Sandy Hetherington
@sandyheth.bsky.social
Dr Alexander J. Hetherington | Plant evolutionary biologist, University of Edinburgh UK | UKRI Future Leader Fellow |
Lab website: https://www.ed.ac.uk/biology/groups/hetherington
Lab website: https://www.ed.ac.uk/biology/groups/hetherington
Pinned
Sandy Hetherington
@sandyheth.bsky.social
· Sep 21
Our recent paper @newphyt.bsky.social @anajusagasti.bsky.social @instmolplantsci.bsky.social is featured today in the Sunday Post!
Thanks Sally McDonald for your piece helping to promote and communicate Scotland’s rich fossil heritage
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Thanks Sally McDonald for your piece helping to promote and communicate Scotland’s rich fossil heritage
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Congratulations @thibault-durieux.bsky.social - it was a wonderful thesis and a pleasure to discuss it with you in the viva yesterday!
We have a new Dr in #paleobotany! Congratulations to @thibault-durieux.bsky.social who successfully passed his viva. It was a great journey & he made the advising job very easy for
@petermoonlight.bsky.social, Carla Harper and I. Big thanks to the examiners Jenny McElwain & @sandyheth.bsky.social!
@petermoonlight.bsky.social, Carla Harper and I. Big thanks to the examiners Jenny McElwain & @sandyheth.bsky.social!
November 14, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Congratulations @thibault-durieux.bsky.social - it was a wonderful thesis and a pleasure to discuss it with you in the viva yesterday!
Reposted by Sandy Hetherington
New light on old stones: a fossil #fungus in #symbiosis with one of the oldest known land plants
@chistinesd.bsky.social, et al.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
@dromius.bsky.social @ffercoq.bsky.social #PlantScience
Summary also available in French and Spanish.
@chistinesd.bsky.social, et al.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
@dromius.bsky.social @ffercoq.bsky.social #PlantScience
Summary also available in French and Spanish.
November 14, 2025 at 7:35 AM
New light on old stones: a fossil #fungus in #symbiosis with one of the oldest known land plants
@chistinesd.bsky.social, et al.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
@dromius.bsky.social @ffercoq.bsky.social #PlantScience
Summary also available in French and Spanish.
@chistinesd.bsky.social, et al.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
@dromius.bsky.social @ffercoq.bsky.social #PlantScience
Summary also available in French and Spanish.
Reposted by Sandy Hetherington
Plz RP. Come join us at @slcuplants.bsky.social @cam.ac.uk to study effector-targeted plant processes impacting plant cell biology and development.
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/post-do...
www.schornacklab.net
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/post-do...
www.schornacklab.net
November 6, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Plz RP. Come join us at @slcuplants.bsky.social @cam.ac.uk to study effector-targeted plant processes impacting plant cell biology and development.
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/post-do...
www.schornacklab.net
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/post-do...
www.schornacklab.net
Huge congratulations @jeremywyman.bsky.social @instmolplantsci.bsky.social for publishing the results of your masters thesis @annbot.bsky.social
The work includes a new reconstruction of the Carboniferous isoetalean Oxroadia by the brilliant @palaeojules.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/aob/advance-...
The work includes a new reconstruction of the Carboniferous isoetalean Oxroadia by the brilliant @palaeojules.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/aob/advance-...
November 5, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Huge congratulations @jeremywyman.bsky.social @instmolplantsci.bsky.social for publishing the results of your masters thesis @annbot.bsky.social
The work includes a new reconstruction of the Carboniferous isoetalean Oxroadia by the brilliant @palaeojules.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/aob/advance-...
The work includes a new reconstruction of the Carboniferous isoetalean Oxroadia by the brilliant @palaeojules.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/aob/advance-...
Thanks @wickellomics.bsky.social for the brilliant @instmolplantsci.bsky.social seminar! Fascinating study of CAM evolution and I’m always excited for all things Isoetes.
November 3, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Thanks @wickellomics.bsky.social for the brilliant @instmolplantsci.bsky.social seminar! Fascinating study of CAM evolution and I’m always excited for all things Isoetes.
Real pleasure to be invited to speak at the British Pteridological Society meeting today.
Brilliant mix of talks spanning evolution, conservation and botanical collections.
And always great to have a tour of the wonderful @thebotanics.bsky.social collections! 🌿
Brilliant mix of talks spanning evolution, conservation and botanical collections.
And always great to have a tour of the wonderful @thebotanics.bsky.social collections! 🌿
October 25, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Real pleasure to be invited to speak at the British Pteridological Society meeting today.
Brilliant mix of talks spanning evolution, conservation and botanical collections.
And always great to have a tour of the wonderful @thebotanics.bsky.social collections! 🌿
Brilliant mix of talks spanning evolution, conservation and botanical collections.
And always great to have a tour of the wonderful @thebotanics.bsky.social collections! 🌿
Thanks Bianca Lopez @science.org for highlighting our recent @newphyt.bsky.social paper led by @anajusagasti.bsky.social in this weeks "In Other Journals" section of Science #FossilFriday
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
In Other Journals
Editors’ selections from the current scientific literature
www.science.org
October 24, 2025 at 8:29 AM
Thanks Bianca Lopez @science.org for highlighting our recent @newphyt.bsky.social paper led by @anajusagasti.bsky.social in this weeks "In Other Journals" section of Science #FossilFriday
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Sandy Hetherington
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT📣: I haven’t been this excited to be part of something new in 15 years… Thrilled to reveal the passion project I’ve been working on for the past year and a half!🙀🥳 (thread 👇)
October 15, 2025 at 12:22 PM
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT📣: I haven’t been this excited to be part of something new in 15 years… Thrilled to reveal the passion project I’ve been working on for the past year and a half!🙀🥳 (thread 👇)
Reposted by Sandy Hetherington
Sharing a beautiful photomicrograph of Trichormus variabilis, a nitrogen-fixing biofilm-forming cyanobacterium with long tangled filaments.🌀
Those eye-like structures made me feel "observed", a fun sort-of revenge from the microbial world.😯
#BiofilmCreate #BiofilmAware @ukbiofilms.bsky.social
Those eye-like structures made me feel "observed", a fun sort-of revenge from the microbial world.😯
#BiofilmCreate #BiofilmAware @ukbiofilms.bsky.social
October 16, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Sharing a beautiful photomicrograph of Trichormus variabilis, a nitrogen-fixing biofilm-forming cyanobacterium with long tangled filaments.🌀
Those eye-like structures made me feel "observed", a fun sort-of revenge from the microbial world.😯
#BiofilmCreate #BiofilmAware @ukbiofilms.bsky.social
Those eye-like structures made me feel "observed", a fun sort-of revenge from the microbial world.😯
#BiofilmCreate #BiofilmAware @ukbiofilms.bsky.social
Reposted by Sandy Hetherington
Students (and recent graduates) working on anything phylogenetics, systematics or taxonomy-related, the abstract submission deadline for this year's (FREE ONLINE) Young Systematists' Forum approaches!
Send us your abstracts by Saturday, OCTOBER 25 11:59PM GMT+1
tinyurl.com/2w5n3e8
Send us your abstracts by Saturday, OCTOBER 25 11:59PM GMT+1
tinyurl.com/2w5n3e8
YSF2025 Registration Form
Welcome to the YSF2025 Registration and Abstract Submission form.
This year the conference will be held online on Friday, November 14th 2025. We look forward to seeing old and new faces from across t...
tinyurl.com
October 16, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Students (and recent graduates) working on anything phylogenetics, systematics or taxonomy-related, the abstract submission deadline for this year's (FREE ONLINE) Young Systematists' Forum approaches!
Send us your abstracts by Saturday, OCTOBER 25 11:59PM GMT+1
tinyurl.com/2w5n3e8
Send us your abstracts by Saturday, OCTOBER 25 11:59PM GMT+1
tinyurl.com/2w5n3e8
What a brilliant conference - thanks so much for the invitation to speak at Morph Up North, and for all the brilliant talks this afternoon!
October 15, 2025 at 4:13 PM
What a brilliant conference - thanks so much for the invitation to speak at Morph Up North, and for all the brilliant talks this afternoon!
Reposted by Sandy Hetherington
🌿 Amazing opportunity for scientists from any field to move into plant biology! I might host a fellow in the area of root-microbe or root-environment interactions (DM me). 👉 simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons-postdoctoral-fellowships-in-plant-biology
#PlantScience #ClimateChange #HarnessingPlants
#PlantScience #ClimateChange #HarnessingPlants
Simons Postdoctoral Fellowships in Plant Biology
Simons Postdoctoral Fellowships in Plant Biology on Simons Foundation
simonsfoundation.org
October 13, 2025 at 6:16 PM
🌿 Amazing opportunity for scientists from any field to move into plant biology! I might host a fellow in the area of root-microbe or root-environment interactions (DM me). 👉 simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons-postdoctoral-fellowships-in-plant-biology
#PlantScience #ClimateChange #HarnessingPlants
#PlantScience #ClimateChange #HarnessingPlants
Reposted by Sandy Hetherington
A first dive in fern x pathogen interaction! More to come!
Congratulations @baptistebio.bsky.social @jacquet-chris.bsky.social et al.!
Congratulations @baptistebio.bsky.social @jacquet-chris.bsky.social et al.!
Want to see ferns under attack and how they respond to pathogens? Check out our latest paper!
doi.org/10.1186/s129...
Congrats on this huge team effort to @baptistebio.bsky.social @madeleinebaker.bsky.social @kellerjeanphd.bsky.social @maximebonhomme.bsky.social @pierremarcdelaux.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1186/s129...
Congrats on this huge team effort to @baptistebio.bsky.social @madeleinebaker.bsky.social @kellerjeanphd.bsky.social @maximebonhomme.bsky.social @pierremarcdelaux.bsky.social
October 9, 2025 at 3:47 PM
A first dive in fern x pathogen interaction! More to come!
Congratulations @baptistebio.bsky.social @jacquet-chris.bsky.social et al.!
Congratulations @baptistebio.bsky.social @jacquet-chris.bsky.social et al.!
Reposted by Sandy Hetherington
Excited to participate and talk about how quantitative imaging analyses using #MorphographX helped see things that I didn’t know! #MGX 🌱🧪
🌱 Join us for our upcoming workshop Quantifying Plant Morphogenesis: 4D Insights with MorphoGraphX!
Learn how to quantitatively analyze plant confocal imaging data using MorphoGraphX.
Learn how to quantitatively analyze plant confocal imaging data using MorphoGraphX.
October 6, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Excited to participate and talk about how quantitative imaging analyses using #MorphographX helped see things that I didn’t know! #MGX 🌱🧪
Reposted by Sandy Hetherington
It's #FossilFriday! Great time to check out our new paper if you haven't yet.
#Palaeobotany #JurassicPlants
#Palaeobotany #JurassicPlants
Excited to share our recent paper @newphyt.bsky.social where we describe evidence of a Jurassic nurse log from Scotland! Great work led by @anajusagasti.bsky.social Sophie Burne and @jeremywyman.bsky.social @instmolplantsci.bsky.social
🧵 👇 1/6
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
🧵 👇 1/6
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Decay stages of Jurassic wood debris from Scotland: evidence for the coevolution of fungal rot, arthropods and the nurse log strategy
A key feature of extant conifer forests is the high percentage of seeds that germinate and establish on dead wood; in some forests, this can exceed 90%. This deadwood can act as an ideal nursery for...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 26, 2025 at 2:19 PM
It's #FossilFriday! Great time to check out our new paper if you haven't yet.
#Palaeobotany #JurassicPlants
#Palaeobotany #JurassicPlants
Reposted by Sandy Hetherington
Oxford Biology is growing 📢
We’re appointing 3 Associate Professors in:
🌱 Plant Sciences
🦉 Animal Behaviour
🔬 Molecular Cell Biology
3 fields. 3 opportunities. One new home for Oxford Biology.
Learn more 👉 bit.ly/41S2Tc7
Apply now 👉 bit.ly/488CNW3
We’re appointing 3 Associate Professors in:
🌱 Plant Sciences
🦉 Animal Behaviour
🔬 Molecular Cell Biology
3 fields. 3 opportunities. One new home for Oxford Biology.
Learn more 👉 bit.ly/41S2Tc7
Apply now 👉 bit.ly/488CNW3
September 15, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Oxford Biology is growing 📢
We’re appointing 3 Associate Professors in:
🌱 Plant Sciences
🦉 Animal Behaviour
🔬 Molecular Cell Biology
3 fields. 3 opportunities. One new home for Oxford Biology.
Learn more 👉 bit.ly/41S2Tc7
Apply now 👉 bit.ly/488CNW3
We’re appointing 3 Associate Professors in:
🌱 Plant Sciences
🦉 Animal Behaviour
🔬 Molecular Cell Biology
3 fields. 3 opportunities. One new home for Oxford Biology.
Learn more 👉 bit.ly/41S2Tc7
Apply now 👉 bit.ly/488CNW3
Reposted by Sandy Hetherington
Very important paper and resource. Bryophyte genomes expanded by one order of magnitude. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Bryophytes hold a larger gene family space than vascular plants - Nature Genetics
A super-pangenome analysis incorporating 123 newly sequenced bryophyte genomes reveals that bryophytes exhibit a larger number of unique and lineage-specific gene families than vascular plants.
www.nature.com
September 22, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Very important paper and resource. Bryophyte genomes expanded by one order of magnitude. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Our recent paper @newphyt.bsky.social @anajusagasti.bsky.social @instmolplantsci.bsky.social is featured today in the Sunday Post!
Thanks Sally McDonald for your piece helping to promote and communicate Scotland’s rich fossil heritage
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Thanks Sally McDonald for your piece helping to promote and communicate Scotland’s rich fossil heritage
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
September 21, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Our recent paper @newphyt.bsky.social @anajusagasti.bsky.social @instmolplantsci.bsky.social is featured today in the Sunday Post!
Thanks Sally McDonald for your piece helping to promote and communicate Scotland’s rich fossil heritage
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Thanks Sally McDonald for your piece helping to promote and communicate Scotland’s rich fossil heritage
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Excited to share our recent paper @newphyt.bsky.social where we describe evidence of a Jurassic nurse log from Scotland! Great work led by @anajusagasti.bsky.social Sophie Burne and @jeremywyman.bsky.social @instmolplantsci.bsky.social
🧵 👇 1/6
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
🧵 👇 1/6
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Decay stages of Jurassic wood debris from Scotland: evidence for the coevolution of fungal rot, arthropods and the nurse log strategy
A key feature of extant conifer forests is the high percentage of seeds that germinate and establish on dead wood; in some forests, this can exceed 90%. This deadwood can act as an ideal nursery for...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 21, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Excited to share our recent paper @newphyt.bsky.social where we describe evidence of a Jurassic nurse log from Scotland! Great work led by @anajusagasti.bsky.social Sophie Burne and @jeremywyman.bsky.social @instmolplantsci.bsky.social
🧵 👇 1/6
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
🧵 👇 1/6
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Really excited to be kicking off this series of Palaeobotany evening lectures at the Oxford University Botanic Garden. All are online and free to attend 👇👇
There’s an interesting series of 5 free online paleobotany lectures via the Oxford University Botanic Garden this autumn. You can book all 5 lectures here (scroll down webpage to ‘Get your tickets now’ button) www.obga.ox.ac.uk/event/dr-san... #paleobotany
September 15, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Really excited to be kicking off this series of Palaeobotany evening lectures at the Oxford University Botanic Garden. All are online and free to attend 👇👇
Reposted by Sandy Hetherington
UMMP 57588: specimen showing the Late Devonian genera Archaeopteris (fronds) and Callixylon (trunks, branches) belonged to the same plant. This critical discovery by UMMP curator Charles Beck illuminated the structure of trees contributing to some of the planet's most ancient forests. #FossilFriday
September 12, 2025 at 8:32 PM
UMMP 57588: specimen showing the Late Devonian genera Archaeopteris (fronds) and Callixylon (trunks, branches) belonged to the same plant. This critical discovery by UMMP curator Charles Beck illuminated the structure of trees contributing to some of the planet's most ancient forests. #FossilFriday
So great having @isabelmonte.bsky.social visiting Edinburgh. Thanks for a wonderful seminar and some great discussions. Really pleased the rain held off for a lovely walk round the Botanics - including the obligatory stop to see the Lycopodium clavatum 🪴 🌿 🍄 🦠
September 13, 2025 at 10:37 AM
So great having @isabelmonte.bsky.social visiting Edinburgh. Thanks for a wonderful seminar and some great discussions. Really pleased the rain held off for a lovely walk round the Botanics - including the obligatory stop to see the Lycopodium clavatum 🪴 🌿 🍄 🦠
Reposted by Sandy Hetherington
Our paper on rodent thumbnails is out! Big team effort, powered by museum collections. Turns out, nails can reveal a lot about rodent evolution. Shoutout to Dr. Gordon Shepherd for the wild idea to study rodents thumbs!
New findings in Science suggest that rodents owe much of their evolutionary success to their thumb-nail (the first digit, D1), an adaptation that gave them dexterous hands for cracking seeds and nuts.
Learn more in this week's issue: https://scim.ag/46caVho
Learn more in this week's issue: https://scim.ag/46caVho
September 4, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Our paper on rodent thumbnails is out! Big team effort, powered by museum collections. Turns out, nails can reveal a lot about rodent evolution. Shoutout to Dr. Gordon Shepherd for the wild idea to study rodents thumbs!
Reposted by Sandy Hetherington
Recently, both our team and the Richardson/Estelle/Strader teams showed that ARF transcription factors are actively degraded. In this new preprint, Martijn de Roij explores the requirements and relevance of ARF degradation (1/7)
Diversification of functional requirements for proteolysis of Auxin Response Factors https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.03.673984v1
September 5, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Recently, both our team and the Richardson/Estelle/Strader teams showed that ARF transcription factors are actively degraded. In this new preprint, Martijn de Roij explores the requirements and relevance of ARF degradation (1/7)
Reposted by Sandy Hetherington
My department is hiring a Plant-Fungal Assist Prof!! As the newest #NewPI here, don't get me started on how wonderful my colleagues, how smooth my onboarding has been, how supportive the school and the department are, how nice my brand new lab is, and how convenient living in Champaign Urbana is!
We are hiring! The #PlantBio department at UIUC is looking to recruit an Assistant Professor in Plant-Fungal interactions. Application deadline is October 31st @dallingjim.bsky.social see the link below for more details:
illinois.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
illinois.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
Assistant Professor- Department of Plant Biology
Duties & Responsibilities
illinois.csod.com
September 4, 2025 at 5:18 PM
My department is hiring a Plant-Fungal Assist Prof!! As the newest #NewPI here, don't get me started on how wonderful my colleagues, how smooth my onboarding has been, how supportive the school and the department are, how nice my brand new lab is, and how convenient living in Champaign Urbana is!