Leonora’s proposal for an NSF CAREER award has been funded! See abstract here. This program funds “the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.” Looking forward to some fun research projects and integrated research and education over the next 5 years!
Leonora gives poster talk at ASM Microbe in Houston
Leonora presented some of Jessica’s PhD work at the ASM Microbe conference in Houston.
Welcome to our 2023 summer SARE and B2B students!
We have new undergraduate students joining the lab from the Bridges to Baccalaureate (B2B) and Student Authentic Research Experience (SARE) programs! Welcome to Paula Alvarez, Chadwick DeFehr, Holly Morrison, Siena Fox and Mauricio Nava. Looking forward to a summer of fun science and learning.
Jessica wins poster award!
Congratulations to Jessica Bernardin for her poster award from the College of Arts and Sciences at Boise State’s Graduate Research Showcase.
Simons Early Career Award in Aquatic Microbial Ecology and Evolution
Leonora recently received an early career award from the Simons Foundation! It provides funding for 3 years for work in the pitcher plant aquatic system.
Lab cross-country skiing
We had a great time cross-country skiing up at Bogus Basin - even though it was 7 deg. F when we arrived! A beautiful, sunny day above Boise.
Welcome Chih-Yun!
Chih-Yun will join the lab in January 2023 as a Research Assistant. She will initially be helping to test our frozen culture collection for viability after a -80 freezer failure, but will likely continue to work on new questions as well. We are happy to have you!
Congratulations to Jessica and Jacob for passing their Comprehensive Exams!
Big congratulations to our new PhD candidates, who recently passed their comps. They did really well, and are making great progress in their PhDs.
Welcome to Elle and Adedotun!
We are thrilled to have two new graduate students in the lab - Elle in the EEB PhD program and Adedotun in the Biology Masters program.
Two new pitcher plant papers out!
Our lab group recently published two new papers about pitcher plant-associated communities. Check them out:
Heil, J.A., Wolock, C.J., Pierce, N.E., Pringle, A, and Bittleston, L.S. 2022. Sarracenia pitcher plant-associated microbial communities differ primarily by host species across a longitudinal gradient. Environmental Microbiology https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.15993
Bittleston, L.S., Benson, E.L., Bernardin, J.R. and Pierce, N.E. 2022. Characterization and comparison of convergence among Cephalotus follicularis pitcher plant-associated communities with those of Nepenthes and Sarracenia found worldwide. Front. Plant Sci. 13:887635. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.887635
Jacob and Jessica both helped move these papers forward, starting with data that I gathered during my PhD. It’s great to see the findings finally published!