Mycorrhizal Ecologist & PhD @NAU | Leading research on common fungal networks, AI for fungal biodiversity, and mycorrhizae in conservation.https://bsky.app/profile/beabock.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/beabock.bsky.social/post/3mhiqfoy4xf22The next generation of fungal ecologists is looking sharp! My mentee is currently running an experiment testing if carbon availability drives Alternaria to switch from pathogen to mutualist in Sorghum. It is a nuanced, difficult question, and he is absolutely crushing it. Proud mentor moment!20 Mar 2026 14:35 +0000at://did:plc:uawsswjryixifnh2jadoep6f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhiqfoy4xf22https://bsky.app/profile/beabock.bsky.social/post/3mhdocc5kdw25I use AI to extract ecological data. Meanwhile, AI is out here extracting my actual face. 🤖😂 An organization recently ran my photo through an AI enhancer before publishing it. A fun(??) digital makeover? Original on the left, AI on the right. Spot the differences!18 Mar 2026 14:14 +0000at://did:plc:uawsswjryixifnh2jadoep6f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhdocc5kdw25https://bsky.app/profile/beabock.bsky.social/post/3mgx3xmxsdu2kTrading the computer for the river! 🚣‍♀️🏜️ Heading into the Grand Canyon for a packrafting trip to celebrate my successful PhD defense. Completely off the grid for the next little bit. Wish me luck!13 Mar 2026 14:14 +0000at://did:plc:uawsswjryixifnh2jadoep6f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgx3xmxsdu2khttps://bsky.app/profile/beabock.bsky.social/post/3mgpkkubkyx24Officially a certified Carpentries Instructor! 💻✨ Data science shouldn't be gatekept. Really excited to run official workshops and help more ecologists wrangle their data. @carpentries.carpentries.org10 Mar 2026 14:14 +0000at://did:plc:uawsswjryixifnh2jadoep6f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgpkkubkyx24https://bsky.app/profile/beabock.bsky.social/post/3mge4ysbejv2kIt is officially Dr. Bea Bock! 🎓🍄 Today I successfully defended my PhD dissertation on plant-fungal symbioses, common networks, and computational ecology. Huge thanks to my advisors, my lab mates, my pratner Kyle, and our two sweet little cat-children for getting me across the finish line.06 Mar 2026 01:12 +0000at://did:plc:uawsswjryixifnh2jadoep6f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mge4ysbejv2khttps://bsky.app/profile/beabock.bsky.social/post/3mg3epjxlbj2kI am officially defending my PhD this Thursday, March 5th! If you want to hear about AI literature mining, cottonwood drought survival, and the "dark web" of fungal networks, come by! Check the poster for the time. DM me for the Zoom link so we can keep the internet trolls out of the meeting!02 Mar 2026 13:36 +0000at://did:plc:uawsswjryixifnh2jadoep6f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mg3epjxlbj2khttps://bsky.app/profile/beabock.bsky.social/post/3mfrezudhne2eVery excited to share that I am heading to CU Boulder this May for the 2026 ESIIL Innovation Summit! 🏔️💻 We will be spending the week focused on AI for Sustainability, Earth embeddings, and open environmental data. Can't wait to collaborate with this community.26 Feb 2026 14:15 +0000at://did:plc:uawsswjryixifnh2jadoep6f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfrezudhne2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/beabock.bsky.social/post/3mfmgbi2fnf2pFinally gave my digital home a renovation! 🛠️ I moved away from just listing dissertation chapters to sharing actual resources. You can now find my open-source R packages (nanodRop), wet lab protocols, and NLP workflows all in one place. Open science or bust! 🧬💻 beabockm.wixsite.com/bea-bock https://beabockm.wixsite.com/bea-bock24 Feb 2026 14:54 +0000at://did:plc:uawsswjryixifnh2jadoep6f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfmgbi2fnf2phttps://bsky.app/profile/beabock.bsky.social/post/3mf7twvqxir2ePeople often assume Arizona is just saguaros and heat. Meanwhile, Flagstaff is doing this. ❄️ The roads are messy, but the coding productivity is high today. Hunkering down with data pipelines now (and dreaming of thawing out in there later). Stay warm, friends!19 Feb 2026 14:54 +0000at://did:plc:uawsswjryixifnh2jadoep6f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mf7twvqxir2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/beabock.bsky.social/post/3mf2u4roe4x2eReturning to Van Nuland et al. (2023) this morning. 🍄 It’s one of those papers that stays relevant because the continental-scale dataset on Populus fungal associations is just that good. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-023-01514-817 Feb 2026 15:14 +0000at://did:plc:uawsswjryixifnh2jadoep6f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mf2u4roe4x2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/beabock.bsky.social/post/3mer5wvyjok2jDissertation: SUBMITTED to my committee! 🥂🧬 It’s a strange feeling to finally hand over the document I’ve been living with for so long. Huge thanks to everyone who helped me get to this point. Next stop: PhD Defense! 🦋 #ScienceSky #PhDLife #BiologicalSciences #GradSchool13 Feb 2026 18:43 +0000at://did:plc:uawsswjryixifnh2jadoep6f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mer5wvyjok2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/beabock.bsky.social/post/3mejdn6b5gq2hSo excited to announce I've received the ECR Award from the International Mycorrhiza Society! I’ll be heading to Cairns, Australia this summer for ICOM as the North American travel award recipient.10 Feb 2026 16:03 +0000at://did:plc:uawsswjryixifnh2jadoep6f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mejdn6b5gq2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/beabock.bsky.social/post/3megopppxrk2cI loved hosting this interview with Dr. Pedro M. Antunes for the South American Mycorrhizal Research Network! We dove into the fluid mechanics of mycorrhizal networks and why biological sciences need more interdisciplinary physics thinking. Watch here: youtu.be/zqaS6ZBimYA https://youtu.be/zqaS6ZBimYA09 Feb 2026 14:43 +0000at://did:plc:uawsswjryixifnh2jadoep6f/app.bsky.feed.post/3megopppxrk2chttps://bsky.app/profile/beabock.bsky.social/post/3me7ilvy33l2lSo glad to finally be doing @carpentries.org Instructor Training! The focus on mental models and live coding feedback is a total game changer for how I approach technical workshops in the biosciences. Highly recommend for any researcher! 🧪✨ #Carpentries #ScienceSky #OpenScience06 Feb 2026 18:05 +0000at://did:plc:uawsswjryixifnh2jadoep6f/app.bsky.feed.post/3me7ilvy33l2l