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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

NEW SEA SPIDERS :) 🧪🌎🦑🌊 "...found in shallow waters in the Salish Sea, ...the first to be found in that area in more than 100 years..."

npr.org

Scientists discover two new species of sea spiders along Canadian coastline

So far, scientists have identified more than 1,300 species of sea spiders.

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

FAT BEAR WEEK FAT BEAR WEEK FAT BEAR WEEK FAT BEAR WEEK 🧪🌊🌎🦑

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

go work with Nathan Whelan! Great scientist and a great lab! 🧪🌎🦑

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

"NSF’s budget, adjusted for inflation, is essentially the same as it was 20 years ago, and Tr*** wants to cut it by half next year." not ONE BIT of this is realistically feasible and it is terrifying for the future of science in the U.S. 🧪🌎🌊

science.org

NSF memo implementing Trump’s ‘golden age’ of science unsettles researchers

New document emphasizes support for White House priorities over curiosity-driven ideas

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Sea spiders are the coolest :) 🧪🌎🦑🇦🇶🌊

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Reposted by Dr Andrew Mahon

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

NSF just announced its GRFP solicitation due in October - deadline varies by field: www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo... Now for the bad news... * NSF estimates they will issue 1,500 awards, down from 2,500+ last year. * NSF removed STEM Education and Learning Research as a Major Field.

nsf.gov

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Little self promo here: my daughter is in the running for a youth athlete of the year award. If you are so kind, please go vote for her. Here’s the link. athleteoftheyear.org/2026/madelin...

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

We are at a critical time for science...personalized cancer vaccines....changing climates and massive El Ninos...species discoveries....investigating/studying these is not possible in the U.S. without a well supported and robust NSF. This trend cannot continue. 🧪🌎🌊🌱

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

From the article: www.nature.com/articles/d41... I believe this figure is the most disturbing....we need to value science in the U.S., and we seemingly don't anymore. The world is not going to wait. We are falling behind and the next generation of scientists is going to suffer from this. 🧪🌎🧬🌊🌱

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02135-x from this article. Figure depicting the decreased levels of funding for NSF directorates vs prior years funding.

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Hardcore metal :) 🧪🌎🦑🇦🇶

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

The bighead and silver (aka Asian) carp have been swimming north into Lake MI for years....this was an effort to help protect the $multi-BILLION tourism, fishing, etc. industries in the region. This is VERY bad for not only MI but all Great lakes states and Canada. 🧪🦑🌎🧬

mlive.com

Great Lakes carp barrier project halted without explanation again

New stoppage comes four months after Trump officials shifted management of the $1.15 billion project to Michigan and claimed it would move forward aggressively.

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Interesting move: New attention on NSF Office of Polar Programs in the Senate: a bipartisan proposal to make OPP a permanent directorate within the NSF. From Senators Sullivan, Murkowski, & Hickenlooper. NSF OPP was under Geoscience directorate until it was moved into the Office of the Director. 🧪🌎🇦🇶

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Giving an invasive species seminar to the St Ignace MI community library tonight! Yes. There will be jumping carp videos and eDNA! 🧪🌊🌎🦑🧬

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Meet one of the rarest sea spiders I've encountered. Dodecolopoda mawsoni. A member of the Colossendeidae, it has 12, yes A DOZEN, walking legs. In my collections of literally thousands of pycnos in Antarctica, I've only found this amazing creature once....genomic data forthcoming! 🧪🌎🦑🇦🇶🌊 (1/2)

Dodecolopoda mawsoni. East Antarctica. NBP23-03. photo via YoYo camera.

Dodecolopoda mawsoni. Collected in 2023 on NBP23-03

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Yet again life is better with sea spiders!!! 🧪🌎🦑🇦🇶

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Kent Carpenter, my Ph.D. supervisor, was violently murdered in the Philippines. We hadn't spoken in many years, but I would not be where I am in my career without his early influence on my academic trajectory. His scientific impacts were far reaching, particularly in SE Asia marine biodiversity. 🧪🌎🌊

abs-cbn.com

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Life is better with sea spiders. Austropallene cornigera collected in #Antarctica. Isn’t it adorable!!! 🧪🌎🦑🇦🇶🌊

Austropallene cornigera a sea spider from Antarctica.

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

SPECTACULAR!!! A deep sea Colossendeidae! 🧪🦑

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

🦀 see a crab, post a sea spider....wait...I may be doing this wrong. 🧪🌎🦑🇦🇶 and c-🕷️

Antarctic sea spider in the family Nymphonidae. Nymphon australe.

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Massive extremes with huge global implications. Many organisms in Antarctic waters cannot survive temp shifts like this, particularly during larval development. 🧪🌎🇦🇶

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Reposted by Dr Andrew Mahon

Dr. Carly Kenkel @drcarl.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

The list of Ecology/Evolution/Marine Bio Labs recruiting grad students for Fall 2027 is live! PIs enter your position info here: forms.gle/MAGd4ohyPeoY... students (and PIs not recruiting) share the composite list: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... Please share widely! 🧪

forms.gle

Ecology/Evolution/Marine Biology labs recruiting for Fall 2027

Please complete this form if you are a PI recruiting graduate students for a Fall 2027 start. If you are NOT recruiting, feel free to share the response sheet with prospective students looking for lab...

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

From NSF...“aligns with N.S.F.’s wider strategy to have a nimbler approach to prioritizing support for evolving scientific priorities and emerging technologies as well as a deliberate approach to smart life cycle management within its portfolio of research infrastructure.” 🧪🌎

nytimes.com

Trump Administration to Dismantle Ocean Monitoring System

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

This one hits home to the Polar Programs community.... "NSF continues to offer fellowship opportunities ...in the fields of engineering, entrepreneurial research, mathematics and physical sciences. ..postdocs in biology are available only if they involve the use of artificial intelligence." 🧪🌎🇦🇶🌊

eos.org

NSF Eliminates Geoscience Postdocs - Eos

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has eliminated its postdoctoral fellowship funding for Earth scientists.

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

If you’ve got federal funding or are going to try for a grant etc., you’re going to want to read this. 🧪🌎

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Arrow points to the oviger. Members of this family (colossendeidae) have palps and ovigers in males and females. These lay eggs on rocks (see Amy Morans recent pub). Arrow to oviger. 🧪🌎🌊🦑🇦🇶

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Reposted by Dr Andrew Mahon

Lisa @tuexplorer1.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Hi @andyantarctica.bsky.social, I have someone on board on the current @greenpeace.org ROV expedition asking for help narrowing down a species for this pycnogonid carrying babies. They're diving in Arctic Mid Ocean Ridge in Banana Hole. I said I'd ask you & report back. (Best pic I was given)

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Everyone should read this.... AI and key words were used to cancel NIH and NSF grants...essentially on the whims of some DOGE folks on a power trip. The damage done to our once globally leading science enterprise is widespread...we need to speak out on this for it to get better. 🧪🌎

nature.com

NIH grant cuts disproportionately hit minority and female scientists

A survey reveals sharp divides in who bore the brunt of last year’s spree of grant cancellations by the Trump administration.

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

I mean….we care about science…so let’s make sure we have the leadership in there to oversee it for us right? This should NOT be politically partisan 🧪

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

I like to tell students how much scientific technology has improved...cheaper...faster...better data... in such a short time....and for the tech my field, no one had a larger impact than JCV. His impact knows no bounds. 🧪🌎🇦🇶🧬 www.npr.org/2026/04/30/n...

npr.org

Craig Venter, pioneering human genome decoder, dies at 79

Pioneering scientist J. Craig Venter has died at 79. His "whole genome shotgun method" helped genome sequencing become faster and cheaper.

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

More info on the ouster of the National Science Board....with few awards made in 2026 to date, and we're already 5 months in....no board, no director/deputy director....where is future of fundamental science in the US ? 🧪

insidehighered.com

Board Ouster Raises Further Concerns About NSF’s Future

The White House axed all members of the board overseeing the National Science Foundation Friday, leaving the agency with no board, director or deputy director. It finally provided a reason Monday afte...

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Reposted by Dr Andrew Mahon

Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

The National Science Board was created in 1950 with staggered 6 terms so that scientific research priorities would outlast any single administration. The statute says members must be chosen "solely on the basis of established records of distinguished service." www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...

forbes.com

Trump Fired The Entire National Science Board. Here's Why That Matters

Trump fired all 24 members of the National Science Board, the body that oversees NSF. The institutional design that built American science is at stake.

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

forbes.com

Trump Fired The Entire National Science Board. Here's Why That Matters

Trump fired all 24 members of the National Science Board, the body that oversees NSF. The institutional design that built American science is at stake.

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

hey @flavorflav.bsky.social as a father with a young daughter in sports THANK YOU for all you do....all the attention to women's sports....particularly in the less traditionally supported sports. You're an amazing human being.

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

🧪🌎 This needs to be a bigger news story than just seeing it as a social media post! More science under attack.

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Scenery Friday from #Antarctica. On our 2020 research cruise along the Western Peninsula....penguins, cliffs, and some amazing waterfalls! 🧪🌎🦑🇦🇶🌊

Adele penguins along the Western Antarctic Peninsula on NBP20-10.

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

This looks incredible! I'd HOPE the U.S. was working towards replacing the LMG and NBP with something this functional!

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

The Lemaire Channel #Antarctica is a really special place. Here on the RV/IB Nathaniel B. Palmer in 2020 on NBP20-10 research cruise. 🧪🌎🦑🇦🇶🌊

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Collections in #Antarctica can be messy. Here, a Blake Trawl in 2020 (NBP20-10) along the western Peninsula...🧪🌎🦑🇦🇶🌊

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Staring down this day like a boss....Colossendeis robusta, a sea spider collected on our research cruise in 2020 in the Weddell/Western Antarctic Peninsula. 🧪🌎🦑🇦🇶🐧🌊

Pycnogonida, species Colossendeis robusta, sea spider collected on NBP20-10 research cruise.

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

In a world seemingly full of....well...the others..... Be a Flavor Flav. So great! @flavorflav.bsky.social

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

so...the funding is still there ...maybe....but those that need it to stay ahead of the curve and do the best science can't get it....sounds accurate in this political environment. 🧪

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Seems like everyone wants weird arthropods from #Antarctica these days....here's one I haven't posted before. I THINK its a Scaphodactylus sp. but ??? 🧪🌎🦑🇦🇶🌊

Unknown isopod collected in Antarctica in 2013 along the western Antarctic Peninsula. LMG 13-12 cruise. Scaphodactylus sp?

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

US Federal research investment, particularly in biomedical and physical sciences, generates estimated returns of 200-300%. It supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, drives startups, and ensures global competitiveness. I guess we don't care about that anymore as a country? 🧪

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

A great overview, slightly dated since the NBP is already gone. The US Antarctic program capacity is lacking greatly right now....replacements that are in place now are a band-aid at best with less capacity/ability than the NBP and Gould. 🧪🌎🦑🌊 🇦🇶 #Antarctica

sixtydegreesnorth.substack.com

Replacing the Polar Research Vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer

The National Science Foundation ended its lease of Palmer at the end of FY 2025. Here's a look at what might be coming next.

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Felt like a sea spider day to me....Austropallene cornigera. 🧪🌎🦑🇦🇶 #Antarctica

Pycnogonida. Austropallene cornigera. Collected in Antarctica via benthic trawl.

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

More delays....and yet the fish keep swimming....saying they are not yet into the lakes is irresponsible. They're there. Now is when we keep the population numbers low...the longer we wait and delay, the worse/quicker the invasion will be. 🧪🌎

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Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

I actually have a question for science community that I HOPE someone can direct me...I have a species of marine organism that was previously described but while I'm sure I have collected this species, the original description, published in the 1993 is objectively not...ideal. 🧪🌎🦑🇦🇶

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