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CJ Sands

@cjsands.bsky.social
543 followers 1.2K following 121 posts

Pollination ecologist and UVM graduate student researching native bees in agroecological landscapes, with a passion for conservation, regenerative food systems, and knowledge sharing.

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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
First Bald Eagle sighting in years 🦅
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
Super rare that I Merlin picks up not one but two birds to add to my life list. Horned Lark and Purple Finch feels like the name of secret agents, maybe even time travelers who are sworn enemies with just a wisp of intimacy between them.
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
If my research idea comes to fruition, books on seeds will be joining the books on bees on my shelf. 🤓 Not quite a seed book, but I hear amazing things about Botany of Empire.
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
My harvest of dragon tongue beans to replant next year. I started off with just 7 seeds that I brought up with me from Florida to Vermont, and after growing them out and saving the seeds I now have a couple hundred to give away. 💜
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
My okra harvest as of late. I think I’ve officially grown more okra than anything else.
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
Burlington is beautiful 😌
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
💚🧡
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
Special shout out to Southwestern Research Station in Portal, Arizona. Such a gorgeous place!
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 03/08/2025
Squash Bee Sunday 💛🖤🤎
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
The reaction of a Mimosa pusdica when I touch it 😍
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
I really do love how simple phone photography can be with its point, shoot, and crop aspects. As much as I would love an amazing DSLR, I’m really starting to just want an upgraded phone camera lens more. #bugsky
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
Started reading “Bite by Bite” by Aimee Nezhukumatathil, a book about that explores the way food and drink evoke our associations and remembrances. It is such a beautiful read and highly recommended. #booksky
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Lassioglossums always have a way of showing up and showing out whenever I want to take photos of bees. 🙂 #bugsky
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 13/07/2025
Lassioglossumagic 🐝
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
Ive gone from never being able to really take a good photo of these agapostemon to taking this amazing video. I love these flying gemstones. 💚🐝 #bugsky
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
I’ve never thought so much about a graphic novel after reading it as much as I’ve thought of this one. @igotkittypryde.bsky.social did such an amazing job with this.
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
This moment made my day 😌 #bugsky
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Presenting some research to the Vermont House Ag Committee tomorrow. Peep the tie 😎🐝
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
I’ve got some food systems reading to do in my near future! #booksky 📚
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
Little homesick for the natural beauty of Florida’s swamps, but I’m slowly adjusting to Vermont’s seemingly unending winter. Enjoy this photo I took last spring of the zebra longwing (Heliconius charitonius), Florida's official state butterfly.
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Picked up these two amazing books at the university library and they are such a pleasant read on snowy days like today. #booksky
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Enjoy this spider! One of the first insect photos I took here in VT over the summer. #invertebrates #bugsky
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
When I took this photo over the summer, I didn’t know what kind of bee this was, and completely misidentified it when I first saw it. Now I know it’s a Melissodes bimaculatus, the two-spotted longhorn bee and one of my favorites(they are all kinda my favorite) 😅 #gardensky #plantsky
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
Hoping one day to get a chance to see these Oak Ridge Lupine(Lupinus diffusus) again. 💙
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
Two summers ago I took this photo in my best friend’s front yard. She has a Dutchman’s Pipe Vine who’s flower looks like a portal to another world, it also hosts the Gold Rim Swallowtail (Battus polydamas). The two of them are said to have coevolved together before time immemorial.
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Took this photo at a farm called Sweetwater in Tampa. Vibes there are S-Tier! Syngamia florella, the orange-spotted flower moth Unlike many moths, Syngamia florella is diurnal, meaning it is active during the day, much like butterflies. This behavior is common in moths with bright warning colors.
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
The fiery skipper (Hylephila phyleus). Fiery skippers, along with most other species of skippers and skipperlings(love this name), can hold their wings in a "triangle" shape. This position is thought to better absorb the sun's rays, and rays from my heart because I love them.
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
I suspect that the nectar from porterweeds must be exceptionally good. Pollinators like this long tailed skipper(Urbanus proteus) often would pay me no mind when I filmed them up close with my phone.
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
Leptotes cassius, the Cassius Blue. When I captured this photo, I hadn’t yet realized that plant-pollinator interactions would become such a central focus in my life, but I vividly remember the pure joy of witnessing this moment and feeling the urge to share it with all my farm friends. 🦋
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Reminiscing about the time I planted some asters at a farm and caught a photo of a bloom visited by this scoliid wasp. I’ve read that Dielis plumipes perform a unique shimmering display by rapidly vibrating their wings, which reflects sunlight and may be used in thermoregulation or communication. 💟
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 11/01/2025
I probably won’t be able to start these two before the next semester starts, but I’ll definitely go through these two as slow reads throughout the next couple of months. #booksky
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
Still a long way away, but I’m ready for winter to be over. Im ready to plant all the wildflowers, see all the pollinators, and grow all the food. Let’s go already.
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 29/12/2024
My winter break of reading continues. This is such a gorgeous book inside and out. Highly recommend if you’re at all interested in native/wild bees. This book is pretty focused on the UK, but still full of great information. #booksky #gardening
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 24/12/2024
Your book is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever read @jarodkanderson.bsky.social ❤️
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Was just listening to your talk on Cultivating Backyard Habitat for Pollinators @dlnarango.bsky.social and just wanted to share with you my Atala pictures from last year when I was doing my undergrad at USF. We planted so many Coontie at the USF Botanical Gardens and they were super abundant. 😊
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
This book was constantly recommended so here I go!
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Have a little wasp Wednesday for your timeline 😊
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
Native bees are my jam, but the whole #Hymenoptera order is pretty amazing! Please enjoy this Dielis plumipes on a Climbing Aster. #nativeplants #bugsky
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
A year ago today was my first and last ever sighting of a Queen Butterfly. 😊
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
As much as I love photographing bees, butterflies are so much easier. Some gems from my time in Florida. #butterflies #butterfly #garden
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Anyone else have a relatively hard time capturing photos of agapostemon while they are foraging? It took me forever to snap a solid photo of one outside of a lab setting.
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
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CJ Sands @cjsands.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
First Blue Sky postings. I’m excited to have a place to talk about bees!
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