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Dr Emma Rehn

@bluerehn.bsky.social
1.2K followers 264 following 189 posts

Science illustrator | Research communicator for TropWATER | Palaeoenviro scientist | Archaeologist | Crafter Based in Far North Queensland, Australia Portfolio: emmarehn.com

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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Time to rest (begrudgingly) #comic #cartoon
A four-panel comic showing two women talking to each other (Mum in purple on the left, and Emma in green on the right). Mum asks "How're you doing after your conference? Are you exhausted?" with a hand on Emma's shoulder. Emma happily replied "I feel great! I know I've been really fatigued lately, but maybe that's finally over!". In the third panel, Emma stares into the distance and says "No, wait... there it is. I'm twice as tired as before" followed by sinking below the frame in the final panel, holding Mum's arm for support and saying "I'll just lie here."
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I had an absolute blast this week presenting, attending, and helping organise this year's Australian Science Communicators conference! I got to meet so many amazing people, who repeatedly reminded me to acknowledge achievements (& take a compliment) before moving onto whatever's next #SciComm
A person holding a microphone standing in front of a projected slide about "Why cartoon science?"Five women seated in a line presenting a panel discussionA person standing beside a pull-up banner for the Australian Science CommunicatorsAn audience seated in a large room having discussions while writing or drawing on paper
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The Aus Science Communicators conference is next week! You can join us online for great talks from the main room, including an intro to #SciComm on day 1 Get your tickets: www.asc.asn.au/eventdetails... Check out the program: conferenceasc.asn.au/program
A graphic announcing "virtual tickets now available" for the 15th national conference for the Australian Science Communicators, 22-23 September 2026, Brisbane, Australia
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
This National Science Week, make your own coral ball! All you need is a crochet hook, yarn, and inner calm 🪸 🧵 Check out the many great intro videos available on YouTube for basics like how to hold the hook #crochet #coral #crochetpattern #NationalScienceWeek
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Hooray, it's #Bearcam season again! www.youtube.com/live/J7ZrIDv...
youtube.com
LIVE Brooks Falls - Katmai National Park, Alaska 2026 | explore.org
YouTube video by Explore Live Nature Cams
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Attention Aussie trivia fans! I'm running an online science trivia night this Friday for the ASC Regional & Remote Branch - come have some fun and win prizes! Rego is free for @auscicomm.bsky.social members, $5 for everyone else Register here: www.asc.asn.au/eventdetails...
A banner image advertising and online science trivia night on Friday 31 July, 7:30pm AEST, hosted by the Australian Science Communicators Regional & Remote Branch, with a cartoon of various science-related objects flying out of a glowing laptop screen
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
How old are Victoria's Twelve Apostles? This illustration accompanies a featured research story chronicling the formation history of the Twelve Apostles sea stacks and coastline, for the latest issue of The Australian Geologist magazine. Super interesting, and a fun one to draw! #sciart #geology
A digital illustration of a rocky sea stack and adjacent coastline with overlaid text showing the age of each rock layer (from 14.1 million years ago through to 5 million years ago) and the incoming ocean tide (20,000 years ago)
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Petra Korlević @petrathepostdoc.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
important!
silly digital #Sciart doodle of a great horned owl with very tall V shaped ears and the text around saying PLUMICORN APPRECIATOR
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
What do 60,000 years of Australia's history look like scaled down to a clock? This new teaching resource developed by @georgiastannard.bsky.social, visuals by me, introduces some of what we know of this massive Deep Time story + how we know (archaeology!) #SciArt m.youtube.com/watch?v=h-q4...
m.youtube.com
Investigating Australian deep time: scale
YouTube video by The Australian Archaeological Association
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Ainsley S @americanbeetles.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
joyous belated #makeaterriblecomicday, I made several terrible comics about a community of steppe nomads
two steppe dudes are announcing their incredible new technology to a band of Yamnaya-adjacent steppe people. The technology is: Horse.
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CosmicRami 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @rami.spaceaustralia.com · 17/05/2026
Today is #IDAHOBIT (International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia). It marks the day in 1990 that homosexuality was removed from the WHO Classification of Diseases. Celebrate queer friends, and challenge discrimination. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interna... 📸 Minus18
A ribbon in rainbow pride colours. Poster says May 17 is the international day against LGBTQIA+ discrimination
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
This is the project I'm most proud of so far this year: Linkin Park cushion Made as a gift, I designed the pixel art pattern and used my own variation of the corner-to-corner method to make the squares smaller Approx 60x60cm, with a progress photo for scale #CraftSky #crochet
A crocheted corner-to-corner cushion of the album cover for Meteora by Linkin Park, in shades of black, brown, gold, and white, laid out on a black couchA progress photo of a crocheted corner-to-corner cushion of the album cover for Meteora by Linkin Park, in shades of black, brown, gold, and white, laid out on a black couch with a brown and white Border Collie resting beside it just barely visible
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
My latest illustration for the Geological Society of Australia's magazine, for a special issue on the recent Aus Earth Sciences Convention From your conference experiences, who am I missing? #AcademicSky 🐡
A single frame comic titled "A Spotter's Guide to Conference Goers" showing a crowded room of conference attendees. Labels above the crowd identify "The Procrastinator" (assuring someone they'll get their slides done before their session this afternoon), "The (Over-)prepared" (offering someone their slides on a USB, or email attachment, or link), "The Session Jumper" (sprinting across the room), "The Social Butterfly" (looking through a handful of business cards to give someone), "The Distinguished Professor" (wearing a graphic art tshirt and Crocs), and "The Wrong Building" (carrying a briefcase and stethoscope and sounding surprised to be at an Earth sciences convention)
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Delighted to find out the S.A. Museum has added the "PLEASE TOUCH" sign I hoped for, so visitors to the Waterhouse exhibition know Chronovarium is interactive! (Among the "do not touch" signs) Also delighted to find out about it because some of my family visited the exhibition today ❤️ 🐡
A touch screen mounted on a wall showing an interactive artwork called Chronovarium. A sign above the screen reads "This is an interactive artwork, please touch". A sign on the left lists the creators and more about the artwork
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
I've recently been experimenting with designing my own crochet patterns for friends' baby gifts, after asking them to pick an animal 🧶 These two offered a chance to modify and refine! Late last year I made the duck 🦆 and today the goose went to its new home 🪿 #crochet #crafting
A crocheted duck in autumnal colours with a brown beak, facing left and held aloft in front of a plain cream wall A crocheted white goose with orange beak and legs and a purple bow around its neck, facing right, held aloft in front of a plain cream wall
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Echo @echo262.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
I don’t know who needs to hear this but it’s okay to have a special interest or hobby that doesn’t have a bigger purpose than making you happy. If it does not make you happy it’s ok to stop. It’s all learning even learning you didn’t actually want to do that thing in the first place.
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
I still draw comics sometimes - this one's for @cosmicpudding.bsky.social and @elizabethtasker.bsky.social, inspired by an opinion piece on making AI assistants more useful (by watching you work)
A four panel comic showing a person working at a laptop and a blue figure labelled 'AI' leaning over their shoulder. The first three panels are silent. In the fourth, the AI figure comments 'Have you considered using Pivot-' which the person angrily interrupts with 'No! Go away!!'
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
I finally created the sequels to this after being enlightened in the replies - here's anteater-isation for @obeymybrain.bsky.social and limpetisation for @limpetnerd.eurosky.social! Both are also now on Threadless 🐜 bluerehn.threadless.com #SciArt #evolution
White block letters on a brown background that read 'ALL ROADS LEAD TO ANTEATER' with an echidna atop the last word, tongue outWhite outline block letters on a teal background that read 'ALL ROADS LEAD TO LIMPET' with a limpet shell atop the last word
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renée 🌊🌈🍀 @gelatobear.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
just some stuff in the water 🦀🐚🌿 #art
An illustration showing tiny nautical creatures, like sea stars, crabs, shrimps, mollusks, seashells, and more!
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Thrilled to announce that Chronovarium, my collab with @nelliepease.bsky.social, is shortlisted for the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize! Go on a deep time journey - make choices to shape your own mini ecosystem and see the fossil traces left behind at chronovarium.com #sciart #palaeoecology
A digital illustration of three glass bowls containing miniature ecosystems - from front to back: a rainforest, a coral reef, and a coastal wetlandGreen text on a blue background. Text reads: Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize 10 April - 19 July 2026. Logos below the text are for the Government of South Australia and the South Australian Museum
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
QRP with your skull art
A digital drawing of a human skull and neck viewed from side-on (facing left) with a glowing white spike piercing through the eye socket and emerging from the base of the skull
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Are you a SciCommer in Aus? Come to @auscicomm.bsky.social's first networking event for the year! I'm running the online edition for our new Regional & Remote branch - come chat, share your experiences, and consider joining the ASC! Register for free: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
White text on a blue box over a blurred photo. Text reads: Australian Science Communicators Regional and Remote Branch Free online networking event Everyone Everywhere All At Once. Wednesday 4 March 4:30pm AEST / 5:30pm AEDT
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AAAAHH-lex Plante 🐀👑 @aplante.com · 11/02/2026
it is genuinely a crushing tragedy that i cannot hug my besties every day. i think sadly about it all the time.
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
Nevermind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college[/uni]: Celtic archaeology English Romantic literature Effective drawing Evolution of the Earth Archaeology of the ancient Maya
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Daniel Machacek @danielmachacek.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
21 years ago, humanity landed on Saturn's moon Titan.
Surface of Titan from Huygens probe.
Image shows terrain similar to dry riverbed covered by pebbles.

Credit: ESA / NASA / JPL / University of Arizona / Daniel Macháček.
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Looking for some nerdy merch? My artwork is now on Threadless! I'll be gradually adding more designs (and could be open to suggestions for science topics you'd like to see 👀) bluerehn.threadless.com #SciArt #merch
A shiny blue badge showing cartoon seashells and the words "SHELL YEAH"A black t-shirt with a white design that reads "All Roads Lead to Crab" with a cartoon crab atop the last wordA cream-coloured tote bag printed with a cartoon owl wearing glasses and reading a book, beside text that reads "berd"A black notebook cover showing a line of four cartoon paper stars in the colours of the asexual flag (black, grey, white, and purple)
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Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Sometimes all you can do is make the world 0.0000000000001% less awful by being a good person and it feels very meaningless but it’s also the only thing that really matters
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
Evolution loves a crab - they've independently evolved so many times there's even a word for it (carcinisation) 🦀 #SciArt #crab #carcinisation #marinebiology
White block letters on a blue background that read "All Roads Lead to Crab" with a crab standing atop the last word, claws raised
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
I just heard there's a #birbfest going on, so the berds' time is now! #birbfest2025 #sciart
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
Bird nerd (berd) - one for the bird enthusiasts #digitalart #birdnerd #birding #ornithology
A digital drawing of a barking owl wearing glasses and reading a book titled 'the ultimate BIRD GUIDE' beside text that reads 'berd'
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
True story: if your dog is wearing a t-shirt, that's a human (confirmed by AI) Thanks to my workmate Caitlin for letting me use her screenshot! #comic #AI (but not drawn by AI)
A three-panel comic. The first panel shows Plato saying "The definition of a human? A featherless biped." The second panel shows a robot labelled "A.I." saying "Okay, got it!" The third panel shows the A.I. robot showing an unimpressed Plato a screenshot of a security camera view of a dog in a t-shirt labelled "5:20pm Human" and declaring "Behold - a human!"
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
Illustrating water quality challenges - this is some of my recent work showing how fire, roads & tracks, and eroding gullies can impact water quality (& how a gully can be repaired!) These were created for my work with TropWATER & their collab with the Cape York Water Quality Partnership #SciArt
A digital illustration of a wooded hilly landscape with a river running through the middle. On the left, a burn from earlier in the dry season has left trees alive and is not eroding. On the right, a hot late dry season burn has charred the landscape, killing trees and eroding charcoal and soil into the river
A digital illustration showing a creek crossing a dirt road, with rain eroding channels into the road, forming a downstream gully and releasing soil in to the river belowA two-panel illustration showing an eroded alluvial gully releasing dirty water and a remediated gully, covered in vegetation with a rock chute to channel the water flow
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
Introducing Deep Time Detectives! 🔎 Deep Time Detectives is an educational resource developed by CABAH on Australia's deep history, featuring a series of animated videos. I drew a collection of original illustrations and animated elements for these videos #SciComm emmarehn.com/portfolio/de...
A collection of graphics centred on an anthropomorphised wombat in a waistcoat, holding a magnifying glass and pocket watch, next to the text "Deep Time Detectives". The surrounding graphics include a gumtree flower, a wallaby skull, a tree, a pollen grain, a quoll, a charcoal particle, grasses, footprints, fire, and a potoroo.
An animated GIF of a cartoon wallaby eating leaves off a small tree saplingA wide image showing an illustrated landscape, transiting from open grassland with scattered trees on the left through to increasingly closed woodland with minimal grass and more dense shrubs
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Katria Raden @katriaraden.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
I have some exciting news to share! A bunch of friends (and amazing artists) and I are hosting an art challenge this August 🌻 We put together a fun and chill prompt list and hope you’ll join us on this adventure hehe More below 🐥
Digital illustration of a blond girl with her hair in braids, looking through binoculars at a starling on the left, with one foot on a tree stump. Between them is text:

August Adventures

1-7 august
Bloom+Journey
8-14 august
Meadow+Rain
15-21 august
Ancient+Trinkets
22-28 august
Sprout+Magic
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
My dog definitely plays favourites 🐾 #comic #BorderCollie
A three-panel comic. The first panel shows a guy opening a door, smiling and saying "Hey, Lucy!" A label points to him that reads 'brother'. The second panel shows him leaning forward to a chocolate and white Border Collie moving towards him, as he says "Did you miss-" The final, double-width panel shows the dog rushing past him to wag her tail at a woman walking through the door behind him, labelled 'sister-in-law'. He says "...me?" and she says "Hi, Luce!"
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
Live-sketches from COCE 2025 🌱 This week, I attended & presented online as part of the Conference on Communication and Environment There were so many great sessions & discussions - I drew these live-sketches during all of the hybrid and virtual sessions I attended! #scicomm #sciart #livesketch
A collection of 16 digital sketches on a white background, summarising sessions from an environmental communication conference featuring plants, animals, and people.
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
I was recently commissioned to create two illustrations for The Australian Geologist, the quarterly magazine of the Geological Society of Australia One highlights featured research, the other is just for fun! Read the TAG June issue here: issuu.com/gsaustralia/... #geology #sciart #scicomm
A cartoon showing hands holding a phone displaying an app titled "relative dating", subtitled "Find your fossil assemblage". The app shows a fossil fish, fern, and three-toed footprint captioned "Upper Jurassic 161.5 - 143.1 Ma". Buttons below the caption read "Not for me" and "It's a match!"A drawing of a top-down view of a landscape divided into two vertical panels, with a large, three-toed footprint in the centre shared across both views. The left panel shows a sandy floodplain with bushes, and the receding foot that created the footprint. The right panel shows seawater lapping and molluscs growing in and around the fossil footprint, with running shoes and a person holding a camera to take a photo of the footprint, with a scale bar beside it
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
New paper for the palaeofire fans! Presenting the SahulCHAR collection, containing 687 sedimentary charcoal records from across Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand 🔥 Read it open access: doi.org/10.5194/essd... This is the product of my final postdoc - thanks to all who contributed their data!
A graphical abstract for the OCTOPUS SahulCHAR collection showing a map of Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand with red dots for data points. Text on the right of the image presents key statistics: 425 locations, 531 cores, 687 char records, 23 contributors
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
Happy National Archaeology Week! This year's craft in celebration of Archaeology Week is little clay pendants - the scale bar is 4cm #2025NAW #archaeology #craft
A photograph of four clay pendants of a trowel, an amphora, a bivalve shell half, and a colour scale bar, each attached to loops of black cord
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Applications close this Sunday for this year's ABC TOP 5 media residency! If you're an Australian ECR with an interest in boosting your comms skills, I recommend applying - I'm happy to answer questions as a 2022 awardee Here's the link to the Science stream (Humanities & Arts also open) #scicomm
abc.net.au
ABC TOP 5 Media Residency Program — SCIENCE - ABC listen
The ABC TOP 5 Science is a two-week media residency presented by ABC Radio National in partnership with the Australian National University.
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
Everyone please go have fun scribbling, painting, drawing, and otherwise finding joy in making art 🎨 #WorldArtDay #Artsky
Drawings of art supplies around the text "Happy World Art Day" on a multicolour painted background
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Happy Pi Day! 🥧 This is my first time making pies, so I went for mini ones to share at work
A photograph of a dozen mini apple pies on baking paper
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Happy Lucy day, everyone 🐾
A photograph of a brown and white Border Collie smiling at the camera, laying on a footpath in the centre of a chalk circle in rainbow colours. Chalk writing on the right says "Happy 11th birthday Lucy!"
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Today is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science! 🧪 To celebrate at my work, I asked some of the brilliant researchers I work with about their experiences in science - and their passion for it really shines through #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience
tropwater.com
Celebrating the work of women in science
To celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11 February), we’re highlighting some of the many women doing amazing work with TropWATER across freshwater and marine sciences. Read ...
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Thesiswhisperer @thesiswhisperer.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Boredom scrolling turning into doom scrolling by accident? Try WikiTok! Presents random wiki articles in addictive scrolling format! wikitok.vercel.app
wikitok.vercel.app
WikiTok
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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 04/02/2025
Stromatolites xkcd.com/3046
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Like Micha, I was lucky enough to receive an AINSE PGRA during my PhD, and I second Micha's recommendation to apply! A great opportunity for Aus/NZ PhD students who could benefit from using ANSTO facilities for their research, such as radiocarbon and lead-210 dating labs #AcademicSky
ainse.edu.au
Postgraduate Research Award
The AINSE Postgraduate Research Award (PGRA) consists of a A$9,000 per annum stipend (increased as of 1st July 2023) given to students studying their Ph.D. at an AINSE Member University.
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Dr Emma Rehn @bluerehn.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
This week, I'm celebrating reaching 1k followers! 🎉 If you follow me: comment with a few words about your research/area of expertise and some things you enjoy - and I'll sketch a little cartoon for you
A cartoon of a jumping spider in a white outfit, striking a pose on a colourful glowing dance floor in homage to John Travolta in Saturday Night Live
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Elizabeth Tasker @elizabethtasker.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
My favourite group in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD are kicking off their Bluesky account properly, with trials and tribulations of experimenting with tech for successful online meetings, events and collabs. Now more than ever, we need to be together, even when we’re apart 🌏.
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