USAU upping the D3 school size to 10,000?! Huge.

I am once again asking for a thumbs down reaction in Outlook

We’re nearly 60% of the way to our $15,000 Endowment goal! Every gift powers science, lifts up students, and drives BSA forward. Join the movement—make your impact today and help us reach the finish line! 🌿 Give now: crm.botany.org/civicrm/cont... #BSAendowment #IamaBotanist

In a weird turn of events, I'm procrastinating cleaning the lab by working on a manuscript (it's usually the opposite)

By far my favorite paper this year. A collaboration between Mapuche elders—including Machi Patricia—and ecologists, reflecting on building trust and shared understanding in the face of environmental crisis. 🔗 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... 🧵

Somehow, with the new system, reporting "no leave taken" has gotten even less intuitive. Makes me want to take some leave time...

Very mild covid symptoms plus working outside without people = watering our plants!

Summer course grades entered from the airport en route home from #Botany2025, started importing and editing my four Canvas courses for Fall 2025 🤣

Hope everyone has smooth & safe travels home from #Botany2025 (we are not)

Terrible photos, but THAT'S MY SISTER!

So proud of these students - UWEC Biology let's go!

Lab sisters!

UConn EEB grad program (+ Bucknell, Colby, UW-Eau Claire, UGA) in the house! #Botany2025 #plantpeopleFTW

A few moments from the poster session at #Botany2025!

I'll be presenting my talk "Get Low: Evolutionary Transitions to Non-flying Mammal Pollination in Protea) at 4pm today Tuesday in Mesquite B at #Botany2025! Come learn about Protea in South Africa and what else changes when they species have different primary pollinators!

My one true passion is obsessively checking the weather forecast for frisbee

The weather was good for all of the North Central college series, believe it or not!

New science building, less teaching space, lfg

Cute Helianthus debilis

I hate it when people starr emails to the whole department with "Hi Guys". Really grinds my gears.

Let's talk about this Nature piece in more detail. I've rarely read something so anti-scientific anywhere short of the National Review. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

I personally hate terms like "grolar bear" and "beefalo", I feel like they misrepresent most cases of hybridization and just goe me the ick

Faculty retirements without hires -> I need to teach intro instead of upper-level class -> students who need that class can't graduate as planned -> students take longer to graduate -> admin gets mad -> ???

I think the biggest lie being told right now is that one of the wealthiest countries in the world cannot afford to invest in science, education, and the environment.

We're really in the thick of it frisbee-wise: college/club/masters at different stages in the process. No I will not be starting a HS team here anytime soon

I created a brief spreadsheet of reductions I've heard of so far. Any additions you know of (especially if you have the links/receipts) would be great: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

And the witch hunt begins in earnest

This morning, the US National Science Foundation fired 168 employees, approximately 10% of its workforce, for no cause other than they were the agency's most recent hires. 🧪 Co-workers are leaving supportive messages before they have to clear out of the building at 5 p.m. Sent to me by a source ⬇️

NSF workers who didn't get fired this morning are sending angry emails to NSF management. Here's one of them:

NEW: NSF confirmed that they fired 168 employees today, out of their staff of ~1,500 feds. This includes some people who'd finished their 1-year probationary periods, which were extended to 2-years last month without explanation. More to come.

Why is there no thumbs down reaction emoji in Outlook?

We have to schedule classes for every semester, and it's somehow always a disaster

The planet has been shattering heat records for the past two years. That was expected to ease in January—and the fact that it didn't has climate researchers worried.

Whenever you hear someone sneer about scientific research that seems useless to them — “they’re studying the spit of lizards?!” — remind them that’s exactly how we got Ozempic. globalnews.ca/news/9793403...

@jeffvandermeer.bsky.social are the sunflowers in Absolution the swamp sunflower Helianthus angustifolius? Wishing it was H. debilis because we Research them, but the artwork and habitiat seem like H. angustifolius right?

Do. Not. Comply.

25%-50% cuts to NSF www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

UW - Eau Claire launches new Center for Environmental Research and Scholarship 🎉 www.uwec.edu/stories/uw-e...

NSF’s cash management service is now back up and running. Seems like they responded to the court order. new.nsf.gov/executive-or...

The dismantling of American Science continues. The Organismal Response to Climate Change grant call has been cancelled. The NSF Director is a disgrace

Shout out to all the fuckwits who told me, two months ago, that scientists must strive to remain apolitical.

Any university that voluntarily shutters a DEI program, office or personnel “Because of Trumps Executive Order” is making a PR decision. Not a legal one. Trumps EO does not change anti discrimination law. If anything, the EO is unlawful. Universities should treat it that way.

The NSF needs to grow a fucking spine

With science funding in turmoil, If you are an educator like me, one thing we can do is educate our students about the impact of NIH and NSF funding, both on the science we teach and on the economy of our state & nation--this site from FASEB is a great resource 🧪 1/n www.faseb.org/science-poli...

Schrödinger’s funding freeze.

I'm not sure how much people outside the science world understand what this means. NSF grants and fellowships are *extremely* competitive. These were already funded. It's not just new stuff being put on pause; awards already made have been frozen.

Really appreciate Jonathan Lambert pointing out that NSF grants are congressionally mandated to weigh how grants broaden participation in science, putting the administration's executive order against DEIA in conflict with, and potentially undermining, congressional legislation

No further comment

Make them tell you, specifically, what you're not allowed to do. Don't make changes you guess that they want. Don't offer them a menu of things that you infer they might be telling you not to do. Do the work you proposed, and received funding to do, unless instructed otherwise in specific detail.