Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
@smwadgymar.bsky.social
Evolutionary ecologist, Botanist, Associate Professor at Davidson College (PUI 💪🏼), she/her
🔗smwadgymar.weebly.com
🔗smwadgymar.weebly.com
Pinned
I'm very happy to share with you the results of a collaborative experiment between the Catawba Indian Nation and faculty, staff, and students at Davidson College.
Yield, growth, and labor demands of growing maize, beans, and squash in monoculture versus the Three Sisters🌽🫘🎃
A few take home points:
Yield, growth, and labor demands of growing maize, beans, and squash in monoculture versus the Three Sisters🌽🫘🎃
A few take home points:
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
As parents are helping their kids consider colleges, this is my perennial reminder that state schools often have lower price tags, yes, but private schools, including many small liberal arts schools, often have better aid packages, and are thus often cheaper in the end (but may be more competitive).
December 9, 2025 at 10:42 PM
As parents are helping their kids consider colleges, this is my perennial reminder that state schools often have lower price tags, yes, but private schools, including many small liberal arts schools, often have better aid packages, and are thus often cheaper in the end (but may be more competitive).
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
1/28 New preprint up, which I think is the best theoretical idea I've ever had. We asked a simple question: what are the costs of investment into non-reproductive somatic cells? Turns out these costs decrease with the *logarithm* of organism size!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
The fitness costs of reproductive specialization scale inversely with organismal size
The evolution of reproductive specialization represents a fundamental innovation in multicellular life, yet the conditions favoring its evolution remain poorly understood. Here, we develop a populatio...
www.biorxiv.org
December 9, 2025 at 7:44 PM
1/28 New preprint up, which I think is the best theoretical idea I've ever had. We asked a simple question: what are the costs of investment into non-reproductive somatic cells? Turns out these costs decrease with the *logarithm* of organism size!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
In an era marked by rapid climate change and biodiversity loss, it is imperative that we continue to invest in the unique value of natural history collections data
"Global sampling decline erodes science potential of natural history collections" 🧪
"Global sampling decline erodes science potential of natural history collections" 🧪
Global sampling decline erodes science potential of natural history collections - Nature Communications
Natural history collections hold over two billion specimens representing Earth’s biodiversity, but their scientific value depends on continued specimen collection and digitisation. This study demonstr...
www.nature.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:10 AM
In an era marked by rapid climate change and biodiversity loss, it is imperative that we continue to invest in the unique value of natural history collections data
"Global sampling decline erodes science potential of natural history collections" 🧪
"Global sampling decline erodes science potential of natural history collections" 🧪
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
Nearly half of all countries have fewer than ten active plant taxonomists, and in 41% of countries they're all male. Global review by Simões et al. (2025). 🌏🧪🌐 www.cell.com/trends/plant...
December 9, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Nearly half of all countries have fewer than ten active plant taxonomists, and in 41% of countries they're all male. Global review by Simões et al. (2025). 🌏🧪🌐 www.cell.com/trends/plant...
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
A new community-driven lab handbook for reducing conflict and creating more positive and equitable work environments gets strong support from a survey of 200 researchers.
buff.ly/K7CGFLV
buff.ly/K7CGFLV
December 9, 2025 at 11:02 AM
A new community-driven lab handbook for reducing conflict and creating more positive and equitable work environments gets strong support from a survey of 200 researchers.
buff.ly/K7CGFLV
buff.ly/K7CGFLV
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
M 7.6 Japan earthquake recorded across New Zealand from north-to-south. Interesting to note the long-period signal that occurs ~2 hours after the start of the signal. Could be the surface wave travelling the opposite direction around Earth as it looks like it arrives at the southern sites first.🧪
December 8, 2025 at 8:46 PM
M 7.6 Japan earthquake recorded across New Zealand from north-to-south. Interesting to note the long-period signal that occurs ~2 hours after the start of the signal. Could be the surface wave travelling the opposite direction around Earth as it looks like it arrives at the southern sites first.🧪
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
Emily Dickinson's herbarium – a forgotten treasure at the intersection of poetry and science www.themarginalian.org/2017/05/23/e...
Emily Dickinson’s Herbarium: A Forgotten Treasure at the Intersection of Science and Poetry
An elegy for time and the mortality of beauty, composed with passionate patience and a sensuous cadence.
www.themarginalian.org
December 8, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Emily Dickinson's herbarium – a forgotten treasure at the intersection of poetry and science www.themarginalian.org/2017/05/23/e...
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
More than 70 vultures found dead on athletic fields in Ohio. They most likely died from bird flu.
This isn't going away.
www.wlwt.com/article/dead...
This isn't going away.
www.wlwt.com/article/dead...
Dead vultures removed from Ohio school grounds; bird flu suspected
State wildlife crews removed more than 70 dead vultures from the athletic fields near St. Bernadette School on Friday, days after neighbors expressed concern from the bizarre sight.
www.wlwt.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:15 PM
More than 70 vultures found dead on athletic fields in Ohio. They most likely died from bird flu.
This isn't going away.
www.wlwt.com/article/dead...
This isn't going away.
www.wlwt.com/article/dead...
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
Fascinated to learn that we are still discovering new species at the highest rate ever. Mapping Earth's biodiversity is far from over, and while we learn more and more about it, let's protect what we do know as well as we can!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The past and future of known biodiversity: Rates, patterns, and projections of new species over time
The number of known species on Earth is increasing rapidly, suggesting unexpectedly large numbers of many groups.
www.science.org
December 8, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Fascinated to learn that we are still discovering new species at the highest rate ever. Mapping Earth's biodiversity is far from over, and while we learn more and more about it, let's protect what we do know as well as we can!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
We're excited to announce the finalists of the #RSPPhotoComp 2025! 🎉 Starting with #microimaging and overall winner, 'Mesmerizing spider threads' by Dr Martin Ramirez, capturing two exceptional silk threads of the Australian net-caster spider (sample obtained by Dr Jonas Wolff @evoimec.bsky.social).
December 4, 2025 at 10:57 AM
We're excited to announce the finalists of the #RSPPhotoComp 2025! 🎉 Starting with #microimaging and overall winner, 'Mesmerizing spider threads' by Dr Martin Ramirez, capturing two exceptional silk threads of the Australian net-caster spider (sample obtained by Dr Jonas Wolff @evoimec.bsky.social).
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
#ProcB in @theconversation.com | Internet images reveal bumblebee-mimicking hoverflies follow models in preferring blue flowers, but retain the typical hoverfly attraction to yellow: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
Nature’s greatest method actors: the insects that cosplay bumblebees
When you’re an animal undercover, sometimes it’s not enough just to look like someone else
theconversation.com
December 6, 2025 at 10:00 AM
#ProcB in @theconversation.com | Internet images reveal bumblebee-mimicking hoverflies follow models in preferring blue flowers, but retain the typical hoverfly attraction to yellow: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
Finally finished this last week and highly recommend! Such a carefully crafted timeline of the history of life in the air and the science that describes it. Loved the chapters on the Mills' and Lindberghs' contributions many decades ago. The fight for clean air is nothing new! @carlzimmer.com
December 6, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Finally finished this last week and highly recommend! Such a carefully crafted timeline of the history of life in the air and the science that describes it. Loved the chapters on the Mills' and Lindberghs' contributions many decades ago. The fight for clean air is nothing new! @carlzimmer.com
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
Not sure our paper rocks as much as Katharina’s cover illustration, but we’re very delighted it was picked as ‘Editor’s Choice’ on @evolletters.bsky.social!
Check out our cover article by @timjanicke.bsky.social and colleagues about the role of sexual selection in animal speciation. academic.oup.com/evlett/artic.... The beautiful illustration is by Katharina Bóth.
December 4, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Not sure our paper rocks as much as Katharina’s cover illustration, but we’re very delighted it was picked as ‘Editor’s Choice’ on @evolletters.bsky.social!
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
"No one should be made to feel inferior or that they do not belong in science because of their origins." #ScienceWorkingLife https://scim.ag/48JF6Pg
December 3, 2025 at 7:11 PM
"No one should be made to feel inferior or that they do not belong in science because of their origins." #ScienceWorkingLife https://scim.ag/48JF6Pg
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
AOP @ijpsjournal.bsky.social
Spatiotemporal variation in selection on floral traits related to abortion rate, predispersal seed predation, and fitness variance
@evoecoamy.bsky.social, Monica A Geber
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....
#PlantScience
Spatiotemporal variation in selection on floral traits related to abortion rate, predispersal seed predation, and fitness variance
@evoecoamy.bsky.social, Monica A Geber
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....
#PlantScience
www.journals.uchicago.edu
December 3, 2025 at 9:28 PM
AOP @ijpsjournal.bsky.social
Spatiotemporal variation in selection on floral traits related to abortion rate, predispersal seed predation, and fitness variance
@evoecoamy.bsky.social, Monica A Geber
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....
#PlantScience
Spatiotemporal variation in selection on floral traits related to abortion rate, predispersal seed predation, and fitness variance
@evoecoamy.bsky.social, Monica A Geber
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....
#PlantScience
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
JA @ijpsjournal.bsky.social
🚨Undergraduate research🚨
Is hybridization an important consideration for ex situ conservation? A case study using white oaks at The Morton Arboretum
EK Schumacher, M Evans, A Hamilton, M Westwood, S Hoban
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....
#PlantScience
🚨Undergraduate research🚨
Is hybridization an important consideration for ex situ conservation? A case study using white oaks at The Morton Arboretum
EK Schumacher, M Evans, A Hamilton, M Westwood, S Hoban
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....
#PlantScience
University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent
www.journals.uchicago.edu
December 3, 2025 at 9:46 PM
JA @ijpsjournal.bsky.social
🚨Undergraduate research🚨
Is hybridization an important consideration for ex situ conservation? A case study using white oaks at The Morton Arboretum
EK Schumacher, M Evans, A Hamilton, M Westwood, S Hoban
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....
#PlantScience
🚨Undergraduate research🚨
Is hybridization an important consideration for ex situ conservation? A case study using white oaks at The Morton Arboretum
EK Schumacher, M Evans, A Hamilton, M Westwood, S Hoban
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....
#PlantScience
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
‘Obituary’, from my forthcoming poetry collection ‘The Way the Water Held Me’. Sharing for National Grief Awareness Week (2-8 December) and sending solidarity to anyone experiencing grief, no matter how long ago you were bereaved x #bereavement #griefawarenessweek @theemmapress.bsky.social
December 3, 2025 at 3:55 PM
‘Obituary’, from my forthcoming poetry collection ‘The Way the Water Held Me’. Sharing for National Grief Awareness Week (2-8 December) and sending solidarity to anyone experiencing grief, no matter how long ago you were bereaved x #bereavement #griefawarenessweek @theemmapress.bsky.social
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
What an amazing way to visualize early human migration. Lovely map by @HarvardCGA. A great colour scheme and an appropriate map projection! Source: buff.ly/3lbxonJ
November 30, 2025 at 10:49 PM
What an amazing way to visualize early human migration. Lovely map by @HarvardCGA. A great colour scheme and an appropriate map projection! Source: buff.ly/3lbxonJ
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
GREAT blog about scientific publishing including this provocative figure:
danielroelfs.com/posts/the-mo...
danielroelfs.com/posts/the-mo...
December 2, 2025 at 8:04 PM
GREAT blog about scientific publishing including this provocative figure:
danielroelfs.com/posts/the-mo...
danielroelfs.com/posts/the-mo...
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
Writing an Introduction is hard. There are a few ways Introductions often go astray - avoid these. "What your Introduction section isn't" -
What your Introduction section isn’t
Today, the fourth and final instalment in a short series inspired by bad papers I’ve read (some of them, I’ll admit once again, my own). I’ve let myself rant about what a Methods sections shouldn’t…
scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com
December 2, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Writing an Introduction is hard. There are a few ways Introductions often go astray - avoid these. "What your Introduction section isn't" -
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
An important write up from the NYT on the funding changes at the NIH.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine (Gift Article)
A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:51 AM
An important write up from the NYT on the funding changes at the NIH.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
A fungus called Cladosporium sphaerospermum thrives at Chernobyl:
“Some scientists think its dark pigment—melanin—may allow it to harness ionizing radiation through a process similar to the way plants harness light for photosynthesis. This proposed mechanism is even referred to as radiosynthesis.”
“Some scientists think its dark pigment—melanin—may allow it to harness ionizing radiation through a process similar to the way plants harness light for photosynthesis. This proposed mechanism is even referred to as radiosynthesis.”
Chernobyl Fungus Appears to Have Evolved an Incredible Ability
The Chernobyl exclusion zone may be off-limits to humans, but ever since the Unit Four reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded nearly 40 years ago, other forms of life have not only move...
www.sciencealert.com
December 1, 2025 at 10:23 PM
A fungus called Cladosporium sphaerospermum thrives at Chernobyl:
“Some scientists think its dark pigment—melanin—may allow it to harness ionizing radiation through a process similar to the way plants harness light for photosynthesis. This proposed mechanism is even referred to as radiosynthesis.”
“Some scientists think its dark pigment—melanin—may allow it to harness ionizing radiation through a process similar to the way plants harness light for photosynthesis. This proposed mechanism is even referred to as radiosynthesis.”
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
The southeastern US is a global hotspot of freshwater fish biodiversity, supporting almost 2/3 of the country’s fish species! The region is also a hotspot of darter diversity - Georgia alone is home to ~45 species including the Christmas darter #25DaysofFishmas
December 1, 2025 at 2:25 PM
The southeastern US is a global hotspot of freshwater fish biodiversity, supporting almost 2/3 of the country’s fish species! The region is also a hotspot of darter diversity - Georgia alone is home to ~45 species including the Christmas darter #25DaysofFishmas
Reposted by Susana Wadgymar🌿🔬
I really can't overstate how dire this AI scraping of website content is. My traffic over the last 30 days is down over 90% from the previous year. Visits to my website from searches over the past 30 days is 16 people. I used to get a thousand people every month reading my most popular article.
December 1, 2025 at 8:29 PM
I really can't overstate how dire this AI scraping of website content is. My traffic over the last 30 days is down over 90% from the previous year. Visits to my website from searches over the past 30 days is 16 people. I used to get a thousand people every month reading my most popular article.
"Be specific"
December 1, 2025 at 10:39 PM
"Be specific"