iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

In a new pub with @asuddaby.bsky.social and @emilyahardison.bsky.social, we highlight small, standing water bodies (ponds) and their resident aquatic organisms (tadpoles) as powerful systems to understand host-microbe-environment interactions. 💧🐸🌾🦠 academic.oup.com/icb/article-...

Conceptual figure depicting various approaches to understand host-microbe interactions across environments. The figure contains 3 columns, with the first depicting observational field studies across land use gradients (skyscrapers to depict cities, and trees to depict natural landscapes). In the middle are mesocosm experiments in the field, or large pools of water that can artificially re-create ponds. In the final column are lab-based studies, where organisms are held in small tanks in the lab.

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Caught one of the last mayapple flowers at a field site yesterday. Spring is moving into summer! 🌱🌾🌿

A photo of a mayapple plant, which is a small spring ephemeral flower. It has a single white flower with six petals, and is under an umbrella-like leaf. The photo is from a low, ground perspective with forest in the background.

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

My recent visit to the American Chemoreception Society was fascinating 👅 , and a great getaway! 🐚

A photo collage of images from a recent conference. Images include a banquet on the beach, another of a banquet in a small garden pavillion, two images of an audience conference attendees paying attention. I am pictured giving my keynote address to the group, and in another photo receiving a plaque from the Program Officer of the meeting. Text says "AChemS XLVIII, 2026 Annual Meeting, St. Pete Beach, Florida"

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

For lab meeting, we all tried to draw the holobiont - as art, diagram, or in between. It was surprisingly useful practice to guide some conceptual discussion! #ArtScience 🎨🦠

Multiple crayon or marker drawings of the “holobiont”. Most include compartments of “host genome” “environmental microbes” and have them overlapping or interacting in different ways

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Timeline cleanse in the form of a recent collage made from random cards, journal images, and office desk scraps #art

An abstract collage artwork of various images of plants, animals, etc. most images are strongly geometric, either rectangular or circular, with radiating colors in the background.

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

“When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one.” - Leonard Matlovich

A meme of a newspaper or book, with a photo showing two men kissing, and text that reads “You can show two men killing each other at three in the afternoon in any country in the world on public television, but you can't show two men kissing each other."

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

Beach combing in the Anthropocene: a provider of art materials?

A closeup image of a small bucket filled with pieces of plastic garbage collected from a beach. The sand and water are visible in the background

A collection of plastic pieces, organized by color in the order of the rainbow. In the upper corner is a collection of a few natural materials (a shell, rocks, a stick, and an acorn)

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Our night blooming cereus is ready to go tonight!

Photo of the flower bud of our night blooming cereus flower, which is a large white and pinkish bud that progressively becomes "puffy" just before opening. In the background are other house plants in an outdoor backyard

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

New ink to share 😅 Diogenes the Cynic, who rejected cultural conventions and embraced the ways of the natural world - especially dogs 🐶 Often depicted with a lantern during the light of day, searching for an “honest man” - a statement on the rarity of authenticity amid society’s hypocrisy 🕯️

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

How consistent are dietary effects on gut physiology and the microbiome? In a pair of papers ⬇️, we show that 3 different rodent species have distinct responses to dietary protein and fiber. Clearly, we still have a long way to go in understanding host-microbe interactions across species!

Infographic or schematic of our experimental design. The top row shows three photos of our rodent species: herbivorous montane voles (Microtus montanus), omnivorous white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) and carnivorous grasshopper mice (Onychomys torridus).

Then, it shows four different diets (High Fiber - Low Protein ; High Fiber - High Protein; Low Fiber - Low Protein ; Low Fiber - High Protein).

At the bottom is the question "Do different species show similar or unique physiological and microbial responses to diet?"

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

If you build it 🌳🏡 They will come 🐿️

Photo of a tree in our backyard with various wooden elements that make a squirrel tree house. This includes several platforms and some small sets of stairs.

Photo of a squirrel perched in our squirrel tree-house, at the top of a small set of wooden stairs

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

A bright day, with two new amazing PhDs launching into the world! 🎓🐭🧬🦠 Congrats to @karenyperalta.bsky.social and @zoomingbio.bsky.social 🎉

Photo of myself and two graduating students, Karen and Elizabeth, and Elizabeth’s service dog, Serenity in front of a blue and yellow background (Pitts schools colors). We are all wearing graduation regalia (caps, gowns, and PhD hoods), and Karen and Elizabeth are holding their Diploma cases.

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 12/04/2025

STEAM Saturday outreach 🧬 We taught 5th graders about urban adaptations. And I’m in love with the new animals they made - adapted to the bridges, rivers, and potholes of Pittsburgh!

A PowerPoint slide with a photo of Pittsburgh, showing tall buildings, bridges, and rivers. The title is “what types of animals would be adapted to Pittsburgh?”. Then, there are pictures of crafted creatures and animals made of pipe cleaners and googly eyes

A photo of our own crafted creatures and animals made of pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and feathers.

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

The @pghglasscenter.bsky.social has an amazing exhibit - Glass Lifeforms, an international competition of biological glass artwork Inspired by Rudolf and Leopold Blaschka’s 19th century glass biological models made for Harvard All entries here: glasslifeform.org/p/38/2025-Ex...

The entrance to the Glass Lifeforms exhibit, showing one of the pieces which are several large glass poppies in a vase, by Evelyn Gottshall Baker

A glass blown art piece of a violet coral mushroom by Lyncia Berry & Julia Rogers. The piece has a rocky and moss bottom, with several up reaching glass blown arms that look very alien like

A lifelike glass fish on a stand by Ryan Bavin. The fish is a cutthroat trout, with small spots on the body, and a darker top compared to the belly.

Glass blown pomegranate seeds by Kathleen Elliot. The small, red beads of fruit look extremely lifelike

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

The talent and resulting artwork from these high school students is amazing! 🤩 Thanks to @mothpotato.bsky.social and @americanbeetles.bsky.social for this great sci-art outreach opportunity

A drawing of a come moth, a large moth with eyespots and long tails on its wings

Student artwork drawing of a tiger moth, a moth with strong striping on its wings

Student artwork of a moth species with clear wings, on a stylized background of leaves and flower buds

Student drawing of a Cecropia moth, North Americas largest species of moth

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

Today’s STEAM Saturday outreach event focused on adaptations in animal color and I’m in love with the coffee filter beetles our 5th graders made 🐞🪲😍

A slide from our lesson on animal color. The text says Warning Colors- Stay Away!
• Bright, bold colors like red, yellow, and orange can be a warning to predators that the animal is dangerous or poisonous.
• This is called "aposematism"
And contains photos of a monarch butterfly, tenrec, coral snake, and milkweed bug

Photo of our coffee filter beetles, a craft. These are coffee filters that were colored with makers and then sprayed with water to have the colors bleed. Then, there are heads and appendages out of black construction paper with googly eyes

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Look what arrived in the mail today! ✨📘 Excited to dig into the perspective of @ambikamath.bsky.social and Melina Packer to learn about how our understanding of animal behavior has been shaped by our own human lens and approaches

Photo of the book “Feminism in the Wild: how human biases shape our understanding of animal behavior” by Ambika Kamath and Melina Packer. The cover has a group of female lions and the book is on a wooden table

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

I have my sign ready for tomorrow! 🪧🌿🧪 #StandUpForScience

A protest sign reading “Ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching. Even when doing the wrong thing is legal” - Aldo Leopold. The sign also included silhouettes of leaves and a photo of Aldo Leopold

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

It was a big week in the lab, with two PhD defenses! Congrats to two new Doctors! Dr. Karen Peralta Martinez and Dr. Elizabeth Rudzki @karenyperalta.bsky.social @zoomingbio.bsky.social ✨🧬🏛️🧐🎉

Photo of Karen, myself, and Elizabeth all smiling at the camera, with the background of our living room.

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

I’m excited to share this innovative new work from a recent Kohl Lab meeting. 🎨

Several Perler bead craft pieces (the beads that one irons together for them to melt). There is a monkey, tree frog, two birds, a bird in a nest, a crab, a raccoon, an octopus, a star with a face, and two bacteria. The background is a wooden desk

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

In low moments, I remind myself and/or my partners that our resistance will sometimes be in the form of just *being our authentic selves*. We are the Queer folks living thru this time. In that way - we spent the weekend in Colombia 🇨🇴 at a binational gay wedding 🏳️‍🌈 and it was beautiful ✨💖

Photo of me with my partners Ben and Josh, all wearing coordinated blue outfits for the wedding. We are standing in front of a flower archway, with the ocean in the background

Group photo of me and my partners Ben and Josh all wearing coordinated blue outfits for the wedding - with the background of the setting sun over the ocean

Eddy and Joey wearing white tuxedos walking down the aisle, which is outdoors with tropical greenery in the background. There are people clapping in the background and white rose petals covering the ground

Eddy and Joey in white tuxedos at the front of their ceremony in front of the floral arch with the ocean in the background. Eddy’s niece is in the front and center doing a reading at the ceremony. In the foreground are other wedding attendees seated in the crowd

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

Until our paths cross again 🫡 ✨❄️🐥👞

Photo looking down on a snow covered sidewalk, with human shoe footprints, and also a wandering set of foot prints left from a bird

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

Hey #SICB2025 - on Monday (1/6), I’ll be having an ‘art show’ at the @sicbjournals.bsky.social booth during coffee breaks Stop by to see these pieces and chat about the benefits of integrating science and art! 🖼️ 🎨 🧬

Photo of several framed art pieces (watercolor and collage) propped up against a couch. In the foreground is a small dog seeming to be looking at the art.

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 27/12/2024

Making these paintings as gifts for my parents was quite the wandering creative process, but I’m quite happy with how they turned out! Meant to represent backgrounds of familial history and heritage, networks of influence and traits, and my parents and their 4 children (napping Dad for scale)

Photo of 6 framed abstract paintings. Two are quite large, and have networks of circles connected by white lines the background is a mixture of splatter paint and circles of watercolor. Four of the framed paintings are quite small, and have just one circle in them each.

The framed paintings on a wall, with my dad sleeping on the couch for scale. The two larger paintings are the sizes of large posters, and the small frames are about the sizes of postcards

A close up of one of the paintings, showing the network of circles connected by white lines and the background of splatter water color

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

show us your office mug shot ☕️ #friday

My coffee mug, which has text saying SOMEDAY I HOPE TO RESPECT MYSELF AS MUCH AS I RESPECT BEYONCE.

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

I identify as Queer - a term I’m still trying to define for myself. 🏳️‍🌈✨ But definitions from others have helped me:

"queer not as being about who you're having sex with (that can be a dimension of it); but queer as being about the self that is at odds with everything around it and has to invent, create and find a place to speak and to thrive and to live."
— bell hooks

A photo of humans labeled as “gays” and Big Bird, C-3PO and R2D2 labeled as “queers”

Queer people don't grow up as ourselves, we grow up playing a version of ourselves that sacrifices authenticity to minimise humiliation & prejudice. The massive task of our adult lives is to unpick which parts of ourselves are truly us & which parts we've created to protect us.

i think queer people should be more confusing actually. i think we should make everyone as confused as possible until they give up and realize that total understanding of other people isnt the gateway to respect and compassion

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

The physicality and emotional connections of being poly are fun, but it’s also a lot of work. More book reading, talking, group therapy sessions, and more talking than anticipated. And in the end, we have the same ongoing discussions of how to load the dishwasher 😅

Ben planting a small plant into our raised garden

Ben and Josh laying down slabs of brick. Ben is holding a level and Josh is holding a brick

Photo of Josh and Ben putting together our grill

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

I’ve been wanting to introduce myself as a Queer and poly scientist. 🏳️‍🌈✨ I’ve been in a polyamorous throuple with 2 amazing partners for 5+ years We compliment each other in different ways at different times. I love having a dynamic and active family, with an extended Queer family

Photo of Josh, Ben, and I at a baseball game. The background of the photo has a baseball field and scoreboard

Photo of myself, Josh, and Ben all wearing sunglasses in front of old French architecture

Myself, Josh, and Ben in front of a backdrop of a green mountain landscape

A closeup selfie of myself, Josh, and Ben in a bar, with lights in the background

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

Broader Impacts in action! ⚡️ Today, we had students from a rural charter school specializing in the Visual Arts ( 🎨 ✍️ 🖼️ 📸 ) visit the Invertebrate Zoology collections at Carnegie Museum. They’ll now work to create scientifically accurate and informative artwork!

A group of high school students surrounding a museum curator holding a box of moths

A group of students surrounding a table of beetles

Several moths pinned as scientific specimens

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

loving this leaf that wanted a chance to show all its true colors this fall season. 🍃🍁🍂✨

Close up photo of a fallen leaf sitting on a background of cement. The leaf has that four colors (green, yellow, red, brown) in four distinct patches.

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 06/03/2024

tranquil tuesday art dump ✨ been gettin' abstract and geometric #WorkLifeBalance #Sabbatical #ExploringScienceAndArt

A geometric water color of different brightly colored shapes, with white lines that had been taped off separating the shapes. The shapes also have splotches of watercolor within them.

A background of brightly colored water color with aestetic of splotches of water color dropped onto the paper. Overlaid are geometric cutouts of black and white paper with holes punched in them

A background of geometric watercolors, of different shapes with motteled colors. Overlaid is a cutout of a flower, with geometric triangle leaves. There are also circles cut from the botanical illustration that have been placed in the white areas between the water color shapes.

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 23/01/2024

◀︎◀︎◀︎ bundled art drop ▷▷▷

an abstract water color with a mixture of geometric and fluid organic shapes

a collage piece, over a watercolor background. On top, is the image of an elephant shrew, with the text 'elephant shrew' overlaid on top of the animal twice. There is also a lattice of the words "elephant shrew" in the top right corner. In the top left corner, is the text "MACROSCELIDIDAE", which is the taxonomic family for elephant shrews

a collage piece, over the background of a fluid and layered watercolor. The overlay is a scientific photograph of a human skull, with letters overlaid on different anatomical parts of the skull.

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 12/01/2024

my first piece of 2024 as I look to explore art/science crossovers 🐸🎨🖼👀

An art piece with a collage of four cutout photos of amphibans (a frog, toad, and two salamanders), with cutout text that is covering the eyes of these animals. In the background is a watercolor of greens and blues.
The cutout text on top reads:
Amphibians
Amphibians are animals that live double lives.
A toad is usually a chubby creature with rough, bumpy skin and no teeth.
Tadpoles are sometimes called polliwogs.
A frog's mouth is very large.

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KevinDKohl @kevindkohl.bsky.social · 10/01/2024

On sabbatical I hope to engage in my own artwork, and spend some focused time thinking about art/science crossovers. As I sift through my collage materials I'm struck - is this 1998 Kodak book found at a thrift store a "Science" book or an "Art" book? Or have they been running in tandem all along?

A book titled "Photography through the microscope" with two price tags from thrift stores. The cover has colorful photos of up-close microscope photos of cells, structures, etc.

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