iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Anat Belasen, PhD

Skype a Scientist @skypeascientist.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

We at Skype a Scientist are deeply troubled by the closure of the Academy of Natural Sciences. We urge you to contact Drexel University Leadership and Academy interim leader Trish Wellenbach to urge them to reopen the museum. President Merlo president@Drexel.edu Trish Wellenbach tw958@drexel.edu

a block of text with a statement that reads We at Skype a Scientist are deeply alarmed by the decision of Drexel University leadership and the Academy of Natural Sciences Board to close the Academy’s public museum.

Skype a Scientist is based in Philadelphia with deep roots in our city. Making science accessible, in particular for Philly’s children, is a top priority for our organization. We operate in community centers, at street festivals, and at the intersection of science and art. For the last 10 years, we have worked to engage a broader coalition of Philly residents to care for our local biodiversity.

Our program does not exist in a vacuum. The work that we do, alongside environmental education centers, our museums, classroom teachers, and more, create an ecosystem of connections with science. The loss of any part of this fragile ecosystem is detrimental. The Academy of Natural Sciences grounds biodiversity education in Philadelphia. With grand fossil halls, historical connections, and engaging exhibits, it is a place where many Philadelphians develop a love of science. Loss of access to this space cannot be tolerated.

We are living through an erosion of public education, particularly in the life sciences. Philadelphia cannot afford to lose our flagship biodiversity museum.

We call on the leaders of Drexel University and the Academy board to reverse their decision to close the Academy’s public museum. The children of Philadelphia and future generations of Philly-made scientists are counting on you.

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Anat Belasen, PhD @anatlovesfrogs.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

The ONT flongle (flow cell dongle) came up in a meeting this morning and I really want to use it for sequencing because it is tiny and it is called a FLONGLE and I think those are good reasons

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Reposted by Anat Belasen, PhD

One Health Microbiome Center @psumbiome.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

🐸 New research from member Gui Becker and colleagues explores how microbial communities and environmental conditions influence amphibian health and susceptibility to chytridiomycosis.

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Massimo (mirror) @rainmaker1973-m.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Frogs don't drink water in the same way humans do. Instead of drinking, frogs absorb water through their skin, which is highly permeable, allowing water to pass through it via osmosis. Original post

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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 30/07/2026

Let’s be clear here, when scientists say mistakes were made at the start of the pandemic, we DO NOT mean that we did too much. We mean not socially distancing quickly enough, not making tests widely available, and not acknowledging COVID is airborne and distributing N95 masks to everyone.

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Brian Gratwicke @briangratwicke.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

New paper from team #salamander looking a #microbialecology of salamander skin led by Randall Jimenez @owengosborne.bsky.social Piper Thatcher & @carlybacter.bsky.social esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirec... published in Ecosphere @esajournals.bsky.social

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Anat Belasen, PhD @anatlovesfrogs.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

My dad (the OG Dr. Belasen) has been named a Distinguished Professor! He moved to the US to get his PhD (which he earned the same year I was born), and has written TEN books in his non-native language of English. So proud of him ❤️ news.sunyempire.edu/empire-state...

news.sunyempire.edu

Empire State University’s Alan Belasen Named a SUNY Distinguished Professor

When Professor Alan Belasen first began teaching at Empire State University in 1994, it marked a "significant milestone" in his career, he says.

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Teresa O'Meara @teresaomeara.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Bacteriology-Focused Assistant Professor Position in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Michigan Application deadline: August 15, 2026 Come be my colleague!

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Prosanta Chakrabarty @prosanta.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

From collections to conservation: the indispensable role of natural history museums The IUCN Species Survival Commission has published a Position Statement on the vital role of biological collections in biodiversity conservation iucn.org/news/202607/...

iucn.org

From collections to conservation: the indispensable role of natural history museums

The IUCN Species Survival Commission has published a Position Statement on the vital role of biological collections in biodiversity conservation: a formal acknowledgement that natural history museums,...

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Reposted by Anat Belasen, PhD

Alex Spahn 🌋🌪️☄️ @spahn711.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Omg I just discovered there are four scissor-tailed flycatcher fledglings learning to fly in a nearby tree. Look at these fluffy little cuddle buddies! 😭 #Photography #Birds

Two scissor-tailed flycatcher fledglings sitting on a thin branch surrounded by green leaves. The birds have fluffy white feathers on their chests, with yellow-ish undersides and grey wings.

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Reposted by Anat Belasen, PhD

Prosanta Chakrabarty @prosanta.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Y'all - the Smithsonian is hiring three new curators - herpetology, ichthyology, and ornithology! Notably, this is a 2nd fish curator position - i.e., not the same as the one advertised last month. So if you applied for that one apply again. www.usajobs.gov/job/873849000

Curator of Vertebrates

Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History currently has openings for three early-career Research Curators in Vertebrate Zoology, one each from the disciplines of ornithology, herpetology and ichthyology. The Department of Vertebrate Zoology seeks candidates with demonstrated expertise in, and a commitment to, collections-based research centered on systematics and evolution of birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fishes. This includes the ability to pursue an original approach to systematics and comparative analyses using, for example, morphology, development, and/or molecular data, and showing evidence of broader impacts or applications in evolutionary biology and/or collections-based ecology, as demonstrated by a record of peer-reviewed publications.

Candidates must have demonstrated the ability to establish an externally funded research program and to contribute to the growth and curation of the collections. Research in the Department is supported by the Museum’s shared laboratories, including the Laboratory of Analytic Biology and the Scientific Imaging facility, among others. The Department’s scientific collections are the largest in the world for fishes, amphibians, and reptiles, and the third largest for birds.

These federal positions will be filled at the GS-12 level, with a starting salary of $102,415, and excellent benefits. The positions are permanent and require a one-year probationary period.

The official announcement is posted on USAJOBS, where applications must be submitted.
https://www.usajobs.gov/job/873849000

Please be sure to read the announcement and instructions carefully, as the process of applying via USAJOBS is stringent and differs from applying for an academic position. This website offers helpful advice: https://serc.si.edu/careers/tips-applying-federal-jobs

Please contact the Search Committee Chair, Michael McGowen (mcgowenm@si.edu) or the Department Chair, Helen James (jamesh@si.edu) with any questions.

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Anat Belasen, PhD @anatlovesfrogs.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

I bring this up often in peer reviews (hopefully not breaking anonymity here) - claiming to be the "first" to do some scientific thing is often not accurate, is a colonial way of thinking, and for these and other reasons is not the most compelling reason to do/publish work!

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Anat Belasen, PhD @anatlovesfrogs.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

The other morning I ended up in traffic because people were stopping and carefully driving around a big mama snapping turtle who was crossing a 5 lane road. Good job okies 🥲

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Reposted by Anat Belasen, PhD

Tracy Heath @trayc7.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

I’m recruiting a PhD student to join our lab in the fall of 2027. If you’re excited about phylogenetics, comp bio, paleobiology, stats theory, macroevolution, etc. please get in touch! Folks at #Evol2026, you can talk to @brpetrucci.bsky.social & @sigournie.bsky.social to learn more about our lab

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Anat Belasen, PhD @anatlovesfrogs.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

why won't zoom let me set my meeting password to froggirlsummer

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Reposted by Anat Belasen, PhD

Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

THE OFFICIAL @standupforscience.net GUIDE FOR TALKING TO ANYONE ABOUT THE OMB RULE PROPOSAL!! www.standupforscience.foundation/policy-and-a...

standupforscience.foundation

How To Talk to Anyone About OMB-2026-0034 — Your Site Title

Written By: Colette Delawalla, PhD, CEO

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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

This is the University of Central Florida. So many people really have no idea how much kids hate this shit.

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Reposted by Anat Belasen, PhD

Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

When lots of folks are mad at you on the internet for something you said, the thing that makes all the bad feelings go away the fastest is admitting you were wrong, apologizing, and not doing it again. People think admitting wrongdoing will do the reputational damage, but it's actually the opposite!

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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 07/05/2026

wandering the Sonora desert in a carefree fashion like

A Saguaro cactus that looks as if it has two eyes and is striding through the landscape in a jaunty manner, perhaps whistling a tune

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Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Who are your favorite science communicators who are academics (any field)? Who’s really getting public engagement right?

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Ian Carrillo @iansociologo.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Folks - If you have time, I would really appreciate it if you put in a request with your university or public library to purchase my book. Thank you in advance! dukeupress.edu/the-business...

Cover of the business of racism: labor and environment in Brazil's racial Capitalism by Ian Carrillo

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Reposted by Anat Belasen, PhD

c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

I love that bats are 30% puppy faces, 30% weird little goblins, 30% eldritch horrors, and 10% all three at once. (📷: Merlin Tuttle, arranged by Bryan Bongey)

It's a gird of 4 x 5 bat profiles, seen from neck to head. There's so much diversity in what each one looks like: giant ears of unusual shape, leaf-nosed bats with extra bits, bats with their whole face shaped like an earlobe, flying foxes with puppy faces, and one very fine blep.

I have threads on like 20% of these, for the record.

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Reposted by Anat Belasen, PhD

Gavin Woodruff @weirdworms.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

A Trojan horse pathogen breaking through partner-choice barriers in the insect gut doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

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Anat Belasen, PhD @anatlovesfrogs.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

As my first semester of being a professor comes to a close, something I'm proud of is that I'm trying my hardest to be the kind of professor I wish I had during my undergrad.

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Noah Bressman, PhD @noahwithfish.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

With my co-authors, I am excited to share our newest paper: Strengths, Challenges, & Experiences of Neurodivergent Faculty in Academia. In this study, we surveyed neurodivergent (ND) faculty across the country about their experiences. Here are some highlights: (1/10) academic.oup.com/icb/article-...

academic.oup.com

Strengths, Challenges, and Experiences of Neurodivergent Faculty in Academia

Synopsis. Recently, there has been increasing attention to neurodiversity in academia, with focus on supporting neurodivergent (ND) students. The experienc

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Reposted by Anat Belasen, PhD

Brooke Fitzwater, PhD (she/her) 🐟🪱🏳️‍🌈♾️ @oceanfilly.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

This is the first paper out from our "Disabled and Neurodivergent Perception, Community, and Identity in the Biosciences" symposium issue (co-organized by me and @taorminalepore.bsky.social!) through @sicb.bsky.social! We are thrilled for Noah et al.'s work + excited for the other papers coming!

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Reposted by Anat Belasen, PhD

Tim Osborne Photography 🍁 @timosborne.ca · 30/04/2026

Got up early in hopes of catching this photo before work this morning. There's only a few days each year where it's cool enough in the morning to make this shot possible. Thankfully, today was one of those days! #wildlife #birds

A red winged blackbird's breath can be seen as he sings his morning song. The bird is sitting on a cattail and the rising morning sun illuminates his breath.

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Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

SCOOP: Two weeks ago, the head of the CDC delayed publication of a report showing covid vaccine cut likelihood of ER visits and hospitalizations by half. Now that report is no longer allowed to be published in CDC’s flagship scientific journal. My latest. 1/2 www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

washingtonpost.com

CDC won’t publish report showing covid shots cut likelihood of hospital visits

The report, which had cleared the agency’s scientific-review process, had been delayed. It now won’t be published at all, people familiar with the decision told The Post.

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Cameron Blevins @cblevins.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

This is so, so well-articulated.

People call this friction "grunt work." Schwartz uses exactly that phrase, and he's right that LLMs can remove it. What he doesn't say, because he already has decades of hard-won intuition and doesn't need the grunt work anymore, is that for someone who doesn't yet have that intuition, the grunt work is the work. The boring parts and the important parts are tangled together in a way that you can't separate in advance. You don't know which afternoon of debugging was the one that taught you something fundamental about your data until three years later, when you're working on a completely different problem and the insight surfaces. Serendipity doesn't come from efficiency. It comes from spending time in the space where the problem lives, getting your hands dirty, making mistakes that nobody asked you to make and learning things nobody assigned you to learn.

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Anat Belasen, PhD @anatlovesfrogs.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

there are only 3 people in my lab's slack workspace (me + 2 grad students starting in the fall 🥳) and yet we already have multiple posts in the cute-herp-pics channel. things are off to a great start <3

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Fun Ghoul 👻💜✨ @fungirl.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Magic in the woods 🩵✨ #WhimsyWednesday

Photo of many, many, fresh, juicy, vibrant Green Elf Cup fungi growing on a log

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Manuela Casasoli @manuelacasasoli.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Where did magic mushrooms come from? Read about the discovery of a new species of magic mushroom, Psilocybe ochraceocentrata, and the wild origins of domesticated P. cubensis. 🧪 #Science #Biology #Evolution 1- www.scientificamerican.com/article/wher... 2- royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...

Image Source:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/where-did-magic-mushrooms-come-from-scientists-just-got-closer-to-an-answer/

Psilocybe cubensis.

Credit
Alexander_Volkov/Getty Images

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Anat Belasen, PhD @anatlovesfrogs.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

excellent whiteboard explanation of a paper by OU grad student Taylor Probst at EEID journal club yesterday. these little pygmy rattlesnake doodles bring me so much joy 😆

a white board sketch depicting a study of selection on immune genes in pygmy rattlesnakes, based on RNASeq dataset from a snake fungal disease infection experiment on a different (larger) rattlesnake species

a close up of a cute pygmy rattlesnake doodle that somewhat resembles a candy cane

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Anat Belasen, PhD @anatlovesfrogs.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

The Belasen Lab postdog is not very cold tolerant

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hot dad @hotterdad.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

if any of you are in Austin, my farewell show is tonight! i've only done 4 comedy shows total, and now i'm doing a 55 minute set. what is wrong/right with me!? 😎 tix: linktr.ee/hotdad

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Jeff, Stopping by Woods @jeffontherock.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

A mushroom-lined bunny trail through Sphagnum moss. Newfoundland, Canada. #mushroom #fungi #fungifriends #moss #bryophyte #bolete

Photo of a bunny (snowshoe hare) trail through green Sphagnum moss. The trail is lined with red bog bolete mushrooms.

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Emily Taylor @emilytaylorscience.com · 16/10/2025

The first snow at the Colorado site means snake season is almost over! Watch til the end though, to see who braves the weather. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5deX...

youtube.com

Snow!

YouTube video by Project RattleCam

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Emily Taylor @emilytaylorscience.com · 14/10/2025

Cal Poly is hiring! We are looking for multiple tenure-track colleagues, including animal physiology, cell biology, and microbiology! Please spread the word. Links in thread. bio.calpoly.edu

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ila🐸 @ilaso.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Anat is doing a Q&A for her panel so if anyone has questions has any froggy questions for her please feel free to drop by the stream or ask us in the Frog Con Discord server! discord.gg/szgkgmXQhc

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Frog Cult @frogcult.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

Happy Frog Con everyone! The website is officially live!! Hop on over and check out all the activities we have lined up for you!! Our the opening ceremony will be streamed on our twitch! Thank you guys for all the love and support, it’s an honor to be able to bring so many frog lovers together 🐸💚

A smiling green yellow frog with a red clown nose and blue party hat peak from below. It is saying “frogs await you!” With “frog con 2025 is now live!!!” On top of it. The background is a light yellow stripes with come to the center of the yellow pom-pom on top of the blue hat.

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