It was so good to celebrate our first two CSCCE- certified community managers yesterday! Congrats to Erin and Miriam!

Later this month, CSCCE’s founder and director @louwoodley.bsky.social will be delivering the keynote address at the annual NORDP Research Development Conference: nordp.org/page/2025_co...

Francis Collins led the mapping of the human genome, and chose to do big scientific to benefit the public. He is a a former NIH Director. He just resigned his position in government. His resignation letter: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/u...

I also fear there will be a Lost Generation of scientists & researchers w/ these massive cuts, esp current trainees & #ECR Stripping away funding is quick, but short-sighted. It will set us back many years We must support #science, it is one of the very best things #America does! #Medsky #Scisky

By @katherinejwu.com "The NIH... supported 99 percent of the drugs approved in the U.S. from 2010 to 2019. The agency has had a hand in “nearly all of our major medical breakthroughs over the past several decades,” The NIH is in a struggle for its (and our) lives. This is existential to America:

Free freelance coaching tomorrow 3-4 ET. I'll be talking about how I run my freelance #SciComm business and nothing's off the table, including discussing my real $ numbers. This is a casual Q&A seeded by someone with questions. Register here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

I’ve seen children die of -influenza -COVID -pertussis And wouldn’t wish those experiences on anyone. Know what these things have in common?! Effective vaccines that save lives.

Sharing these numbers because I wasn't aware of them myself. In the US: * 1 in 5 unvaccinated people who get measles are hospitalized * 1 in 20 children with measles get pneumonia * 1 to 3 in 1000 die If you're not immune, close contact with an infected person gives you measles 90% of the time

oh cool I’ve been meaning to learn anxiety

let’s see how it plays out, but the media coverage of the past week meant that the policy couldn’t linger in the shadows anymore keep talking to non-scientists about what you do and why it matters to them

The Trump administration's efforts to slash research funding have US graduate students, postdocs and other early-career scientists fearing for their careers. Some might leave the country -- or abandon research altogether. https://go.nature.com/43ao2zq

“The weeks ahead may be the greatest test that the US scientific community has ever faced” @holdenthorp.bsky.social Come together, right now | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

K, here's my thing about heroes vs. villains. Being good/a hero (and by that I mean, making the best choices one can to help others, do no harm and make shit better) is hard as hell in a world that is often cruel and rewards selfish behavior. "Good" is a choice you have to make over and over...

An important reminder to keep talking about what is happening right now in your area of expertise with connections who aren’t.

Some folks have asked, given recent news, “how do I show my friends/family the impact of NSF?” We have some easy Fact Sheets for you! Here’s a brief thread about this website: new.nsf.gov/about/fact-s... which hosts a ton of useful one-pagers.

NEW: NSF confirmed that they fired 168 employees today, out of their staff of ~1,500 feds. This includes some people who'd finished their 1-year probationary periods, which were extended to 2-years last month without explanation. More to come.

I am one of these NSF postdocs. NSF has frozen everyone’s access to their salaries and research stipends (that were already awarded) with no information about when they might be expected to be unfrozen. It still appears like we are expected to continue doing our work though.

Others have said it better before, but: Doing the best science *requires* considering "DEIA principles and frameworks." Science is done by communities. Science affects communities. Communities are diverse. If you ignore that diversity, you are doing worse science than someone who includes it well.

M4.1 #earthquake detected 13 km SE of York Harbor, Maine at 1/27/2025 7:22:56 AM PST This reflects data from the U.S. Geological Survey that is subject to change. Visit the USGS page linked below for the latest #quake information

Earthquake in Maine?

Social media platforms have become essential tools for communication, civic engagement, and information sharing, akin to roads, utilities, and other public services. They are becoming public infrastructure. We should treat them as such.

"‘Open Source And Ethical’ TikTok, WhatsApp And Instagram Alternatives Could Transform Social Media" ... Or not www.forbes.com/sites/esatde...

You can use this website to look up how much money goes into your state from NIH, how many jobs are supported, and more. www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/nih-in-your-...

Bluesky hits its first million mentions of research as found by Altmetric.

Happy Christmas - we finally got a little snow!

We hosted a really lovely online community potluck earlier today where we scaffolded out different activities for each of the three courses to provide opportunities to share, celebrate, and commiserate. It’s the sixth time we’ve hosted this - and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy every year!

Excited to (almost) end the work year by announcing two new trainings in project management for scientists! Register for our mini-workshop on Feb 26 and tell us when you’d like the longer-form training in 2025! www.cscce.org/2024/12/17/p...

Beautiful morning to take pup for a walk along the beach.

“We don’t value software, data, and methods in the same way we value papers, even though those resources empower millions of scientists” 💯 www.statnews.com/sponsor/2024...

When past you does something for future you that present you discovers months later and is so grateful for the extra help you could cheer! (But instead you skeet!)

An issue not only for news orgs..Working out where to situate community roles to be most impactful has been challenging for a while. Taking community-building expertise outside the org into consultancy has pros and cons for both the org and the individual…

We just ran a successful pilot of our two-day (online) project management boot camp - which means it’s time for a celebratory drink with pup!

Just a few fireflies in Smoky Mountain National Park, TN. These are synchronous fireflies and the males flash their lanterns in bursts of light that look like waves through the forest. Then they all go dark at once, watching for females to flash back. #ArtAdventCalendar (Photinus carolinus)

Scientists, academics, researchers: We’re excited to share that @altmetric.com is now tracking mentions of your research on Bluesky! 🧪

“Don’t feed the trolls” also extends to bad opinion pieces in papers of record. They run them bc people react to them the most. If we stop linking to bad columns and instead post thinkers we find valuable (& generate convo around it), incentives change. It’s not easy and takes constant practice!

Living out a mini gift economy in practice with our new neighbors this week - we took round leftover apple pie and returned with turkey soup made with Thanksgiving leftovers.

Community, discussion, and promoting the work of others is what made Twitter magic back in the day. That and it leveled the coms pyramid so you could converse with folks you'd otherwise never get a chance to communicate with. That is how to use this place. That's the magic that changes the world.

One of the (multiple) things that struck me having read this, is the section that discusses the “value” of investing in non-linear reciprocal relationships. It reminded me very much of questions about how to “demonstrate the ROI” for communities of identity, circumstance, or practice.

One thing you should know about me: squirrels are a recurring theme! Every year, I wait to serendipitously find holiday cards that include a squirrel but I was starting to get worried that I hadn’t found any yet this year…Then a wander around a few local art stores today brought success!

There’s something perfectly cosy about a few hours spent with the latest book in a familiar series - characters and relationships you already know about that deepen with each installment, places that you almost feel like you’ve actually visited…It’s fascinating parasocial community-building.

Ran our first hybrid workshop in a while today - we were online, all the attendees were together in-person. Lots of fun to bounce between in-person facilitation tactics and virtual tactics at the same time!

I loved Braiding Sweetgrass so I’m excited to be reading Robin Wall Kimmerer’s new book on reciprocity, The Serviceberry. I think in our idealizing of community, there might be yearning to be in this kind of reciprocal relationship with others we trust, participants in a gift economy of mutual care.

Optimist: the cup is half full Pessimist: the cup is half empty Community manager: I’ve created a survey to gather input from you all about what we’d like to do about the cup situation for our collective benefit. Come to next week’s community call to discuss our next steps together!

I loved Braiding Sweetgrass so I’m excited to be reading Robin Wall Kimmerer’s new book on reciprocity, The Serviceberry. I think in our idealizing of community, there might be yearning to be in this kind of reciprocal relationship with others we trust, participants in a gift economy of mutual care.

“The fundamental currency of a gift economy is relationship, not money” - Robin Wall Kimmerer.

What better way to broaden your horizons than to follow a bunch of scientists on Bluesky? www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Back in February, I teamed up with @bsky.app to make a comic explaining what makes Bluesky so special. I wanted to share this again, to welcome all the newskies. It's great to have you here 🙂 Welcome to Bluesky! 💙🦋 1/3

Finally! Zotero is now available in beta form for android devices, play.google.com/store/apps/d..., get it while it´s hot, they are still limiting the number of downloads during the beta testing phase.