It's a risky time to come forward, so I especially appreciate the folks who spoke with me for this story. Some of the policies in here are happening across the NPS, but Yose is feeling the pinch especially hard due to upcoming changes in how their hourly rates are calculated.

😎Stephen Colbert referenced our parks coverage for 10 whole seconds last night, including my piece on how Trump may have run afoul of the law by putting his face on the America the Beautiful pass and @thatsmohrlikeit.bsky.social’s follow-up on the resulting lawsuit! youtube.com/watch?v=rc90...

Early details about the gathering were scarce, a leaked agenda stated that the goal was to discuss future national parks planning that would keep with “the goals of the NPS, Department of the Interior, and President Trump’s agenda.” via @scattercushion.bsky.social www.sfgate.com/national-par...

🏜️About that Trump national parks pass thing... www.sfgate.com/national-par...

I read some of the coverage of this story and was left with about a million questions. So I used my millennial powers for good and tracked Lisa Frazee down on Facebook to satisfy my (and hopefully your) curiosity. www.sfgate.com/national-par...

In other news, what the jesus christ is this? www.whitehouse.gov/mediabias/t

I did a bad job sharing this one out, but my latest is a doozy.

Every year around Thanksgiving, I see tons of grad students post heartbreaking messages on social media about how their loved ones don’t understand or support their decision to study what seems like something pointless or silly. Perhaps my American Scientist essay can help! 🧪🌎🦑 #SciComm

breaking news: COP30 talks have been evacuated after a massive fire broke out inside the venue in brazil

I keep a particular meme shortcutted for responding to lengthy criticisms about my work. (Which is NOT to say I won't engage with legitimate concerns. I'm 👀 at you, guy who argued I was being funded by woke leftists b/c I used the word "diversity" too much in a story about the Cambrian Explosion.)

Happy International Day of LGBTQIA+ People In STEM! How are you celebrating it? #LGBTQSTEMDay #PrideInSTEM

🏜️ The lesser-visited side of the Grand Canyon is closing two weeks earlier than planned due to winter weather and lingering damage from the Dragon Bravo fire. www.sfgate.com/national-par...

Science/health/environmental journalists: Join us for an amazing year at MIT. 🔭🧪2026 applications are open! Deadline is Jan. 9. Please share widely. ksj.mit.edu/news/2025/11...

My first byline in my new role for @sfgate.com, and I got to go report in my own backyard! I promise the next one will be more uplifting.

Aurora over Moab tonight. I've been waiting my whole life to see this. 🌌

🧪Fun #sourcerequest: Have you, a scientist, read the book Microbe Hunters, and if so, did it leave a lasting impact on you? This book--perhaps the first popular science text--is turning 100 next year, and I'm covering it for @nautil.us! Also interested in speaking with medical or science historians.

"Science is being destroyed across many agencies" say federal researchers. For my latest @nature.com piece, I spoke to 19 different scientists across EPA, NOAA, NIH, NASA, and USGS to document how science is being dismantled across US federal agencies.

🏜️Today is the day! I have officially started at @sfgate.com and am on the hunt for stories about our southwest national parks. If you've got a tip, know of an iconic local in your town, or otherwise wanna chat public lands, I'm at [email protected].

🧪I've been doing a lot of reporting on cancer recently, and the first to run is this feature for @nature.com on the intersection between nanorobotics and oncology. Read on to learn about biohybrid robots (a sperm cell that delivers cancer drugs!?) and what we can expect in the coming years.

Look at this point if Richard Dawkins thinks you've got good ideas about how science needs to be run, you...should look hard in the mirror and reconsider your ideas. www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...

Wow. Harvard nuking its PhD programs - Science PhD admissions reduced by more than 75% - Arts & Humanities reduced by about 60% - Social Sciences by 50–70% - History by 60% - Biology by 75% - The German department will lose all PhD seats - Sociology from six PhD students to zero

I’ve long said that the staff job that could pull me away from freelancing probably doesn't exist. Happy to be proven half wrong, at least. Excited to announce that I'll soon be starting a new role as the Southwest National Parks Editor @sfgate.com, covering public lands in the four corners region.

Since I've gotten a bit more traffic on my page recently, I'm still seeking sources for this story.

🧪Did I really have time for this story? No, I did not, for reasons I'll be sharing soon. Did I absolutely feel compelled to write it anyways? You know I did! A viral mystery solved by science. Read on @sciencenews.bsky.social Also, I have a new to-do for my trip to Chicago for #SciWri25 next month!

🧪Hello friends! I'm working on a piece about putting together the best tenure/promotion package, and I'd love to hear from STEM folks who have recently done this or have experience evaluating these types of proposals. Please RT for reach, and feel free to reach out with any Qs!

🧪New from me for @nature.com: Nearly every model organism used in research has it's own database, called a MOD. These resources underpin decades of discovery, but they're collectively struggling amid funding cuts. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH has anyone been on a .gov website yet today? How many of them are like this??

🧪Hearing about Myasthenia Gravis for the first time? I was too, but turns out there's lots to learn about this surprisingly common rare disease. So read on, in my latest for BioSpace. www.biospace.com/drug-develop...

The CDC has released the agenda for this week’s vaccine advisory meeting. The first item of business: MMR vaccines. 👀👀👀 www.cdc.gov/acip/meeting...

NSF: The vessel [US Antarctic research vessel NB Palmer] is planned to be returned to the operator after a final cruise in October 2025.   www.nsf.gov/geo/opp/upda... @carlosmoffat.com

This story — which asks what happened to all of those newsroom DEI jobs, committees, and promises from 2020 — is the hardest one I've ever worked on. I hope you'll spend some time with it today. www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/from...

I'm sorry, they do what now!? This is reaffirming my longstanding belief that myrmecologist are unhinged.

🧪We are so back! I have three deadlines this week, and here's the first to make it to pub. A new study in @cellpress.bsky.social identified the "key hub" that controls consumption. It's even got a link to semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy/Ozempic. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Still plugging away at this, but the farther we can share it, the better!

Florida plans to end all state vaccine mandates, including for children to attend schools. Vaccination rates for several diseases, including measles, diphtheria and polio, decreased among US kindergartners in the 2024-25 school year from the year before, according to federal data reut.rs/4p6OUsC

This is telling: People I spoke to are talking about CDC in the past tense. www.statnews.com/2025/08/28/c...

Yes hello I will be moving here.

🧪Hey #CanSky #OncoSky, who's doing cool work in the nanobots space? Drug delivery, tumor detection and diagnosis, targeted therapy, minimally invasive surgery, etc. etc.

DUE TOMORROW: Need a little financial aid to make the trip to Chicago Nov 7-9 or to participate in the virtual portion of #SciWri25? Apply for a Community Support Grant NASW membership not required to apply Learn more and apply: sciencewriters2025.o...#SciWri25? Deadline to apply: Aug 28

🧪 #source request: Are you a PhD student from Singapore, Japan, Korea, Australia, South Africa, Germany, or China who *recently graduated or will soon graduate?* If so, I'd like to hear about your next steps for a story in @nature.com. Send me a DM, email me, or find me on Signal (aheidt.16).

After two glorious months away backpacking in Colorado and climbing in Canada, I'm finally sitting back down at my desk. More on that eventually, but in the meantime, a few belated shares of stories that ran while I was away:

Tough PhD timing - the cohort that started in 2020 (Covid) and finished by 2025 (waves hands) speaks out about their career high's and low's, how they coped and what they are doing to navigate the chaotic job market. Reporting by @scattercushion.bsky.social. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

🧪I've been following the work of @mothersinsci.bsky.social since their first event back in 2020. This week, they've launched a campaign giving fathers space to share their experiences and confront stigma. Read all about it! www.nature.com/articles/d41...

There's a lot of confusion about which NIH grants will be reinstated after Monday's ruling. Right now, we can say many grants from PIs who were members of either APHA or UAW OR grants at public unis in plaintiff states. A partial list is available now. We'll update Grant Watch ASAP

🧪This is the third story of mine to make it into @sciam.bsky.social's Ask the Experts column that stems from a weird thought I had while talking to my friends or hiking or otherwise just living my life. I dunno about y'all, but I've been grilling up a storm lately.

👀 Hot off the press: A scathing open letter co-authored by all 17 former ACIP members. It's a frank look at ACIP history and the hard truths America will grapple with in the upcoming months. Turns out the former ACIP members have more spine than CDC leadership 🙄 jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

🧪A weighty but very engaging story to sit with at the level and for the length of time a feature requires. The online article is paywalled, but I've got the (beautiful!) print layout up on my website. My editor on this one is my old boss from my days as a staffer at TS, and I've missed our old team.

After ruling the NIH grant cuts were illegal yesterday, Judge Young, a Reagan appointee on the bench since 1985, ended the hearing with a blistering 15-minute speech. I've cleaned up my notes — here are his remarks in full. 🧵

When my editor asked me if I wanted to write about quantum materials science, I said "Dear god, why?" and then agreed because I'm a Type A with six siblings who doesn't know how to turn down a challenge. Behold! annualreports.simonsfoundation.org/2024/quantum...

Damn, my story on how we define death went to print a few days ago 😖