Testing heavy metal concentrations in Los Angeles soils using XRF. One element of interest is Palladium, which is released from automobiles as a bioproduct of catalytic converter redox reactions. Error rates are high, but proof of concept has been established!

@noahjnelson.com what are your thoughts on the federal government selling off millions of acres of public land?

Showcased the initial results of the wildfire ecology research I've been working at a poster session today at PCC. Proud of it! Next steps are more soil sampling and looking at specific genes of keystone species.

Over the last few weeks, I co-cultured OP9 and P19 stem cells. This is helping to lay the foundation for natural "in vitro" neuron differentiation through extracellular matrix interactions. It was a fun project!

Excited to share a major milestone!

Our latest work unveils the first example of electron diffraction-guided discovery of natural products. This work represents a breakthrough in leveraging cutting-edge techniques to accelerate natural product discovery. #chemsky

Preprint: tinyurl.com/yckd3sbr

⚡ Attn anyone interested in algal genomics and lichen symbiosis! ⚡ New preprint: a near chromosome-level assembly of Trebouxia sp. A48 (member of T. decolorans species complex), the photobiont of Xanthoria parietina. 1/5 #lichen #alga #genomics
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Culturing fungi and bacteria from wildfire affected areas in LA. We are diving into the genetics of the diverse microbial communities and seeing how changes in soil chemistry spur ecological succession.

Scientists finally confirm vitamin B1 hypothesis from 1958

“This is the first time anyone has been able to observe a stable carbene in water," said Vincent Lavallo, a professor of chemistry at UC Riverside, “People thought this was a crazy idea. But it turns out, Breslow was right."

Modeled the 3D structure of a hypothetical protein found in the DNA of an Amazonian fungus called Pestalotiopsis microspora. This may be a key component in the metabolic pathways of polyurethane biodegradation!

Went hiking with some awesome people in the Angeles National Forest last weekend! We found some cool plants and mushrooms 🌱🍄🍃