I'd like to share a personal anecdote that underscores just how entrenched the myth of the "welfare queen" has become. Because all sorts of people have bought into it. I'll be as concise as possible.... 🧵

Not a hard question, except for the culture that pretends it's not the answer 1) right-wing media lies incessantly, so anyone truth-based doesn't trust it, and anyone who trusts it doesn't trust anything else 2) other media treats those lies as legitimate, for "fairness," getting trust from no one

1. No such thing as overdoing Halloween 2. 😂😂😂😭

Archaeologists 200 years from now are gonna be SO confused.

A couple years ago, my colleague Rebecah Troutman found an aphid munching on garlic mustard that turned out to be the first documented sighting of the insect *ever* in the U.S. (I admit I'm a little jealous, that's so cool!!)

Did I ever tell you about how I almost killed my lawn trying to save the insects? Maybe you’ve heard of “Leave the Leaves” — don’t rake your leaves; create critical overwintering habitat for lots of insects. Sounds easy, no? (And way better than raking…)

Oh no, this makes me sad. The Yellowstone trophic cascade was my, uh, "spark" ecological theory 😅 I still tell people about it.

Incredibly fun thread to read even if you don't have a good question for Matt 👇

TIL crabs can climb walls

This is what you get when exceptionally wealthy Hobbits hire Dwarven architects (complimentary).

Oooh! This is super interesting. "If you want someone to remember the story you’re telling, details of any kind tend to help...It gives you more potential ‘hooks’ for you to find that memory later on”

Oh good I needed a new fun fact to share at parties

If you've asked me lately what my job is, I probably said something vague like "marketing." I used to say, "writer," and people's eyes would light up, but I always assumed they were then disappointed to learn I was writing articles and not romantasy novels. Thus, "marketing." 🧵

Short 🧵: The Working Woods Hub has it all. It's a place: a woodland where they demonstrate different forestry management practices and landowners can come see the results. 📷: Forest management plots with (R) and without (L) non-native shrub removal. (Cred: Jessica Miller Mecaskey)

Sometimes I'm in the mood to (attempt to) write something deep and meaningful. But sometimes I want to be like "look I found this movie house I've been obsessed with since age 5 on Zillow LOOK AT IT" thefunkyard.substack.com/p/its-big-wh...

To celebrate the end of In Defense of Fandom S3, @itsdrfunk.bsky.social & I answered some of your parasocial questions! m.youtube.com/watch?v=v6ap... You can also find the audio here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

If you live in the U.S. west (or south, for that matter) of Ohio, you may not have heard of beech leaf disease. You’re more likely to have heard of — or lost trees to — Dutch elm disease, or emerald ash borer, or if you’re collecting social security, chestnut blight. 🧵

She’s quirky. She’s chaotic. She’s unfiltered. She’s taking you on an adventure. She’s changing your life. Is she a manic pixie dream girl? Yes. She is also Anne of Green Gables. Discuss. thefunkyard.substack.com/p/anne-of-gr...

Here's a story for you about Americans doing GOOD things together #FourthOfJuly #TimelineCleanse The Flint Hills of Kansas are home to some of the biggest and best prairie lands that still exist in the US. They’re also almost entirely privately owned by cattle ranchers.

Another day, another magazine for you! One of my favorite publications to write for is the Marquette University Alumni Magazine. (Pictured: Photos of the cover and inside pages of the magazine)

If I won the lottery I wouldn’t tell anyone But there’d be signs

My latest story is out in Public Garden magazine! Got my copy in the mail just last week. It's a feature on how ecologists and #communityscientists teamed up to study #climatechange and #phenology at wildflower gardens at botanic gardens across the country.

Marketing is hard. But marketing yourself? Even harder. Even as someone who does content strategy for a living, I still hate self-promotion. Why it feels so icky—and what to do instead: 👉 ampliflora.com/marketing-is... #contentstrategy #marketingchallenges #freelancelife

A normal convo with Hercule Poirot: “Yes, but this [murder investigation] is more important.” HP: “And how do you know that these fine begonias are not of equal importance?” I shrugged my shoulders. There was really no arguing with him if he chose to take that line. HP: “You do not agree?"

I've been hearing these NON-stop in #TheFunkyard this spring and I love it so much. I will never forget: Their call (rrreap!) was the only question I missed on my Field Ornithology final in college 😅

A gentle reminder that the reason most people don’t read past the headline isn’t because they’re terrible but because we all see an ungodly amount of headlines every day online and only have the time, interest, and bandwidth to read so many of their corresponding articles. You do it too! We all do!

Every server, to me during the worst of my (real! devastating!) onion sensitivity:

When planning out science communication workshops for scientists I feel like I'm the kooky art teacher with sticks in her hair going into the Very Serious Science Department and asking them all to look at the clouds and share their hopes and dreams on a vision board and whisper a secret to a rock.

New episode!!!

Once upon a time my blog was gonna be a native garden blog until I remembered there was lots else to talk about in the world. People still ask me about the Funkyard, tho. It's hobbling along beautifully! Here's an update: thefunkyard.substack.com/p/may-garden... #TheFunkyard

Have question about #proteomics, it's applications, and the future of the field? Send them over to us, and we may answer them on the Translating Proteomics podcast!

I hope y’all enjoyed this little sojourn into the fame-adjacent. I know it was one of my favorites to pull together. Thanks to: @itsdrfunk.bsky.social for editorial support @lizhand.bsky.social for cover art Chris & August Hotel for music

A perennial favorite from @itsdrfunk.bsky.social!

I happen to be reading 'Let Them' right now, and it is clear this author did not read a single chapter of the book. In fact, this straw man is why there's a whole book in the first place— why the book-jacket summary alone doesn't cut it. 🙄 I'm annoyed www.fastcompany.com/91322349/mel...

The Chicago Botanic Garden’s McDonald Woods are a little slice of paradise right now…come enjoy the spring wildflower show!

Got my advance copy of my new book, “Bugwatching: The Art, Joy, and Importance of Observing Insects.” You can preorder now from Princeton University Press. Shoutout to @samanthagallagher.bsky.social for the amazing illustrations!

This lil gem made it all the way over to my *husband's* *Facebook* I now return it to Bluesky where it belongs @francisgasparini.bsky.social

I am SO stoked about this season!

So, I quit social media cold turkey in November. It was very enlightening, and in the end, I came back. Here's the story: thefunkyard.substack.com/p/in-defense...

For six magical summers I spent every single day studying threatened grassland #birds at Konza Prairie, a precious sliver of the 4% of the continent’s remaining tallgrass prairie. It’s an NSF LTER site supporting hundreds of research projects trying to save prairies since 1981. Now unfunded.

Here’s a thread of words that result in the National Science Foundation rejecting grants under the Trump administration’s bigoted and anti-intellectual executive order. Among other things, about every shark paper I’ve ever written has included the word “female” referring to *FEMALE SHARKS*

Fun fact I quit social media in November (it didn't stick). Here's how I got to that point. Buckle in, this story spans 20 years. Featuring: My original MySpace profile pic, oy vey🙈 thefunkyard.substack.com/p/20-years-o... #TheFunkyard

As a holiday treat, here’s the answer to @itsdrfunk.bsky.social ‘s fandom question! open.spotify.com/episode/022U...

Welcome new Blueskies! ...Blueskees? Skeebees. fortune.com/2024/11/14/x...

I just love iNaturalist so much. Currently watching a virtual presentation from Patti Ragsdale from Botanical Belonging (eastern KS) about their year-long project documenting all the species in a neighboring woodland. It's so satisfying scrolling through our obvs www.inaturalist.org/projects/sta...

Gather round, children, for an ode to our favorite holiday, the one, the only, the Halloween. What is Halloween? 1/

New from #TheFunkyard: I finally figured out why I'm so anxious every October, and it's that I just love Halloween so much THAT IT STRESSES ME OUT open.substack.com/pub/thefunky...

Story time! How I learned to stop worrying and embrace the PINK: Next week, I’m going to a conference I have always wanted to attend: the Natural Areas Association annual conference. 1/

the prairie garden is POPPIN today

Dogs are the best coworkers. Also: Do we know why dogs do this rigid-leg thing? Weirdos. 🤣