iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

*tap tap* *flap flap* "It's time to go."

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

C'mon little buddy, you're almost done! Everything about being a monarch caterpillar looks so stressful. 😓

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The size difference!! 😂 Don't let that baby fool you, though. It keeps up with big brother just fine!

A 5th instar monarch caterpillar feeding alongside a 1st or 2nd instar who is much smaller

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

American beautyberry is looking good! Come and get it, critters!!

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Wait, it's already time?! It went by so quickly! Good luck, little buddy!!

Monarch caterpillar about to form a chrysalis.

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

This day-old monarch caterpillar baby is smaller than a grain of rice (provided for scale). Oh my heart. 6-year-old me would be losing her tiny little mind.

Day-old monarch caterpillar with a grain of rice for scale

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Creek Critter Challenge Complete! UNA partnered with Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area to host a community stream macroinvertebrate survey in Cypress Creek! The habitat looks great, and we saw lots of cool critters! Another good day for community science!

Mayfly larva and water penny (beetle larva)

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

YEEEEEEEEEEES THEY'RE HERE THEY'RE HERE THE BABY MONARCHS ARE FINALLY HERE

Monarch caterpillar snacking on milkweed

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

We're hiring TWO tenure-track Assistant Professors in Biology at UNA! Come teach and do some research in a cute little college town right on the Tennessee River. North Alabama is a major biodiversity hotspot. The barbecue ain't bad either. Job description links below: 1/2

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Really? I planted you two years ago and you didn't do squat, and now you're popping up out of nowhere like it's no big deal??? EXCUSE ME (cardinal flower)

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

These have mysteriously appeared on my office door. There are others randomly placed in nooks and crannies around the biology building, but only my door has been marked like this. I think Gen Z is trying to communicate with me. 😶

Tiny resin figurines on an office door: left to right: a yellow chicken, a green dumpster on fire, and a pink flamingo.

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

And here is a cat and another dog! Hee hee! 💀

Halloween decorations of a cat and dog skeleton (inaccurate).

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I have finally started my collection of comically inaccurate Halloween skeleton decorations. I think I'm off to a strong start with these yard sale finds. 😆🎃💀

Halloween decoration of a vulture skeleton (inaccurate). Tail feathers and wing feathers are depicted as bones.

Halloween decoration of a dog skeleton (inaccurate). Ears are depicted as bones instead of cartilage.

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

"I'm much better than a data center; I can make up stupid things on the spot too, and I never drink water!"---one of my favorite students 😭

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Stardew Valley Cookbook page 161: Eggplant Parmesan. This one's definitely a winner. The eggplant was fresh out of our raised beds, too.

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Aww, a cute little milkweed beetle. That's a new one for me.

Milkweed beetle with shiny black and orange carapace perched on a milkweed plant.

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Out here looking like a snacc, while she's looking for a snack. Steel blue cricket hunter wasp. Good to see you, queen.

Steel blue cricket hunter wasp searching for prey.

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

CW: snake Big sleepy yawn!! Clementine must be dreaming of tasty mice.

Ball python in the middle of a huge gaping yawn.

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

"Aunt Kara, when you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?" "A biologist and a writer." "... Did you make it, Aunt Kara? Are you everything you wanted to be?" 🥹🥺🥲

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

I was supposed to be collecting these tiny squid. My hand was resting against the side of the bucket and I felt something cold slapping my hand! I looked down and a tiny little guy had clambered up the side of the bucket, maneuvered over to my hand, and was using his fins to smack it. Bap-bap-bap!🦑♥️

Tiny mischievous squid is convinced he really showed me what for. Bap-bap-bap!!

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

May I offer you a crab in these trying times? (Purse crab and decorator crab)

Purse crab and decorator crab perched in hand.

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Dolphins: oh cool. Ctenophores: COMB JELLIES!

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Sometimes even freshwater biologists gotta go to the sea lab and get on a boat. Dauphin Island is great!

View of the Dauphin Island sea lab from a boat

View of a boat pulling away from the mainland

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

He also said "I love you" for the first time today. That's kind of sweet.

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

I've been trying to get Gabe to learn chicken noises for two years, and the ONLY way he will do it is to the tune of the Robot Chicken end credits song (a show he is NOT allowed to watch, btw)😑🐔

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

The Mississippi kites are back this year! I wonder where they decided to nest this time? They love my neighborhood; guess they think it's a great place to raise kids.

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Watch out, baby bun. I saw the whole parliament on the hunt tonight, and they're hungry. Be cunning and full of tricks.

Baby cottontail rabbit in a patch of grass

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

I didn't realize this was a whole entire genre of children's literature, but I am here for it! (And yes, my favorite Frog and Toad story is the one where Toad doesn't want anyone to see him in his bathing suit)

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Apparently my husband heard me talk about a children's book I read growing up about a frog who forgot his underwear, and he tried to track down the book to surprise me and somehow accidentally ended up getting ANOTHER, DIFFERENT BOOK about a frog who loses his underwear and 😂😂😂

Children's book titled "The Frog Who Lost His Underpants" by Juliette MacIver

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

My back yard has been certified as wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. Not sure if monarchs can read, though. 😅

Sign in yard that reads, "Certified Wildlife Habitat".

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

This is a CATERPILLAR? (Wavy-lined emerald)

Wavy-lined emerald caterpillar camouflaged with plant parts.

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

CW: spider He's so smol!! 😭 He could fit on the tip of a Bic pen. Crab spider.

Teeny tiny crab spider sitting on a yellow flower waiting for snacks.

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Gabe is currently reenacting a frequent argument I have with our cat where she begs for wet food when it's not dinner time and I firmly tell her "no!" He laughs uproariously in between takes. I'm not sure I appreciate getting roasted like this. 😑

African grey parrot perches on top of a cage. A glint of mischief sparkles in his eye.

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Dr. Kara M. Million @darterdancer.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Oh to be a bumblebee snuggling up to the wisteria.

A large black and yellow bumblebee snuggles into a cluster of purple Wisteria frutescens flowers.

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