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Caroline VanSickle (she/her)

@cvansickle.bsky.social
2.2K followers 584 following 228 posts

Feminist, paleoanthropologist, anatomists, previously known as cvans. I write my own posts without AI and will do my best to not share AI content. My Website: carolinevansickle.com.

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Reposted by Caroline VanSickle (she/her)
Ellie Mae O'Hagan @elliemaeohagan.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I love the dedication in My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinhem
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
My colleague, Heather Garvin, and I both previously conducted research on the sex differences of #HomoNaledi, only for a recent study to show that all of the fossils were female. While we weren't involved with the new study, it has implications for our future research. www.dmu.edu/blog/2026/08...
dmu.edu
DMU Faculty Help Shape Understanding of Ancient Human Relatives | News | Des Moines University
Two Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences researchers are helping unravel one of the most intriguing mysteries in human evolution.
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Today in #WomensHealth: Often, ovarian cancer is actually fallopian tube cancer. Removing the tubes prevents the cancer and can be done with any abdominal surgery (including c-sections). Part of why we're bad at finding ovarian cancer early enough to treat is that we're looking in the wrong organ!
nytimes.com
There’s a Way to Prevent Ovarian Cancer. Few Know About It. (Gift Article)
The vast majority of cases begin in the fallopian tubes — and removing them can reduce the risk by nearly 80 percent.
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
I'm super excited to give this talk at my local public library tomorrow. In light of the news earlier this month, I'm going to focus on the wild story that is Homo naledi. #paleoanthropology #HomoNaledi #scicom #scicomm #HumanEvolution 🧪 waukee.librarycalendar.com/event/discov...
waukee.librarycalendar.com
Discoveries Unearthed From Ancient Human Bones | Waukee Public Library
How do scientists know when a fossil bone fragment belongs to an ancient human relative? What methods do they use to reconstruct not just anatomy, but behavior from incomplete skeletons? Join paleoant...
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Reposted by Caroline VanSickle (she/her)
Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 19/07/2026
Could Excel be conscious? We surveyed more than Jan 1 1900 people to find out.
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
I still ask strangers for help. 2004: Got lost in Kyoto with a paper map. A shop clerk who didn't speak English helped me find a stranger who did to get directions. 2024: Got lost in Addis Ababa with a phone. A local student helped me find my hotel. 100% recommend talking to strangers when lost!
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
If you ever wonder if you work in a low-diversity field, Google Image search your job title. Of the first 33 images returned for "paleoanthropologist", 2 are women, 3 are non-white, and 7 are Lee Berger (not surprising given his commitment to outreach). #Paleoanthropology we can surely do better!
Google image results for the word "paleoanthropologist". Many photos of white men holding fossils. Seven of the photos feature Lee Berger. Two feature women and 3 feature a non-white person. Others show fossils without a living person in the frame.
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
This is particularly concerning. For an academic to deliver a keynote presentation and be unable to answer questions because he's not actually familiar with the works he just discussed (recited?) – wow, just wow at how bad this is.
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Wild story. I'm curious if he was paid to be the keynote speaker and if the organizers knew he wouldn't be presenting his own work?
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Part of my job involves writing fair exam questions for medical students. I've completed multiple courses/workshops to make sure I'm effective at this aspect of my job. So it really annoys me when I take quizzes for required employee trainings that were written by people who lack this skill set.
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Reposted by Caroline VanSickle (she/her)
dell cameron @dell.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
NEW: Trump's gross Aliens.gov site claims to map where immigrants have been taken into custody, but it includes more 83 spots where Americans alone were arrested. Over 700 locations include citizen arrests. The counter is fake. The music was ripped. And Puerto Rico is listed as a foreign country.
wired.com
The White House’s Aliens.gov Site Brags That ICE Arrested More Than 700 US Citizens
The website, which compares human beings to extraterrestrials, touts arrest numbers from the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration crackdown. But some of its details are really out there.
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Reposted by Caroline VanSickle (she/her)
c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
The first cat to be cloned was a calico female named Rainbow (left). The clone, produced at Texas A&M University in 2001 was named "CC" for Carbon Copy or CopyCat (right). Notice something odd about the "identical copy"? Not very identical is she? But they *are confirmed* genetically identical.
An orange white and black calico cat named Rainbow greeting CC, who is in that late kitten stage, and is a tabby calico, no orange.  They sit on a conference table, and Rainbow looks like she's about to either groom or bite CC.
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Surprised to learn scientists can't agree on a definition of sex? Don't be! To be honest, we can't even agree on a definition of species. Many so-called natural categories are hard to define once we look at the evidence. Biology is too complex for simple definitions, which is a feature, not a bug.
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Reposted by Caroline VanSickle (she/her)
Jeremy Yoder says no war @jbyoder.org · 09/04/2026
"The fact that there is no current consensus of biological sex is not antithetical to science... However, the field urgently needs an ethical and reproducible approach for discussing sex" There is No Consensus on Biological Sex
buff.ly
There is No Consensus on Biological Sex
At this critical moment when misinformation about sex is being applied to policy globally, scientific clarification on the definition of biological sex is valuable. Here, we evaluate the primary…
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
My friend started an academic copyediting business! I can confirm that her attention to detail and formatting skills are phenomenal (high praise from me, I'm judgy). Contact her with drafts that need proofreading, copy editing, or formatting. She'll even fix your references! www.misfitediting.com
misfitediting.com
Misfit Editing
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
New at @anatrecord.bsky.social: Skeletal remodeling of the pelvis and the obstetric risks of advanced maternal age. We found no skeletal changes to explain higher c-section rates in so-called "geriatric" pregnancies. #obstetrics #pregnancy #TeamPelvis #ReproductiveHealth doi.org/10.1002/ar.7...
doi.org
Skeletal remodeling of the pelvis and the obstetric risks of advanced maternal age
Advanced maternal age pregnancies are associated with a higher rate of cesarean sections (c-sections). As surgical procedures, c-sections increase the risk of maternal morbidity and mortality. Some h...
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
FYI: #AABA2026 hashtag is slow (not updating?) this morning, but searching aaba2026 seems to find more posts.
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
#AABA2026 plenary speaker Pontzer showed graphs that explain why my metabolism was higher in high school (rude). Also showed that higher activity populations don't have higher metabolisms. Exercise may change basal metabolic rate (aerobic activity decreases BMR, weights increase BMR).
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Reposted by Caroline VanSickle (she/her)
Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 18/03/2026
The feed for the annual meeting of the American Association of Biological Anthropologists is live! bsky.app/profile/brid... LMK if there is a post that is missing that you think should be added, or unrelated posts that don't belong. #AABA2026 #HBA2026 @bioanth.org 🧪 #BioAnth #HumanEvolution
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Any other #AABA2026 attendees stuck on a plane at the Denver Airport because of an airport power outage? Gotta admit, this is a new one for me!
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Reposted by Caroline VanSickle (she/her)
NPR @npr.org · 05/02/2026
In South Africa, paleontology has been dominated by white people. Lazarus Kgasi is changing that dynamic — and coloring in the picture of the world our distant ancestors once inhabited. n.pr/49WF6w1
n.pr
How a Black fossil digger became a superstar in the very white world of paleontology
In South Africa, paleontology has been dominated by white people. Lazarus Kgasi is changing that dynamic — and coloring in the picture of the world our distant ancestors once inhabited.
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Gray of Gray's Anatomy died at age 34?? I need to learn more, but what a legacy. I always assumed he lived to old age and published a lot over a long career, thus the fame!
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
TIL that in APA7, your first in-text reference might have a "b" after the year (e.g., "(Berndt, 2004b)"). And that the new suggestion is to include more specific date info if available. Purdue OWL: Teaching me about citation styles since, uh, forever! owl.purdue.edu/owl/research...
Screenshot from the Purdue OWL APA 7 citation page on Reference List: Author/Authors (link: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_author_authors.html). 

Text reads: 

[Section Title] Two or More Works by the Same Author in the Same Year

[Section Text] If you are using more than one reference by the same author—or the same group of authors listed in the same order—published in the same year, first check to see if they have more specific dates ([noted in red font] this recommendation is new to APA 7). Works with only a year should be listed before those with a more specific date. List specific dates chronologically.  If two works have the same publication date, organize them in the reference list alphabetically by the title of the article or chapter. If references with the same date are identified as parts of a series (e.g. Part 1 and Part 2), list them in order of their place in the series. Then assign letter suffixes to the year. Refer to these sources in your essay as they appear in your reference list, e.g.: "Berndt (2004a) makes similar claims..."

Berndt, T. J. (2004a).  Children’s friendships: Shifts over a half-century in perspectives on their development and their effects.  Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 50(3), 206-223.

Berndt, T. J. (2004b).  Friendship and three A’s (aggression, adjustment, and attachment).  Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 88(1), 1-4.
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
I’ve been guilty of thinking I can project loudly enough. I’m grateful for the HoH folks who took the time to inform me that wasn’t enough. Always use the mic.
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
I started reading The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan & found myself impressed by this take on drawing in the forward by David Allen Sibley. I draw fossils (often poorly) to get to know the details of the bone fragment, so I agree that “drawing is really a different way of seeing”.
Screenshot of a page from the ebook of The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan.

The page starts with a drawing of a green bird on a branch, labeled “Anna's Hummingbird (female)”.

Under the image, text reads:
“Like most kids, I enjoyed drawing and I laid down enough "pencil miles" (a fun phrase I just learned in this book) to develop some skills at a young age. So by the time my own bird obsession started to take hold, drawing was a natural part of that. I consider drawing mostly a brain exercise. The hand that controls the pencil to make lines on paper is a small part of the whole process. You can learn how to draw, and then drawing anything becomes easier, but drawing is really a different way of seeing, converting something from three dimensions in the real world to lines on a two-dimensional sheet of paper.”

From the book’s forward, written by ornithologist David Allen Sibley.Screenshot of a page from the ebook of The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan.

The text reads: “Drawing something, like birds, actually depends more on your knowledge of the subject than on your drawing ability. And it is a deep and intangible sort of knowledge.
Imagine your very wise birding mentor saying, "Yes, it is black with a yellow head... but do you really know what that bird looks like?" Drawing requires you to absorb details and then to combine them into a simplified and unified whole. Watching birds for countless hours is the way to get to know them, and drawing is the test to demonstrate that knowledge. The drawing is, in a way, like discovering the birds anew, as they appear on your paper. It usually means testing lines and shapes, erasing, adding a curve, sharpening or softening an edge, working to find the details that re-create the essence of the bird in a drawing. And when that happens it feels like a small kernel of truth has been revealed.”

From the forward of the book, written by ornithologist David Allen Sibley.
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
Imagine how much writing I (or anyone) would get done with help like that! All it takes is being ok taking advantage of and disenfranchising half the population.
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
I like this assessment. I’ve not read Pratchett widely, but the books I have read all has surprisingly philosophical commentary tucked into what was otherwise a “fun fantasy”.
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
I consider myself a biological anthropologist who sometimes has to engage with evolutionary biologists. In EB, too often the conclusions are about how biology determines culture. In BA, we learn that culture & biology are interrelated, affecting each other but not determining (that’s too narrow).
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Reposted by Caroline VanSickle (she/her)
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 19/12/2025
I just wish someone would be honest and say “we are ending civilian science in favor of science that is focused on serving national security and war”
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Reposted by Caroline VanSickle (she/her)
Advances in Archaeological Practice @saa-aap.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
💫New research out now!💫 Hutson and colleagues demonstrate that men get hired as faculty in archaeology PhD programs more often than women, putting strain on women PhD mentors. And they have some suggestions about what to do about it, too. Read here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
Different Destinations: Clarifying and Addressing Pipeline Problems for Women in Academic Archaeology | Advances in Archaeological Practice | Cambridge Core
Different Destinations: Clarifying and Addressing Pipeline Problems for Women in Academic Archaeology
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Reposted by Caroline VanSickle (she/her)
Snitty @clofsnitville.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
Another story from my years as a manager: there was a period of time when my group of I think eight direct reports consisted entirely of women, and one day a man from a different group made a comment about how "people are wondering when Snitty is going to hire some men."
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
Will an anthropologist be able to identify your sex and gender from your bones 100 years from now? I sure hope so! Read my essay on the limited and limiting methods we currently have for sex estimation to learn where the science has room to improve. www.prosocial.world/posts/an-ant...
prosocial.world
An Anthropologist’s Perspective on Sex and Gender in the Skeleton
Anthropological methods show that skeletal sex is an estimate, not a certainty, revealing the limits of binary claims about human identity.
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
Some guy on the internet is apparently complaining about not getting hired because he’s a white dude. It’s like he doesn’t realize his position is “white guys should get unfair advantages because we’re better” — aka classic white supremacy. And he’s allegedly a historian! 🤦‍♀️ *
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
THIS!!!
Screenshot of quoted post with the following text emphatically circled in pink:

It is unethical to administer a placebo to infants instead of a vaccine that is known to work. 2/7.
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
In other work-related musings: I love it when my concern is not having enough to say in an article, only to find out I have too much to say. Future me will hate cutting this down, but right now, this draft is fun to write! Maybe I’ll find a way to save the cut text for a future piece.
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Reposted by Caroline VanSickle (she/her)
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 16/12/2025
…. I tried looking up what “Eastern Pacific“ means and our media stenography situation is such that they all reported that phrase without asking ANY questions
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
Last year around this time, I committed to taking two full weeks off at the end of the year. As the vacation days approach, I’m not contemplating “no deadlines December” for 2026, in which I avoid anything with a due date after Thanksgiving 2026. The name is a work in progress!
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Ray Pride @raypride.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Rob Reiner: “Silence in the face of authoritarianism is complicity. Speaking out is a patriotic act. Democracy doesn’t defend itself. It requires participation, vigilance, and courage from ordinary people."
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Princess Vimentin PhD | Cancer Biologist @princess-vimentin.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
🧪This is how global collaboration of science is supposed to work. Via @sciencestories.bsky.social on IG
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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
"I build the logistics that allow science to happen. I build the trust that allows people to participate. I build the culture that allows others to flourish. For years, I chased independence; now I understand that interdependence is the true engine of discovery." 🧪
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
I would totally read a popular science article digging into how LLMs expose the intersection of language and culture that we typically take for granted. What does that intersection say about society today? How are LLMs changing society by changing language and culture?
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Reposted by Caroline VanSickle (she/her)
UVicAnthro @uvicanthro.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
UVic Anthropology's April Nowell was interviewed for this story on Neanderthals making fire using pyrite in the UK 400,000 yrs ago: www.livescience.com/archaeology/... @uvic.ca @uvicsocialsciences.bsky.social #anthropology #Neanderthals
livescience.com
'It is the most exciting discovery in my 40-year career': Archaeologists uncover evidence that Neanderthals made fire 400,000 years ago in England
Archaeologists have found the earliest evidence yet of fire technology — and it was created by Neanderthals in England more than 400,000 years ago.
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
I often wonder how LLM usage will change human language usage (picturing future-speak from Idiocracy and shuddering). The idea that poor communicators with other humans will also be poor communicators with LLMs is amazing insight. We need more content like this.
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
I hear the US state dept has switched #fonts from #Calibri to #TimesNewRoman, because the former was chosen for better accessibility. Hate to break it to you, but TNR was similarly developed to be accessible and underwent medical testing before being widely adopted: www.nypl.org/blog/2014/12...
nypl.org
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Stephen Monteith, World's Greatest Secret Author @stephens.website · 07/11/2025
"All right, class, who knows what Watson and Crick discovered?" "Rosalind Franklin's notes." "That's correct."
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MU-Peter Shimon 🀄 @mu-peter.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Happy #NationalChocolateDay! 🍫 “A scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, he’s one who asks the right questions.” 🧪 – Claude Lévi-Strauss
Chocolate Flow Chart
Did you do science today?
Was the science good?
You deserve chocolate
EAT CHOCOLATE
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Reposted by Caroline VanSickle (she/her)
tdcapellini.bsky.social @tdcapellini.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Please share/repost widely: I have a postdoc position available. Please see ad below and reach out to apply. academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/15449
academicpositions.harvard.edu
Postdoctoral Fellow in the Capellini Laboratory of Developmental and Evolutionary Genetics
The Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Evolutionary and Developmental Genetics Laboratory of Dr. Terence D. Capellini....
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Caroline VanSickle (she/her) @cvansickle.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Look at all these “tools” that aren’t tools! Raymond Dart’s ostedontokeratic tool culture, on display at the Evolutionary Sciences Institute at Wits University. #paleoanthropology #archaeology
Photo of a wooden display case with a glass top. Inside, the shelf is lined in red fabric. There are multiple broken animal bones and antlers arranged in four rows. In the middle of the display is a white card that reads “Raymond Dart’s Osteodontokeratic Culture of Australopithecus africanus (Makapansgat Grey Breccia)”. There is a second card in the top left of the display that isn’t readable but has black ink like drawings of what an Australopithecus using tools might look like. I don’t recall the exact text, but the card mentions that Dart’s ideas about early tool use inspired the famous hominin scene in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. The photo has a warm filter to make up for the harsh overhead fluorescent lights. Taken at the Evolutionary Science Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand.
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Dr. Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒 @marspidermonkey.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
As a primatologist, Jane Goodall was a huge inspiration to me. I admired the way she describes chimpanzee behavior with such detail and empathy, and she’s inspired so many people and advocated for chimpanzee conservation and welfare. However, I'm dismayed at what her narrative leaves out (1/10)
Photo of Jane Goodall in the center, signing a book, with three women standing slightly hunched behind her. A very young Michelle is to the right, smiling.
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