Justine Karst 🇨🇦
@j-karst.bsky.social
Associate Professor, U of Alberta. President of the International Mycorrhiza Society.
I study the mycorrhizal ecology of forests. Less hype, more hyphae.
I study the mycorrhizal ecology of forests. Less hype, more hyphae.
Great thread 👇
#Lichens form their complex thalli through a partnership involving at least a fungus and an alga. But can these living structures be rebuilt in vitro? For more than a century, people have tried. With @spribille.bsky.social we revisited 150 years of #lichen #resynthesis to ask: has anyone succeeded?
November 7, 2025 at 4:39 AM
Great thread 👇
Reposted by Justine Karst 🇨🇦
Coming to the @egu.eu General Assembly in 2026? Consider submitting an abstract to our mycorrhizae session if you are working on these organisms and their linkages to ecosystem functioning. Last year, this new session was a huge hit, so let's make year two even better!
November 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Coming to the @egu.eu General Assembly in 2026? Consider submitting an abstract to our mycorrhizae session if you are working on these organisms and their linkages to ecosystem functioning. Last year, this new session was a huge hit, so let's make year two even better!
Reposted by Justine Karst 🇨🇦
TWO curatorial positions at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON, Canada. Curator of Birds, and Curator of Plants and Sustainability... please pass the word and amplify!
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/XBR2Yc...
&
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/Sf2iAO...
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/XBR2Yc...
&
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/Sf2iAO...
Curator of Birds - Royal Ontario Museum - Career Page
Apply to Curator of Birds at Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, ON, Canada.
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com
October 31, 2025 at 1:35 PM
TWO curatorial positions at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON, Canada. Curator of Birds, and Curator of Plants and Sustainability... please pass the word and amplify!
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/XBR2Yc...
&
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/Sf2iAO...
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/XBR2Yc...
&
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/Sf2iAO...
'Mycorrhizas are the most important symbiosis in the world!' 👇
Does this really "change everything"? On hyperbole, and pedantry, and effective communication
Does this really change *everything*?
Back in August, I reviewed the absolutely gorgeous new book Ferns: Lessons In Survival From Earth’s Most Adaptable Plants. And commenters on posts are awesome, because Jeremy Fox asked what he call…
scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com
October 28, 2025 at 2:46 PM
'Mycorrhizas are the most important symbiosis in the world!' 👇
Reposted by Justine Karst 🇨🇦
🚨 Early Career Researcher Travel Award! 🚨
Open to grad students & postdocs presenting at #ICOM2026
@ICOM2026
Apply now!
All info👉 url-shortener.me/6QQF
🗓️ Deadline: Nov 14, 2025
📢 Decisions: Jan 30, 2026
Open to grad students & postdocs presenting at #ICOM2026
@ICOM2026
Apply now!
All info👉 url-shortener.me/6QQF
🗓️ Deadline: Nov 14, 2025
📢 Decisions: Jan 30, 2026
October 9, 2025 at 2:04 PM
🚨 Early Career Researcher Travel Award! 🚨
Open to grad students & postdocs presenting at #ICOM2026
@ICOM2026
Apply now!
All info👉 url-shortener.me/6QQF
🗓️ Deadline: Nov 14, 2025
📢 Decisions: Jan 30, 2026
Open to grad students & postdocs presenting at #ICOM2026
@ICOM2026
Apply now!
All info👉 url-shortener.me/6QQF
🗓️ Deadline: Nov 14, 2025
📢 Decisions: Jan 30, 2026
We are pleased to announce this new ECR award generously supported by @newphyt.bsky.social Foundation for travel to ICOM2026. Details 👇
🚨 Early Career Researcher Travel Award! 🚨
Open to grad students & postdocs presenting at #ICOM2026
@ICOM2026
Apply now!
All info👉 url-shortener.me/6QQF
🗓️ Deadline: Nov 14, 2025
📢 Decisions: Jan 30, 2026
Open to grad students & postdocs presenting at #ICOM2026
@ICOM2026
Apply now!
All info👉 url-shortener.me/6QQF
🗓️ Deadline: Nov 14, 2025
📢 Decisions: Jan 30, 2026
October 9, 2025 at 3:35 PM
We are pleased to announce this new ECR award generously supported by @newphyt.bsky.social Foundation for travel to ICOM2026. Details 👇
Reposted by Justine Karst 🇨🇦
🚨SAVE the DATE🚨 "9th International 🧪 Symposium on 🍁Woody Root Research" 3-5 June 2026, Como, Italy. www.uninsubria.eu/woody-roots-ix ... Sessions: #root #ecology, #mycorrhizal dynamics, #belowground #technologies, #agroforestry applications, & #globalchange, ... SIGNUP for NEWSLETTER: bit.ly/4mXU6Nt
October 7, 2025 at 12:15 PM
🚨SAVE the DATE🚨 "9th International 🧪 Symposium on 🍁Woody Root Research" 3-5 June 2026, Como, Italy. www.uninsubria.eu/woody-roots-ix ... Sessions: #root #ecology, #mycorrhizal dynamics, #belowground #technologies, #agroforestry applications, & #globalchange, ... SIGNUP for NEWSLETTER: bit.ly/4mXU6Nt
Reposted by Justine Karst 🇨🇦
How do tree seedlings respond to multiple climate stressors?🌴
📖Our meta-analysis shows that CO₂ boosts growth, but only if drought isn't present. The combination of CO₂, drought and temperature mainly had additive effects🌳
🔎Read more: buff.ly/agUryqs
📖Our meta-analysis shows that CO₂ boosts growth, but only if drought isn't present. The combination of CO₂, drought and temperature mainly had additive effects🌳
🔎Read more: buff.ly/agUryqs
October 3, 2025 at 12:02 PM
How do tree seedlings respond to multiple climate stressors?🌴
📖Our meta-analysis shows that CO₂ boosts growth, but only if drought isn't present. The combination of CO₂, drought and temperature mainly had additive effects🌳
🔎Read more: buff.ly/agUryqs
📖Our meta-analysis shows that CO₂ boosts growth, but only if drought isn't present. The combination of CO₂, drought and temperature mainly had additive effects🌳
🔎Read more: buff.ly/agUryqs
Reposted by Justine Karst 🇨🇦
Great piece by @jonathanjarry.bsky.social on the descent of Sabine Hossenfelder, from science communicator to contrarian outrage-monger www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...
Sabine Hossenfelder Asks If Science Is Dying. It’s Not.
Physics is dying. It’s mathematical fiction. Science is failing. Most of academic research that your taxes pay for is almost certainly bullshit. I don’t trust scientists. Would you believe me if I tol...
www.mcgill.ca
September 30, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Great piece by @jonathanjarry.bsky.social on the descent of Sabine Hossenfelder, from science communicator to contrarian outrage-monger www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...
Reposted by Justine Karst 🇨🇦
Il est encore temps de s'inscrire aux Journées Centre SÈVE!
‼️Date limite : 6 octobre 2025
🗓️ 20-21 novembre 2025
📍 Hôtel Chéribourg, Orford
✨ Nos conférencier-ères invité-es: Pre Justine Karst @j-karst.bsky.social (@ualberta.bsky.social) et Pr Frank Sainsbury (@griffith.edu.au)
‼️Date limite : 6 octobre 2025
🗓️ 20-21 novembre 2025
📍 Hôtel Chéribourg, Orford
✨ Nos conférencier-ères invité-es: Pre Justine Karst @j-karst.bsky.social (@ualberta.bsky.social) et Pr Frank Sainsbury (@griffith.edu.au)
Journées Centre SÈVE : inscriptions ouvertes 🙌
Le Centre SÈVE est heureux d'annoncer l'ouverture des inscriptions pour son congrès annuel, les Journées Centre SÈVE, qui aura lieu les 🗓️ 20-21 novembre 2025 !
Pour plus de détails 👉 event.fourwaves.com/journees-sev...
Le Centre SÈVE est heureux d'annoncer l'ouverture des inscriptions pour son congrès annuel, les Journées Centre SÈVE, qui aura lieu les 🗓️ 20-21 novembre 2025 !
Pour plus de détails 👉 event.fourwaves.com/journees-sev...
September 26, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Il est encore temps de s'inscrire aux Journées Centre SÈVE!
‼️Date limite : 6 octobre 2025
🗓️ 20-21 novembre 2025
📍 Hôtel Chéribourg, Orford
✨ Nos conférencier-ères invité-es: Pre Justine Karst @j-karst.bsky.social (@ualberta.bsky.social) et Pr Frank Sainsbury (@griffith.edu.au)
‼️Date limite : 6 octobre 2025
🗓️ 20-21 novembre 2025
📍 Hôtel Chéribourg, Orford
✨ Nos conférencier-ères invité-es: Pre Justine Karst @j-karst.bsky.social (@ualberta.bsky.social) et Pr Frank Sainsbury (@griffith.edu.au)
Reposted by Justine Karst 🇨🇦
Meet Plenary speakers of @icom2026.bsky.social
Prof. Marc-André Selosse - from Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris) - will be opening the session "Moving forward while looking into the past: How the evolutionary history of mycorrhizas informs future adaptation pathways" #ICOM2026
Prof. Marc-André Selosse - from Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris) - will be opening the session "Moving forward while looking into the past: How the evolutionary history of mycorrhizas informs future adaptation pathways" #ICOM2026
September 18, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Meet Plenary speakers of @icom2026.bsky.social
Prof. Marc-André Selosse - from Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris) - will be opening the session "Moving forward while looking into the past: How the evolutionary history of mycorrhizas informs future adaptation pathways" #ICOM2026
Prof. Marc-André Selosse - from Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris) - will be opening the session "Moving forward while looking into the past: How the evolutionary history of mycorrhizas informs future adaptation pathways" #ICOM2026
Reposted by Justine Karst 🇨🇦
Grateful to all IMS members who joined our 1st Annual Meeting! 🙌
We shared key advances from this past year, ICOM info & more.
Huge thanks to our members. For those who could not attend we will share the meeting video. TIP: Check your spam inbox!
#Mycorrhiza #IMS
We shared key advances from this past year, ICOM info & more.
Huge thanks to our members. For those who could not attend we will share the meeting video. TIP: Check your spam inbox!
#Mycorrhiza #IMS
September 18, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Grateful to all IMS members who joined our 1st Annual Meeting! 🙌
We shared key advances from this past year, ICOM info & more.
Huge thanks to our members. For those who could not attend we will share the meeting video. TIP: Check your spam inbox!
#Mycorrhiza #IMS
We shared key advances from this past year, ICOM info & more.
Huge thanks to our members. For those who could not attend we will share the meeting video. TIP: Check your spam inbox!
#Mycorrhiza #IMS
Reposted by Justine Karst 🇨🇦
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/...
Reposted by Justine Karst 🇨🇦
🍄Working in fungal conservation? Call for papers for our upcoming special issue in Fungal Ecology 'Fungal conservation: from knowledge to actions' ! Deadline 31 January 2026 www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
Fungal Ecology | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier - Fungal Ecology | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier
Read the latest articles of Fungal Ecology at ScienceDirect.com, Elsevier’s leading platform of peer-reviewed scholarly literature
www.sciencedirect.com
September 10, 2025 at 12:48 PM
🍄Working in fungal conservation? Call for papers for our upcoming special issue in Fungal Ecology 'Fungal conservation: from knowledge to actions' ! Deadline 31 January 2026 www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
Reposted by Justine Karst 🇨🇦
Please share with your big picture colleagues.
Join us @umontreal.ca as an Assistant Professor of Global Change Biology.
rh-carriere-dmz-eng.synchro.umontreal.ca/psc/rhprpr9_...
Join us @umontreal.ca as an Assistant Professor of Global Change Biology.
rh-carriere-dmz-eng.synchro.umontreal.ca/psc/rhprpr9_...
Careers
The applicant will contribute to strengthening research on global change in the Department of Biological Sciences and will participate in the integration of biology training into the faculty program in Environment and Sustainable Development (ESD).
rh-carriere-dmz-eng.synchro.umontreal.ca
September 8, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Please share with your big picture colleagues.
Join us @umontreal.ca as an Assistant Professor of Global Change Biology.
rh-carriere-dmz-eng.synchro.umontreal.ca/psc/rhprpr9_...
Join us @umontreal.ca as an Assistant Professor of Global Change Biology.
rh-carriere-dmz-eng.synchro.umontreal.ca/psc/rhprpr9_...
2025 Lab group photo. Small but mighty!
September 8, 2025 at 4:14 PM
2025 Lab group photo. Small but mighty!
Reposted by Justine Karst 🇨🇦
This is well researched. But I bristle at the idea of this as a “scientific standoff.” A hallmark of science is that there are almost always contrary paradigms challenging the dominant one. But you have to know when the weight of evidence is on different planets.
news.mongabay.com/2025/08/old-...
news.mongabay.com/2025/08/old-...
Old forests, new fires, and a scientific standoff over active management
This is the second installment of Mongabay’s coverage of active management tools for forest fires. Read Part 1. Photographs of forests in the western U.S. from the mid-1800s show a starkly different r...
news.mongabay.com
September 5, 2025 at 1:43 PM
This is well researched. But I bristle at the idea of this as a “scientific standoff.” A hallmark of science is that there are almost always contrary paradigms challenging the dominant one. But you have to know when the weight of evidence is on different planets.
news.mongabay.com/2025/08/old-...
news.mongabay.com/2025/08/old-...
New research led by Nicole Lau, past MSc in my group: ‘Over a decade later, soil C stores are resistant to extensive tree mortality’
🧵
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
🧵
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Over a Decade Later, Soil Carbon Stores in Boreal Forests are Resistant to Extensive Tree Mortality - Ecosystems
Mountain pine beetles have caused extensive tree mortality in Canadian boreal forests. In some areas, ectomycorrhizal (EM) pine stands have been replaced by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) vegetation. Giv...
link.springer.com
August 28, 2025 at 11:48 PM
New research led by Nicole Lau, past MSc in my group: ‘Over a decade later, soil C stores are resistant to extensive tree mortality’
🧵
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
🧵
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Justine Karst 🇨🇦
Canada Post features fungi and lichen in new stamp series - Canada Post has unveiled its new stamp collection Wednesday featuring fungi and lichens found in the country.
Canada Post features fungi and lichen in new stamp series
Canada Post has unveiled its new stamp collection Wednesday featuring fungi and lichens found in the country.
bit.ly
August 27, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Canada Post features fungi and lichen in new stamp series - Canada Post has unveiled its new stamp collection Wednesday featuring fungi and lichens found in the country.
Reposted by Justine Karst 🇨🇦
Call for symposia at @ICOM2026 is open until 15 October.
The 13 conference of @mycorrhiza_ims #Mycorrhiza will take place in Cairns, Australia, 12-17 July 2026!
@southmycorrhiza @karst_justine @fmartin1954 @1pantunes #soil #fungi
icom2026.org/symposia/
The 13 conference of @mycorrhiza_ims #Mycorrhiza will take place in Cairns, Australia, 12-17 July 2026!
@southmycorrhiza @karst_justine @fmartin1954 @1pantunes #soil #fungi
icom2026.org/symposia/
August 25, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Call for symposia at @ICOM2026 is open until 15 October.
The 13 conference of @mycorrhiza_ims #Mycorrhiza will take place in Cairns, Australia, 12-17 July 2026!
@southmycorrhiza @karst_justine @fmartin1954 @1pantunes #soil #fungi
icom2026.org/symposia/
The 13 conference of @mycorrhiza_ims #Mycorrhiza will take place in Cairns, Australia, 12-17 July 2026!
@southmycorrhiza @karst_justine @fmartin1954 @1pantunes #soil #fungi
icom2026.org/symposia/
Reposted by Justine Karst 🇨🇦
Thrilled to announce that the special issue on fungal #conservation that @cfemycolab.bsky.social and I are co-editing for the @britmycolsoc.org.uk c.org.uk journal Fungal Ecology is open for submissions!
www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
August 25, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Thrilled to announce that the special issue on fungal #conservation that @cfemycolab.bsky.social and I are co-editing for the @britmycolsoc.org.uk c.org.uk journal Fungal Ecology is open for submissions!
www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
Who canoes/hikes +3000 km to find a bird nest in the Canadian Arctic? Adam Shoalts does. Though I’m sure he was ready to go home, I didn’t want the adventure to end. What an amazing guy. What beautiful and ecologically important landscapes we have.
August 25, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Who canoes/hikes +3000 km to find a bird nest in the Canadian Arctic? Adam Shoalts does. Though I’m sure he was ready to go home, I didn’t want the adventure to end. What an amazing guy. What beautiful and ecologically important landscapes we have.
Interesting to see how metaphors are used to nudge understanding of a topic in new directions. The language in this article is super-charged with metaphors!
‘Not-so-mutually beneficial coral symbiosis’
www.cell.com/current-biol...
‘Not-so-mutually beneficial coral symbiosis’
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Not-so-mutually beneficial coral symbiosis
The partnership between corals and their intracellular algal symbionts has long been
a textbook example of mutually beneficial association. In this essay, Mikhail Matz
argues for an updated view in wh...
www.cell.com
August 24, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Interesting to see how metaphors are used to nudge understanding of a topic in new directions. The language in this article is super-charged with metaphors!
‘Not-so-mutually beneficial coral symbiosis’
www.cell.com/current-biol...
‘Not-so-mutually beneficial coral symbiosis’
www.cell.com/current-biol...
New paper: ‘Soil inoculation improves tree seedling growth in substrates containing bitumen, but the effect varies by species and inoculum source’ led by James Franklin @jamesfranklin, a past PhD from my group. 🧵
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Soil inoculation improves tree seedling growth in substrates containing bitumen, but the effect varies by species and inoculum source
Soil inoculation improved tree seedling growth in some substrates containing bitumen, but the effect varied by species and inoculum source. Inoculum from extreme environments, such as the abandoned o...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
August 22, 2025 at 6:04 PM
New paper: ‘Soil inoculation improves tree seedling growth in substrates containing bitumen, but the effect varies by species and inoculum source’ led by James Franklin @jamesfranklin, a past PhD from my group. 🧵
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
This doc on wildfire focuses on rural Albertan perspectives but I think there are some intersecting values on forests regardless of your ‘habitat’. (Mycorrhizal fungi and I make an appearance 🍄🌲)
www.albertawildfire.ca/videos/episo...
www.albertawildfire.ca/videos/episo...
FOREST VALUES: Under, Among, Above and Beyond the Trees | Wildfire! From The Ground Up
In this episode, we journey under, among, above, and beyond the trees to explore wildfire’s
effects on Alberta’s forests. Through the voices of scientists, industry professionals, historians
and ordin...
www.albertawildfire.ca
August 19, 2025 at 11:32 PM
This doc on wildfire focuses on rural Albertan perspectives but I think there are some intersecting values on forests regardless of your ‘habitat’. (Mycorrhizal fungi and I make an appearance 🍄🌲)
www.albertawildfire.ca/videos/episo...
www.albertawildfire.ca/videos/episo...