Morning blue sky with clouds, for Bsky.

In case you thought everything was fine, it's not fine. NSF is not a big ol' grift. www.science.org/content/arti...

Is it a cliché to share a picture of a blue sky on Bsky?! Too bad, because the sky yesterday was fantastic here in Fargo. An absolutely perfect blue, with tufts of clouds tucked in here and there.

My youngest just graduated public high school, and in her 13 years in the system, I've watched this play out. I would add that our (like many) schools ramped up control and stripped student autonomy, all to appease our legislators and maintain the dwindling funding we have. It will backfire.

Scientists and friends of science! We need y'all to write a comment on proposed changes to how science is funded. New OMB rules - that's the office managing the budget - would allow political appointees to make the final determination of who gets funded... that's not how good science happens!

I was up late watching election results come in - and by watching, I mean obsessively hitting refresh on the ND Secretary of State website... And my obsessive clicking worked! Josh Boschee is the next mayor of Fargo; I am beyond thrilled! Bonus: my oldest voted for the first time! #proud

"It will, I believe, strengthen the academic culture of Harvard." If by strengthen you mean create an incredibly competitive, cut-throat learning environment, where students are hyper-focused on points rather than learning, then yeah, I think you've succeeded!

New — I spoke to parents whose kids are former patients of NYU Langone's trans youth health care program about the Texas criminal subpoena for their private health records. "I was furious. I was in disbelief. I was scared for my child's well-being." Read my full report:

Ending a great semester of intro bio, I signed off my last announcement: and remember, you can’t reproduce if you’re dead. -Dr. M (the M stands for Mutation) I think that fairly sums up what intro bio is about: sex and variation.

A student today said that if LeBron James can do it, so can they. I know I should be supportive but I couldn’t help the incredulous “really?!” that escaped me.

Two lockdowns in one day for my kids… one at college, one high school. I am absolute goo. We live in a very sick world.

So many academics are on Substack and maybe, ya know, you should get off it... Stop letting your voice be curated by this:

And Five Calls makes it easy!!

Inspired by @taraslominski.bsky.social , meet Marshmallow.

This was a fantastic discussion, so much so that I ordered the book.

MAR10 = date today MARIO = dunna dunna dunna

These contracts b/t AI co and universities infuriate me. Our budgets are thin and declining, we can’t invest in the people who do the work: the teaching, learning, the support. Yet we can drop millions each year to companies that already have tax breaks and are raking in profits.

Hey you - yeah you! See below and then go write an abstract to join us in June. It's all online, and full of great ideas and inspiration.

As Marisa says: leave Substack.

This sucks! If you wanna chip in to help us tackle this again in November... follow: www.facebook.com/togetherfors...

Yeah! Getting our (informal) science on!

Oh look! Evidence!!

💯

I don't have a large following, but if you're reading this... hop off Bsky, look up your local commissioners, mayor, etc and write to ask them to publicly denounce ICE, to take a stand saying ICE is not welcome in your town, and they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Repeat daily.

I’m headed to SICB next week for my first time ever, and I’m excited to give the Moore Lecture. If you’re there, join me to learn all about systems thinking in undergraduate biology!

Hot on the heals of that amazing publication (srsly, go read it!), I am thrilled to teach a VIP course this spring! VIP = Vertically Integrated Project. We will integrate undergraduates into a project exploring study strategies across STEM. It's a CURE on steroids! #DBER #BER

Huzzah! @elhackerson.bsky.social and I have a new paper out on scrum in a CURE course. Read it because it's amazing and then use it because students need to develop these skills! qubeshub.org/community/gr...

But what if I really lay into the carbs and couch sitting?! Then could I be a sea slug?!

This is legit tempting. She said as a tenured full professor.

Apparently data don’t matter? We know long term housing is effective! This federal change in funding will have dire impacts in all communities. From folks who are unhoused to women escaping abuse - all could find themselves without a place to go.

This Thanksgiving, I braved a literal winter wonderland to get to our dinner. Enjoy this one good image I snagged at 70 mph on US 94.

Welp.

Some days I really appreciate past Jenni who forgot she tucked a little treat into her backpack and left it for me to discover today.

Irony on my desk.

I curled for the first time in about five years. Definitely rusty! But I managed to win the tie breaking skip’s rocks!

Absolute perfection!

Masquerading as my esteemed colleague and giving sheet to everyone here!

Worst name for a service ever: PaperCut. Absolutely no one wants a paper cut - an injury that hurt an inordinate amount for how small they are. After installing PaperCut, printing just got inordinately more difficult for no good reason. I guess it's an apt if crap name.

My cat excels at escape rooms in a box.

Cher Louvre…

“There is no place in American higher education for death threats against professors,” Todd Wolfson, the president of the American Association of University Professors and a Rutgers faculty member. If you are so moved, please sign.

If you’re an alumni… sign. This is absolutely wild.

Updates! We have misconceptions in SciFi, misconceptions in the media, green energy, taste (!), meal planning, measurement in science. Quite a wild range - I'm excited to see what they come up with!

Well this is infuriating. Hope my bookstore has postcards…. And stamps!

Spell check recommending I add a comma after Dr. as in: Dear Dr., Smith. Is this a new kind of comma I didn't learn about? Like we have the Oxford comma and now the AI comma?

I have always wanted my grad class on teaching STEM to work in cross-disciplinary groups to design a kick-ass interdisciplinary out-of-the-box instructional modules and folks, I think this is the year I figured out how to make this work... Stay tuned - I will share the teaching topics soon!

As an "AI hater", this article resonated with me. Since we are starting an honors college centered on the ethics of AI, it's also timely. Bring the AI haters on board!

With no national search, the ND higher education system just appointed a new chancellor, er, commissioner. This is now 100% a political appointment. northdakotamonitor.com/2025/09/23/b...

He FAILED to tie autism to Tylenol use in pregnancy because the evidence is inconclusive. Don’t give this claim an inch. Call a duck a duck.

I’ve been following the GRFPs kinda closely and at this point, if they don’t move the deadlines, it’s game over for our students. We just don’t have the resources to whip a proposal out in four weeks.