Alayna Mead
NSF PRFB postdoc at Penn State studying adaptation to climate in trees 🌳 #PopUpPoplars | PhD on California oaks | fan of nature and books | she/her
- Reposted by Alayna MeadWhen you're working with a mentee's draft manuscript, what kind of feedback should you give? To be both efficient and effective, we suggest suppressing some of your instincts... scientistseessquirre... 🧪
- Reposted by Alayna MeadPreprint up now! With @ferrisifolius.bsky.social, we found positive selection on leaf shape plasticity across the altitudinal range of the cutleaf monkeyflower. This experiment was a HUGE personal undertaking. If you give it a read, I’d love to hear your thoughts! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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- Reposted by Alayna MeadNSF bio hour - NSF BIO lost 40% of its staff 😑
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- Very happy to see our article comparing the responses of hybrid poplars in 17 common gardens, out now in @newphyt.bsky.social! We estimated reaction norms to predict how warming winters could change where different ancestries are favored. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
- This study was a huge collaborative effort, with contributions from many collaborators (only a few of whom are pictured here). Huge thanks to my coauthors along with everyone who did fieldwork, planted and took care of trees, and collected data!
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- Reposted by Alayna MeadClimate and hybridization shape #stomatal trait evolution in #Populus 📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... by Zavala-Paez et al. @WileyPlantSci @michellezavala.bsky.social @jillahamilton.bsky.social
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- Happy goldenrod season to all who celebrate (and bonus Coreopsis)
- Hi #ESA2025! I'll be talking about phenology in a poplar hybrid zone at 3:45 this afternoon in the "Beyond Budburst–Connecting Phenological Transitions Among Tissues and Times in Woody Plants" session. Excited to hear some phenology talks!
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- Reposted by Alayna MeadOne week to go!!! So excited to host our colleagues next week in the Happy Valley of Pennsylvania! Over 150 registrants from around the world!! If you’re interested in coming but unable to join in person - email me to learn about virtual options forestgeneticsconference2025.com #forestgenetics2025
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- Reposted by Alayna MeadHappy Pride from California Native Plants!
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- Reposted by Alayna MeadConstantia, Lassen County, CA 🗺39.9228, -120.0034 🧭216° ⛰5604 ft ops.alertcalifornia.org/cam-console/1635
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- Reposted by Alayna MeadExcited by new #NSFFunded research from #PopUpPoplars led by @michellezavala.bsky.social that shows the importance of considering cytonuclear interactions to plant function The role of cytonuclear interactions to plant adaptation across a Populus hybrid zone www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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- Reposted by Alayna Meadhappy to see our study on genetic parallelism of reproductive isolation in chickadee hybrid zones out in @evolletters.bsky.social—great work led by Georgy Semenov & Scott Taylor: doi.org/10.1093/evle...
- With all the chaos, it was good to help put some trees in the ground today! 🌿💚
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- Reposted by Alayna MeadUpset about federal funding cuts in the US? Want some ideas of what to do? I wrote a long-ish blog post about it here ecoevoevoeco.blogspot.com summarizing things I learned meeting with Senate & House aides this week with the @aibsbiology.bsky.social Congressional Visits Day event.
- Reposted by Alayna MeadNEW: We (mostly @noamross.net) launched a website to shine a brighter light on terminated NIH and NSF grants. grant-watch.us It links to our NIH & NSF trackers, grant info submission forms, and other info. We'll also add new analyses soon. Check it out and let us know what else you'd like to see.
- Reposted by Alayna MeadMy NSF PRFB on the genetics of female polymorphism in hummingbirds was terminated yesterday. I don't have much to say, I'm just sad. We've discovered so much, and could have gone so much further. If anyone else is in the same boat, esp postdocs, please reach out, it would be good to connect.
- Reposted by Alayna Mead🧪 Our Terminated NSF Grant Tracker is live 🧪 🔴 114 NSF grants listed so far 🔴 Cancelled grants focused on → Training scientists → Misinformation → AI → Climate change Credit to @noamross.net for all the work to build this & to all PIs who submitted their info. Link: airtable.com/appGKlSVeXni...
- Reposted by Alayna Mead🧪 Tip: You have the right to contest a grant termination, even though NSF says you don't. 🧵 On Friday, NSF terminated 402 grants (per Musk's DOGE). The notification letters had one of the most egregious violations of fed regulations I've seen so far in these cases: "not subject to appeal"
- Here's a copy of an NSF grant termination notice that went out today. "NSF is issuing this termination to protect the interests of the government pursuant...on the basis that they no longer effectuate the program goals or agency priorities." Not subject to appeal. #HigherEd #AcademicSky
- Reposted by Alayna MeadI got an email yesterday afternoon that my NSF SPRF Postdoctoral Fellowship was terminated. My grant focused on testing interventions to address online misinformation and I was 8 months into a two year appointment.
- Friday Night Massacre of accurate information. A devastating day for the USA as tens of millions of dollars of grants seeking to combat the spread of false information were terminated. We have a federal govenrment that does not consider the verifiable truth a priority. www.nsf.gov/updates-on-p...
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- Reposted by Alayna MeadSoil properties – water availability and pH – are strongly associated to the spatial distribution of two hybridizing and sympatric oak species (Quercus spp) at local stand scale. w/@felix-zimmermann.bsky.social, @christian-rellstab.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/eva.70076
- Reposted by Alayna MeadSlightly annoying how many of the comments are like, "This is written so broadly it's going to even affect ME over here in chemistry" or whatever. We need to (always) stand together as scientists whether you're the target or the collateral damage.
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- Reposted by Alayna MeadNEW: We obtained the directions NSF program officers are following to review all grants for compliance with the Trump EOs and the turmoil it has created in an agency mandated to broaden STEM participation. Our story: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
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- Reposted by Alayna MeadThe dismantling of American Science continues. The Organismal Response to Climate Change grant call has been cancelled. The NSF Director is a disgrace
- Reposted by Alayna MeadReally appreciate Jonathan Lambert pointing out that NSF grants are congressionally mandated to weigh how grants broaden participation in science, putting the administration's executive order against DEIA in conflict with, and potentially undermining, congressional legislation
- Some coverage from NPR All Things Considered www.npr.org/2025/01/30/n...
- Reposted by Alayna MeadTo update people on the NSF PRFB situation: despite the court challenge and rescinding the original memo, the NSF has continued to comply with the executive order. They have not communicated with us at all and our paychecks are still canceled indefinitely. I know people who cannot pay their rent.
- Reposted by Alayna MeadTo expand on this, right now ~200 postdoc fellows directly funded by NSF are locked out of their salary &research funds right before the first of the month. No doubt other NSF funded grads &postdocs are affected as well. All requests for funds put in before the freeze are slowly being cancelled
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- Reposted by Alayna MeadAcademic Skyers: I am compiling a list of policies and statements from various universities about how they are handling the "pause" in terms of stopping expenditures (or not). Please respond to this post with your institution and materials. THANK YOU!
- Reposted by Alayna MeadNSF PRFB POSTDOCS: Pull the remainder of this funding cycle’s stipend, all remaining research funds, and all remaining travel funds (if you have them). Do it before 5PM today. Per instructions from multiple NSF POs. If you’re not already on the PRFB slack, DM me and I’ll send you an invite
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- Reposted by Alayna MeadThe National Science Foundation cancelled over 60 grant review panels today, effectively grinding funding of new projects to a halt. The so-far indefinite pause comes as NSF grapples with the impact Trump's executive orders will have on their grantmaking process. www.npr.org/sections/sho...
- Reposted by Alayna MeadHi All - As some have alluded to, there are a mix of things going on here. Some programs were archived before the transition, some are just pending updates to the solicitation, but everything is being looked at for compliance. I would not assume everything is cancelled though.
