Karolina Heyduk
@kheyduk.bsky.social
Assistant Prof UConn EEB | CAM photosynthesis keeps me up at night | made of cookies | She/her. Views my own.
Luckily, it has really helped them think through their dissertation chapters, so definitely some benefits from the whole process.
February 4, 2026 at 11:47 PM
Luckily, it has really helped them think through their dissertation chapters, so definitely some benefits from the whole process.
Sucks so hard to be unable to explain why this happened. So demoralizing for the student. Just. Ugh.
February 4, 2026 at 11:42 PM
Sucks so hard to be unable to explain why this happened. So demoralizing for the student. Just. Ugh.
Highly doubt a human read this proposal. Topic is photosynthesis in bromeliads. Not crops. Not health. Not policy adjacent. If it is a legit reason, just say it? This is extremely weird.
February 4, 2026 at 11:41 PM
Highly doubt a human read this proposal. Topic is photosynthesis in bromeliads. Not crops. Not health. Not policy adjacent. If it is a legit reason, just say it? This is extremely weird.
My grad student, who got RWR and appealed, got an email from GRFP program today that said "Your application was screened by NSF program officers with expertise in your proposed field of study and was determined to be ineligible according to the solicitation requirements."
No details were given. 😡
No details were given. 😡
Reposting again because according to Reddit threads, another round of RWR emails went out today.
NSF GRFP applicants (and mentors): Was your application Returned Without Review and deemed ineligible despite fitting in the allowed topics?
1) Write NSF
2) Write your Congressperson
3) CC us at grfp@grant-witness.us so we can compile + follow up
Details and template at grant-witness.us/grfp-letter
1) Write NSF
2) Write your Congressperson
3) CC us at grfp@grant-witness.us so we can compile + follow up
Details and template at grant-witness.us/grfp-letter
February 4, 2026 at 11:35 PM
My grad student, who got RWR and appealed, got an email from GRFP program today that said "Your application was screened by NSF program officers with expertise in your proposed field of study and was determined to be ineligible according to the solicitation requirements."
No details were given. 😡
No details were given. 😡
Reposting again because according to Reddit threads, another round of RWR emails went out today.
NSF GRFP applicants (and mentors): Was your application Returned Without Review and deemed ineligible despite fitting in the allowed topics?
1) Write NSF
2) Write your Congressperson
3) CC us at grfp@grant-witness.us so we can compile + follow up
Details and template at grant-witness.us/grfp-letter
1) Write NSF
2) Write your Congressperson
3) CC us at grfp@grant-witness.us so we can compile + follow up
Details and template at grant-witness.us/grfp-letter
February 4, 2026 at 10:39 PM
Reposting again because according to Reddit threads, another round of RWR emails went out today.
Reposted by Karolina Heyduk
After a >1 yr hiatus, the #fern tree of life (FTOL) #phylogeny is back with another update! 🌿 🌏 🧬
For the first time including >1,000 whole plastomes and >6,000 fern species!
Available at fernphy.github.io/downloads.html
For the first time including >1,000 whole plastomes and >6,000 fern species!
Available at fernphy.github.io/downloads.html
Downloads – Fern Tree of Life
Current and past versions of FTOL available for download
fernphy.github.io
February 3, 2026 at 8:20 AM
After a >1 yr hiatus, the #fern tree of life (FTOL) #phylogeny is back with another update! 🌿 🌏 🧬
For the first time including >1,000 whole plastomes and >6,000 fern species!
Available at fernphy.github.io/downloads.html
For the first time including >1,000 whole plastomes and >6,000 fern species!
Available at fernphy.github.io/downloads.html
Man everything on instagram is 3000% funnier at 11:30 pm on a Monday night.
February 3, 2026 at 4:22 AM
Man everything on instagram is 3000% funnier at 11:30 pm on a Monday night.
Reposted by Karolina Heyduk
NSF GRFP applicants (and mentors): Was your application Returned Without Review and deemed ineligible despite fitting in the allowed topics?
1) Write NSF
2) Write your Congressperson
3) CC us at grfp@grant-witness.us so we can compile + follow up
Details and template at grant-witness.us/grfp-letter
1) Write NSF
2) Write your Congressperson
3) CC us at grfp@grant-witness.us so we can compile + follow up
Details and template at grant-witness.us/grfp-letter
February 2, 2026 at 5:58 PM
NSF GRFP applicants (and mentors): Was your application Returned Without Review and deemed ineligible despite fitting in the allowed topics?
1) Write NSF
2) Write your Congressperson
3) CC us at grfp@grant-witness.us so we can compile + follow up
Details and template at grant-witness.us/grfp-letter
1) Write NSF
2) Write your Congressperson
3) CC us at grfp@grant-witness.us so we can compile + follow up
Details and template at grant-witness.us/grfp-letter
everything is bad but the shortbread I made is super good so there's that.
February 2, 2026 at 12:52 AM
everything is bad but the shortbread I made is super good so there's that.
Reposted by Karolina Heyduk
Okay! This has already inspired a bunch of DMs, so I made a page on the website. If you have 50,000+ Skymiles and would be willing to book flights to get someone home, please fill this out.
Donate Your Skymiles — Stand With Minnesota
Donate your Delta Skymiles to get people home from Texas
www.standwithminnesota.com
February 1, 2026 at 6:22 PM
Okay! This has already inspired a bunch of DMs, so I made a page on the website. If you have 50,000+ Skymiles and would be willing to book flights to get someone home, please fill this out.
Reposted by Karolina Heyduk
4 federal agents pull over an elderly US citizen for the suspected crime of being brown, break her car window, throw her to the ground, then drive off after they find her US Passport in her purse. The Salem Police, when called, say there’s nothing they can do. www.salemreporter.com/2026/01/31/u...
U.S. citizen injured by federal agents in Salem who demanded to see “papers,” union says - Salem Reporter
A home care worker and union worker was pulled from her car and injured by federal agents Thursday according to a statement by SEIU 503. To comment on this story, use the form at the end of the repor...
www.salemreporter.com
February 1, 2026 at 2:47 PM
4 federal agents pull over an elderly US citizen for the suspected crime of being brown, break her car window, throw her to the ground, then drive off after they find her US Passport in her purse. The Salem Police, when called, say there’s nothing they can do. www.salemreporter.com/2026/01/31/u...
I tell my students this is the whole point: we're looking to find the edges of your table of knowledge! I'm sure you'll do great!!
February 1, 2026 at 12:15 AM
I tell my students this is the whole point: we're looking to find the edges of your table of knowledge! I'm sure you'll do great!!
Write a couple hundred words about myself? No thanks, I'd rather clear snow from the grass for no reason.
January 31, 2026 at 9:59 PM
Write a couple hundred words about myself? No thanks, I'd rather clear snow from the grass for no reason.
Reposted by Karolina Heyduk
ICYMI, Rice University students have developed a free online map to track ICE activity throughout the country.
Find it here: www.icemap.dev.
Gift link to @houstonchronicle.com story about it:
www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...
Find it here: www.icemap.dev.
Gift link to @houstonchronicle.com story about it:
www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...
Rice students create nationwide ICE tracker to monitor immigration enforcement
The students had been teaching weekly children's classes as volunteers. One day, the kids stopped showing up.
www.houstonchronicle.com
January 31, 2026 at 4:50 PM
ICYMI, Rice University students have developed a free online map to track ICE activity throughout the country.
Find it here: www.icemap.dev.
Gift link to @houstonchronicle.com story about it:
www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...
Find it here: www.icemap.dev.
Gift link to @houstonchronicle.com story about it:
www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...
I'm curious about the states... 👀
January 30, 2026 at 11:11 PM
I'm curious about the states... 👀
Reposted by Karolina Heyduk
interested to learn what “at my direction” means because it sounds like “without a warrant”
January 30, 2026 at 2:44 PM
interested to learn what “at my direction” means because it sounds like “without a warrant”
Reposted by Karolina Heyduk
These are all Black people. The regime is betting that you wont care Jamael & Trahern the way you care about Alex & Renée
feds have arrested jamael lundy alongside journalists georgia fort and don lemon for the protest at a st. paul church led by an ICE agent
lundy is currently running for state senate district 65 in minnesota. his wife is anika bowie, a st. paul city councilmember
www.jlundyforsd65.com
lundy is currently running for state senate district 65 in minnesota. his wife is anika bowie, a st. paul city councilmember
www.jlundyforsd65.com
January 30, 2026 at 3:08 PM
These are all Black people. The regime is betting that you wont care Jamael & Trahern the way you care about Alex & Renée
My student didn't mention health. Proposal on bromeliads. Mentioned the word "physiology" probably but can't possibly be the only one.
January 30, 2026 at 12:18 AM
My student didn't mention health. Proposal on bromeliads. Mentioned the word "physiology" probably but can't possibly be the only one.
Reddit posts on this topic also showed a lot of neuroscience getting rwrs. Seems so so random.
January 30, 2026 at 12:11 AM
Reddit posts on this topic also showed a lot of neuroscience getting rwrs. Seems so so random.
Please if you know of others being returned without review let us know! No clear pattern that I can tell.
Fwiw my student sent an appeal to email listed in rejection message and got a (form) response that their app was being further evaluated.
Fwiw my student sent an appeal to email listed in rejection message and got a (form) response that their app was being further evaluated.
A number of our students got the following comment back on a rejection for the NSF GFRP. They are in an eligible STEM field. Is this something people in other places are getting too? Is it a quirk or targeted?
January 29, 2026 at 3:22 PM
Please if you know of others being returned without review let us know! No clear pattern that I can tell.
Fwiw my student sent an appeal to email listed in rejection message and got a (form) response that their app was being further evaluated.
Fwiw my student sent an appeal to email listed in rejection message and got a (form) response that their app was being further evaluated.
How many in your dept got rwr? One in eeb selected ecology (among other topics) but the other did not.
January 29, 2026 at 3:16 PM
How many in your dept got rwr? One in eeb selected ecology (among other topics) but the other did not.
Reposted by Karolina Heyduk
Calling all OrthoFinder users!
We’ve just released GLADE, a tool to infer gene gains, losses, duplications, and ancestral genomes across a phylogeny.
GLADE runs directly on OrthoFinder results.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
github.com/lauriebelch/...
(1/10)
We’ve just released GLADE, a tool to infer gene gains, losses, duplications, and ancestral genomes across a phylogeny.
GLADE runs directly on OrthoFinder results.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
github.com/lauriebelch/...
(1/10)
www.biorxiv.org
January 29, 2026 at 12:07 PM
Calling all OrthoFinder users!
We’ve just released GLADE, a tool to infer gene gains, losses, duplications, and ancestral genomes across a phylogeny.
GLADE runs directly on OrthoFinder results.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
github.com/lauriebelch/...
(1/10)
We’ve just released GLADE, a tool to infer gene gains, losses, duplications, and ancestral genomes across a phylogeny.
GLADE runs directly on OrthoFinder results.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
github.com/lauriebelch/...
(1/10)
Reposted by Karolina Heyduk
A federal judge, in a published order, so very much on the record:
“ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”
“ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”
wooooow
January 28, 2026 at 10:56 PM
A federal judge, in a published order, so very much on the record:
“ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”
“ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”