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Julia Van Etten on Muck Rack

Julia Van Etten

(She/Her)
New Jersey, New York
As seen in: Nature, Wiley Online Library, Cambridge University Press & Assessment, Atlas Obscura, Flipboard, BioRxiv, Cell Press
@NSF PRFB fellow • PhD from @RutgersU @DebashB lab • Passionate about algae / protists + genomics + microscopy + community ecology

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Julia Van Etten’s Biography

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I’m a microscopist and science communicator always on the lookout for slimy places to observe new microbes. I received my PhD in Ecology and Evolution from Rutgers University in 2024 and my BS in Marine Science and Biology from University of Miami RSMAS in 2016. I run Couch Microscopy, a multimedia project showcasing the hidden diversity of organisms on the planet. I also host and produce the Tiny Living Beings podcast where I interview a scientist each week about their favorite microbe. I’m av…

Julia Van Etten’s Journalist Portfolio

Brave new worlds in a drop of water

Brave new worlds in a drop of water

Julia Van Etten is a microscopist and science communicator. Here she combines her two loves by inviting you t…

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Meet the Algae and Other Microbes in Your Neighborhood

Meet the Algae and Other Microbes in Your Neighborhood

All you need is a jar of local water and a microscope-you may even find new species. Welcome to Algae Obscura.

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Tiny Living Beings podcast

Tiny Living Beings podcast

Tiny Living Beings is a weekly podcast where listeners get to know a scientist, a weird microorganism they li…

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Red Algal Extremophiles: Novel Genes and Paradigms

Red Algal Extremophiles: Novel Genes and Paradigms

A survey of the interesting properties of red algae and description of all sort of other microbes you can fin…

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Articles

Genetic Transfer in Action: Uncovering DNA Flow in an Extremophilic Microbial Community

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By Julia Van Etten, Timothy Stephens, Debashish Bhattacharya
| Wiley Online Library Verified
1 Introduction Horizontal genetic transfer (HGT) is a driver of genomic novelty in prokaryotes and more recently, its significance has become recognised in eukaryotes (Ochman, Lawrence, and Groisman 2000; Koonin, Makarova, and Aravind 2001; Dagan, Artzy-Randrup, and Martin 2008; Corel et al. 2018; Soucy, Huang, and Gogarten 2015; Van Etten and Bhattacharya 2020).
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Community-wide interactions sustain life in geothermal spring habitats

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By Timothy G. Stephens, Julia Van Etten, Timothy McDermott, william christian
| BioRxiv
Abstract We investigated an alga-dominated geothermal spring community in Yellowstone National Park, USA. Our goal was to determine how cells cope with abiotic stressors during diurnal sampling that spanned over two orders of magnitude in solar irradiance. We report a community level response to toxic metal resistance and energy cycling that spans the three domains of life. Arsenic detoxification is accomplished via complementary gene expression by different lineages.
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Diverse fates of ancient horizontal gene transfers in extremophilic red algae

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By Julia Van Etten, Timothy Stephens, Evolution Rutgers, Microbiology Rutgers
| Wiley Online Library Verified
INTRODUCTION Horizontal genetic transfer (HGT), once deemed highly unlikely in eukaryotes due to the presence of a nuclear envelope and in many cases, a sequestered germline, is now accepted as a common feature across the tree of life (Van Etten & Bhattacharya, 2020). Yet, the mechanisms that drive HGT persistence and integration into host pathways are poorly understood.
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Awards

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Hilda Canter-Lund photomicrography award

2022 - Photography

This award was established by the British Phycological Society in recognition of Hilda Canter-Lund, whose stunning photographs will be known to many members. Her photomicrographs of freshwater algae combined high technical and aesthetic qualities whilst still capturing the quintessence of the organisms she was studying.

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Microscopy Today People’s Choice Award

2021 - Photography

The goal of this international competition is to identify and showcase scientific micrographs and movie clips. While there must be scientific content in the images, winning entries will also exhibit exceptional composition and other esthetic qualities.

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Oxford University Press Publisher’s Award for Excellence in Systematic Research

2023 - Research Article

From OUP and Systematic Biology

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