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Sam Brasch @sambrasch.bsky.social · 22h

NEW: There's been another round of layoffs at the lab formerly known as NREL.

Weeks after scrubbing “renewable energy” from its name, the National Laboratory of the Rockies in Golden has cut 134 staffers.

www.cpr.org/2026/02/09/n...

National Lab of the Rockies, formerly NREL, lays off more than 130 employees

The cuts impacted staffers engaged in both research and operations at the lab.

www.cpr.org

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Jordon Hemingway @jordonhemingway.bsky.social · 1d

Very excited to announce *TWO* fully-funded PhD positions starting this summer focusing on greenhouse gases in the peatlands of the Congo Basin! Both positions are joint between my group in @eth-eaps.bsky.social and that of @johansix.bsky.social @usyseth.bsky.social. Come join us!

Elena Litchman @elenalitchman.bsky.social · 3d

Congratulations Joey! 🎉

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Andrej Spiridonov @andrejpaleo.bsky.social · 3d

Dendrochronology and paleoclimatology of the Stradivari's violins:
"...the majority of soundboards were crafted from Norway spruce (Picea abies) that grew at very high elevations during the severe climatic conditions of the Maunder Minimum"
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #Geology #Climate

The left map shows the spatial distribution of the set of the 197 reference chronologies used for cross dating. Different colours highlight the tree species. Regional references were assigned to the centroid of the area. The four maps on the right highlight the position of the three highest matches resulting from the dendroprovenancing of the larger violin groups (G1, G2, G3, and G4).

Reposted by Elena Litchman

bioRxiv Ecology @biorxiv-ecology.bsky.social · 3d

AnthropInsect: a global database of insect traits and anthropogenic associations. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.05.704013v1

Reposted by Elena Litchman, Samuele Ramellini

Dustin Marshall @djmmeeg.bsky.social · 3d

The principles of experimental design in ecology and evolution has 20k downloads, but unfortunately I still have to reject ~20% of papers without review because they lack replication at the right level. More discussion among mentors and mentees please.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Principles of experimental design for ecology and evolution

Here I argue that we do not discuss experimental design, often until it is too late. This editorial seeks to begin a conversation about how and where to replicate appropriately.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Reposted by Unai Pascual, Elena Litchman

Anthony Ricciardi @ecoinvasions.bsky.social · 3d

The 2023 IPBES report, authored by 86 international experts, is the most comprehensive assessment of invasive alien species ever conducted.

It offers clear & undeniable evidence of the growing global threat of biological invasions to ecosystems, economies, and human well being. #bioinvasions

Reposted by Elena Litchman

International Initiative for Theoretical Ecology @iite-ecotheory.bsky.social · 4d

📣We will be back soon with a new series of online theory seminars!

As ever, free and open for all via Zoom. Follow us on here, or join our email list (iite.info/seminar-emai...) for details.

In the meantime, all our past talks are on Youtube: www.youtube.com/@theoretical...

See you there!

Reposted by Scott C. Doney, Chris D. Clark, Elena Litchman , and 2 more Scott C. Doney, Chris D. Clark, Elena Litchman, Erik Champion, Tim Stephens

Matt King @deformedearth.bsky.social · 4d

Antarctic ice sheet folk, I'm looking for a Postdoctoral Fellow in Antarctic Ice Sheet Reconstruction [readvertised] for a 3.5yr appointment in Tasmania. Very flexible start date!

Join our new team, figuring out what is happening and what may happen in East Antarctica. 1/4
❄️

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis, Elena Litchman

Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 4d

Holy shit: it's an RFP for the NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology (PRFB). Hello old friend www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology (PRFB)

www.nsf.gov

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Chloé Haberkorn @chloehbk.bsky.social · 5d

Wanna read about yeasts and heat waves? 🥵 Check out our new preprint with @jennifermolinet.bsky.social and @stelkens.bsky.social!

doi.org/10.64898/202...

doi.org

Reposted by Elena Litchman

WSL-Eawag Biodiversity Center @wslbiodiversity.bsky.social · 5d

We're thrilled to announce the 4th edition of our summer school on Blue-Green Biodiversity, a joint effort by @eawag.bsky.social & @wslresearch.bsky.social.
Join us in Davos to learn more about aquatic & terrestrial ecosystems from an interdisciplinary lens.
biodiversitycenter.wsl.ch/en/events/de...

Reposted by Elena Litchman, Zen Faulkes

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 5d

But, as they say, there is no time like the present

[OK, maybe the 1930s if you want to nitpick]

But, with some data wrangling, my first NSF Funding Curves!

2/3

A line plot with the numbers of NSF awards for fiscal years 2021-2026. The curve for fiscal year 2026 is quite a bit lower than those for 2021-2025 while the curve for fiscal year 2026 (in red) is much lower than all through the same date.

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Taylor Mitchell Brown @tmitchellbrown.bsky.social · 5d

Scientists just found that a curious group of plankton began to flourish rapidly after the dino-killing asteroid—a key sign life was on the mend.

They made their discovery by measuring the slow accumulation of space dust after the impact.

#Paleontology #PlankticForams

New for @science.org 🧪🏺

Space dust reveals rapid evolution after dino-killing asteroid

New data detail how tiny forms of life rebounded much more quickly than previously believed

www.science.org

Reposted by Dietram A. Scheufele, Richard McElreath, Elena Litchman , and 2 more Dietram A. Scheufele, Richard McElreath, Elena Litchman, Rebecca Sear, Eric J. Pedersen

iDiv Biodiversity Research @idiv-research.bsky.social · 6d

📢 Call for registrations - Science:TBD
📍 Leipzig | 3–4 March 2026

Join us for an inspiring lineup of keynotes:
⭐Sheena F. Bartscherer
⭐Alice Hughes @achughes.bsky.social
⭐Wolfgang Forstmeier
⭐Ulrich Dirnagl
⭐Dietram A. Scheufele @dietram.bsky.social

Register now: www.idiv.de/science-tbd

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Catalina Chaparro-Pedraza @ecoevodevolab.bsky.social · 6d

We are hiring🚨

We are looking for 2 postdocs and 1 reasearch assistant to work in the ERC project “Tipping dynamics and resilience in adapting ecological systems” at @eawag.bsky.social
Find the description of each position and the link to apply in the thread ⬇️

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Helmut Hillebrand @hillebr1.bsky.social · 7d

Out now: 1st call for Synthesis Working Groups by "The Ocean Floor – Earth’s Uncharted Interface". We bring cluster members & external experts together to address key scientific questions in ocean floor research 🧪👉
theoceanfloor.de/en/The-Ocean...
@marumunibremen.bsky.social @icbm-uol.bsky.social

Synthesis Working Groups

theoceanfloor.de

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Rachel Penczykowski @rachelpenczy.bsky.social · 7d

We're getting close! Only ~20 more signatures needed. Any current member of the Ecological Society of America (@ecologicalsociety.bsky.social) is eligible to sign this petition for a new ESA Section for Distributed Ecological Research Networks: esa.org/membership/p...

Reposted by Elena Litchman, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Jason Williams

Noam Ross @noamross.net · 7d

Ahead of today's hearing with NIH Director Bhattacharya, @sanders.senate.gov released a report on cuts to critical healthcare research. New NIH awards in key health areas were down 16% last year, cutting off innovation for new cures.

Read the whole report: www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/u...

Figure 1: Declines in Awards for New Research Projects A line graph titled "New and Competitive Renewal Grants Issued by NIH, January-December, 2015-2025." The y-axis represents the number of grants ranging from 0 to 2,500, and the x-axis represents the years from 2015 to 2025.

The graph tracks four categories of medical research:

Cancer (Orange): Remains the highest funded category, generally fluctuating between 2,100 and 2,300 grants until 2024, followed by a sharp decline to just under 2,000 in 2025.

Heart Disease (Yellow): Stays relatively stable between 1,400 and 1,600 grants for most of the decade but shows a noticeable downward trend starting in 2023, ending near 1,300 in 2025.

Diabetes (Grey): Maintains a steady range between 1,000 and 1,250 grants, showing a slight peak in 2022 before declining to approximately 1,000 by 2025.

Alzheimer's (Blue): Shows the most significant change, starting as the lowest at 500 grants in 2015, steadily climbing to a peak of nearly 1,200 in 2022, and then experiencing a sharp drop to roughly 750 by 2025.

Reposted by Elena Litchman, Jesse R. Lasky

JL Weissman @jlw-ecoevo.bsky.social · 7d

Awesome opportunity for a 2 year mentored fellowship that transitions to a TT line at Stony Brook in ecological and/or evolutionary responses to global change through the SUNY Prodigy+ program: apply.interfolio.com/178040

Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio

apply.interfolio.com

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Amelia Rotaru @ameliarotaru.bsky.social · 7d

I’m looking for two postdoctoral scientists in experimental evolution to join my team from April 2026 (or soon after). Please share! fa-eosd-saasfaprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

Two postdoctoral positions (3-year) in Experimental Evolution of Methanogenic Microbiomes in Bioelectrochemical Systems

Application deadline: 4 March 2026 at 23:59 hours local Danish time

fa-eosd-saasfaprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com

Reposted by Elena Litchman

Stephanie I. Anderson @stephanieianderson.bsky.social · 7d

Do nutrient pulses alter phytoplankton communities? Yes. What about short-term shifts in temperature? Well, it depends.

New insights from a repeat microcosm experiment.
doi.org/10.1002/lno....

Nutrient availability modulates impacts of short‐term shifts in temperature and grazing on phytoplankton composition and size structure

The significant contribution of phytoplankton to global primary production is regulated by several abiotic and biotic factors, which are often difficult to account for in natural systems. To address ...

doi.org

Reposted by Wim Thiery, Jonathan A. Foley, Elena Litchman , and 2 more Wim Thiery, Jonathan A. Foley, Elena Litchman, Stephen D. Murphy, Sylvain Genevois

Andrew Dessler @andrewdessler.com · 8d

Is climate change responsible for increasingly frequent or severe cold events?

The evidence suggests it is not.

Instead, the impact of climate change is warmer winters and less severe cold events.

@hausfath.bsky.social has a great post on The Climate Brink talking about this.

Fact check: Climate change is not making extreme cold more common

Sometimes it just gets cold

substack.com

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Scott C. Doney, Elena Litchman

Bob Kopp @bobkopp.net · 8d

New postdoc opportunities in my group at Rutgers-New Brunswick, working on sea-level rise projections and/or coastal climate risk assessment & management

Postdoctoral Associates - Sea Level Rise Projections and Climate Risk Assessment & Management

The Rutgers University Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences invites applications for highly motivated, creative postdoctoral associates with interests in (a) sea-level rise projections and/or (b) ...

jobs.rutgers.edu

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Elena Litchman

Eos @eos.org · 10d

A study in subarctic Iceland finds microbes hoard nitrogen under higher temperatures, with effects on the whole ecosystem.

As Some Soils Warm, Microbes Stockpile Essential Nutrients - Eos

A study in Iceland found that microbes are hoarding more nitrogen for themselves, altering nutrient cycling and leaving less for plants.

eos.org

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 10d

New from me: It is not just that the US is experiencing democratic backsliding. Authoritarianism has emerged more quickly than in other benchmark countries.

This graph from John Burn-Murdoch sums it up. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/autocracy-...

graph tracking democratic backsliding is occuring more quickly in the US than elsewhere.

Reposted by Scott C. Doney, Erle C. Ellis, Jesse H. Kroll , and 7 more Scott C. Doney, Erle C. Ellis, Jesse H. Kroll, Julie L. Lockwood, Elena Litchman, Aiko Voigt, Jonathan M. Gilligan, Dawn J. Wright, Vinayak Sinha, Peter Jacobs

Bob Kopp @bobkopp.net · 11d

@agu.org has a tool to help you submit a comment to NSF on the importance of NCAR: agu.quorum.us/campaign/154...

#SaveNCAR

Share your comments on NCAR with NSF

Tell NSF the future that you want for NCAR by 13 March

agu.quorum.us

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