New research demystifies the fascinating octopus’s perception of the microbiomes it encounters 🐙 Story by @pepperstclair.bsky.social for @mongabay.com Research led by Rebecka Sepela @harvardmcb.bsky.social @harvard.edu with comments by @spencernyholm.bsky.social @uconn.bsky.social

With the goal of reaching new ppl w/biodiversity action, we're expanding the Native Plant Project to bars. We're calling it Biodiversity Beers. In collab w/artists Marian Bailey, @hanfranstudio.bsky.social, & @the666cat.bsky.social, we're making pint glasses that encourage planting of native 🌱

Happy LGBTQIA+ STEM Day! We exist, we resist! Thank you the editor Laura Rodríguez Pérez and @commsbio.nature.com for the opportunity to talk about my experience and my journey as a person and scientist with intersectional identities.

Big news: I’m writing a book!! I’ll be writing & illustrating a beginner’s guide to appreciating wildlife in cities/suburbs, & how all of us can make our neighborhoods better for those animals. Thank you to my book agent @ericsmithrocks.bsky.social & the folks at Storey for believing in this book!

If your city is really lucky, you’ll get a weird girl who goes above & beyond to celebrate squid. Maybe she has a Squidmobile & glues 🦑 on poles. Maybe she gets on stage to sing about squid, dressed as a 🦑. Philadelphia & Tokyo are both lucky. Extremely cool to meet my Tokyo counterpart today ☺️

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA 10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

@sarahmackattack.bsky.social I don’t want to interrupt concert preparations but also… I definitely squealed to see this!

🚨 Cool new project alert 🚨 WE- you, me, everyone- need to work together to get important science messages out to people. 4 artists & 3 scientists collab'd on these posters. We hope YOU will put them out in your community. Each poster comes w/info about each topic. Get 'em Squidfacts.bigcartel.com

A quick and typed-on-my-phone-riddled-with-typos thread about why I think people need to support NPR/PBS, even though they did post that one interview you didn't like:

This work is finally officially out! Check out our paper, where we use various advanced microscopy techniques to shed light on the structures of a complex symbiotic organ and the communities of bacteria that live inside it. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

I'm pleased to share this article written by co-authors & me. Riffing off our recent decadal survey, we discuss humanity's relationship with the ocean & why immediate action is needed to protect us all. Enjoy! @whoi.edu @schmidtocean.bsky.social @mbarinews.bsky.social bit.ly/TheConvo0413...

You can take a look at the protocol here docs.google.com/document/d/1...

14 pages of terminated NIH grants--everyone should read through the list. The sweep is VERY broad, including "The Impact of the Herpes Zoster Vaccine on Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus" & "Mitochondrial-based Determinants of Sex Differences in Acute Kidney Injury"🧪 1/n taggs.hhs.gov/Content/Data...

I made a website! Come check it out! Get to know me! See cool pictures! Learn that I'm looking for a post doc in fall 2025! www.derrickkamp.com

My OpEd in @elife.bsky.social “It feels as if we are trying to fight a series of attacks on science with one arm tied behind our back and our lips half sewn shut.” “Yet we are not beaten, and some of us are downright energized.” elifesciences.org/articles/106...

🚨 Attention NIH & NSF grantees! AAAS is hosting a rapid response webinar this Friday, 12-1 pm ET, on responding to federal research grant terminations. NIH and NSF will be case examples. Register here: aaas.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Stop your doomscrolling and vote for the International Mollusk of the Year! The winner will have its complete genome sequenced! Mollusks are awesome, and super diverse: they include snails, slugs, clams, octopuses, and more! 🐌🐙🐚 Finalists in thread 🧵 Info & VOTE here: moty.senckenberg.science

Had the honor of speaking at today’s @standupforscience.bsky.social rally in Philly. I spoke about the importance of breaking the right rules and harnessing chaos for the greater good.

The Hartford CT rally at the STATE CAPITOL is going to be 🔥🔥!! Join us this FRIDAY to use your voice and #standupforscience! @luskinglab.bsky.social @standupforscience.bsky.social

The event sign up for the Stand Up for Science March in Hartford is open! Connecticut folks- See you on March 7! www.eventbrite.com/e/stand-up-f...

With more mollusk genomes available, a new genome-based phylogeny is featured on the cover of Science. Paper from @sigwartae.bsky.social at www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Cover photo by Magnus Lundgren.

Classroom/Library enrollment was down pretty bad in February. National chaos and uncertainly likely has something to do with it. Can you help me make sure that all the educators on bluesky know Skype a Scientist exists and is ready to connect them with scientists? Every RT helps! #EduSky #STEMEd

Here is a sign-on letter for individual scientists and other experts to speak out and protect NOAA. I signed it and I encourage you to sign it as well. secure.ucsusa.org/a/2025-prote... 🌎🧪🦑🐠

On the cutting room floor is the bit where the host introduced their interview series, The Interview, and I asked how long it took to come up with the name. Anyway, here’s me talking about birds and science and burnout and moving through the world. The photo’s nice! www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/m...

The illegal cut of NIH indirect costs will mean $19M cut to @uconn.bsky.social alone, and $130M cut for Yale @blumenthal.senate.gov @chrismurphyct.bsky.social. A huge hit to our Universities like this will mean fewer opportunities for our students, fewer jobs for people in CT, and less research.

My letter to ASM leaders that I sent is too long to be posted here, so I'm going to post highlights in case anyone else needs information for their letter. 🧵

I am appalled by the ASM's decision to remove DEI content from their website. Here is my email to the American Society for Microbiology, @ASM.org asking them to put everything back as it was. If you are an ASM member, please consider writing them.

This administration will have disastrous impacts on science and education in the U.S. this is just the start I fear. Please share far and wide. 🧪 www.npr.org/sections/sho...

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Would appreciate a RT from the scientists for this one! We have 665 scientists in the spring database and I want to get us to about 1000 before we set the teachers loose on the database for January matches.

I think contributing to Skype-a-Scientist is the most efficient investment you can make into science outreach! This program reaches a huge number of kids in schools, and provides us a way to find the way to talk to the people who want to talk to us!

My first first-author paper is live on BioRxiv! We used advanced microscopy techniques to characterize the structure of a complex organ housing bacteria, revealing how the organ operates and where different bacteria reside. Here's a thread of highlights: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

UConn's Computational Biology Core is hiring a core scientist. We do research, training, and support users of our HPC. The position will be focused on supporting UConn Health. Please reskeet, and DM me if you have questions. jobs.hr.uconn.edu/cw/en-us/job...