Elizabeth Ostrowski
@elizostrow.bsky.social
Evolutionary genomics and microbiology in Aotearoa. 🇺🇸in 🇳🇿. Personal account
https://ecoevo.social/@elizostrow
https://ecoevo.social/@elizostrow
Rookie mistake, returning to the US: signed up for an FSA and forgot about it. In other (not unrelated) news, I am the proud new owner of a fancy foot massager 🙃
December 31, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Rookie mistake, returning to the US: signed up for an FSA and forgot about it. In other (not unrelated) news, I am the proud new owner of a fancy foot massager 🙃
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
In our new study we were the first to experimentally simulate the origin of sociality! By controlling how many wasp 🐝daughters could help their mom, we found that early helpers don't just add to colony success—they multiply it!
October 31, 2025 at 2:30 PM
In our new study we were the first to experimentally simulate the origin of sociality! By controlling how many wasp 🐝daughters could help their mom, we found that early helpers don't just add to colony success—they multiply it!
Here is a video that I think might be the best I’ve seen to give students an idea of what is involved in transfers and competitions. I’d like something less detailed/ specific to LTEE, though, while still covering logistics
www.jove.com/v/65342/dail...
www.jove.com/v/65342/dail...
December 15, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Here is a video that I think might be the best I’ve seen to give students an idea of what is involved in transfers and competitions. I’d like something less detailed/ specific to LTEE, though, while still covering logistics
www.jove.com/v/65342/dail...
www.jove.com/v/65342/dail...
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
4/ #DYK during pregnancy🤰, cells are exchanged between mothers + offspring, & even twins? Awardee @elizostrow.bsky.social will study how microchimerism mediates genetic conflict and drive resource competition.
🍾 Congrats Dr. Ostrowski! @uwbothell.bsky.social
🙏 #HFScout @paulturnerlab.bsky.social
🍾 Congrats Dr. Ostrowski! @uwbothell.bsky.social
🙏 #HFScout @paulturnerlab.bsky.social
December 11, 2025 at 5:47 PM
4/ #DYK during pregnancy🤰, cells are exchanged between mothers + offspring, & even twins? Awardee @elizostrow.bsky.social will study how microchimerism mediates genetic conflict and drive resource competition.
🍾 Congrats Dr. Ostrowski! @uwbothell.bsky.social
🙏 #HFScout @paulturnerlab.bsky.social
🍾 Congrats Dr. Ostrowski! @uwbothell.bsky.social
🙏 #HFScout @paulturnerlab.bsky.social
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
3/ Awardee @mixotrophe.bsky.social aims to uncover how mixotrophs (marine microbes that harness energy from the 🌞 & organic matter) strategize their metabolisms. Her project may be key to understanding our changing ocean.
🎉 Congrats Dr. Moeller! @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social
🙏 #HFScout Ginger Armbrust
🎉 Congrats Dr. Moeller! @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social
🙏 #HFScout Ginger Armbrust
December 11, 2025 at 5:47 PM
3/ Awardee @mixotrophe.bsky.social aims to uncover how mixotrophs (marine microbes that harness energy from the 🌞 & organic matter) strategize their metabolisms. Her project may be key to understanding our changing ocean.
🎉 Congrats Dr. Moeller! @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social
🙏 #HFScout Ginger Armbrust
🎉 Congrats Dr. Moeller! @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social
🙏 #HFScout Ginger Armbrust
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
2/ Awardee @megbehri.bsky.social will study how chaotic dynamics arise in microbial🦠 populations. Her research could transform how we predict microbiome dysbiosis across human health and beyond.
🥳 Congrats Dr. Behringer! @vuartsci.bsky.social
🙏 #HFScout @paulturnerlab.bsky.social
🥳 Congrats Dr. Behringer! @vuartsci.bsky.social
🙏 #HFScout @paulturnerlab.bsky.social
December 11, 2025 at 5:47 PM
2/ Awardee @megbehri.bsky.social will study how chaotic dynamics arise in microbial🦠 populations. Her research could transform how we predict microbiome dysbiosis across human health and beyond.
🥳 Congrats Dr. Behringer! @vuartsci.bsky.social
🙏 #HFScout @paulturnerlab.bsky.social
🥳 Congrats Dr. Behringer! @vuartsci.bsky.social
🙏 #HFScout @paulturnerlab.bsky.social
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
✨Announcing our newest awardees, who are taking scientific leaps to uncover new knowledge across microbial ecology, marine microbiology, and mammalian genetics. Learn about their projects: bit.ly/HFAwardees
Meet our awardees and hear from their #HFScouts in our 🧵/1
Meet our awardees and hear from their #HFScouts in our 🧵/1
December 11, 2025 at 5:47 PM
✨Announcing our newest awardees, who are taking scientific leaps to uncover new knowledge across microbial ecology, marine microbiology, and mammalian genetics. Learn about their projects: bit.ly/HFAwardees
Meet our awardees and hear from their #HFScouts in our 🧵/1
Meet our awardees and hear from their #HFScouts in our 🧵/1
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
I’m watching this! I could use the resources too.
November 24, 2025 at 4:09 PM
I’m watching this! I could use the resources too.
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
"are you enjoying duo mobile" does a hamburger enjoy being made of quarks. does a fish enjoy linear time. does the mountain enjoy the first taste of a cup of hot chocolate when you get back to the ski lodge. your question means nothing to me. i couldn't enjoy duo mobile even if i tried
December 3, 2025 at 7:36 PM
"are you enjoying duo mobile" does a hamburger enjoy being made of quarks. does a fish enjoy linear time. does the mountain enjoy the first taste of a cup of hot chocolate when you get back to the ski lodge. your question means nothing to me. i couldn't enjoy duo mobile even if i tried
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
Amazing example of influenza cheat/cooperator cycles in this recent paper - the repeatability of the oscillatory cycles is so striking
Congrats to @alnajifg.bsky.social , @christopherbrooke.bsky.social , @vignuzzilab.bsky.social & friends
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧪 #socialviruses
Congrats to @alnajifg.bsky.social , @christopherbrooke.bsky.social , @vignuzzilab.bsky.social & friends
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧪 #socialviruses
November 28, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Amazing example of influenza cheat/cooperator cycles in this recent paper - the repeatability of the oscillatory cycles is so striking
Congrats to @alnajifg.bsky.social , @christopherbrooke.bsky.social , @vignuzzilab.bsky.social & friends
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧪 #socialviruses
Congrats to @alnajifg.bsky.social , @christopherbrooke.bsky.social , @vignuzzilab.bsky.social & friends
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧪 #socialviruses
Does anyone have a favorite experimental evolution overview for undergraduates? Ideally one that goes into the details of fitness assays, marking strains, etc.
Everything I’ve found doesn’t dig into the details sufficiently.
Everything I’ve found doesn’t dig into the details sufficiently.
November 24, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Does anyone have a favorite experimental evolution overview for undergraduates? Ideally one that goes into the details of fitness assays, marking strains, etc.
Everything I’ve found doesn’t dig into the details sufficiently.
Everything I’ve found doesn’t dig into the details sufficiently.
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
Treating emergent traits of the microbiome like quantitative genetic traits of the host reveals how environmentally acquired symbionts can contribute to hosts' adaptation
Quantitative genetics of microbiome-mediated traits
Microbiomes, the complex communities of microorganisms associated with multicellular hosts, play a vital role in shaping host traits and fitness. But how d
buff.ly
November 24, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Treating emergent traits of the microbiome like quantitative genetic traits of the host reveals how environmentally acquired symbionts can contribute to hosts' adaptation
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
David became a freelance bioinformatician due to the situation he describes 👇.
Freelance workers are typically looking for the next contract. That's how it is. Maybe we could boost this signal so that people who appreciate David's experience and principles can find him?
Freelance workers are typically looking for the next contract. That's how it is. Maybe we could boost this signal so that people who appreciate David's experience and principles can find him?
I was made redundant from a decade-long bioinformatics job, in part, because my new boss thought that LLMs and similar technologies were better than an experienced bioinformatician who encouraged FAIR principles and discouraged abusive behaviour.
November 6, 2025 at 2:23 AM
David became a freelance bioinformatician due to the situation he describes 👇.
Freelance workers are typically looking for the next contract. That's how it is. Maybe we could boost this signal so that people who appreciate David's experience and principles can find him?
Freelance workers are typically looking for the next contract. That's how it is. Maybe we could boost this signal so that people who appreciate David's experience and principles can find him?
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
These are the beautiful spore-producing structures of plasmodial slime molds. Which is your favourite colour?
Originally considered Fungi, they are now classed as Ameobozoans - single celled organisms with thousands of nuclei... not animals or fungi but something else entirely!
#SoilBiodiversity 🧪
Originally considered Fungi, they are now classed as Ameobozoans - single celled organisms with thousands of nuclei... not animals or fungi but something else entirely!
#SoilBiodiversity 🧪
July 21, 2025 at 7:42 AM
These are the beautiful spore-producing structures of plasmodial slime molds. Which is your favourite colour?
Originally considered Fungi, they are now classed as Ameobozoans - single celled organisms with thousands of nuclei... not animals or fungi but something else entirely!
#SoilBiodiversity 🧪
Originally considered Fungi, they are now classed as Ameobozoans - single celled organisms with thousands of nuclei... not animals or fungi but something else entirely!
#SoilBiodiversity 🧪
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
Here in the uk, the government has found that £1 of spending on R&D results in £8 of benefit: www.gov.uk/government/p...
The value of public R&D
www.gov.uk
October 30, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Here in the uk, the government has found that £1 of spending on R&D results in £8 of benefit: www.gov.uk/government/p...
Will I ever stop having that dream where I’ve forgotten that I signed up for a class, and today is the final? 😰
October 30, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Will I ever stop having that dream where I’ve forgotten that I signed up for a class, and today is the final? 😰
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
I appear to have spoken to a reporter who took seriously the gravity of NZ's science crisis
does anybody have a newsroom pro subscription so that I can learn what other choice phrases I used on the record?
newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/29/w...
does anybody have a newsroom pro subscription so that I can learn what other choice phrases I used on the record?
newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/29/w...
Winner of top science prize blames ‘batshit’ Budget for brain drain
Dr Samuel Mehr says the Government values science, but their ‘idiotic’ approach to funding it will cost them their best and brightest.
newsroom.co.nz
October 28, 2025 at 5:41 PM
I appear to have spoken to a reporter who took seriously the gravity of NZ's science crisis
does anybody have a newsroom pro subscription so that I can learn what other choice phrases I used on the record?
newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/29/w...
does anybody have a newsroom pro subscription so that I can learn what other choice phrases I used on the record?
newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/29/w...
Why can’t I have more content like this?
Crowds cheered as elephants smashed pumpkins at the Oregon Zoo on Oct. 16 for the annual Squishing of the Squash event.
According to the zoo, the yearly tradition dates back to 1999.
According to the zoo, the yearly tradition dates back to 1999.
October 21, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Why can’t I have more content like this?
OMG
this appears to be a power grab from actual scientists: funding decisions regarding Marsdens will soon be made by an 8-member panel with "a mix of academic, government and industry expertise" rather than the Marsden Fund Council which has (checks notes) 7 professors and 1 distinguished professor
October 15, 2025 at 1:26 PM
OMG
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
Do you know ~60% of human SVs fall in ~1% of GRCh38? See our new preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2509.23057 and the companion blog post on how we started this project and longdust: lh3.github.io/2025/09/29/o.... Work with Alvin Qin
September 30, 2025 at 2:19 AM
Do you know ~60% of human SVs fall in ~1% of GRCh38? See our new preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2509.23057 and the companion blog post on how we started this project and longdust: lh3.github.io/2025/09/29/o.... Work with Alvin Qin
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
☔💦 Sun, Sep 21
A sublime summery 8 days it's been w/J pod inland Puget Sound. Especially wild their South Sound foray, their first in decades.
Orcas reported this morn in Admiralty Inlet. Is it Js leaving?
📸 J pod Double spyhop! Taken from atop Tacoma Narrows Bridge. By Jolena Tagg 9/20.
#psws
A sublime summery 8 days it's been w/J pod inland Puget Sound. Especially wild their South Sound foray, their first in decades.
Orcas reported this morn in Admiralty Inlet. Is it Js leaving?
📸 J pod Double spyhop! Taken from atop Tacoma Narrows Bridge. By Jolena Tagg 9/20.
#psws
September 21, 2025 at 4:16 PM
☔💦 Sun, Sep 21
A sublime summery 8 days it's been w/J pod inland Puget Sound. Especially wild their South Sound foray, their first in decades.
Orcas reported this morn in Admiralty Inlet. Is it Js leaving?
📸 J pod Double spyhop! Taken from atop Tacoma Narrows Bridge. By Jolena Tagg 9/20.
#psws
A sublime summery 8 days it's been w/J pod inland Puget Sound. Especially wild their South Sound foray, their first in decades.
Orcas reported this morn in Admiralty Inlet. Is it Js leaving?
📸 J pod Double spyhop! Taken from atop Tacoma Narrows Bridge. By Jolena Tagg 9/20.
#psws
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
There's always something new to see. This absolutely wild little thing is the insect-egg slime mould (Leocarpus fragilis). Each fruiting body is about 1.5 mm long.
Bob Orr Pond Trail, Caughey-Taylor Preserve (Nature Trust NB), near St. Andrews, New Brunswick.
Bob Orr Pond Trail, Caughey-Taylor Preserve (Nature Trust NB), near St. Andrews, New Brunswick.
September 27, 2025 at 4:50 PM
There's always something new to see. This absolutely wild little thing is the insect-egg slime mould (Leocarpus fragilis). Each fruiting body is about 1.5 mm long.
Bob Orr Pond Trail, Caughey-Taylor Preserve (Nature Trust NB), near St. Andrews, New Brunswick.
Bob Orr Pond Trail, Caughey-Taylor Preserve (Nature Trust NB), near St. Andrews, New Brunswick.
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
Thrilled to share our two latest papers with the @tcostalab.bsky.social
lab! In the first, we uncover a new mechanism of satellite transfer: cf-PICIs hijack tails from diverse phages to spread across species.
@imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
lab! In the first, we uncover a new mechanism of satellite transfer: cf-PICIs hijack tails from diverse phages to spread across species.
@imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Chimeric infective particles expand species boundaries in phage-inducible chromosomal island mobilization
Capsid-forming PICIs (cf-PICIs) produce their own capsids and exploit phage tails
from unrelated species to transfer their DNA across bacterial hosts. This tail piracy
enables broad dissemination and ...
www.cell.com
September 9, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Thrilled to share our two latest papers with the @tcostalab.bsky.social
lab! In the first, we uncover a new mechanism of satellite transfer: cf-PICIs hijack tails from diverse phages to spread across species.
@imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
lab! In the first, we uncover a new mechanism of satellite transfer: cf-PICIs hijack tails from diverse phages to spread across species.
@imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
I love old Dicty papers. Look at this one (from 1987) depicting the morphological changes as Dicty slugs migrate. Apparently their heads (“tips”) bob up and down. Adorable
September 19, 2025 at 6:17 PM
I love old Dicty papers. Look at this one (from 1987) depicting the morphological changes as Dicty slugs migrate. Apparently their heads (“tips”) bob up and down. Adorable
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
Are you looking for a lectureship in biochemistry, molecular genetics, or bioinformatics? Come and enjoy the greatest place for kayak fishing and a fun research+teaching career.
*there are other fun things to do here too.
*there are other fun things to do here too.
September 15, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Are you looking for a lectureship in biochemistry, molecular genetics, or bioinformatics? Come and enjoy the greatest place for kayak fishing and a fun research+teaching career.
*there are other fun things to do here too.
*there are other fun things to do here too.