So sorry to hear this. I wish I couldn’t sympathize… my mom died shortly before a journal article revision was due and I was not granted an extension… still rather salty about that. Scientists are people, not emotionless robots.

This is now the second time I’ve not been allowed a professional allowance because I needed to focus on my family during the death close family member. #academia

Today’s mood

This bumpy snailfish video is everything I needed on this Monday.

I recently lost a close loved one making the last several weeks turmoil. My professional life went the wayside. I emailed a very large society in my field about accommodations me past the abstract deadline for the upcoming meeting. "Unfortunately, there are no extensions for abstract submission."

TLDR is that it a GIANT deep-sea limpet at a whopping 4.5 cm. Which is actually is a giant amongst the miniaturization of most deep-sea mollusks.

Nice coverage of a recently published paper "Flourishing chemosynthetic life at the greatest depths of hadal trenches" www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This has to be the worst usage of AI image generation. "Illustration of an underwater volcano off Vancouver Island revealing a nursery of giant skate ray eggs." www.sustainability-times.com/research/und...

@drandrewthaler.bsky.social time in the news cycle for us to revisit finding Earhart's plane.

Deep-sea mining is a false solution to our challenges

#WormWednesday. Imagine the Pompeii worm living at 176°F, toxic water. “Yeah, I live here now.” Meanwhile I complain about WiFi.

On #WormWednesday, remember the Osedax “bone-eating” worms: soft bodies, radical jaws, and a hunger for sunken skeletons. They teach us sometimes survival means feasting on the ruins of an empire. Image from @mbarinews.bsky.social

SNAILS CARRYING ENTIRE HOUSES ON THEIR BACKS!!! VERY INDEPENDENT, VERY STRONG. UNLIKE FREELOADERS, THESE MOLLUSCS EARN THEIR WAY. TRUE PATRIOTS OF THE DEEP. 🐌 #molluscmonday

THE COLOSSAL SQUID IS MASSIVE. MUCH BIGGER THAN PEOPLE THOUGHT. THEY SAID IT WAS A MYTH — WRONG. I’VE SEEN IT. TOTALLY DOMINATES THE OCEAN. OTHER SQUIDS? VERY WEAK. VERY SAD.

Finished a pencil crayon drawing of a Hirondellea gigas, loving this toned tan paper and how it can really pop the whites! Raise your hand if deep-sea Amphipods are totally your jam ✋ #deepsea #deepseacreatures #deepocean #amphipod #art #drawing 🦑🐡

Does anybody have a suggested output style for #endnote to use for #NSF grants? I am desperate need of one right now. #academia #science

I can honestly say as a deep-sea biologist and explorer that the greatest limitation to my work has been the lack of a Proutic Haripotator. #deepsea

Good God! This is fantastic. h/t @echinoblog.bsky.social

Listen to me on NPR's Short Wave podcast talking about deep-sea giants www.npr.org/2025/08/04/1...

@drcraigmc.bsky.social was wonderful in today's #ShortWave podcast! The tendency of animals to shrink or grow based on their environment, and all we still don't know about why, was fascinating!

Great documentary with amazing imagery, story telling, and sound science. Go watch now.

So is anybody else’s retirement plan to just work until noon of the day of their funeral or is that just me?

Remembering that time I saw Carrot Top. I don’t care what you think it was funny and I like prop comedy.

Too poor to science: how wealth determines who succeeds in STEM Thought-provoking read, especially in these times of questioning diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives 🧪

Flattered to be recognized in the Nature Daily Briefing.

Just so you know, sea spiders have multiple leg segments. Eight including two tibias and not counting the claws. #marinelife Illustration from Child in 1998, the father of Pycnogonids!

I want to thank everyone for the positive response on my latest paper. I had to put myself in a vunerable place to write and come to terms with the limitations my own career. I'm glad to see it register and speak for others.

Marine ecologist @drcraigmc.bsky.social decries the invisible costs — such as unpaid internships, self-funded conferences and underpaid graduate jobs — that exclude many people from careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

"Many talented scientists, disillusioned by constant financial insecurity, leave academia altogether, resulting in a significant brain drain that deprives the field of diverse perspectives and innovation." @drcraigmc.bsky.social‬ nails why I'm no longer a working scientist: doi.org/10.1371/jour...

🧪"The myth of meritocracy in science collapses under the financial sacrifices expected at every career stage...the hidden costs of ‘doing science’ are profound. These burdens disproportionately exclude those without generational wealth, compounded by race and gender." dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

An important read at any time, but especially now. #firstgen

"The institutionalized belief that being paid poorly is an acceptable part of career progression… does not align with the financial realities faced by many… The cumulative financial strain of an academic STEM career often requires years, if not decades, for recovery." Important pice from Craig.

Show me your budget and I'll tell you what your values are journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Behind many scientists is a lifetime of invisible, unsustainable costs. From unpaid internships to underpaid postdocs, the economic toll of a STEM career is staggering—and it's pushing talent out. My new perspective explores this crisis. #STEM #AcademicBlueSky journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

I've wanted to write this article for years. About my and other's struggles to even survive sometime in #academia. Thank you to the amazing editors at @plosbiology.org that gave me the forum to write this piece. #science

From student to researcher, a #career in #science can come with a high price tag. @drcraigmc.bsky.social explores how wealth shapes opportunity in #STEM and proposes structural changes to support #equity and inclusion. 🧪 plos.io/4edGlY4

From student to researcher, a #career in #science can come with a high price tag. @drcraigmc.bsky.social explores how wealth shapes opportunity in #STEM and proposes structural changes to support #equity and inclusion. 🧪 plos.io/4edGlY4

Today I’m thinking about Macropinna microstoma—the fish with a see-through head. All brain, no filter. Just floating through pressure and poison, watching everything. May we all be so transparent and unbothered. #DeepSeaMood

One of @drcraigmc.bsky.social 's fav Xenophora-the carrier shells! #molluscmonday deepseanews.com/2013/06/the-...

A nice write up on our latest #science.

Yes my campus has a swamp in the middle of it. It has herons, turtles, grackles, and alligators. It’s glorious.

@paleolimbot.bsky.social I am trying to follow your Zotero and RMarkdown Tutorial. Thank you for that. dewey.dunnington.ca/post/2020/ge... I cannot get your citation key format to work. Did Zotero change their syntax for this?

Deep Nerd Question: I see that the UNOLS fleet often uses the oceaninstruments.com/product/mc-8.... Does any body know the diameter between cores?

Ultrablack skin and extraordinary eyes adapted to the dark, undulating bodies and flickering tails—the ocean's midwater is home to a dazzling diversity of fishes. To celebrate World Ocean Month, dive in and meet some spectacular fish species. 🌊🎉🐟 Dive in with us: youtu.be/IvAJ8fioKFA?...

The #marinelife imagery you need for today.

Hello all you beautiful nerds! Have this sweet photo of a land snail from my hike off the Natchez Trace Parkway a couple of weeks ago. Some estimate there are nearly 40,000 species of land snails globally.

I lived through Hurricane Ida in 2021 in Houma/Terrebonne Parish, and it taught me firsthand that no matter how prepared or wealthy a place seems, disasters overwhelm local and state resources. This thread: my experience, the stats, and why FEMA matters.

Just remembering that time when a senator posted about my research. Could it be about some of my more scientifically impactful work...nope it's about me dropping an alligator into the deep sea.

On the old social media site I had nearly 20,000 followers. Here I have about 6,500. This is desperately plea for more followers so I can feel good about myself and have all the internet clout. Share this post and subscribe!

The deep-sea sponge Monorhaphis chuni has silica spicules taller than you. It sits in silence. But it's been building that resistance structure for 11,000 years. Protest is patience. #ProtestIsPower