Dr. Hilary Rose Dawson
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hilaryrosed.bsky.social
Dr. Hilary Rose Dawson
@hilaryrosed.bsky.social
4.7K followers 1.4K following 870 posts
It's all about plants in the end
(and truffle diversity | soil carbon)
she/her 🏳️‍🌈 🌾🍄👩🏼‍🔬⛰️🌱
#WomenInSTEM #botany #fungi #seeds
PhD from UOregon 🇺🇸
Postdoc at the Australian National Uni 🇦🇺
#MSCA postdoc UiBergen '26 🇳🇴

HilaryRoseDawson.wordpress.com
Posts Replies Media Videos
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
Beautiful photos showing the microscopic details of #seeds at the Australian National Botanic Gardens. Actual seeds mounted in acrylic next to the photos is a particularly nice touch.

Exhibit is on in #Canberra until 16 Nov. Free.

visit.anbg.gov.au/things-do/wh...

#SeedEcology #SciComm #WildOz
Two mounted photos of magnified seeds hanging on a brick wall. Close up of a mounted photo of magnified seeds with a name plate next to it that says 'Trachymene composita seeds'. On the plate is an acrylic block with eight seeds embedded in it.
October 20, 2025 at 7:13 AM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
Northern hemisphere bias strikes again in Johnson et al.'s viewpoint that argues against the assumption that conifer = needle-leaf (and vice versa).

doi.org/10.1111/nph.70136
A map showing mean species leaf width being narrower in the northern hemisphere and broader in the southern, with leaf silhouettes shown for broad-leaved conifers and nonbroad-leaved woody angiosperms.
October 13, 2025 at 11:58 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
All botanists know how frustrating the lack of plant emoji diversity is (while mycologists make do with just two mushrooms 🍄🍄‍🟫). Mammola et al. quantified this disparity compared to biological diversity and built a phylogeny of animal emojis.

doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.108569
Three phylogenetic trees showing animal emoji increases in 2015, 2019, and 2022. Stacked bar charts showing how few available emojis there are compared to the actual biodiversity of animals, plants, and fungi.
October 13, 2025 at 11:58 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
What time scale should we use when we investigate trait-environment relationships? It depends upon the trait, according to the analysis by Famiglietti et al. on woody plants in TRY. Cui's commentary emphasises the finding importance for modelling.

doi.org/10.1111/nph.19416
doi.org/10.1111/nph.19546
A graph showing climate optimal time on the y axis and life span of plant tissues on the x axis. Leaf, root, and shoot are marked along a positive linear relationship.
October 13, 2025 at 11:58 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
Snow depth sensors can also be used to monitor #grassland height. While this is obvious in retrospect, it's never occurred to me to make use of summertime "snow" depth measurements to track plant #phenology.

doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70195
A diagram of a snow depth sensor above a grassland community with a graph in the background where the y axis is height and the x axis date. Phenophases are marked along the x-axis.
October 13, 2025 at 11:58 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
So much to learn at the right-way science seminar organised by @scienceanu.bsky.social PhD candidate Jay Nicholson to highlight reciprocal collaborative research between Aṉangu and western scientists at Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa. We also got to taste mangaṯa quandong fruit and admire the intricate seeds.
🧪
Four people sitting at the front of the room ready to answer questions on a panel, including Jay on the right in a bright shirt. Bowl of red mangaṯa quandong fruits and their large highly textured light brown seeds
October 1, 2025 at 7:20 AM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
Led by @vvandvik.bsky.social, @bjenquist.bsky.social, @audhalbritter.bsky.social and others, the Plant Functional Traits Courses trained students through the process of collecting and disseminating real, valuable data using FAIR and #OpenScience. Along the way, we built a lasting community.

2/4
Eight people collecting data in a fenced off grassland plot with a stone cabin and breathtaking fjord views in the background.
September 19, 2025 at 3:30 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
Three years ago, I joined this fabulous group of researchers in western Norway for the sixth Plant Functional Traits Course. Now, we've published the dataset covering morphological traits, spectroscopy, carbon flux, and more:

doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05509-4

🧪 #OpenAccess #Botany #PlantTraits 🧵
A group of forty people arranged in chromatic order based on their colourful rain gear A diagram describing the PFTC6 dataset, including leaf traits, leaf assimilation temperature responses, hyperspectral readings, canopy leaf temperatures, airborne multi-spectral imagery, CO2 fluxes, and microclimate, linking in with existing datasets on plant community and biomass.
September 19, 2025 at 3:30 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
Yes, there is a way to mark it on your own obs! When you make the observation, you can select captive/cultivated. It might be phrased a little differently depending on the app you use but those are the key words to look for.
Screenshot of the iNat classic app upload screen with captive/cultivated set to 'yes'
September 18, 2025 at 10:16 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
I became a dedicated identifier when I learned that the top 1,000 identifiers contribute 70% of all IDs. I've benefited from their effort so I wanted to pay it back. As a side effect, I've also found out that ID'ing is a great and fun procrastination tool. I encourage you to try for yourself.

14/14
A big circle made up of little circles, each representing 1,000 iNaturalist users. A tiny fraction are in the top 8,000 identifiers, a little larger fraction represents the bottom 93,000 identifiers, and the rest are white indicating no identifications made. Next to it is a pie chart showing that the top 1,000 identifiers have contributed 70% of IDs, 1-2,000 top identifiers contributed 17% of IDs, 2-4,000 top identifiers contributed 7% of IDs, 4-8,000 top identifiers contributed 3% of IDs, and the bottom 93,000 top identifiers contributed 3% of IDs.
September 18, 2025 at 8:52 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
If you're adding a coarser ID to an obs, be aware that #iNaturalist has two ways to treat this. Are you disagreeing with the original ID or agreeing but aren't expert enough to be sure of the finer grain? Choose the green or orange button wisely.

10/14
A popup box warning of a potential identification disagreement. The text says "Is the evidence provided enough to confirm this is Plume Thistles (genus Cirsium)?" The green button reads "I don't know but I'm sure this is Sunflowers, Daisies, Asters, and Allies (Family Asteraceae)" and the orange button reads "No, but it is a member of Sunflowers, Daisies, Asters, and Allies (Family Asteraceae)".
September 18, 2025 at 8:52 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
Like most #iNaturalist users, I started out simply observing. Adding IDs seemed like something for experts and as an undergrad I didn't think I was qualified to help. Many people have a similar view: when iNat reached 1 mil observers, only 4% had added IDs.
www.inaturalist.org/blog/35758-w...
2/14
A big circle made up of lots of little circles, each of which represents 1,000 iNaturalist users. 51% of the circles are green, indicating someone who has observed but not identified. 4% are yellow or peach indicating at least one observation for others. The remainder are white, indicating neither observing nor identifying.
September 18, 2025 at 8:52 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
The colours on blue-staining boletes are absolutely wild.

🧪 🌎 #mycology #fungi
Two bolete mushrooms cut in half, showing the vivid blue staining on yellow flesh.
August 10, 2025 at 5:19 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
Editors in Chief Rowan Sage @annbot.bsky.social, Briana Gross and Sean Graham @botsocamerica.bsky.social gave honest answers about botanical publishing in a lunchtime discussion at #Botany2025.

Takeaway: Support society journals because they're here to support us, not to make money off of us.
Slide: Our earnings are invested into society/non-profit journal missions. AJB/APPS earnings financially support Botanical Society of America's mission including Botany meetings, the Plant Science Bulletin, student and society awards, educational programmes. Annals of Botany/AoBP Plants is a non-profit organisation that promotes increased understanding of plant biology. Earnings are invested in symposia/plenaries, educational activities, Botany One blog and newsletter. Slide: Article Publication Charges (APCs) Where does the money go? Why am I paying a journal just to format a PDF? A non-exhaustive list: *Professional copy editing, styling and layout. *Care and feeding of editorial staff *Coordinating the review process, special issues, and relevant manuscripts. *Indexing impact factor and H index *Stable maintained server for publication and appendix material.
July 31, 2025 at 2:14 AM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
If you need a visual pick-me-up to get through the last session of #Botany2025, come listen to me talk about using a conservation dog to find #truffle #biodiversity in the Mycology section at 2PM (Sierra room). I promise golden retriever pics!
Rye the golden retriever licks his lips after smelling a Hydnotrya truffle held out to him.
July 30, 2025 at 8:39 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
Delightful history of oak evolution and lobiness development from @andrewlhipp.bsky.social

#Botany2025
Andrew stands at the podium presenting a slide of Quercus rugosa with magenta acorn seeds.
July 30, 2025 at 6:44 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
Mimulus cardinalis has few and small evolutionary responses to recent drought.

#Botany2025
Take home messages slide saying evolutionary responses are small and few, maybe related to local maladaptation, and range position did not clearly predict components of breeder equation.
July 30, 2025 at 6:15 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
Flowering #phenology responses to early snow melt can maladaptive at lower elevations, delaying flowering. This also happens in seed germination.

#Botany2025 #RMBL
Jill Anderson stands at the podium introducing her study species Boechera stricta on a slide.
July 30, 2025 at 5:52 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
Bison presence increases plant richness, and short term abandonment (like migration) could drive the highest diversity. However, bison wallows could give footholds for invasion.

#Botany2025
Bess Bookout stands to the side of a slide with a published graph showing how plant diversity is higher with bison presence and an example fenced prairie plot with very dense biomass.
July 30, 2025 at 4:43 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
Alyssa Brown took us through the challenges of studying delayed mortality after hurricanes.

#Botany2025
Alyssa presents results on individual and neighbourhood damage impacts on tree mortality.
July 30, 2025 at 4:32 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
Wow! Allison Autry found new Spiranthes infernalis #Orchidaceae occurrences with Sentinel-2 satellite data (and gave an excellent talk on orchid genetics).

#Botany2025 #RemoteSensing
A slide showing how Sentinel satellite data can help locate orchid populations presented by Allison standing to the side.
July 30, 2025 at 4:20 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
Protect the basal resprouts for post-fire Yucca! And survival is patchy, with concerning trends towards more loss longer term after #wildfire.

#Botany2025
Melanie Davis stands at the podium presenting a discussion slide on Yucca results.
July 30, 2025 at 4:04 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
Even if we think of #wildfire as creating harsh abiotic conditions, Rebecca Wilcox points out that fire suppression does as well by fostering high duff and high canopy cover. To promote #biodiversity, we need to support #pyrodiversity on spatial and temporal scales.

#Botany2025
Summary slide on pyrodiversity and biodiversity presented by Rebecca standing to the side.
July 30, 2025 at 3:48 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
Fire return interval affects Venus flytrap survival, where more frequent burns increase survival, likely due to limiting woody establishment. #Botany2025
A slide on Venus flytrap range in North Carolina.
July 30, 2025 at 3:31 PM
hilaryrosed.bsky.social
Starting off the final day at #Botany2025 with an analysis of post-fire change in vegetation at National Ecological Observatory Network #NEON sites. #Rosaceae and #Poaceae showed biggest changes with big gains for Bromus tectorum and Vulpia spp.
Marian Lea presents a slide showing the layout of a NEON site.
July 30, 2025 at 3:16 PM