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Shelly Gaynor Profile
Shelly Gaynor

@ShellyGaynor

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NSF Postdoc Fellow with @UMich | Ph.D. from @UF I polyploidy evolution | #UCFAlumni (she/her) | aka Michelle

Florida, USA
Joined September 2012
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
1 month
PhD done!
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
43 US-based Biology PhD programs, only 1 is paying a living wage.
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
1 year
If postdoc fellowships kept up with inflation 🙌
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@RickLindroth
Rick Lindroth
1 year
Of >20 NSF grants during my career, THIS one was most professionally transformative. Forever grateful, @NSF ! (Check out that 2-yr #postdoc stipend!) #NSFPostdoc @UWMadison #chemicalecology #sciencecareers #retirement #cleaningoutfilecabinet #researchgrant
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
Update on Biology PhD salaries: UGA, Vanderbilt, MIT, and Princeton all cross the 1:1 line with U of Pittsburgh and U of Pennsylvania right below. Submit your Biology PhD program here:
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
Just a monthly reminder that Biology PhD students are not expected to be able to afford basic living costs.
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 months
Ph.D. Done
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Passed!
@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Oral qualifying exam today and then I get my second covid vaccine. Lets do this
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
4 months
My exit seminar is in 2 weeks and my 201-page dissertation has been sent to my committee, so I guess it is time to share that my NSF PRFB with @roszenil and @evoblackrim was recommended for funding!
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
5 years
I just read my email and I got the #GRFP ! Omg omg omg
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
7 months
"The decision by Duke University to close their herbarium is deeply concerning. Herbaria are not just repositories of plant specimens, they hold the keys to understanding and preserving our planet's diversity." Petition with @iDigBio , @NSCAlliance @SPNHC :
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
Congrats to UC Davis Plant Biology for being the first biology department at a public university to pay grads students a living-wage! And big thanks @Plant_Phillips for updating the Biology PhD Stipend database with some of the new rates!
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
Despite being highlighted in @Nature and @ScienceMagazine - @UF will only raise Biology PhD by $559.5 (all stipends by 3% after not raising them since 2017). This doesn't even cover the cost of fees for a single semester. @uf_gau
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
"The point labels are pretty much 'pointless'" - @ReptileRhett Thanks for all the submissions, we are now at 151 entries from 133 Universities. Click the link for info:
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
MIT Living Wage Updated - Only Washington Uni in St. Louis, Cornell University, The Jackson Laboratory + Turfs, and Brown remain across the line. Very sad to see $$ of life go up, and stipends remain pitiful. 💤 break - Enjoy the app:
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
6 months
Excited to share my first undergrad-mentee-led manuscript! Here we introduce gatoRs, an R package designed to streamline the downloading and processing of biodiversity data. (1/n)
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
1 year
A year ago today, Nature and Science both published news articles about the lack of a living wage for PhD students - both noted @UFBiology . Well, UF Biology has not changed and still lacks a living wage. Luckily, other places have changed. (1/n) Source:
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
8 months
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 months
Excited to share our new paper in #APPS and software on predicting ploidal level from sequence data! Paper: Software: (1/n)
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
My rent goes up 10% next year, my pay goes down ~40%. Meaning my rent will be 65% of my salary.
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
How I spend my 25th birthday:
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
1 year
Go g-oats!
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
Thank you to @k_langin and @ScienceMagazine for including @UF in her article on PhD Students Demanding Living Wages- this one definetly has a few more hot-takes from me, @mkirchner_ants and @JanePetzoldt :
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
1 radish plant and 2 distinctly different color umbels! Did I break it?
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
4 years
Despite only leaving my house for doctor appointments, I tested positive today for COVID-19. So far, I'm doing okay. But what should I do to protect my way too cuddly cats?
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
4 years
2 papers accepted in the last 2 weeks! Including my last undergrad paper and my first grad school paper. Good way to end the 2nd year of my PhD!
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
This article has now been shared on social media over 2000 times - great, we all know this is an issue. Lets talk solutions, a starting thread🧵
@Nature
nature
2 years
Salaries for PhD students in the biological sciences fall well below the basic cost of living at almost every institution and department in the US, according to crowdsourced data
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
And here is the data:
@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
43 US-based Biology PhD programs, only 1 is paying a living wage.
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
Amazing to see additional programs join Princeton over the 1:1 line! Go Vanderbilt and Cornell Plant Science!
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
Allele frequency plots or cats?
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
When we first launched the Biology PhD Stipends site, we did not expect as much continuous traffic! Today we added a donation button to help cover the +$40 monthly cost for hosting the site - 🎉
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Oral qualifying exam today and then I get my second covid vaccine. Lets do this
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Exciting mail today from @Botanical_ ! Thanks for the beautiful plaque!
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
Amazing to see fellow past/soon-to-be-past @Botanical_ student reps at #Botany2022
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
Congrats to Dr. @ReptileRhett for defending his PhD today!
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
4 years
So excited to see LeafMachine, which automate leaf trait extraction from digitized herbarium specimens, finally out!! Good job @PhyloForFun , twitterless Julienne Ng, and @RobertLaport
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
7 months
Half a million models + many duck jokes later, I'm excited to share the preprint for nQuack: This project started as a paragraph in a paper with @JLandisBotany , @RobertLaport , and @desert_hopping . But morphed into a new method and package. (1/n)
@mossMatters
Matt Johnson, PhD
1 year
. @ShellyGaynor introduces nQuack, a program to ID autopolyploids w/sequencing data - many theoretical advantages over similar tools like nQuire. Will be available on GitHub soon! Very grateful for folks like Shelly who do the math so I don’t have to… #Botany2023
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Shelly Gaynor
3 years
You know it's gonna be a long day when you start your morning with R wanting to end it all
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
Ahh, this dataset is taking over my life. Please read the instructions before submitting, for ex. the error form requires sources with salary corrections, yet 6 submitted in the last 36hrs are missing these. Im a grad student, I study plants not salaries. Work with me here.
@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
MIT Living Wage Updated - Only Washington Uni in St. Louis, Cornell University, The Jackson Laboratory + Turfs, and Brown remain across the line. Very sad to see $$ of life go up, and stipends remain pitiful. 💤 break - Enjoy the app:
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Stipends in UF Biology never get raised after admission and there are no internal top-ups. So ends up the highest and lowest current UF-funded PhD student stipends have a $15,350 difference. That is wild.
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
Congrats to Cornell for passing the 1:1 line and paying a living wage!
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@JennyElaineG
Jenny Goldstein
2 years
Cornell is increasing grad stipends to $43k for next year, requiring summer funding to be provided for all PhD students, cutting grad tuition costs for private Cornell colleges cause they are currently higher than the public ones
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
4 years
#Botany2020 blooper time - my cat thought I was talking to him when I tried to record my talk
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
Undergrad: Yes. The profs in my department genuinely cared. Grad: No. Faculty in my department repetitively forget we had met prior and/or forget my name (I wear a nametag), and I get asked if i'm an undergrad on a weekly basis. Its my 5th year. They also pay us shit.
@drkellyallen
Kelly-Ann Allen, PhD FAPS
2 years
Do you feel a sense of belonging to your school or University?
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
Seems @UF gave the names of graduate students on DEI committees to the state and their emails were requested. Isn't this a FERPA violation or something? Why are faculty not talking about this?
@BrunaLab
Emilio M. Bruna
2 years
Faculty, staff, and student email accounts at UF are being searched with almost NO explanation or show of support from above; many finding out after the fact. People are understandably scared, especially untenured or soft-money folks.
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
4 years
One paper was posted! Check out my first grad school paper on Biogeography and ecological niche evolution in Diapensiaceae!
@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
4 years
2 papers accepted in the last 2 weeks! Including my last undergrad paper and my first grad school paper. Good way to end the 2nd year of my PhD!
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Did @UF officials just tell grad students not to talk about their proverty level wages and their need for food stamps? In a @uf_gau bargaining session?
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
Congratulations to @UCFBiologyDept ! This departments PhD pay went from $16k in 2018 to $22k in 2023!! The faculty members fought hard for these raises and are an amazing group committed to improving conditions for grad students (with two faculty job apps open now).
@plantevoecophys
Chase Mason
2 years
Very proud of my colleagues - UCF Biology is increasing graduate TA stipends by over 15% for next academic year, while also improving workload equity across TA appointments, with a second increase planned for 2024. All with a static graduate program budget! 👩‍🔬🎓💵 😁
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Only way to work on the weekends is on the floor with a cat on my back
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
4 years
Just sent a doodle poll to schedule my qualifying exams
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
6 years
Having my first 2 papers published and starting a PhD!
@JacquelynGill
Dr. Jacquelyn Gill
6 years
What are you most proud of accomplishing in 2018?
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Not only are these two highly cited, but highly equitable: 1. They let students be corresponding author. 2. Students aren't required to include them on every paper (only on ones they contribute to) 3. They encourage lots of collaboration, the more the merrier with authorship.
@FloridaMuseum
Florida Museum
3 years
Doug & Pam Soltis ( @soltislab ) were recognized as being in the top 1% of #HighlyCited2021 researchers by @ClarivateAG . The Soltises have collectively published more than 600 papers that have been cited upward of 50,000 times in studies since the 1980s.
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Shelly Gaynor
2 years
Someone is posting grad salaries & living wages for job ads on EcoEvoJobs. Grad students are not paid well, committing to academia is accepting that your lab members will not make a living wages. To those applying this season, don't bum yourself out focusing on this & good luck!
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
1 year
Can I get a refund from #Botany2023 for food? Every break is dairy, breakfast was dairy. I filled out a form to say I couldnt eat dairy. The dairy free options at the ASPT dinner is kinda pitiful:
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Well, the @Botanical_ award ceremony at #Botany2021 is going fast! Excited to be passing the Student Rep torch to @ioana_anghel ! The last two years have been a wild ride. Learned a lot from the opportunity and am so glad I got to work with @0_minyaaa and @imenarv along the way.
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Excited to present a short workshop next week on using R for Digitized Natural History Collections in Research at BCEENET 2021 Virtual Meeting. If you are attending - my session is Tuesday (June 15th) at 2 - 4 pm Eastern. Check out the material here:
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
1 year
@RickLindroth I guess we ARE keeping up with inflation then! 😂😭
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
4 years
85 ECRs are looking for Masters, PhDs, Postdocs, Jobs, collaborators, and more in the general field of botany. If you are looking to fill these positions, please add to the #Botany2020 Virtual Networking Board:
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 months
Excited to share the new logo for @iDigBio R package! You can also see our updated documentation and articles (many from @ekrimmel ) here:
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
Finally finished and uploaded my #Botany2022 talk! Excited to share some results from a theoretical chapter of my dissertation on coexistence of multiple cytotypes!
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
5 years
Got home today and immediately started working on emails before feeding my cats. Mabel wasn’t having it, so she unplugged my internet. #worklifebalance
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
7 years
Checking how DNA sequences of Rose family members (like roses, apples, peaches, and plums) line-up to build a family tree. #WomenInScience #femsciGIF #InternationalDayofWomenInScience
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
Just got to the airport for my travel to #Botany2022 - my #botanycat will be enjoying their vacation in Tampa
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
1 year
Since I started the Biology Stipend database, ~50 departments have raised their stipends. Some even passed the living wage line. Meanwhile, UF actually has continued to cut funding for graduate teaching assistants. The reality of higher education is that @UF fell behind.
@egarciaferres
Eva Garcia Ferres
1 year
…they say that they cannot change the “reality” of higher education, where graduate students either come from wealthy backgrounds or have to face poverty…
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
4 years
Really happy about learning how to write math equations in Markdown - my reading notes have never been so pretty!
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Before I start promoting all the @Botanical_ student events - Stop by my #Botany2021 talk on Wed. at 3:30 PM ET in the Pop Genetics and Genomics Session. Excited to share some of my dissertation and my first autopolyploid simulation! And you get to play spot the 🐈
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
UF email: Testing is key! "Visit {link} for a list of additional testing locations" Link: "We did not find any locations"
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
4 years
After lots of advocating with @imenarv - so excited to share the student rates have both been lowered to $25!!!
@Botanical_
Botanical Society of America
4 years
We are excited to announce that the Botany 2021 - Virtual! registration is now open and with even lower rates for students! To learn more about #Botany2021 - Virtual! visit , and to register visit . #iamabotanist #BSAmembers
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
After a long week of flow, I feel like her face says "never leave"
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
5 years
Almost home, but had a great time at #Botany2019 ! #jazzhands
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
In case you missed the meows during my #Botany2020 talk:
@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Before I start promoting all the @Botanical_ student events - Stop by my #Botany2021 talk on Wed. at 3:30 PM ET in the Pop Genetics and Genomics Session. Excited to share some of my dissertation and my first autopolyploid simulation! And you get to play spot the 🐈
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
5 years
I started undergrad research with barely a 2.9 GPA. The more research I got involved in, the better my grades became. I ended up getting 5 papers out of my undergrad research.
@jenheemstra
Jen Heemstra
5 years
There is almost zero correlation between GPA and success in research.
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
4 years
Powerpoint automatic captions are so judgy
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
1 year
My #BotanyCat is glad to have me home (or at least happy to have my suitcase to hang on)
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 months
If you missed my talk at #Evol2024 #Evolution2024 on coexistence of mixed cytotypes with Nico Andrade, Ethan Cockey, @JLandisBotany @NKortessis Jose Miguel Ponciano and @soltislab you can see it here:
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Gus in a baby carrier - basically how I walk two cats at once
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Might have taken an extra year, but finally added genbank accessions to some loaned specimen!
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Really excited to share our social hangout rooms for #Botany2021 ! Aren't these do cute?!? These 4 rooms will be open everyday from 8-10 am, 12 – 1pm,  5-6:30pm  and 8-10pm ET.
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Here is a short thread on tips for teaching a dyslexic student how to code. Perfect topic for #DyslexiaAwarenessWeek and #DEHEM21
@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
@MaribethLatvis I teach coding with dyslexia, seems to be very helpful for students - they love catching my mistakes.
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
4 years
Happy Hanukah! Both my cats have already tried to stick their faces in the flames. 😸🔥🕎
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Last week I left the discussion on naming based on a seemly antisemitic share of who I follow. Today to discredit me further they joked about how much money my parents spent to send me to college and reported people saying I'm problematic. Personal attacks aren't needed.
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
4 years
Went back to look through #Botany2020 on pathable and realized the SciComm Celebration just has a min video of me staring at the screen 🤣
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
Do graduate student unions always mean increased grad student salaries? Though there have been some amazing wins by grad unions, it doesn't seem like their presence alone = more $$ 🧵(1/n)
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Mid-semesterly paper tornado 🌪
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
4 years
Cat Botanist?
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Life things I'm doing to prepare for the next week of writtens: Prepped 5 dinners, made easy-to-grab snacks, vacuumed the house, slept for 12+ hours, charged my interactive cat toys, and made sure my lucky shirts were washed!
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Enjoying some great #Botany2021 talks with one of my #catsofbotany (The needy one that closed the breakout rooms)
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Great @soltislab Christmas party today! We even set up the lab tree 🎄
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
More interactive polls from the first Student Social of #Botany2021 with @imenarv - What's the most underrated and overrated plants!
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
6 years
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Love that we are all vaccinated and can celebrate Mother's Day in person!
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
Wanted to share a #labdaptations as part of #DisabilityPrideMonth . Hand chopping was super painful, but lucky for me a friend finishing his OT degree made me this ergonomic razor blade holder as his class project.
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
4 years
Come see my talk tommorrow (Wed.) at 1:15pm EST #Botany2020
@soltislab
Soltis Lab @UF
4 years
Another great talk: #Biogeography and ecological #niche evolution in #Diapensiaceae inferred from phylogenetic analysis. @ShellyGaynor using @idigbio data & phylogeny in family of #Ericales . Wed 7/29 1:15-1:30 #Botany2020
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Well my cat closed all the breakout rooms today during the #Botany2021 SciComm Celebration today. Other than that, It was a pretty smooth day!
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
2 years
The beauty of living close to home. Shana tova!
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@ShellyGaynor
Shelly Gaynor
3 years
Makeshift fence up at the new place so me and my cats can hang together on the porch.
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