Great article by @alexwitze.bsky.social on hurdles to attend SACNAS and NSBP/NSHP this year, with quotes from me & @astrojennifer.bsky.social: "even with all the barriers and uncertainties, people showed up, supported one another, and shared their science and stories with honesty and resilience". 👏

Great @astrobites.bsky.social article by @skylargrayson.bsky.social on OSU astronomy PhD student Sebastian Lopez's paper showing how PAHs (polycyclic aromatric hydrocarbons) follow cold gas in the outflows of M82, with a great classic rock-inspired title! 🔭 astrobites.org/2025/11/20/m...

Honored to receive the 2026 American Physical Society Edward A. Bouchet Award! To see how the DEI ban in Ohio influences our university, please see the OSU announcement of the award (left) vs the actual APS citation for the award (right).

For the record, I'm in hour 28 of air travel from SFO to Columbus, and I would take this any/every day(s) over Democrats agreeing to take away healthcare. What was the point of all this just to be complicit with the same terrible outcome?

This is the face of astronomy! Like this is one of my new favorite photos! We ate!!!! 💅🏾

Excited to attend the @astrosociety.org gala tonight & receive the Nancy Grace Roman Award! I read about her life & career on my way here. Did you know she was responsible for making NASA data archives public so that everyone could benefit, not just PIs? Such an amazing impact on our field. 🔭

Had an amazing time at the first gathering for the 2030STEMxBWF Fellowship meeting at AMNH! So exiting for many things to come! Ll

Had a great time at the @sacnas.bsky.social conference last week! Many Ohio State folks (see pic, including @astrojennifer.bsky.social, @denisemondragon.bsky.social, and me) attended despite restrictions. Congrats to @denisemondragon.bsky.social on winning best grad poster presentation!

I gave a presentation at @sacnas.bsky.social on "archival astrophysics" in a session "Astronomy on the Cheap", showing tips on pursuing research using only archival data. Here are my slides, which include examples of different public archives & how to use them! 🔭 drive.google.com/file/d/1mw42...

Day One of #NDiSTEM2025 delivered! ✨ Opening Ceremony, Expo, Posters, and STEM symposia brought the energy. Plus—marketplace, mentoring, and networking moments that connect our community. @aaberhe.com #STEMCommunity #SACNAS #STEM #STEMWorkforce #STEMLeadership

First day of SACNAS NDiSTEM 2025! 🧪👩🏻‍🔬 I’m so excited to enjoy a weekend filled with community and good science #NDiSTEM2025 w/ @astrojennifer.bsky.social @sacnas.bsky.social

So excited for the first day of SACNAS #NDiSTEM2025 with @denisemondragon.bsky.social @sacnas.bsky.social 🧪

This is what democracy looks like. #NoKings

Folks in my department fought to attend these meetings by showing our white colleagues are members and participants. OSU said it didn't matter because the meetings may still be exclusionary (even though they aren't). It is maddening and racist to limit attendance at affinity group conferences.

Are you someone who is interested in astronomy graduate school? This is a list of many/most departments and their expectations for admissions this year. Please feel free to spread it far and wide. If you are doing admissions and you'd like to update your entry, reach out as per the form!

OSU PhD student Sebastian Lopez led 2 papers on arXiv today, including one on the hot & warm gas in the NGC 1266 AGN-driven outflow! It uses Chandra data that Katey Alatalo and I proposed for as grad students; grad students can do great science together without advisors! 😀 arxiv.org/abs/2510.01321

Ohio State just advised all staff and students not to attend the SACNAS (Society for the advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science) annual meeting of 6000+ scientists -- which is in Columbus, OH this year! -- saying it may be exclusionary, even though it is open to all.

I hope some newspapers use a crop where you can easily read the sign.

Considering that most acknowledgments are simply… acknowledgments and statement of fact (and not a call for action), this seems like absolute BS and suppression of speech and academic freedom, period

AAUP-OSU board member Richard Finlay Fletcher spoke to “Inside Higher Ed” about OSU’s ban on land acknowledgements - and its chilling effect on academic freedom. Link below.

OSU is using SB1 as reason to prohibit any decorations in campus dorms besides school spirit. 🤯https://www.thelantern.com/2025/08/dorm-floor-decoration-limited-to-ohio-state-spirit-themes-partially-due-to-senate-bill-1/

This will end the Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) program (schools with >25% Latino undergrads). For reference, current flagships that are HSIs include Arizona and Arizona State, 5 UCs (Irvine, Riverside, Merced, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz), Rutgers, U New Mexico & NM State, UT Austin & UT El Paso

Just in time to welcome students to campus… President Carter & OSU admin continue the assault on free speech by banning the time honored tradition of chalking on campus. Whether governments or administrators, once they start rolling back free speech, they don’t stop. fod.osu.edu/news/2025/08...

On August 3, we issued a statement in response to OSU President Ted Carter's interview with "Face the Nation" in late July. The full statement is here: www.ohiostateaaup.org/uploads/1/3/... See our webpage for more www.ohiostateaaup.org

OSU astronomy undergrad alum Trinity Webb and OSU astro PhD student @astrojennifer.bsky.social led this Chandra program showing diffuse X-rays coincident with very young stars identified with JWST! Here's this great work: ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024ApJ....

Chandra X-ray Center: Cosmic Collection: Chandra Captures Razzle-Dazzle Across Space in New Images chandra.si.edu/photo/2025/c...

how i feel when i’m actually onto something in my research

Many programs/proposals have "to be determined" deadlines, but I am glad to see ROSES 2025 out after a 5-month delay (it typically comes out in February) and that programs like ADAP (the Astrophysics Data Analysis Program) are still listed even though the PRB want to cancel them. 🔭🧪

Alt text: You are cordially invited to our Anti-Prime Sale Date: July 8-11, 2025 Location: Bookshop.org Enjoy free shipping and the knowledge that your money will go toward supporting independent bookstores, not billionaires

Bombing for peace is like burning books to promote literacy.

I successfully defended my thesis and am now Dr. Caprice Phillips (its got a nice ring to it!). So thankful for my advisors and mentors including Jackie Faherty and @ohdearz.bsky.social and friends who were here to support me. Im the 2nd Black women to get a PhD from my department. Full of joy.

"After completing the two years of required courses in OSU’s PhD program, Joy decided to start transitioning in 2022. This was the culmination of feelings she’d been having since she was 8 years old." 🔭🧪🏳️‍⚧️ astrobites.org/2025/06/13/j...

The 2025 #NASA astrophysics senior review report is public. "Every mission received the highest possible rating for... scientific return", & are "producing important, impactful science in a cost-effective manner". Some important screenshots: assets.science.nasa.gov/content/dam/...

Following the inspiration of @ohdearz.bsky.social @theplanetaryguy.bsky.social @jtuttlekeane.bsky.social here’s the NASA fleet with the proposed budget cuts. Red X’s will be fully defunded, green X’s will lose all NASA funding but have other funding sources, and exclamation point means >50% cuts

Here is the updated version of the FY26 president's proposed #NASA astrophysics budget for current+future missions. The technical supplement document does have significantly reduced funds for NuSTAR, IXPE, TES (+HST, JWST, Roman), so I removed those Xs, but these are at/below bare minimum levels. 🔭

The president's budget request for NSF FY26 is also out. It zeroes out the NSF astronomy & astrophysics and NSF MPS ASCEND postdoc fellowships. nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00-NSF...

I think the budget request for NASA just went up, cutting NASA astrophysics to 34% (and NASA science to 53%) of FY2024 levels and zeroing STEM engagement. 🔭 www.nasa.gov/fy-2026-budg...

Pedro Pascal proves that sometimes the most masculine thing to do is to be vocally and unflinchingly supportive of vulnerable people.

Who's Hiring Physics PhD's by @aip.bsky.social One thing that really stood out to me: only 12% went into academia. ⚛️ 🎢 #AcademicSky

NSF grant terminations are disproportionately affecting underrepresented scientists. 58% of canceled grants have women PIs, despite making up only 34% of awards. 17% of canceled grants have Black PIs (versus 4% of the pool). Hispanic and disabled PIs are twice as likely to have NSF grants canceled.

This is one of the absolute best resources out there for science teachers to use to help students visualize and understand scientific processes. It was a godsend during the pandemic when in-person labs were not possible. And it's free for all to use. So disappointing. 🧪🎢 ⚛️ 🥽 🍎 #WithoutNSF #SaveNSF

✨ How does race shape what we know about the universe? Join Jada Cheek, M.S. for a powerful talk on science, identity, and the stars! ⭐️ #BlackInAstro Speaker Series 🗓️ 30 May | ⏰ 11am PT / 2pm ET 🔗 Register now: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

The president's budget proposal cuts billions in funding from the DOE Office of Science, NIST, NASA, and the NSF — but there’s still time to change it. Tell your lawmakers why they should stand up for science using our letter-writing toolkit, targeted to your state: go.aps.org/3RP9EWF

NIH, NSF, NASA, NEA, NEH If it funds thought it’s under attack

New AIP report discusses impact of funding cuts in physics & astro depts: “No one can be productive in a climate like this—it is the end of the US scientific and technical dominance in the world—we will not recover from this in a decade...”. ⚛️🔭 physics.aps.org/articles/v18...

A lot of NASA is already at a standstill. Grant review panels aren’t meeting, funding proposal calls are being postponed indefinitely or not even mentioned. If this budget passes, it’s the end of NASA as a major scientific institution; there’s no way to continue on ~40% of the funding it gets now. 🧪