🧵I was educated in Knox County, TN public schools. Even though Pulitzer-winner Alex Haley was literally the next county over, and I was in high school the year he passed, his name was never mentioned in school. Nor was hometown hero & poet Nikki Giovanni name. www.wbir.com/article/news...

This Mother’s Day, I’m grieving all the senseless loss in our community. * the Hortman’s assassinated on Father’s Day; * mass shooting at Annunciation; * Good & Pretti murdered by ICE *Thousands of neighbors deported, with grieving students left behind * 70 children in held in detention

Just a reminder from my N of 20 health psychology class who completed the POMS (profile of mood states) before and after a 45 minute walk along the Mississippi River: taking a walk outside is good for the mood, with the effect sizes on par with a 12 week training in meditation or yoga.

THIS! Stress testing --> *canceling childhood cancer research *ending USAID *crippling forest service *kneecapping mRNA vaccines *dictating medical school curriculums *eliminating social groups from military service *disenfranchising women and on and on

25th.

I went to Dr. Charles R. Drew elementary so I knew of his legacy establishing blood banks and fighting against medical segregation. Today I learned he was one of the too many physicians who died young in a fall asleep at the wheel accident after working all night. bloodcancer.org.uk/news/charles...

Hi sleep folks— it’s starting to be the season of school sponsored all night grad parties with the extremely sleep deprived teens driving themselves and others home in early morning. Does anyone have policy briefs about this? www.kitsapsun.com/story/news/l...

No Kings with thousands of my neighbors.

A 70F day in Minnesota in March means class outside, even if it’s brain 🧠 dissection day.

In honor of #BrainAwarenessWeek, students @uofstthomasmn.bsky.social created a Brain Injury & Recovery exhibit inspired by alum Paul Rousseau’s memoir of surviving a gunshot wound to the head: Friendly Fire. @paulwrites7.bsky.social @danafoundation.bsky.social

Hi! Our team is collecting data on sleep and wellbeing of adults living in the Twin Cities metro area during this winter’s ICE activities. The survey is available in English and Somali stthomas.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_... Please share! (Thank you, @twincitiesgeek.com)

I’m here today at the Minnesota State Capitol, offering expert testimony in favor of HF 1944 adopting permanent standard time. I was also the person to “fix” the clock in the senate committee room, winding it back one hour outside of natural time. @savestandard.bsky.social

Hi! Our team is collecting data on sleep and wellbeing of adults living in the Twin Cities metro area during this winter’s ICE activities. Please share! @twincitiesgeek.com stthomas.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Pls Share: Twin Cities metro area residents: We want to know about your experiences of stress and sleep during Operations Metro Surge. Take the 10 min anonymous survey here. stthomas.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

I love speaking about sleep & mental health, athletics, and academic success! So many college students have questions about sleep health. Often I am able to help a student with an undiagnosed sleep disorder navigate to the appropriate clinician. www.hypersomniafoundation.org has a free webinar Th!

In winter, I like taking pictures of tree branches that look like dendrites.

I'm about halfway through this nearer-than-I-want-it-to-be AI takes over medicine speculative fiction novel and loving it. As a sleep neuroscientist and pre-health advisor, I particularly appreciate Dr. Key's precision throughout regarding MedEd culture & science discovery. Thank you!

Minnesota great & respiratory titan Jessie Diggins! Medaling in three Olympics, already the most decorated US Nordic skier of all time before this morning’s epic kick for Bronze with bruised ribs. A fierce sleep and mental health advocate who openly discusses her ED recovery. Thank you.

Free share: Great suggestions here! www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/w...

I’ve been supporting peace and democracy here in the Twin Cities through different avenues: education, legislative advocacy, mutual aid, coalition-building, but my favorite is delighting in immigrant-owned businesses.

It's the start of #BlackHistoryMonth and the new semester. Today, I'm grateful for the educational legacies of George Washington Carver Pauli Murray bell hooks Octavia E. Butler Charles R. Drew Ronald E. McNair James Baldwin What about you?

I needed to make an extra sign for yesterday’s neighborhood first amendment activities here in St. Paul, MN.

In December, I shared my Top 10 Sleep Threats on @drchriswinter.bsky.social Sleep Unplugged podcast. Here in these occupied but resilient Twin Cities, I stand by those rankings, but might temporarily switch #1 & #2.

Candles at 7 pm tonight.

Mourning VA ICU nurse snd beloved community member, Alex Pretti, murdered by ICE this morning in Minneapolis. This afternoon, the memorial sculpture, Let My Heart Be Open, by Gene Piersa at Normandale Community College calls to me. Mourn the dead, protect the living. #ICEOUT NOW

ICE just murdered another Minneapolis neighbor and observer. I am outraged and do not know how we can expect our students to learn in an environment of rampant state sponsored kidnapping and street executions. #ICEOUT NOW.

Protest still going

Grateful for the hundreds of clergy praying in -30 windchills and facing arrest for witnessing and protesting the human rights abuses. #ICEOUT uscatholic.org/articles/202...

One of the things I love about being a sleep researcher is the spontaneous conversations that arise. I'm at an airport bar now and another customer (a CPAP user for 10 years who talked about how life-changing it is) & I just got our fantastic (and sleepy) barkeep signed up for a sleep apnea test.

So incredibly happy for our Minnesota champion! Grateful for Lindsey for sharing about her experience recognizing and getting help for her insomnia. (Also, cheers to Olympic greats Simone Biles, Jessie Diggins & many others for being so open about mental health!) www.today.com/health/sleep...

A student was arrested at gun point at a campus near ours this week. This morning a 55 year old woman citizen observer was arrested outside her home. www.mprnews.org/story/2025/1... This is an abhorrent, cruel, authoritarian practice.

What to do as a faculty member when the president, in between cabinet meeting sleep attacks, uses horrifically offensive racist language and plans military force against a specific cultural group who are a major part of your academic and home community? How does this impact learning? Belonging?

Anecdotal evidence from advising meetings confirms this. The #BrainDrain is really, and disproportionally impacting women and genderqueer folks.

The @uofstthomasmn.bsky.social is in a great position to add to the lingual diversity of medical professionals, particularly in Hmong. After indigenous languages, Khmer is the most needed. Read alum surgeon's Kim Uy's bilingual graphic memoir. www.greencardvoices.org/product/hard...

I got up early this morning to watch the lights dance in St. Paul over the Big Dipper and stayed up late last night watching them too. :)

For me, this was epitome of Beaux-Arts glory, Fantasia come to life, transcendent choir and synesthetic splendor in one of the most magnificent buildings I've ever been in. For my Gen alpha tween: "Meh, I've seen better filters on Reels." www.mprnews.org/story/2025/1...

I found this to be a convincing argument. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/o...

Sleep capstone was a great discussion of maps, circadian health, and the legacy of imperialism. We compared the Peters projection vs. Mercator maps & noticed 80% of the world's population follows solar time. We listened to this podcast. On the Peters map, you can see AK 4 time zone width well.

This is fantastic-- I'm showing this in my classes this week.

Excited to stay at the home with the newmexicosundial.com while at the Mentoring Conference! How do we keep this clock on time? Permanent Standard Time.

I'm at a mentoring conference in New Mexico, and enjoying getting away from the light pollution. This photoperiod extending space mirror plan- brighter than the moon!- has so many risks for sleep health and ecology. @darkskyintl.bsky.social @savestandard.bsky.social www.space.com/space-explor...

No Kings! San Juan Co.

No kings! #NoKings

Observing Indigenous People’s Day on Wahpekute land in Minnesota, Dakota for “Sky-colored water”.

As a sleep researcher, I know Black and Indigenous (and queer folks) have more exhaustion & trouble relaxing into and maintaining sleep. During talks, white audiences will sometimes ask what it is genetically that accounts for the sleep disturbance. It's not the melanin; it's the oppression.

This reminds me of how much I loved @naomialderman.bsky.social's never-more-relevant novel "The Future". We studied her first novel "The Power" in our Neuroscience of Gender course. Any other #WomenInSTEM Alderman fans out there?

Gotta soak up these warm early fall days when we can. Our Sleep and Circadian Rhythms neuroscience class was held outside today.

I'm a sleep scientist, daughter of a space physicist, who studied Latin, and married an artist: of course I need this print!

I've been teaching about HD in my undergrad neuro classes for 20 years, and it's usually one of the most heart breaking units we cover. THIS IS AMAZING NEWS!!! #StandUpForScience

Cancelled Disney+ and now thoroughly enjoying the @criterion.bsky.social collection. Our porch orb-weaver approves notes they have an excellent October lineup. #1A