That @naomialderman.bsky.social is so fucking brilliant. If you've found yourself falling out the reading habit, she has created a kind of Couch-to-5K of reading open.substack.com/pub/naomiald...

This was the exact rationale behind setting up the LGBTQSteminar. #LGBTQSTEM I was so tired of being asked to speak about "being gay in science", so much boring navel gazing. I wanted to showcase the really cool science that LGBTQ+ people were doing, so that's what we did.

Alice Augusta Ball found the cure for leprosy at 23. She died in a mysterious lab accident at 24. Arthur Dean stole her research, stole it and renamed it from "The Ball Method" to "The Dean Method." It took 90 years before her original research papers were found and she got the credit due to her.

Today I recall some of the messages from last week's Royal Society meeting: Women and the Future of Science. I also note consequences of ill thought through actions in today's world. In science, damage may be more limited, but unintended consequences still apply occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...

Fish, neuroscience, and the internet, oh my! Bright Club St Andrews is doing the comedy thing again... We have six hilarious acts, compered by the incredible Susan Morrison of Edinburgh's Stand Comedy Club Join us on 10th March, 7pm, Sandy's Bar, tickets £5 wegottickets.com/event/691981

Applications for Vacation Studentship Grant are now open. The Society offers a limited number of awards to enable undergraduates to work on microbiological research projects during their summer vacation. The deadline for applications is 15 March 2026: https://microb.io/4kFjubf

What does an "enabling workplace" look like? What makes a building work for different kinds of people? EDICa is using the latest virtual reality tech to explore this in workshops in Edinburgh on 24 Feb and London, 5 Mar. Full details and to sign up: edicaucus.ac.uk/vr/ Who is this for? 🧵1/3

No woman I know in academia would be surprised by this, but its good to see it documented like this, I guess.

My dad abhors any negative comments about immigrants. Asked him recently why he’s so strong on it: ‘Because we’re always happy to take the rich and clever ones. Which means it’s not about disliking immigrants. It’s about disliking the poor and vulnerable. And that’s a bad human instinct.’

"wait how bad was he?" behold, receipts:

The Equity & Inclusivity in Research Funding Forum initated by the University of Oxford has a working group on Demand Management for funding, that has issues some guidelines on making this part of the funding process more inclusive. Docuements available here: www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/env...

Empower. Overcome. Reignite. We support researchers to return after a career break — with training, funding & confidence. Breaking down barriers to reignite research careers. Find out more: daphnejackson.org

Study finds A.I. LLMs advise women to ask for lower salaries than men. When prompted w/ a user profile of same education, experience & job role, differing only by gender, ChatGPT advised the female applicant to request $280K salary; Male applicant=$400K. thenextweb.com/news/chatgpt...

Sometimes, we might use language that can make non-binary people feel excluded or unwelcome - even when we don't mean to. Check out the image for some examples of really easy ways you can use language that includes everyone! 💛🤍💜🖤 #NonbinaryAwarenessWeek

By the way, because this is hybrid, it's also open to attendees from other countries. If the UK timezone is manageable for you, and you want to learn about science writing/journalism, feel free to sign up!

Very proud of my latest article with @network-alba.bsky.social! I encourage all STEM researchers to check it out, we try to give practical tips whether you're working with human participants, animals, or just collecting diversity data for e.g. a conference. journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...

🚨 New WP! 📄 "Publish or Procreate: The Effect of Motherhood on Research Performance" (w/ @valentinatartari.bsky.social 👩‍🔬👨‍🔬 We investigate how parenthood affects scientific productivity and impact — and find that the impact is far from equal for mothers and fathers.

Know your rights. A resource for trans people in the UK following the Supreme Court ruling on the Equality Act. It has been reviewed by a team of lawyers to help you (and us) feel confident in knowing your rights. You'll find it at transactual.org.uk/know-your-ri... #Trans #Nonbinary #TransRights

LLMs and generative AI are fruit of the poisoned tree, and the plagiarism is one of the three main reasons why. The ecological impact is another (excellent work by @jamesmodonnell.bsky.social and @caseycrownhart.bsky.social for @technologyreview.com):

Would you like to write for New Scientist? We always work with freelancers, but occasionally I put out a call like this for new writers. I'm looking for 300-700 word news stories about new discoveries. Don't pitch us press releases or the big journals, we have those covered. Pay starts at 51p/word

*Representation matters* 🙃

On BBC Drivetime today talking about immigration policies and deeply harmful rhetoric announced by UK Gov; whether I look at it through an equalities lens, an economic lens or a labour market lens - these will be ineffective and damaging policies. The wrong political choices are being made.

Important piece

Trans and being told by your employer you can no longer use the toilets at work (especially if not out to all your colleagues)? A cis woman who has been challenged when using the toilet? Otherwise affected by the SC judgment? Please share & fill out this form: goodlawproject.org/about/trans-...

We're looking for disabled people (incl. people with mental health conditions & neurodivergent people) to be part of our advisory group for a project @uniofeastanglia.bsky.social aiming to improve clinical trial accessibility. Email me at [email protected] if you'd like more info. Please share!

On Tuesday 27 May 1-2pm, I'm presenting a webinar on behalf of @ciliplgbtq.bsky.social, "How to be a good ally to trans*, non-binary and gender-conforming people" I've spoken about this before but allies are more vital than ever now... Register and share please! www.cilip.org.uk/events/Event...

Everything you need to know about the trans Supreme Court case: What it said, what it didn't, and what happens next iandunt.substack.com/p/everything...

The absence of trans people from the British media is part of the problem. I'd like to offer mentoring to trans people trying to get into journalism, free of charge. Most of my experience is obviously in political commentary, but I might be passably useful in news and other areas.

This is useful, from Scientific American Biology doesn’t give us a simple binary model of sex Society, law and infrastructure needs to catch up so that everybody can have privacy, dignity and safety www.scientificamerican.com/article/sex-...

My analysis of today's UK Supreme Court judgment. The UK Supreme Court Rules That Trans Women Aren't Women Under the Equality Act 2010 www.wearequeeraf.com/uk-supreme-c...

This is such an important point. Re - sponsors if you know of someone deserving nominate them for awards, recommend them for speaking slots at meetings. It isn't that difficult to do and it could make a real difference in someone's career.

📢 Today we've published a new report on behalf of the @stemdandiappg.bsky.social which explores the most effective approaches to progressing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and improving representation in the #STEM workforce >> www.britishscienceassociation.org/News/briefin...

Your occasional reminder, for no reason whatsoever, that no matter how carefully you construct a definition in this chaotic, messy world of ours, there is always some way around it.

jupiter wishes you a very happy trans day of visibility 🏳️‍⚧️

Super useful guide for how to focus efforts (donation, time, keeping informed, etc.) to resist this administration

being an indie bookseller in the helltimes has felt both very stable and very stabilizing, and part of me wishes everyone could be on my side of the counter for a little while, because I think it would help some of you be a little less cynical and doomy right now. so here is my VERY anecdotal data:

Season 2 of the Academic Adventures podcast is here! To celebrate #IWD2025 we're delighted to welcome Prof Gillian Fleming from @mintventures.bsky.social for a great convo about supporting women-led businesses and female entrepreneurs. Listen here www.convergechallenge.com/the-academic....

This International Women's Day, I'm thinking about how it wasn't required for NIH-sponsored trials to include women until 1993.

Solidarity with everyone taking part in #March7Science #StandUpForScience 🧪events today. And a massive well done to the organisers, you are all awesome 👏👏👏

A 1-page summary and a 3-page leaflet of our PRIDE Guidelines for LGBTQ+ inclusive fieldwork are available at inclusivefieldwork.leeds.ac.uk/pride. We recommend that the single page can be shared as flyers or posters, while the leaflet can function as a guide to more thoughtful fieldwork planning 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

YES! Calls for 'more categories' or 'more inclusive' rules for changing gender markers is the wrong approach. We instead need to expose the inherent violence of classification systems for queer communities and fight for a future without the use of gender markers on passports.

Today’s @scholarlykitchen.bsky.social post from @alicemeadows.bsky.social ‬is on the Declaration to #DefendResearch. Read, sign, then share! We can #resist! Thank you Alice, @camitchell.bsky.social, @rouhiroo.bsky.social, and @petersuber.bsky.social! scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/02/19/d...

I’m glad so many people have found my “capybara method” for how to write alt text and image descriptions helpful! However, I know conflicting access needs exist and not everyone can write their own #AltText, so here’s an ongoing thread of tools that can help. Inclusion in thread ≠ endorsement

✍️ New research reveals prejudice facing asexual people in England A new King’s College London study finds that understanding of asexuality is poor – and people don’t feel shy about expressing their prejudice By Jennie Kermode @jenniekermode.bsky.social

If you have been inspired by their posts for #InternationalDayOfWomenAndGirlsInScience (The purpose of the day is to achieve full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls) maybe have a chat with @royalsociety.org about their silence on the actions of Fellow Elon Musk

Members of the U.K. and international scientific community are invited to sign to show their support: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

🧪🧬🔬◼️ !!happy international day of [redacted] and [redacted] in science!! ◼️🔬🧬🧪

I’m trying to find a reason other than flaming misogyny why ‘women’ and ‘female’ are flagged but ‘men’ and ‘male’ are not.