There are unhealthy myths about how much time people in #academia must spend working to be “successful.” Yet we also tend to be terrible at estimating how much time we spend working, or on a particular task or activity (hint we often way over-estimate time spent & underestimate time needed). 1/

I really think scientists still need to be part of the media conversation--even (or especially) when journalists deal w/ contentious issues. That's why I responded to this "tricky" interview request & encouraged two colleagues to. Here's why I think this matters for #scicomm:

I will add: we are immensely grateful for all of you who have connected with the Meteor #Scicomm podcast & hope you still feel connected as we work together to foster capacity to do good in the world. There are amazing resources to help us all (a lot from way beyond scicomm); we'll focus there.

I keep having this conversation with colleagues. We need to make it obvious to students that revision means success, not failure, as a writer. 1/

Darn right we are!

This is a great book for folks who need to train others in scientific writing but were perhaps never formally trained themselves. Which is probably a whole lot of us! Highly recommend.

@stephenbheard.bsky.social & I are pretty stoked! Our book (from @uchicagopress.bsky.social) about mentoring #ScientificWriting is another step closer to being in your hands!! We now have a cover, a *funny* index (who knew that was possible!?!) & amazing blurbs from 3 scholars we deeply respect! 1/

I recently led a writing feedback workshop with @stephenbheard.bsky.social, my co-author on a book about mentoring writing in the sciences. A lot of our advice from that workshop is distilled into a blog post I wrote a while back! So, I’m re-booting it in case you missed it: buff.ly/oIbXJdS.

*Now* is the time to handle end-of-term evaluations. As a contingent faculty member, I'm more subject to the whims (and biases) of bad evals than I'd like to be. 1/

If you teach in higher ed, you might still have a couple of minutes left to fine-tune your syllabi for the coming term. So, I'm sharing ALL MY hashtag#SCICOMM SYLLABI, along with all my syllabi for writing courses, career prep, and art-science/transdisciplinary courses: buff.ly/2BUHuOt 1/

*check OUT, not our. Blergh. But while you're at the booth, you *could* also ask about OUR new book too ("our" in this case being me and @bgmerkle.bsky.social) I bet Jeremy won't mind if you preorder his and ours at the same time! press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

I really think scientists still need to engage with journalists about contentious issues. That's why I responded to a "tricky" interview request recently. Here's my take on why this matters for #scicomm & how I handled a particularly touchy topic for WY Public Media:

I 1000% agree. After re-reading every word (& comma), I can confidently conclude: you should pre-order for the cheeky endnotes, alone! And, it is excruciating to reread a text I've written with the certainty that only massive errors can be changed. Zaps all the fun of editing.

Don't miss this incredibly valuable thread on why #scicomm (and everyone else) needs to move beyond 'stakeholder' to terms that are co-developed, reciprocal, and respectful!

In case you missed our #scientificwriting feedback workshop, a lot of the advice we offered can be condensed into the writing feedback tips I highlight in this post: schoolofgoodtrouble.substack.com/p/quickly-gi...

“It’s Time to Stop Calling People ‘Stakeholders’” 🎉 New from @bgmerkle.bsky.social, Evelyn Valdez-Ward, @drpriyology.bsky.social, and Skylar Bayer digitalcommons.usu.edu/hwi/vol19/is...

“graduates in computer science, computer engineering and graphic design all have unemployment rates at 7% or greater; young workers who hold a number of much-maligned humanities degrees—including English, history and philosophy—are all more hirable.” #academicsky

Conversation about the humanities & #HigherEd is just incredibly fact-free. Humanities programs tend to make colleges $$, humanities majors do fine in terms of employment and lifetime earnings, and cost to unis of humanities programs is very low. Extremely efficient. But again, no one seems to care.

REMEMBER: All the "Don't use em-dashes" "don't use rule of three" advice because it makes your writing "look like AI" is because they stole actual writers work, and their "predict the next thing" stuff just simulates what WE FUCKING DO. Keep writing well. Use every style and trick you have. Fuck AI.

Use your voice to share your good news AND speak out against injustice Be full of heart and be spirited

Yes actually now is a great time to share good news Now is a great time to celebrate the good news of strangers To be the kind of people who are happy for other people to have good things happen to them Yes indeed

Three things 1. “He was not accepted at Columbia.” 2. The man is literally an American who was born in Uganda and grew up in South Africa 3. This bullshit hit piece based on a FERPA violation and using intel from a neo-natalist is meant to manipulate Black voters and all commentary should say that

Please repost & spread the word that there's still space for a couple more participants in our #ScientificWriting workshop next week! @csee-sceemtgs.bsky.social @csee-scee.bsky.social

My story is a version of Sophie's story. There is SO MUCH #HiddenCurriculum I am still learning, even after a decade in higher ed. The credentials and background I lack have been frequently used to deny me access, funding, and more. And, the wording always places blame on me. 🧵

Imagine if burglars openly complained about how asking for permission to enter victims homes would ‘kill’ the burglary business.

I'm gonna say something that might be controversial: writer's block is actually a great excuse to have some fun with science writing & #scicomm. 🧵 See my full take on this here: 👉

We're hosting another free zine-making workshop via Twitch on Friday June 20th! Sign up now: www.eventbrite.com/e/possible-f... 12pm PDT | 3pm EDT | 9pm CEST | 10pm EAT

Listen, compassion and empathy are not soft. They are literally the best way to deal with almost any human problem.

🐾Atelier en vedette au #SCEE2025🐾 «Mentorer l’écriture scientifique efficacement et avec pertinence» ✏️Cet atelier propose des stratégies de mentorat en écriture scientifique, par des rétroactions tout en respectant la voix de l’auteur. 🔗 Inscrivez-vous ici : event.fourwaves.com/fr/scee2025/...

🐾 #CSEE2025 Workshop Highlight 🐾 "Mentoring scientific writing efficiently and effectively" ✏️This workshop shares strategies for mentoring scientific writing through feedback while preserving the writer’s voice. 🔗 Register here: event.fourwaves.com/scee2025/reg...

I've been nerding out about the word retreat. It means a lot of things, mostly negative. But then, there are these two positive meanings: "a place of privacy or safety” and “period of group withdrawal” for purposes of growth or contemplation. 🧵

Critiques of the myth of scientific neutrality have been issued for centuries. But, here we are, still training and evaluating scientists as if our neutrality is going to some how make science (and scientists) relevant, trustworthy, and usable. 1/ (HT @chanda.bsky.social for the evergreen quote)

The American Constitution Society is offering a series of webinars for lawyers to learn ways to defend constitutional rights during these challenging times. You can register here.

As I walk my dog every day, I’ve been noticing something particular about the wildflowers this spring. In the ecosystem where I live—a high altitude prairie at ~7,500 feet—there are loads of wildflowers right now. 🧵 schoolofgoodtrouble.substack.com/p/field-note...

OMG sooooo beautiful: buff.ly/486ZNaW #SciArt

Hahahahah, this salvia sales page is awesome #scicomm! "Do not expect to see Death Valley Sage in a nursery any time soon [...] If we ever did get it to grow it's doubtful you wouldn't kill it looking at it. It is very specific where it wants to grow and that's not in a nursery or your yard.

Love this so much (skipping the loser part, tho) #scicomm

what happens when a microscope crashes into a telescope? they kaleidescope

By popular demand, I put up a preorder link for the PEOPLE DISPLEASER mugs on Etsy. They’ll be about 16-18 oz and you can pick your color! littleedenpottery.etsy.com/listing/4299... #bsnm #pottery #art

I’m really only just getting into it but I genuinely love birding as a hobby. The entire goal is to look at the bird. Is there a bird? There is a bird! Look at the bird! If you are very keen you can learn what to call the bird so that you can properly thank it for the joy you feel when you see it. 🪶

They really struggle to imagine that women might reject chatGTP because it's a plagiaristic environmental disaster that makes shit up if it doesn't have the relevant information to answer a question.

This is me. Nope, no thanks. (And I work in/adjacent to STEM fields. Also in art and creative writing, which are being cannibalized by this tech.)

It would save us all so much time if you would just put the salary range in the job description

Say it after me: Chat GPT is not a search engine. It does not scan the web for information, it just generates statistically likely sentences. You cannot use it a search engine, or as a substitute for searching. Now. Please never use an LLM for information searches ever again.

While I haven’t written about it much recently, creativity plays a huge role in how I experience the world and in how I approach my work as an academic. Specifically, I make art to notice, record, and play in the world, to keep me human, to stay connected to the more-than-human. 🧵

While I haven’t written about it much recently, creativity plays a huge role in how I experience the world and in how I approach my work as an academic. Specifically, I make art to notice, record, and play in the world, to keep me human, to stay connected to the more-than-human. 🧵

💔 May 5th is MMIW Day. Wear red to show your support, then get involved and contact your representatives. #mmiw #mmiwawareness #mmiwusa #mmiwactionnow #may5 #may5th

While I haven’t written about it much recently, creativity plays a huge role in how I experience the world and in how I approach my work as an academic. Specifically, I make art to notice, record, and play in the world, to keep me human, to stay connected to the more-than-human. 🧵

Super exciting: our (@bgmerkle.bsky.social and my) new book has a cover! We can't wait until we can hold this in our hands - and until you can hold it in yours. (Fall 2025 - meanwhile, you can read more about it, and preorder, here: scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com/2024/12/10/w...)