Elizabeth Ostrowski
@elizostrow.bsky.social
Evolutionary genomics and microbiology in Aotearoa. 🇺🇸in 🇳🇿. Personal account
https://ecoevo.social/@elizostrow
https://ecoevo.social/@elizostrow
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.
Kia ora Aotearoa, it’s so good to be back! ☕️
July 8, 2025 at 4:23 AM
Kia ora Aotearoa, it’s so good to be back! ☕️
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
We organized this one: academic.oup.com/femsle/artic... in 2024. It is coming back in 2026 with 2 hubs in the US (Michigan and SoCal). It was a great experience
MEEhubs2024: A hub-based conference on microbial ecology and evolution fostering sustainability
This paper presents a multi-hub conference on microbial ecology and evolution, analyzing participant and organizer feedback to provide a template and recom
academic.oup.com
May 26, 2025 at 4:55 PM
We organized this one: academic.oup.com/femsle/artic... in 2024. It is coming back in 2026 with 2 hubs in the US (Michigan and SoCal). It was a great experience
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
Groups of people self-organized in other locations. Some may have driven an hour to get to the other locations but it wasn't a cross-country plane ride. One person in each location was a point person to lead the activities in that locations. "Activities" were things like think-pair-shares, 🧵
May 26, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Groups of people self-organized in other locations. Some may have driven an hour to get to the other locations but it wasn't a cross-country plane ride. One person in each location was a point person to lead the activities in that locations. "Activities" were things like think-pair-shares, 🧵
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
So many important things are discussed at conferences. When international travel is dangerous & science is under threat & research funding is being slashed & we know how bad flying is for the climate & we have technology to make it happen, the fact that all conferences aren't hybrid is wild. 🧪
May 25, 2025 at 6:42 PM
So many important things are discussed at conferences. When international travel is dangerous & science is under threat & research funding is being slashed & we know how bad flying is for the climate & we have technology to make it happen, the fact that all conferences aren't hybrid is wild. 🧪
Apparently NZ’ers are just as obsessed with Costco’s NZ butter as the rest of us.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Demand for $10 a kg Costco butter sends queues out the door
Shoppers at Costco say they're saving hundreds by queuing for slabs of the $10/kg butter.
www.rnz.co.nz
May 24, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Apparently NZ’ers are just as obsessed with Costco’s NZ butter as the rest of us.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
And this population has definitely been overtaken by the so-called “wrinkly spreaders”.
I don’t know about the more gnarled looking one, which I’ve seen more than once
I don’t know about the more gnarled looking one, which I’ve seen more than once
May 15, 2025 at 5:21 PM
And this population has definitely been overtaken by the so-called “wrinkly spreaders”.
I don’t know about the more gnarled looking one, which I’ve seen more than once
I don’t know about the more gnarled looking one, which I’ve seen more than once
First peek at our class evolution experiment this quarter — diverse Pseudomonas fluorescens colony morphologies in response to predation by amoebae.
May 15, 2025 at 1:37 AM
First peek at our class evolution experiment this quarter — diverse Pseudomonas fluorescens colony morphologies in response to predation by amoebae.
A little joyful practice in Seattle (in common with New Zealand) is that riders shout out a thank you to the bus driver ☺️
May 1, 2025 at 1:20 AM
A little joyful practice in Seattle (in common with New Zealand) is that riders shout out a thank you to the bus driver ☺️
Reposted by Elizabeth Ostrowski
The website for our EMBO workshop is live now. Don't miss this opportunity to join us in a meeting that aims gathering all experts working on multicellularity. We will welcome you in the nice Barcelona in October! @multicellgenome.bsky.social @prbb.org @embo.org meetings.embo.org/event/25-mul...
Evolution and origins of multicellularity across the tree of life
The study of the origins and evolution of multicellularity in different lineages has recently captured the attention of many research groups and is fueling the generation of numerous innovative resea…
meetings.embo.org
April 19, 2025 at 9:40 AM
The website for our EMBO workshop is live now. Don't miss this opportunity to join us in a meeting that aims gathering all experts working on multicellularity. We will welcome you in the nice Barcelona in October! @multicellgenome.bsky.social @prbb.org @embo.org meetings.embo.org/event/25-mul...
Wolf’s milk slime mold,
Discovery Park, Seattle.
Kid made me SO proud… (1/4)
Discovery Park, Seattle.
Kid made me SO proud… (1/4)
April 16, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Wolf’s milk slime mold,
Discovery Park, Seattle.
Kid made me SO proud… (1/4)
Discovery Park, Seattle.
Kid made me SO proud… (1/4)
So, how much is everyone being charged for IDT custom oligos these days?
I got a fresh quote for 2X what I paid a few months ago in NZ, and 4X what I paid at the Univ of Houston. (At UH, we also got free shipping.)
I got a fresh quote for 2X what I paid a few months ago in NZ, and 4X what I paid at the Univ of Houston. (At UH, we also got free shipping.)
April 16, 2025 at 10:43 PM
So, how much is everyone being charged for IDT custom oligos these days?
I got a fresh quote for 2X what I paid a few months ago in NZ, and 4X what I paid at the Univ of Houston. (At UH, we also got free shipping.)
I got a fresh quote for 2X what I paid a few months ago in NZ, and 4X what I paid at the Univ of Houston. (At UH, we also got free shipping.)
Also wondering if people have maybe used flatbed scanners? I do need to ensure a consistent distance to the plate, as we need to compare sizes of plaques across different plates
#MicroSky can anyone recommend a *low-tech* method to take images of agar plates with good contrast and little glare?
My undergrads need to measure the sizes of amoebae plaques in bacterial lawns.
My undergrads need to measure the sizes of amoebae plaques in bacterial lawns.
April 15, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Also wondering if people have maybe used flatbed scanners? I do need to ensure a consistent distance to the plate, as we need to compare sizes of plaques across different plates