@KaliMiddleby profile picture
Kali Middleby @KaliMiddleby

Cernusak Physiology Lab // Ernst Mayr Fellow at STRI - Plant ecophysiologist interested in how trees adjust to a warmer world.

Joined April 2021
  • Tweets 44
  • Following 332
  • Followers 255
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Kali Middleby@KaliMiddleby
11 Nov 2024
I've just joined Bluesky🌿You can find me there at @kalimiddleby.bsky.social. Looking forward to connecting in a new space!
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Kali Middleby retweeted
James Cook Uni@jcu
4 Sep 2025
New research reveals some rainforest tree species use self-cooling strategies to withstand rising temperatures, but others are more at risk. Full story: shorturl.at/piQ5B
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Kali Middleby retweeted
The Conversation - Australia New Zealand
@ConversationEDU
4 Sep 2025
In full sun, tropical leaves can become much hotter than the surrounding air. Their ability to cope can be a matter of life or death. @LucasCernusak @kalimiddleby @jcu theconversation.com/some-tro…

Some tropical trees cool their leaves to survive the heat — but not all species have ways to cope

In full sun, tropical leaves can become much hotter than the surrounding air. Their ability to cope can be a matter of life or death.

theconversation.com
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Heading to Oaxaca for #ATBC2025 ? Make sure you stop by our symposium for all things leaf temperature, heat tolerance, and tradeoffs across climate gradients 🌿💧🌡️
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Link to our session and more information on our speakers here: xcdsystem.com/atbc/program/U…
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Check out our new article in The Conversation highlighting the effects of warming leaves 4°C in mature tropical trees. 🌿🌡️ theconversation.com/study-sh… via @ConversationEDU

Study shows hot leaves can’t catch carbon from the air. It’s bad news for rainforests – and Earth

An experiment in the Daintree rainforest found the rate of photosynthesis in leaves warmed by 4°C dropped by an average of 35% compared to non-warmed controls.

theconversation.com
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And linking the original article published in @NewPhyt here nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/…

Leaf warming in the canopy of mature tropical trees reduced photosynthesis due to downregulation of...

Tropical forests play a large role in the global carbon cycle by annually absorbing 30% of our annual carbon emissions. However, these forests have evolved under relatively stable temperature cond...

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
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Why am I a plant physiologist? 7 years ago, I sat above a mature tropical rainforest and entered an entirely new world. Thanks to the Daintree Rainforest Observatory's canopy access crane. Now our much loved research station is under financial threat. shorturl.at/irNTk

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Does leaf temperature and heat tolerance depend on climate of origin? The first results from our tropical tree provenance trial tropadapt.org/ (and my 2nd phd chapter) have just been published in @PlantCellEnvir Check it out here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/shar…
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Kali Middleby retweeted
TropOz@Trop_Oz
12 Sep 2024
How much carbon is being lost from tropical forests due to ozone pollution? New results from our work just out in Nature Geoscience. #airpollution, #ozone, #tropicalforests rdcu.be/dTKUN
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The countdown is on! After 4 years of traipsing around the rainforest and thinking a lot about leaf temperatures, I'll be presenting the results of my PhD at my pre-completion seminar on September 12th. DM me for the Zoom link if you want to join!
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How does elevated temperature and vapour pressure deficit impact leaf gas exchange and plant growth in tropical rainforest trees? The first chapter of my PhD is now out in @NewPhyt nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/…
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Thrilled to see our research about temperature thresholds of tropical trees led by Chris Doughty featured on the cover of @Nature. The cover shows a thermal image (taken by me!) of tropical tree species Alstonia scholaris and Melicope rubra in Australia. nature.com/articles/s41586-0…
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Kali Middleby retweeted
TESS@TESSJCU
31 Aug 2023
TESSian Kali Middleby and team have recently published two fascinating papers, you can read them here: nature.com/articles/s41586-0… and here: academic.oup.com/treephys/ar…
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Kali Middleby retweeted
James Cook Uni@jcu
23 Aug 2023
On the heels of Earth’s warmest week on record, a new study finds the world’s tropical forest canopies may be closer to critical high-temperature thresholds than previously thought, but there may still be time to act. rb.gy/ttp55
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Kali Middleby retweeted
Josh Fisher@jawzsh
23 Aug 2023
New @Nature paper: tropical forest temps from ECOSTRESS leaf-level are starting to exceed Tcrit--where leaf function begins to fail. Models warming experiments show non-linear increases in surface temp w/ inc. air temp --> tipping point w/in RCP 8.5. nature.com/articles/s41586-0…
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Kali Middleby retweeted
TESS@TESSJCU
10 Aug 2023
Join us on Wednesday 16 August at 4pm (AEST) for our seminar. We are LIVE in Cairns and cant wait to hear Prof Susan Laurance (TESS/JCU) & Kali Middleby (PhD candidate) speak on: Research priorities for adapting forest restoration to future climate change *Live streamed on Zoom and YouTube. *Please visit the TESS website for the streaming links, abstract and speaker bio: jcu.edu.au/tess/seminars * START TIME 4pm (AEST)
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Attending #ESA2023 ? Interested in how tropical trees respond to high temperatures vs high vapour pressure deficit? Come to my talk Thursday 8:30 PDT in E142 cdmcd.co/pMnkXQ #ESA2023
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Kali Middleby retweeted
Australian Tropical Herbarium@aust_trop_herb
19 Jul 2023
Thrilled to be a Eureka Prize finalist! The #TroMPS project is a large collaboration saving tropical cloud forest flora. @RBG_Victoria @ecoart_sci @IanPotterFdn @WetTropicsMA @BotanicSydney @ANBG @Parks_Australia @ParksVictoria @jcu
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Kali Middleby retweeted
Hannah Carle@hj_whiterabbit
16 May 2023
If you agree the Australian PhD stipend should be raised to meet minimum wage, please sign this petition to parliament. Must be an Aus citizen or resident to sign. Fewer than 5000 people have signed so far #PhDVoice #PhDLife - aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petit…

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