The true test of free speech is not in defending the voices we welcome, but in refusing to silence the ones we fear. And in answering hate not with more hate but with the steady, unrelenting work of dismantling lies and building a society where every voice, every person, every community, is valued.

Perks of summer fieldwork in California: wildlife cameras for the data, grapes for the dinner table. #CaliforniaBiologist

Years ago, I lost a loved one in a flash flood in Texas. That kind of loss changes how you see everything that follows. So when I hear people casting blame or saying what they would’ve done differently, I feel compelled to speak.

I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE. This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined. It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.

¡Mi placer! So glad our improv + storytelling #scicomm workshops are helping scientists “connect over correct”. Real change doesn’t start with soapboxes - it starts with trust & empathy. Times have changed, and so should how we share science: *with* people, not *at* them. 🙌 @socdevbio.bsky.social

University of Virginia’s president, James E. Ryan, resigning in the face of demands by the Trump administration that he step aside to help resolve a Justice Department inquiry into the school’s diversity, equity & inclusion efforts. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/27/u...

July 1, all NIH-funded science must be free to read instantly. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The University of Cincinnati shutters its DEI programs in response to a Republican-led change in Ohio law that banned such programs and threatened to withhold money from schools that fail to comply. www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2...

Loved this workshop at #2025ICDB, where @rebeccacalisi.bsky.social & Kevin Alicea-Torres helped us understand that the best way to combat misinfo is to start with curiosity (instead of correction).💪 Thanks to @rogerslabucd.bsky.social & @spiraldoc.bsky.social for pushing us out of our comfort zones!

#NoKings Sacramento @ucdavis.bsky.social Professors represent!

No Kings

If you will be at #2025ICDB and want to learn SciComm tool, please join us at Workshop 1- Truth Matters: Strengthening Science Communication to Counter Misinformation. We will have Dr. @rebeccacalisi.bsky.social and Dr. Kevin Alicea Torres and a great interactive session!

Thanks CapRadio for the interview on my Science Café talk TONIGHT: Celebrating Gender Rebels & Queer Pairings in the Animal Kingdom, from my book Wild Pride!🌈 Listen: scroll to “Davis Science Café” tinyurl.com/3bmmeupz 5:30PM G St Wunderbar, Davis –FREE! 100% book [email protected]

“Once people see how wild and queer and wondrous nature really is it gets a lot harder to cling to small ideas. If your world view is threatened by a pair of lesbian seagulls the problem isn’t the birds, your window is too small to see the whole sky.” 😌💅

Listening to Tuesday’s episode Insight and their guest, who’s been described as a “threat to Western civilization”, UC Davis prof. Dr. @rebeccacalisi.bsky.social is kinda effing awesome. Immediately calling Time Tested Books tomorrow to have them order a copy of their book, Wild Pride a.co/d/ikzWTWx

Minutes away from speaking about my upcoming Science Cafe talk, “Wild Pride! Celebrating Gender Rebels and Queer Pairings in the Animal Kingdom” at Capital Public Radio

Latinas 4 Trump co-founder: “This is not what we voted for -arbitrary measures to hunt down people who r complying w/ their immigration hearings-in many cases w/ credible fear of persecution-all driven by a Miller-like desire to satisfy a self-fabricated deportation goal” thehill.com/immigration/...

Calling all wildlife biologists & educators! I’m designing a wildlife tracking activity for teens - need recs for user-friendly, affordable radio telemetry kits. TEK-2 or other favs you recommend?

1,300 Israeli academics call to end Gaza war. “This is a horrifying list of war crimes and crimes against humanity – our own doing,' the academics' letter states, urging Israeli academic leaders to 'mobilize the full weight of Israeli academia to stop the war' archive.ph/2025.05.30-1...

My awesome lab manager just sent me this sketch she did, which is an idea for an (ecologically friendly) water balloon fight to teach middle schoolers about the HPA (stress) axis 😂

If you burn down a forest, you don't miss out on lumber for just that season. You have to replant all the trees, nurture them, and wait for them to grow. The science and research budget cuts happening now are wanton, senseless arson. Recovery, if it ever happens, will take generations.

A female Western Gull was recorded riding 150km in a garbage truck from San Francisco to a compost facility in Central CA, probably to forage. TWICE. An innovator, an icon, a genius. This is one of my favorite @waterbirdsociety.bsky.social papers I've ever handled as managing editor #ornithology

Well, this is a 1st. Just got hit with a trademark infringement threat for using the phrase “where science meets compassion” on my research lab’s website. Apparently, a therapy company owns that combo of words now? 🙃 Screenshot of their message, alongside how I used the phrase on my research website

Happy Pride, y’all! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ For all of Pride month, I’m donating 100% of my proceeds from WILD PRIDE to The Trevor Project, a leading organization working to prevent suicide in LGBTQ+ youth. Get your copy here! linktr.ee/RebeccaCalis... Or donate directly to Trevor Project here! www.thetrevorproject.org

Saturday was a beautiful 1st for me - my 1st time showcasing WILD PRIDE at a public event, the Sacramento Book Festival. I got to meet incredible people, sign books, and raise funds through every sale to support The Trevor Project, a leading organization working to prevent suicide in #LGBTQ+ youth 🏳️‍🌈

How did I create the art for WILD PRIDE? As a professional artist, I care deeply about transparency re AI. I wish I could have hand-painted every image, but doing so would’ve taken decades & I wanted WILD PRIDE to exist now, especially to support the young people who need it most 🏳️‍🌈 A 🧵 1/9

I urge everyone to read Unbreaking’s new page on everything the govt is doing to destroy & diminish medical research funding. It’s the best thing I’ve read on this topic: @lizneeley.bsky.social & co have such done an incredible job. unbreaking.org/issues/medic...

Exciting news! 🌈 WILD PRIDE - a playful, science-packed, joyfully illustrated celebration of queer animal behavior - will be featured at the Sacramento Book Festival this Sat, May 31 (10–4, Shepard Garden & Arts Center, McKinley Park). Join us! 100% proceeds go to @TrevorProject! 📚🦩 #PrideMonth

I wonder how RFK Jr. would feel if people starting saying that vitamin D supplements are the cause of autism*. As you can see, the prevalence of vitamin D supplement use has skyrocketed. *There is zero evidence that vitamin D supplements cause autism, which is the same evidence as for vaccines.

BREAKING: FDA says covid boosters now only for those over 65 or with preconditions. www.statnews.com/2025/05/20/f...

make no mistake — she was wrongly arrested and held she was a POLITICAL PRISONER

New Jersey Mayor Ras J. Baraka was arrested by ICE today. He’d spent 3 days seeking access to an ICE facility operating illegally under NJ law signed by Gov. Murphy. Today, ICE told him and several members of Congress to wait in the lobby. 90 minutes later, they were ambushed and detained.

Tariffs hurt consumers of all kinds of goods. But Trump mentioned 'dolls'--not toy trucks, GI Joe's, video games, basketballs, squat racks or protein powder. His aim: cast the pain that consumers face as feminine and frivolous. @moiradonegan.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

This Teacher Appreciation Week, I honor the educators who do more than teach - they protect, they affirm, and they save lives. To those creating safe spaces for 🏳️‍🌈LGBTQ+ kids… To those shielding students from ICE… To those offering food, dignity, and hope… You are heroes. Thank you.

BREAKING: In a sudden about-face, a DOJ attorney saiys ICE will be RESTORING the status of thousands of foreign students whose SEVIS records were terminated w/o notice earlier this month. The move comes amid mounting losses in courts around the country. www.wusa9.com/article/news...

Found this in the women’s bathroom of our science building today. Honestly, the most accurate peer review I’ve gotten all week. #LabNotesFromTheStall

Canceling the Women’s Health Initiative is like smashing the black box mid-flight. For 30 years it’s been our clearest record of women’s health. Ending it now erases what we’ve learned AND ensures we’ll be flying blind into the next crisis. #ScienceNotSilence www.science.org/content/arti...

Historic! Nearly 300 university presidents, often silent in political storms, stand together to call out the government for *weaponizing funding to force ideological obedience*. Lose the freedom to teach, question, explore, & we lose democracy itself. #TenureWithTeeth www.aacu.org/newsroom/a-c...

"The NIH budget has not increased in more than 20 years despite research being more expensive to conduct. This is a necessary data point for policymakers to consider as they determine funding priorities." 🧪 jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

🏆 Today’s winner for most refreshing doomscrolling palate cleanser:

Tsk tsk, Donnie. Harvard’s been prepping for this since 1636. And their lawsuits come peer-reviewed. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/u...

Measles is surging. Kids are dying. Hospitals are drowning. And RFK Jr. is out here pushing cod liver oil like it’s 1725 and he’s a colonial Goop influencer. Thoughts, prayers, and omega-3s. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/h...

Hours after Harvard’s president clapped back at the feds, science faculty dean Hopi Hoekstra hit send and made it rain 💰 Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear lab coats and CC donors. I’ll take two action figures and a limited-edition mug. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

People want institutions to stand up www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

The Big Ten’s suiting up for an Avengers-style alliance: mess with one, and the whole squad shows up. Academic solidarity - powered by tenure, caffeine, and righteous fury. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

UC Davis appealed, and Grant was reinstated. FIGHT BACK calmatters.org/education/hi...

These people have no right to use my history to justify the surveillance arm of their coup.

As a Jew, this is chilling. What is antisemitism to this administration? Criticism of Israel? Criticism of Israel can wander into antisemitism, yes, but a lot of criticism and protest are justified. The question is whether we trust this administration to know the difference. I absolutely don’t!

BREAKING: Government confirms First Amendment now available only to U.S.-born citizens who keep their thoughts to themselves. www.npr.org/2025/04/09/g...