iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

#sciart current state of my recent WIP bird illustration!

Reposted by Becca Mellema

Ellen Kuwana, MS (#SciComm at #SciWri26) @ellenkuwana.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Hey, #SciWri26 attendees—hope to see you first Thurs in Oct at 10 a.m. Pacific to talk about the conference! What did you learn? Who’d ya meet? What did you like best? Come meet other #SciComm #Freelancers and keep the conversations going!

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Reposted by Becca Mellema

Ellen Kuwana, MS (#SciComm at #SciWri26) @ellenkuwana.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Did you know? A group of beavers is called a colony or a family. I like to think of #SciWri26 science writers as a family. Today's topics: #SciPolicy, #AI for social good, funding science, and more! Thanks for providing cookies for us, @oregonstate.edu

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

For my primary my #scicomm work, I write a blog where I examine fantasy and scifi tropes through a scientific lens. Welp, that blog eventually turned into a fun side project during my PhD, which then blossomed into a full on science fantasy comedy #book! Cover by @llysaan.bsky.social!

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

What is this? A sneak peak at my science fantasy + comedy novel’s cover??! 🤩 Did my Scicomm blog inspire this book?! Yes! #Fantasy

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

A behind-the-scenes look at my most recent animation of hyaluronan heavy chain formation! #sciart There is a part 2 coming up of this animation, as we have to have those heavy chains degraded! (This refraction process was foundational to my PhD research! Made in procreate.

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Another #scienceanimation, this time on the molecule I studied for my PhD! Hyaluronan (HA) is a sugar on the outside of your cells that can, during inflammation, form heavy chains that reach out into the bloodstream. These heavy chains can act as landing sites for infiltrating immune cells! #science

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Reposted by Becca Mellema

Deck of Many Aces @deckofmanyaces.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

We are casting! We're looking for 2 new cast members to join us for Season 2 (and beyond) of Deck of Many Aces! We're casting 2 global majority players. More info can be found at the link below. Deadline is Friday 11th September. Please share this far and wide! forms.gle/sLK4uQthhUmW...

forms.gle

Deck of Many Aces Casting Call

Hello! We're looking for 2 global majority players to join our all aromantic and asexual podcast as season regulars! Please read on for more information. This is an unpaid position. Need an audio…

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

New #sciart! I evolved from a little flask to a beaker for my #animation! #science #sciencesnimation

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Learning #animation for future #scienceanimation! (Do I see some swirling flasks and beakers in my future?)

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

#selfpublish #indiebook Another look at my upcoming science-heavy dragon fantasy book!

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Reposted by Becca Mellema

Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

I just submitted my comment in opposition to the NSF procedure changes. You can do so here: www.regulations.gov/document/NSF... Don't forgot to submit your comment today before 11:59 PM EST. I also wrote all my congressional representatives letting them know how it will hurt our state. 🧪

regulations.gov

Regulations.gov

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Reposted by Becca Mellema

Princess Vimentin PhD | Cancer Biologist @princess-vimentin.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

We were yelling about the destructive OMB rule for future awarded #NIH grants. It doesn't stop there. NSF capitulated. How would you if a ground breaking grant was rejected arbitrarily? Today is the last day to comment. 2026 is the year when your voice is crucial! 🧪 blog.ucs.org/kei-koizumi/...

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

#sciencecommunication #Science Setting up an art tutorial for scientists (and others) who are just starting out!

A work in progress on Procreate, where a black butterfly wing is being filled in with white marks

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

(I say that like it’s a Pokémon status effect… Y’all know what I mean though!)

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

👆 This approach is exactly what they taught us in my Scicomm fellowship! It’s shockingly effective on most folks!

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Reposted by Becca Mellema

American Physiological Society @apsphysiology.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Insulin does more than control blood sugar—it also acts in the brain. New research in JNP finds it can quiet brain-cell signals tied to appetite & energy use, with implications for diabetes and obesity: APS Publications ow.ly/ZXT650ZzAKy #ArticlesInPress #APSselect #BrainHealth 🧪 📷: iStock

Magnified dictionary entry highlighting the word 'insulin' and its role in regulating blood glucose levels.

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

#sciart WIP Working off of a crab carcass that I found during my recent vacation to Port Townsend!

A partially completed digital painting of a crab.

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Reposted by Becca Mellema

Dr Space Junk (Alice Gorman) @drspacejunk.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

'...– maybe it falls straight through, being so dense, so heavy– falls through the hardwood, through the foundation slab, through the ground beneath, falls through just as if the Earth were cloud- its atoms so loose, so far apart, before the falling in.' #NeutronStarWeek 🧪 🔭 #PoetrySky

cordite.org.au

A little bit of neutron star for your gorgeous décolletage

100 million tons. That’s the mass of a sugarcube-sized pinch of neutron star. Once all the gasses have condensed, climbed the periodic table, collapsed in upon each other, like some taxi-cab flirte…

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

New illustration practice! A turtle illustration with a watercolor/cutout style! #sciart #ilistration #scienceillustration #marineart

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Reposted by Becca Mellema

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

The NIH just released a proposal that will apparently hide peer reviewers’ impact scores and percentiles from the research team, their institution, and NIH program officers. All the better to obscure how funding decisions will be made primarily via political review, I’m guessing.

grants.nih.gov

NOT-OD-26-088: Request for Information (RFI) on Proposed Changes to Reporting Outcomes from NIH Peer Review

NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Request for Information (RFI) on Proposed Changes to Reporting Outcomes from NIH Peer Review NOT-OD-26-088. NIH

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Reposted by Becca Mellema

Scott McGrath @smcgrath.phd · 15/08/2026

🧪 The next few years are going to be exhausting, but we don’t want to give any ground. Remember that comments can help provide evidence for future lawsuits, it is important to leave yours. rfi.grants.nih.gov?s=6a2b1c22c3... #AcademicSky

rfi.grants.nih.gov

Request For Information

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

New science illustration practice! A peacock from the woodland park zoo! #sciart #scienceillustration #illustration

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

⭐ Open for Science Communication Work!⭐ Are you a scientist who's struggling to make your figures for your upcoming research article? Do you need someone to edit your grant manuscript? Do you need a new lab website? I can help you translate your science! Link to my website in my bio!

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

#Science Opsonization! A macrophage demolishes a bacteria with the help of antibodies!

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Reposted by Becca Mellema

MU-Peter Shimon 🀄 @mu-peter.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

The Odyssey... of the Eye Tracing the origin of human eyes to an ancient “cyclops” Evolution of the vertebrate retina by repurposing of a composite ancestral median eye🧪 www.cell.com/current-biol...

Position and type of photoreceptor cells in the head of bilaterians.

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

#Sciart #scienceart Wanna see one of my first animations made in procreate (and created while I wrote my thesis?) Tadaa! A megakarytocyte turning into a bunch of teeny tiny platelets! (I highly recommend NEVER doing this for a first animation attempt 😅)

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

GTPase in action! This is the “on /off” switch of cells. When GTP is bound to the protein, the GTPAse (usually) is turned on. When it has GDP (two phosphates instead of 3), the protein is (usually) turned off. #science #animation #scicomm #Sciart

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

It’s wild. The biggest anti-vax debate/argument I’ve ever gotten into was with a retired nurse.

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

I say “business investment” in the sense that vaccines are known to keep the healthcare system from becoming overwhelmed, like what we saw during the height of COVID.

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

If a physician of any kind is using “business” for vaccine skepticism, that’s an even bigger red flag. Vaccines are a major business investment for hospitals. It’s one of the reasons why, even though you lose money giving out vaccines, physicians push to give them out anyway. He should know that.

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Yep. I’ve found that if they don’t believe in vaccines, they also don’t tend to believe in germ theory. Not a great trait for a surgeon to possibly have.

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Reposted by Becca Mellema

Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Trump has reduced the size of two national monuments in Utah by nearly 3 million acres. He signed two executive orders that would shrink the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments to less than 10% of their current size.

whitehouse.gov

Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Modifies Two National Monuments, Restoring Sensible Land Management

RIGHTSIZING UTAH NATIONAL MONUMENTS: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed Proclamations modifying two Utah national monuments, the Bears Ears National

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Hunter Dunn @hunterisntdunn.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

We’re not going to be able to “just go back to normal” in 2029. At this point, abolishing ICE, followed by free, fair trials for treason for ICE agents & their collaborators is the bare minimum. We must do whatever it takes to make sure nothing like ICE can ever exist again.

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Miami Herald @miamiherald.com · 14/07/2026

NEW: A 28-year-old man died Tuesday morning following an encounter with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations agents in St. Augustine, marking the third death involving ICE in a week.

miamiherald.com

Man dies during immigration encounter in Florida, the third ICE-involved death in a week

Third ICE-involved death in a week confirmed after fatal St. Augustine crash during joint agency operation. National outrage grows over enforcement and deaths

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Reposted by Becca Mellema

Raider @iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

The residents of Biddeford, Maine are reacting to the killing of a 26-year-old Colombian man by ICE goons today. ICE claims the man tried to "weaponize his vehicle" so they shot and killed him. Hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets

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Reposted by Becca Mellema

Bethany Brookshire @beebrookshire.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Good morning. Today is the LAST DAY to comment on the proposed OMB rule that will, honestly, destroy science in the US. And it will do FAR MORE THAN THAT. www.theverge.com/science/9576...

theverge.com

The war against ‘woke’ could end US science as we know it

‘Everyone will be affected, not just scientists. Every community in the country.’

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Reposted by Becca Mellema

Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 12/07/2026

Russell Vought is working to advance a key part of his Project 2025 agenda by giving political appointees unprecedented authority over federal science funding decisions. Fight back by leaving your public comment by visiting this link: zurl.co/hdmlB Article: zurl.co/ijSUz

zurl.co

Trump administration proposal would all but end scientific merit in grant funding, critics say

Proposed in late May, the rule would give political appointees unprecedented control over federal grants for research, education and infrastructure.

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Becca Mellema @beccmel2.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

WIP #sciart …Never do peacock art for your science illustration portfolio, the feathers are NOT worth it! 🥲

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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Day 6 of the United States of Science Challenge 😮‍💨 9 states remain. FL 59 NY 32 TX 44 GA 28 IL 20 VA 15 MI 20 CT 9 IN 8 Fill some bubbles to help our organization connect scientists with classrooms, scout troops, libraries and more. $10 donations fill bubbles! givebutter.com/USS2026

givebutter.com

United States of Science 2026

By Skype a Scientist

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