Publications

As important as peer-reviewed publications are to the world of science, they are far too esoteric to the non-specialist/non-scientist/future scientist who may be interested in the topics addressed, so for that reason, I will be writing a non-technical summary for each of my publications that can be accessed here.

google scholar page

1. Van Etten J, Stephens TG, Chille E, Lipzen A, Peterson D, Barry K, Grigoriev IV, Bhattacharya D. “Diverse fates of ancient horizontal gene transfers in extremophilic red algae”. Environmental Microbiology, 2024 (accepted).

2. Benites LF, Stephens TG, Van Etten J, McDermott TR, Bhattacharya D. “Viruses associated with extreme red algal mats reveal signatures of ancient thermal adaptations”. Communications Biology, 2024.

3. Van Etten J, Stephens TG, Bhattacharya D. “A k-mer-based approach for phylogenetic classification of taxa in environmental genomic data.” Systematic Biology, 2023.

4. Van Etten J, Benites LF, Stephens TG, Yoon HS, Bhattacharya D. “Algae obscura: the potential for rare species as model systems”. Journal of Phycology, 2023.

5. Bhattacharya D, Van Etten J, Benites LF, Stephens TG. “Endosymbiotic ratchet accelerates divergence after organelle origin”. BioEssays, 2022.

6. Van Etten J, Yoon HS, Cho CH, Bhattacharya D. “Extremophilic red algae as models for understanding adaptation to hostile environments and evolution of eukaryotic life on the early Earth”. Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology, 2022.

7. Van Etten J, Keddis R, Lisa J, Rauschenbach I. “The Diverse World of Protists – An Ideal Community with which to Introduce Microscopy in the Microbiology Teaching Laboratory”. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, 2022.

8. Van Etten J. “Red Algal Extremophiles: Novel Genes and Paradigms”. Microscopy Today, 2020. (+ cover art for the issue)

9. Van Etten J & Bhattacharya D. “Horizontal Gene Transfer in Eukaryotes: Not If, But How Much?”. Trends in Genetics, 2020. (Featured article)

10. Van Etten J, Shumaker A, Mass T, Putnam H, Bhattacharya D. “Transcriptome analysis provides a blueprint of coral egg and sperm functions”. PeerJ, 2020.

NEWS

April 2024: Awarded “best oral presentation” for my talk “Algae obscura: Combining naturalist skills and novel bioinformatic tools to characterize rare photosynthetic taxa” at the 41st Annual Eastern Regional Photosynthesis Conference at MBL.

On February 23, 2024, I successfully defended my dissertation! (Recording of the public defense below.)

February 2024: “Brave new worlds in a drop of water” article published in the Global Water Forum.

December 2023: Winner of Systematic Biology and Oxford University Press’ Publisher’s Award for Excellence in Systematic Research for the paper, A k-mer-based approach for phylogenetic classification of taxa in environmental genomic data.

November 2022: Tiny Living Beings podcast launched

July 2022: winner of the British Phycological Society’s Hilda Canter Lund Award

April 2022: Awarded the University and Louis Bevier Fellowship, Rutgers’ most prestigious phd fellowship, only 15 awarded university-wide annually.

september 2021: “tube-dwelling amphipod” video wins Microscopy Today People’s Choice Award

August 2021: IN defense of plants podcast guest

April 2021: Quoted in The New Scientist

October 2019: short film ‘All We Are’

I WAS SELECTED TO BE ONE OF THE SCIENTISTS IN THE ANNUAL SYMBIOSIS COMPETITION, PART OF THE IMAGINE SCIENCE FILM FESTIVAL HELD IN NYC. HERE, I WAS PAIRED WITH FILMMAKER MARLEINE VAN DER WERF, FROM THE NETHERLANDS AND WE HAD ONE WEEK TO CREATE A SHORT FILM. This project was supported and funded by Labocine, Imagine Science Films, and Science Sandbox (Simons Foundation).

Lab Resources / TEACHING MATERIALS

VIDEOS