Ryan P. O’Donnell
@rpodonnell.bsky.social
Mycologist & botanist @EcoEvo_ANU | Orchids & their mycorrhizal fungi: phylogenomics, genomes, speciation, popgen, systematics & taxonomy | looking for a postdoc 👀 | rpodonnell.github.io 🍄🌿🌷📖🇵🇭🏳️🌈∞
Reposted by Ryan P. O’Donnell
like 50% of orchid pollination is horny male insects having their day ruined
in nature, nothing is more dangerous than horny
It's finally out! "Fatal Attraction: Argiope Spiders Lure Male Hemileuca Moth Prey with the Promise of Sex":
Website: www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/15...
PDF Version: www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/15...
Website: www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/15...
PDF Version: www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/15...
January 18, 2024 at 3:45 PM
like 50% of orchid pollination is horny male insects having their day ruined
Reposted by Ryan P. O’Donnell
Check out the recent publication in Annual Reviews of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics where the authors explore genomic species delimitation in depth. You'll see a number of #sciart figures I created to help explain some of the concepts!
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
October 29, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Check out the recent publication in Annual Reviews of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics where the authors explore genomic species delimitation in depth. You'll see a number of #sciart figures I created to help explain some of the concepts!
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Reposted by Ryan P. O’Donnell
Fungal phylum-level classification update now available! Used "innovative taxonomy" to describe >100 taxa, from species to phylum, based on long reads, characteristic nucleotides and env-samples.
mycokeys.pensoft.net/article/1616...
#fungi #taxonomy #PacBio #classification #eDNA
mycokeys.pensoft.net/article/1616...
#fungi #taxonomy #PacBio #classification #eDNA
October 20, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Fungal phylum-level classification update now available! Used "innovative taxonomy" to describe >100 taxa, from species to phylum, based on long reads, characteristic nucleotides and env-samples.
mycokeys.pensoft.net/article/1616...
#fungi #taxonomy #PacBio #classification #eDNA
mycokeys.pensoft.net/article/1616...
#fungi #taxonomy #PacBio #classification #eDNA
Reposted by Ryan P. O’Donnell
I just passed my 50,000th identification on @inaturalist.bsky.social! Identifying is a huge but often ignored part of the #iNaturalist community and dataset so I wanted to share why and how I identify. 1/14
🧪 #ecology #taxonomy #botany #CommunityScience
🧪 #ecology #taxonomy #botany #CommunityScience
September 18, 2025 at 8:52 PM
I just passed my 50,000th identification on @inaturalist.bsky.social! Identifying is a huge but often ignored part of the #iNaturalist community and dataset so I wanted to share why and how I identify. 1/14
🧪 #ecology #taxonomy #botany #CommunityScience
🧪 #ecology #taxonomy #botany #CommunityScience
Reposted by Ryan P. O’Donnell
How to quantify the impact of AI on long-run cultural evolution? Published today, I give it a go!
400+ years of strategic dynamics in the game of Go (Baduk/Weiqi), from feudalism to AlphaGo!
400+ years of strategic dynamics in the game of Go (Baduk/Weiqi), from feudalism to AlphaGo!
September 16, 2025 at 2:04 PM
How to quantify the impact of AI on long-run cultural evolution? Published today, I give it a go!
400+ years of strategic dynamics in the game of Go (Baduk/Weiqi), from feudalism to AlphaGo!
400+ years of strategic dynamics in the game of Go (Baduk/Weiqi), from feudalism to AlphaGo!
Reposted by Ryan P. O’Donnell
Most of us use rDNA for community analyses of AM fungi. Intragenomic variation in rDNA of AM fungi can be pretty huge, depending on the region.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The pitfalls of rDNA‐based AMF identification: a comparative analysis of rDNA and protein‐coding genes
Intragenomic polymorphism of rDNA in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) has been largely overlooked in ecological and taxonomic studies, and the reliability of nuclear rDNA regions for species ident.....
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 17, 2025 at 1:52 AM
Most of us use rDNA for community analyses of AM fungi. Intragenomic variation in rDNA of AM fungi can be pretty huge, depending on the region.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Thanks to everyone who came along/tuned in to my PhD exit seminar! What a thing to do at the end of almost four years. So close to submitting, just need to tidy up this last chapter and I’m done! PS does anyone need a mycology/botany genomics/systematics postdoc? 👀
September 12, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Thanks to everyone who came along/tuned in to my PhD exit seminar! What a thing to do at the end of almost four years. So close to submitting, just need to tidy up this last chapter and I’m done! PS does anyone need a mycology/botany genomics/systematics postdoc? 👀
Reposted by Ryan P. O’Donnell
My final PhD exit seminar is fast approaching! Tune in if you’d like to hear what I’ve been up to the last four years. There’s something for everyone: fungal genomics and species delimitation (38 new Rhizoctonia genomes), orchid phylogenomics and popgen, fungal taxonomy, it’s gonna be fun 🤙
Join us on campus & online on Thursday, 11 Sept 2025 at 3pm for a seminar by Ryan O'Donnell, PhD Candidate from RSB's Linde Group! Details: rb.gy/zij7xp
E&E PhD Exit Seminar: Understanding Australian Orchids & Their Mycorrhizal Fungi – Macro to Microevolutionary Perspectives
The majority of studies into the Australian orchid flora and associated funga have thus far been narrow in scope and focused either on a macro- or microevolutionary scale. In this thesis, I studied th...
rb.gy
September 2, 2025 at 11:27 PM
My final PhD exit seminar is fast approaching! Tune in if you’d like to hear what I’ve been up to the last four years. There’s something for everyone: fungal genomics and species delimitation (38 new Rhizoctonia genomes), orchid phylogenomics and popgen, fungal taxonomy, it’s gonna be fun 🤙
Reposted by Ryan P. O’Donnell
Join us on campus & online on Thursday, 31 July 2025 at 1pm for a seminar by Dr Darren Wong, Postdoctoral Fellow from the Peakall Group, RSB, ANU. Details: tiny.cc/gizp001
E&E Seminar Series: A symphony of colour and scents: Complex anthocyanin and terpene synthase mechanisms underpin the evolution of species-rich Australian orchids
Many flowering plants have evolved diverse strategies to communicate with and attract animal pollinators. We have discovered exciting new evidence for the role of anthocyanins and terpenes in the evol...
tiny.cc
July 22, 2025 at 5:07 AM
Join us on campus & online on Thursday, 31 July 2025 at 1pm for a seminar by Dr Darren Wong, Postdoctoral Fellow from the Peakall Group, RSB, ANU. Details: tiny.cc/gizp001
Thanks @westerdijkinst.bsky.social !
𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 🚨
What happened to Rhizoctonia and its Thanatephorus sexual morph?
In this paper, Rhizoctonia and allied genera are reviewed, and 32 new combinations are proposed in Rhizoctonia
🔗 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞:
https://doi.org/10.3114/persoonia.2025.54.09
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬
What happened to Rhizoctonia and its Thanatephorus sexual morph?
In this paper, Rhizoctonia and allied genera are reviewed, and 32 new combinations are proposed in Rhizoctonia
🔗 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞:
https://doi.org/10.3114/persoonia.2025.54.09
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬
July 11, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Thanks @westerdijkinst.bsky.social !
Reposted by Ryan P. O’Donnell
📢 The #BiodiversityHeritageLibrary is entering a bold new chapter – and we need your help! Today we release our official Call for Support. We’re seeking new hosts for BHL’s staff, infrastructure, and services. Learn more: blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2025/06/tran... #BHLTransition #ILoveBHL
June 11, 2025 at 5:05 PM
📢 The #BiodiversityHeritageLibrary is entering a bold new chapter – and we need your help! Today we release our official Call for Support. We’re seeking new hosts for BHL’s staff, infrastructure, and services. Learn more: blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2025/06/tran... #BHLTransition #ILoveBHL
Reposted by Ryan P. O’Donnell
In an unconscionable decision, the Smithsonian Institute has decided to no longer support the Biodiversity Heritage Library from 1 Jan 2026. Please someone step up and take it over.
Foundations: please step up and take over the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL). This is an absolutely essential scanned archive of all of the old journals and books from the 1500s to about 1920. Has been indispensable for my research.
about.biodiversitylibrary.org/call-for-sup...
about.biodiversitylibrary.org/call-for-sup...
Call for Support: – About BHL
about.biodiversitylibrary.org
July 2, 2025 at 3:56 PM
In an unconscionable decision, the Smithsonian Institute has decided to no longer support the Biodiversity Heritage Library from 1 Jan 2026. Please someone step up and take it over.
Reposted by Ryan P. O’Donnell
so cool! academic.oup.com/gbe/article/... Nice work @martinsteinegger.bsky.social et al :)
Unicore Enables Scalable and Accurate Phylogenetic Reconstruction with Structural Core Genes
Abstract. The analysis of single-copy core genes, common to most members of a clade, is important for key tasks in biology including phylogenetic reconstru
academic.oup.com
June 19, 2025 at 7:03 PM
so cool! academic.oup.com/gbe/article/... Nice work @martinsteinegger.bsky.social et al :)
At long last, our manuscript ‘Rise up, Rhizoctonia: moving to one fungus, one name in the Ceratobasidiaceae’ has finally been published in Persoonia 🎉
Here we resolve several longstanding taxonomic issues within Ceratobasidiaceae and present a unified Rhizoctonia
www.persoonia.org/images/Volum...
Here we resolve several longstanding taxonomic issues within Ceratobasidiaceae and present a unified Rhizoctonia
www.persoonia.org/images/Volum...
June 24, 2025 at 10:54 AM
At long last, our manuscript ‘Rise up, Rhizoctonia: moving to one fungus, one name in the Ceratobasidiaceae’ has finally been published in Persoonia 🎉
Here we resolve several longstanding taxonomic issues within Ceratobasidiaceae and present a unified Rhizoctonia
www.persoonia.org/images/Volum...
Here we resolve several longstanding taxonomic issues within Ceratobasidiaceae and present a unified Rhizoctonia
www.persoonia.org/images/Volum...
26 freshly sequenced whole genomes of undescribed orchid-associated Rhizoctonia spp. 🤙 14 more genomes to go and then I’m on the home stretch for the PhD 🫨
May 7, 2025 at 5:03 AM
26 freshly sequenced whole genomes of undescribed orchid-associated Rhizoctonia spp. 🤙 14 more genomes to go and then I’m on the home stretch for the PhD 🫨
After 372 days since submission, and 14 reviewers who committed to reviewing but didn’t wind up submitting a review, our Rhizoctonia nomenclature manuscript has finally been accepted for publication in Persoonia! 🥲
March 13, 2025 at 8:08 AM
After 372 days since submission, and 14 reviewers who committed to reviewing but didn’t wind up submitting a review, our Rhizoctonia nomenclature manuscript has finally been accepted for publication in Persoonia! 🥲
Had such a great time over the weekend talking with artist Keg de Souza and panel chair Richard Morecroft about fungi and the intersections of art and science for ‘Magic Mycelium’ at the Bundanon Art Museum - such an incredible art space and landscape.
March 11, 2025 at 5:50 AM
Had such a great time over the weekend talking with artist Keg de Souza and panel chair Richard Morecroft about fungi and the intersections of art and science for ‘Magic Mycelium’ at the Bundanon Art Museum - such an incredible art space and landscape.
At long last, the final typeset version of our Diurideae manuscript has finally been published in Systematic Biology! Check it out at doi.org/10.1093/sysb...
March 5, 2025 at 8:51 PM
At long last, the final typeset version of our Diurideae manuscript has finally been published in Systematic Biology! Check it out at doi.org/10.1093/sysb...
Reposted by Ryan P. O’Donnell
Australia’s university Vice-Chancellors are among the highest paid in the world.
Australia’s PhD students are some of the lowest paid.
That is not a sign of a healthy education system.
Read more from @jack-thrower.bsky.social:
Australia’s PhD students are some of the lowest paid.
That is not a sign of a healthy education system.
Read more from @jack-thrower.bsky.social:
While Uni Vice-Chancellors rake in millions, young researchers struggle to survive
Australia's university Vice-Chancellors are among the highest paid in the world, while Australia's PhD students are some of the lowest paid. That is not a sign of a healthy education system.
australiainstitute.org.au
February 5, 2025 at 2:01 AM
Australia’s university Vice-Chancellors are among the highest paid in the world.
Australia’s PhD students are some of the lowest paid.
That is not a sign of a healthy education system.
Read more from @jack-thrower.bsky.social:
Australia’s PhD students are some of the lowest paid.
That is not a sign of a healthy education system.
Read more from @jack-thrower.bsky.social:
Reposted by Ryan P. O’Donnell
Out now in @nature.com! Our comprehensive meta-analysis of global terrestrial and marine genetic diversity demonstrates rapid loss of genetic diversity and identifies conservation interventions that could mitigate this process
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪🌍🦤🧬
#consgen #PopGen
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪🌍🦤🧬
#consgen #PopGen
Global meta-analysis shows action is needed to halt genetic diversity loss - Nature
A comprehensive meta-analysis of global terrestrial and marine genetic diversity covering more than three decades of research demonstrates rapid loss of genetic diversity and identifies conservation i...
www.nature.com
January 29, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Out now in @nature.com! Our comprehensive meta-analysis of global terrestrial and marine genetic diversity demonstrates rapid loss of genetic diversity and identifies conservation interventions that could mitigate this process
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪🌍🦤🧬
#consgen #PopGen
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪🌍🦤🧬
#consgen #PopGen
Reposted by Ryan P. O’Donnell
“The PhD stipend is $33,511 … well below minimum wage of $47,627”
“Universities can raise the stipend to a maximum of $52,352, but a ACGR survey found none have done so. The highest stipend is just over $40,000 … with the average at $34,244.”
#RaiseTheStipend
“Universities can raise the stipend to a maximum of $52,352, but a ACGR survey found none have done so. The highest stipend is just over $40,000 … with the average at $34,244.”
#RaiseTheStipend
PhD student Jesse Gardner-Russell earns $20 an hour. Experts say low pay is turning Australia’s best and brightest away
The University of Melbourne student whose work could contribute to curing blindness says ‘people are shocked to find out how unlivable it is’
www.theguardian.com
January 16, 2025 at 11:37 PM
“The PhD stipend is $33,511 … well below minimum wage of $47,627”
“Universities can raise the stipend to a maximum of $52,352, but a ACGR survey found none have done so. The highest stipend is just over $40,000 … with the average at $34,244.”
#RaiseTheStipend
“Universities can raise the stipend to a maximum of $52,352, but a ACGR survey found none have done so. The highest stipend is just over $40,000 … with the average at $34,244.”
#RaiseTheStipend
In no particular order, here are my favourite books from 2024:
January 1, 2025 at 12:43 AM
In no particular order, here are my favourite books from 2024: