“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.

Teaching Intro to College STEM Teaching and trying out some new things. Today we started our first SoTL project: using observation protocols to ask/answer questions about teaching.

What in the evolution is this?! Eggs that hatch into two species?! "These males also had the nuclear genomes of M. structor but the mitochondria of M. ibericus, proving the males had hatched from eggs laid by M. ibericus queens."

You know what wasn’t sweet enough?! Candy corn! Now we’ve added more sugar and air to get… candy corn marshmallows!

If you ever need a quick little story, I suggest A Small Fiction. It's always the third tab on my home tab group (Mail > Calendar > A Small Fiction). www.asmallfiction.com/election/

"A Small Fiction" really hitting it hard: www.asmallfiction.com/election/

Turns out data don’t care who the bureau chief is. Data gonna tell the story they tell!

A helpful read... and as a healthy middle-aged woman, I think I can reasonably say I'm losing my damn mind right now with the anti-vac movement. Does that qualify me to get a vaccine?!

Oh look! The dictator is HURTING our country.

Will we have elections in 2028? Heck, I'm doubting the 2026 elections. We are on a speeding train to fascism with absolutely no plan to derail this travesty.

We are HIRING! The Department of Psychology at NDSU is seeking a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Developmental Psychology (broadly defined) to begin August, 2026. Full details here: tinyurl.com/3sjknmxn Questions can be directed to me. Please share widely!

Savage! And I’m loving it!!

Our Natural Grocery store has the most unhinged hours.

I am here for this mud flinging! Damn, that's a take down.

The world sucks right now, but you can do something good. Sign up to be the Scientist in SkypeAScientist!

Who had “repeal the 19th amendment” on their 2025 bingo card?! (

"[S]ending out Nazi push alerts may not have been the company’s goal. But it is more of a feature than a bug." So yeah, Substack may not be the garden folks want it to be.

This is a great article that every intro bio student should read and dissect this year. Students should be empowered to use their knowledge to pick apart these lies.

This is an epic tale of quite possibly the worst bank robber in history.

I just enrolled in an undergraduate course... first time in many decades! Here's to learning all about textiles!

Such savings!! We bought two!

Entering my crazy professor phase?!

Our most recent REU cohort ended yesterday, and they were a phenomenal group! So glad I got to work with them this summer. #reu

It's August 1 and while my syllabus (i.e., course) isn't quite ready for prime time, we're getting there! And just for fun, here's the in-progress syllabus! Feel free to comment! docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Hey STEM friends - biology friends in particular! How would you define 'phenotypic plasticity'? Your response will help my postdoc! Thanks! #biology

If you’ve had a bad day, enjoy Earl Grey’s attempt to extract a kibble from a sneaker.

Parenting an older teen is wild. My kid gets home from rehearsal after I’m asleep, locks up, and is gone before the birds sing. If I’m lucky, I’ll see her for dinner.

#SABER2025 is in the books! We did some great postering and talking, ate some good food, and I managed to lose my office keys! (We even let a few physicists join us) Great to hang out with the @sabercommunity.bsky.social ! @elhackerson.bsky.social @elenabrayspeth.bsky.social

Earl Grey took his longest bike ride yet, about two miles round trip! He chilled at Würst (and maybe ate a cheese curd), people watched while we got bobas, and explored Broadway square!

If you’re wondering why I dislike Substack… here’s another reason. And yet, have they stopped monetizing the nazi rhetoric?!

You had me at "kleptoplast"... biology is cool. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC....

You had me at “poison needle”!

One of my favorite websites, and I spend a lot of time clicking 'tell me another story'. Here's a recent find that made me giggle. www.asmallfiction.com/hellscape/

Remains of the Prey...

I know I promised another bicycling with Earl post, but he ate part of a foam board and was not up for much motion yesterday afternoon. Side note: if you know how to prevent a cat from ingesting foam, silicone, and rubber, please share!

Friends, it was hot and humid this weekend, and Earl did not need to sweat his little ears off in a saddle bag on a bicycle. It's cooler today, so fingers crossed for more cat-in-a-saddle bag footage!

Ah! The beautiful scenery of not-so-lake life!! Also: call your senators and reps to step up and do their job: only congress can declare war.

I serged the edges of 262 costume labels today, or 1,048 edges. It’s enough for this year’s Trollwood production (Mama Mia!) and then some.

Cat bicycling adventures continue! He seems to enjoy the one arm out approach to bicycling, and is unfazed by dogs barking. Still looking for a short leash to clip him in for safety...

Day 2 of training Earl Grey to go for bicycle rides. Zero attempts at escape, and he seems to enjoy the breeze in his whiskers! I need a tiny leash to attach him to the basket (safety first!), and then we can go for ice cream!

The world's on fire, and I'm trying to train Earl Grey (my cat) to go for bicycle rides with me. Day 1: he attempted two escapes before settling in for a ride around the block.