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Ceci Vollbrecht

@cvollbrecht.bsky.social
1.5K followers 1.4K following 76 posts

Assistant physical chemistry prof at Kalamazoo College. Advocate for public engagement with science. When not scienc-ing, outside enjoying the sunshine. Previously at UW-Madison. ceciliavollbrecht.wixsite.com/mysite

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Reposted by Ceci Vollbrecht
Josh Eyler @josheyler.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Excited to team up with these amazing folks to talk about the moral, ethical, and pedagogical reasons to resist the use of AI in our classrooms. You can register here: olemiss.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Announcing a live webinar on Resisting the Use of AI in Education: Taking a Stand for Our Students and Our Colleagues. Event takes place on October 13, 2026, at 1:00 pm ET. Speakers are Cate Denial (University of Minnesota Rochester), Joshua Eyler (University of Mississippi), Kevin Gannon (Queens University Charlotte), and Liz Norell (University of Mississippi).
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Ceci Vollbrecht @cvollbrecht.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
My first paper as a faculty member! Was a lot of fun working w/Tom Kuntzleman, Dean Campbell, & James Hurst on a new oscillating rxn for students to use in lab. You can see, hear, & measure the oscillations, which my students loved! Let me know if you need a PDF copy! pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
pubs.acs.org
Experimental Observation and Modeling of Potential Oscillations on Iron Electrodes
A comprehensive laboratory exercise is described whereby students measure oscillations in electric potential between iron and carbon electrodes immersed in an acidic solution of hydrogen peroxide. The...
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Ceci Vollbrecht @cvollbrecht.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Thrilled to have receive this fellowship to help add new skills to the chemistry curriculum that will help my students become better scientists! And thanks to the college for highlighting it! www.kzoo.edu/news/faculty...
kzoo.edu
That Computes: Faculty Member's Fellowship to Benefit Students
Cecilia Vollbrecht is one of just 10 faculty members from around the country to earn a fellowship that will help students learn new skills.
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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
I gotta say I find a lot of AI discourse around higher ed very confusing. "if ChatGPT can write your essays is college even worth it?" did people think math teachers were assigning problem sets because *they* couldn't figure out the answers?
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Ceci Vollbrecht @cvollbrecht.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
I am happy and tired after an awesome week of learning with the MolSSI Act-CMS group. And I regret nothing 🤣
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Marie van Staveren @chemdrv.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
Lesson learned from the MolSSI ACT-CMS workshop: If @cvollbrecht.bsky.social invites you to the hotel lobby for an evening 'work' session after dinner, don't bother bringing your laptop and be ready to be up past your bedtime
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Nelson Flores @nelsonlflores.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Two possible reasons for this are: 1.) Women, POC and/or disabled people are more likely to do equity oriented work 2.) Women, POC and/or disabled people have been marked as DEI regardless of what they do The government will try to point to the former reason when it is in reality the latter
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Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
📣🧪 $25k grants for those who: 1. are working on research on STEM and education (including AI and CS, graduate education and MSIs, and scholarship that aims to reduce inequality), and 2. have had a recently terminated or cancelled grant from NSF. Early-career scholars prioritized
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Ceci Vollbrecht @cvollbrecht.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
A lot is wrong in the world, but a student told me they look forward to office hours every week and I'm holding that close for the day.
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Reposted by Ceci Vollbrecht
Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 29/04/2025
This is a new image from #JWST. The bright points with spikes are stars in the Milky Way. Everything else is a galaxy. Everything. Else. Is. A. Galaxy.
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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
It's really ok to say "I am not well-informed enough about this news item that people are discussing to feel like my opinion will contribute meaningfully to the discussion, and therefore I will choose to say nothing."
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Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · 15/04/2025
Students often talk with friends & fam about climate, @lizbarnes.bsky.social + colleagues find. But they tend to go heavy on the stats & facts, and don't know how to bring up solutions. They rarely learn how to have effective conversations, and would love training & practice. Well, guess what! 🧵
lifescied.org
Undergraduate Biology Students’ Climate Change Communication Experiences Indicate a Need for Discipline-Based Education Research on Science Communication Education about Culturally Controversial Scien...
Science communication is a key skill for undergraduates, but little research explores how biology students communicate about societally important, yet controversial topics like climate change. In this...
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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
If you visit the Upper Peninsula of Michigan & go to the shores of Lake Superior at night, be sure to bring a long-wave UV light source so you can hunt for fluorescent Yooper Stones. "Yooper" here is a play on 'U.P.' (Upper Peninsula), but they're rocks that contain a fluorescent mineral, sodalite.
Five glowing stones are stacked in a cairn orientation on a rocky beach with water and a sunset in the distance.  They rocks are of various colors: the glowing ones are blueish, but with a yellow-orange glow.
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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Hi all, I'm hiring a junior specialist/research technician for my lab at UCSC. An ideal applicant would be an undergraduate who would like more research experience before applying for grad school but all are welcome to apply 🧪 recruit.ucsc.edu/JPF01882
recruit.ucsc.edu
Bhalla Lab - Research Specialist (Junior Specialist)
University of California, Santa Cruz is hiring. Apply now!
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Drug Monkey @drugmonkey.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
For any REI members who may not realize there is a Board election, or that it is contentious, see this. I ended up supporting one and not supporting the other two. do your research, make your call and VOTE.
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Liz Neeley @lizneeley.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Does anyone have a running list of universities that have paused or slashed graduate admissions? We’ll add it to ours if it doesn’t exist
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Dr. Robin Bond, biogeochemist at a PUI 🧪 @diygeochemist.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Hey folks-- If you're a recent (or soon-to-be) analytical chem PhD, or if you know of one... We're hiring a 1-year VAP as sabbatical replacement. We don't do a national search for 1-year positions; it's completely word of mouth. DM me if you want details. #ChemSky
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Heather Thomas @heatherthomasaf.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
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Cooper Battle @chbattle.com · 05/02/2025
Extremely disappointed to see HHMI decide to kill their Inclusive Excellence program, including terminating the current IE3 awards to over a hundred institutions effective this year in the middle of a 6-year grant. I was hoping HHMI (and other private funders) would continue to lead the way.
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Ceci Vollbrecht @cvollbrecht.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Way too much going on in the world. So here’s a #funnyfriday from our dept hallway where we put up a new chemistry joke each week. And yes there is a backstory to the crepe paper horse
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Ceci Vollbrecht @cvollbrecht.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Another day of checking the news post-coffee and wanting to scream.
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Aaron - Thorgi's Haunted Arcade @thorgisarcade.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
I used to work for an elected official as the person who answered their emails. I can tell you from personal experience, if even twenty or thirty people all call an official in a day, they start panicking. This stuff does help.
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Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
What can you do? Talk loudly about what government actually does for you. Call your reps and tell them to protect federal research and to make government work for all Americans. Write op-eds. Talk about the medical research that saved your life. Share your stories. Help people make the connections.
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Ellen Roche @ellroche.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Fellow scientists, please consider speaking w/ media about what this means for "regular Americans." The link below is to contact a reporter who's collecting stories about the unfolding NIH situation - pls share anonymously or on record. @anniewaldman.bsky.social www.propublica.org/people/annie...
propublica.org
Annie Waldman
ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.
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Jenny Yang @chemjen.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Saw people posting on this and was hoping they were isolated incidents… but nope, it’s real and it’s bad www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Trump hits NIH with ‘devastating’ freezes on meetings, travel, communications, and hiring
Researchers facing
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Ceci Vollbrecht @cvollbrecht.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Day 5 of a 3 day weekend. And I don't teach on Thursdays...
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Renee Strnad @rlstrnad.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
Above a transgender flag in the shape of a heart (light blue, pink, and white stripes) are the words “your validity is not dictated by an executive order”. The graphic is attributed to @enbydelia
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Ceci Vollbrecht @cvollbrecht.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
Local government and elections have a lot of power on communities….just another reminder
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Ceci Vollbrecht @cvollbrecht.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Haven’t had a coffee shop workday in a while and it’s bringing me a lot of joy and productivity this morning. Most impressive is maybe the fact that I even had a morning without meetings.
Latte in a reusable mug on a wooden table with a laptop in the background
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
I am extremely excited to announce that for the first time ever, Skype a Scientist is offering mini-grants to support IRL science communication!! Communicating science out in our communities is critical. We want to enable others to get their projects off the ground! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com
SCIENCE IRL: Community SciComm mini-grant
Skype a Scientist is offering $300-1,000 mini-grants to support boots-on-the-ground science communication. The Science IRL mini-grants will support projects that put either 1) important science messa...
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André K. Isaacs @drdre4000.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
Happy to announce I will be guest editing a special issue highlight PUI research! Please share axial.acs.org/cross-discip...
axial.acs.org
Call For Papers: Undergraduate Research as the Stimulus for Scientific Progress in the USA | ACS Publications Chemistry Blog
This Special Issue will highlight the significant research activities at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) in the United States and their unique focus on fostering student engagement in STEM...
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Ceci Vollbrecht @cvollbrecht.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
My partner (a biologist) just asked me (the chemist) if it was cooler to root for a "really smart bird or an alloy" and we are now rooting for different teams in this football game (which neither of us had strong opinions on until 5 minutes ago).
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Ceci Vollbrecht @cvollbrecht.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
I have my first students graduating (all undergrads) from my lab this year. I'm trying to think of some fun graduation traditions for the lab! What are everyone's favorite traditions they have/have seen?
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BCCE 2026 @bcce2026.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
It's not to early to start thinking about how you will contribute to #BCCE2026! We have six #forward looking Conference Contexts around which programming will focus. What symposia would you like to see associated with these Contexts? #chemistry #chemsky #ChemEd #ChemEdResearch
To look toward what we imagine for the future of Chemistry Education, we must simultaneously reflect back and learn from the past. These 2026 BCCE Conference Contexts are areas where Chemistry Education has made important contributions and has the potential to grow and innovate. The 2026 BCCE will invite submission of program proposals that contribute to at least one of these Conference Contexts.
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Ceci Vollbrecht @cvollbrecht.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
The meeting you didn't realize you were stressed about til it was over is either the best or worse kind of stress. Like no wonder I couldn't focus all morning even though I told myself I wasn't worried. Verdict is still out. But I am glad it is over
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OChemistree Competition @ochemistree.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
We have winners! Well done everyone & thank you for sharing your festival creations! There were many great ideas this year for the theme of "Complex Molecules" Check them out in the link here, and follow the hashtag #Chemistree and #OChemistree ochemistree.wordpress.com/2024/12/18/o...
ochemistree.wordpress.com
OChemistree Winners 2024
Well done to everyone who entered this year. We had plenty of Chemistree’s to choose from once again! Thank you for sharing your chemistree creations with us, it always brightens up our Christmas t…
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Shannon Watts @shannonrwatts.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
"Stop asking why schools don't have bulletproof glass and metal detectors at all the doors. Ask why schools have to. That's the question that needs to be asked,” Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes
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Rike Stelkens @stelkens.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
Posting this cartoon every once in a while for anyone struggling with imposter syndrome. I think it's a really helpful perspective. I don't know who originally made this, please add a link if you do. 🧪
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Ceci Vollbrecht @cvollbrecht.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
Note of appreciation for the people that don't wait until the first week of the term to schedule our weekly meetings with >5 people. Hard enough to find a time even before everyone has office hours and other meetings scheduled in.
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Dr. Kat Napaaqtuk❄️ @napaaqtuk.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
I will never pass up posts about lab safety gone wrong, in part bc there are always more stories in the replies. 🧪
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Dakota McCoy, PhD @reallymccoy.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
New paper out! We show that heart cockles use bundled fiber optic cables to transmit light through "skylights" in their shell for their photosynthetic algae. The skylights filter out harmful UV radiation. These coral analogues are cool critters!! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Heart cockle shells transmit sunlight to photosymbiotic algae using bundled fiber optic cables and condensing lenses - Nature Communications
Some bivalves have evolved photosynthetic symbioses. Here, the authors show that heart cockles transmit light through their upper shell to internal photosynthetic symbionts, using mineral fiber optic ...
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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Science friends 🧪🌎🦑, @altmetric.com tracks Bluesky posts now! Quote or reply to this post with a link to the paper you’re best known for or most proud of, and a brief plain-language summary of what you found and why it matters! Let’s fill Bluesky with SCIENCE!
media.tenor.com
a man with glasses and suspenders is standing in front of a group of people and says science !!
ALT: a man with glasses and suspenders is standing in front of a group of people and says science !!
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Ceci Vollbrecht @cvollbrecht.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Discussion point that came up with a group of pchem instructors today but applies to a lot of educators. What exactly are we trying to teach when we say we are teaching problem solving? Thoughts?
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Ceci Vollbrecht @cvollbrecht.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
This is one of those weeks where I love the trimester system. (Our classes & finals wrapped up before Thanksgiving). Making note of this now to remember when we are still having classes in June. For now though, writing, emails, & deep thinking time on the couch at home with snow outside is so nice.
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Ferris Jabr @ferrisjabr.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
I was deeply disappointed by the lack of nature/science/climate/enviro on many major end-of-year book lists—so I decided to make my own! Introducing: ✨🎁📚 The 2024 Holiday Gift Guide to Nature & Science Books ✨🎁📚 Please share: Let's make this go viral in time for Black Friday / holiday shopping!
A collage of book covers of new nature & science books. Featured here are Atlas Obscura Wild Life, Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party, Every Living Thing, Alien Earths, Becoming Earth, and Deep WaterA collage of book covers of new nature & science books. Featured here are Frostbite, The Inner Clock, How to Kill an Asteroid, The Great River, The Last Fire Season, and Hoof BeatsA collage of book covers of new nature & science books. Featured here are The Serviceberry, Not the End of the World, Nature's Ghosts, Meet the Neighbors, The Light Eaters, and Our MoonA collage of book covers of new nature & science books. Featured here are Turning to Stone, The Weight of Nature, What If We Get It Right?, Waves in An Impossible Sea, The Tree Collectors, and Why We Remember
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Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them) @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Speaking of clicking links to articles I’ve written about books, NPR’s Books We Love 2024 is live! I have a ton of recs in here. 🧵 apps.npr.org/best-books/#...
apps.npr.org
Books We Love
Here are 350+ great reads from 2024 hand-picked just for you by NPR staff and trusted critics.
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John Janetzko @jjanetzko.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
“May you all be rated above the mean”
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