iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Sneak peek of my first project for this term's #metalsmithing class! Today's class was a nice break from prepping to move this week. #salmon

A photo of a piece of clear acrylic plastic sitting on a piece of white paper. The paper has a drawing of an asymmetrical shape with a leaping salmon and a small circle inside it, and the acrylic has a similar, though rougher, shape carved into it.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Habitat loss is the single biggest cause of species endangerment and #extinction, so this is really, really bad: www.usnews.com/news/nationa... #EndangeredSpecies #wildlife #environment #conservation #science #nature 🌿

usnews.com

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

From now until 11:59pm PST on September 20, if you order my book from TheEverydayNaturalist.com I'll throw in a little gift as well! #wildlife #NaturalHistory 💙📚 🌿

A book called The Everyday Naturalist: How to Identify Animals, Plants, and Fungi Wherever You Go sits on a piece of paper that has a few pen and marker drawings on it. It is by Rebecca Lexa, and the book cover is black with brightly colored animals, plants, and fungi around the border. The drawings on the paper include a red and white spotted mushroom, a catfish, and a triceratops.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Behold the northwestern goth-er #snake! This Thamnophis ordinoides is the most hyper-melanistic I've seen--solid black, but with a normal red and black tongue. Found on the #Oregon Coast north of Lincoln City, where I've found several other weird color variants. #snakes #herps #herping #reptiles 🌿

A pale left hand with a black sweatshirt holding a solid black, slender, wriggly snake in a green forested area.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Now booking consultations for #PNW folks wanting to add #NativePlants and create wildlife habitat at home, whether you have a balcony, yard, or acreage! Details at rebeccalexa.com/property-con... #HabitatRestoration #PacificNorthwest #gardening

A grassy green field full of blue-purple wildflowers, all drinking in the sunshine.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Had a little luck with lobsters! Lobster #mushrooms, that is. Hypomyces lactifluorum infecting the mushrooms of Russula sp. so it can use them to spread its own spores without using the resources needed to build mushrooms. #fungi #FungiFriends #foraging #MushroomHunting

Three orange and white mushrooms with a velvety texture resting on a dark wood tabletop. Two are mostly orange, the third is white splashed with orange.

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Reposted by Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist

26. she/her. @swirlspill.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Say shell-o to my little friend ✨ Many thanks to @passionpeachy.bsky.social for my new friend! He's (slowly☝️but surely) coming to night skies near you!

A pale hand is holding a snail plushie in front of a sun streaked window with green leaves fresh on window film. The snail plushie has a dark blue body pebbled with gold stars to its little star tail. The snail is looking up while holding a swirled moon shell on its back.

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Reposted by Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist

Dr. Jonathan Foley @globalecoguy.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Regenerative grazing has gotten a lot of buzz — maybe thanks to big money from the beef industry? — but it’s NOT an effective climate solution. I wish it was. But it’s time to move on from greenwashing and focus on things that work.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Female Coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) have returned to the #Salmon River on the #Oregon coast where I am visiting. Thought she would be appropriate for today's #SundayFishSketch. Hoping to participate more as we turn to autumn. #fish #illustration

A pen and marker drawing of a chunky fish that is varying shades of green, lighter in top and darker on bottom, with splashes of red along its middle.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

My projects from my first metalworking class, last day was today. the four stacking rings are done, but the two pendants and the chain with fancy leaf links still need a lot of work. I learned plenty, loved it, and I'm going to attempt to snag one of the limited fall class spots tomorrow morning.

A variety of jewelry made with copper and brass resting on a black tabletop. There are two simple leaves made of wire, a bunch of tiny straight pieces of wire with rounded ends, a pendant that looks like a three-petaled flower, a layered pendant with two trees and a stag's head, and four delicate metal rings.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Bigleaf maple, down but not out, and supported by its friends. A good lesson for humanity. 🌿

A photo of a cluster of tree trunks growing in a circle. one tree has fallen over but has branches growing upward and is still alive.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

We walk past miniature ecosystems every day. There are at least 6 species of lichen on this ~2" x 3" patch of Prunus bark, and old red-breasted sapsucker holes. 8 species right there, not including insects passing through, or microscopic inhabitants. Life is everywhere, if you slow down and look.

A gray and white tree trunk with several white, yellow, and brown lichens of various shapes on it, plus several small, regular oval divots.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

The forests in my neck of the Pacific Northwest are absolutely full of Sierra dome #spiders (Neriene litigiosa)! I love their three dimensional webs, and how this time of year I'll often find multiple males in the web of a female, attempting to court her.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

I finished my very first stacking rings project today! They include pre-polish copper, high polish copper, high polish brass, and another high polish copper that I then added a liver of sulfur patina to. #MetalSmithing #MetalWorking #MetalCrafting

Four thin round metal rings on a wooden surface. Two are copper, one is yellow brass, and the last one is black.

A pale hand wearing the four rings on the middle finger, with the two copper rings flanking the other two.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

More #MetalWorking! Today I started cutting out these three tree/stag pieces that will be layered and soldered together. I also put the #trillium in the pickle longer to get rid of carbonization. REALLY enjoying playing with a new medium! #MetalSmithing #MetalCrafting #jewelry #JewelryCrafting

Three flat metal squares, two copper and one brass. One copper and the brass have paper patterns of trees on them, and the negative spaces between the branches and trunks are cut out. The other copper piece has a silhouette of a stag's head facing forward. It has not been cut out yet.

A three-petal flower made out of copper and brass metal. It is splotchy in tone, and rests on a black table.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

A brass and copper #Trillium ovatum pendant I made in a one-day nature-themed #jewelry class this past weekend at the Multnomah Arts Center! Still needs some filing and polishing and I need to make it a chain, but overall very happy with this. #MetalSmithing #MetalCrafting #MetalWorking 🌿

Several metal all soldered together into the shape of a trillium flower. The entire piece is copper in color with a little silver solder showing.

A flat piece of brass sheet metal cut into the simple form of a three petaled flower. There are also a few small pieces of flat copper, forming the center of the flower and three small leaves behind it.

The assembled pieces of metal resting on a white brick on a podium covered in small rocks. The metal is held in place by a metal arm, and the entire piece has been blackened by flame.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Had a lovely book signing at SymbiOp Garden Shop in #Portland today! I left the last two copies there with #ColoredPencil sketches. I also sketched and then brought home this little Prunella vulgaris ssp lanceolata.

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Reposted by Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist

Moi Expósito-Alonso (MOILAB) @mexpositoalonso.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

Network, we are looking for PhD students and Postdocs on evolutionary and ecological genomics in 2025/2026 Join our diverse and welcoming lab at UC Berkeley & HHMINEWS! Check job ads-> www.moilab.science/team/join-us

moilab.science

M O I L A B - Join us!

Join us! Our lab is based at the University of California, Berkeley, embedded in the vibrant and multicultural San Francisco Bay Area, surrounded by astonishing nature!

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I have a book signing this Sunday, August 9, at 3pm at SymbiOp Garden Shop in #Portland! We'll have plenty of copies of The Everyday #Naturalist: How to Identify Animals, Plants, and #Fungi Wherever You Go available, plus there's a craft market there that day too. Come say hi!

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

The #wildfire smoke has been so bad at #MtStHelens the past two days you can't even see the mountain. #wildfires #PNW

A photo of a view from a deck overlooking a valley full of smoky haze

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

While the passengers on today's step-on tour explored #MultnomahFalls I filed and shaped the rings I'm making in my #MetalSmithing class. (I'm only allowed to guide on the bus, not on site.) #Oregon #PNW

A pale left hand holding a thin copper ring so that a waterfall in the background can be seen through it.

A pale left hand wearing the ring on the fourth finger, in front of a backdrop of greenery.

A rocky surface with several metal working tools and four thin copper wire rings next to them.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Yesterday's #metalsmithing class involved making these four rings out of copper and brass wire. Surprisingly hard to get the ends perfectly flush before soldering! Now for filing the extra solder, shaping on a mandrel, and polishing. #metalworking #metalcraft

Four rather misshapen rings of copper wire resting on a black table.

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Reposted by Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist

Meade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Timeline cleanse: Mount Rainier alpine meadows in full bloom.

A raucous mix of alpine wildflowers with the glaciated face of Mount Rainier looming in the distance under a clear blue sky.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Disabled Hikers commissioned me to create this #illustration of #Jimothy to highlight how #disability is found in a wide range of species in #nature! Posters, stickers, tshirts, and soon an embroidery pattern benefiting Disabled Hikers' mission at www.disabledhikers.com/category/all... #raccoons 🌿 🦊

A pen and marker colored illustration of a short, round raccoon wearing a red bandanna and holding a walking stick in his front paws. A green banner above him says "Disability" and one below him says "Is Natural. Disabled Hikers."

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

You can register for the Aug 3 session of The Everyday Naturalist online study group on identifying #fungi at www.eventbrite.com/e/the-everyd... 🌿 #mushrooms #FungiFriends

A cluster of round, flat mushrooms with concentric rings in varying shades of brown, stained green with algae.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Remember my tiny pieces of copper I cut & filed in my first #metalworking class last week? Today I soldered them together! I really enjoyed soldering, more than I thought I would. Nice change after the frustration of trying to use a jeweler's saw last week (though I intend to get better at that.)

Four small metal trinkets, including a rectangular flat piece, two oddly shaped pieces soldered one on top of the other, a tiny triangle sticking up from a circle like a tiny sundial, and a wire heart attached to a square base.

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Reposted by Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist

Rosemary Mosco @rosemarymosco.com · 20/07/2026

A woodcarver named Becky W (vortenjou.bsky.social, rosehip.wordpress.com) made a sculpture of my nuthatch comic, showing a white-breasted nuthatch sitting on real nuts and hatching one of them. I'm so happy

A wooden carved and painted sculpture of a white-breasted nuthatch sitting on some nuts with a nutmeat with wings flying away into the sky.

A four-panel comic. The first panel shows an arrow pointing down at a happy-looking nuthatch bird, and a caption: This is a nuthatch. The caption says "It's called a nuthatch because... wait no" and we see the nuthatch standing on a pile of nuts, tucking them under it. The caption says "That's not... wait" and the nuthatch is roosting comfortably on the pile of nuts. The caption says NO. And we see that one of the nuts has hatched and some walnut meat is flying happily into the air on little wings.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

According to a post on the MushroomID subReddit, the guy in this picture ate one of the Amanitas he's holding--raw--thinking it was a bolete. He's gonna be in for a bad time, with vomiting, delirium, ataxia, and other unpleasantness likely. Probably won't die, but might be thinking he is for a bit.

A picture of someone's hand holding a quartet of yellow and white mushrooms; one has pores on the underside, the others have thin gills radiating out from the stem.

The same mushrooms, showing the tops. three of the yellow mushrooms have white spots.

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Reposted by Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist

Ren Horn @ren-rockss.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Thought I would break out the water color for the classic blue gill! #sundayfishsketch

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Reposted by Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist

Ren Horn @ren-rockss.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

I just learned that #sundayfishsketch exists and it happens to be Sunday! Good way to end the ichthyology conference is doodling stonerollers :)

7 partial sketches of Stonerollers in black ink pen

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Reposted by Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist

Better Know a Fish! / 曉得多魚！ @betterknowafish.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Welcome to our great community!! Definitely look up its history, beginning with #SundayFishSketch founder @lampichthys.bsky.social !! 🦑🐡🧪

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Reposted by Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist

Better Know a Fish! / 曉得多魚！ @betterknowafish.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Farlowella vittata continues my whimsical streak of loricariid catfishes for #SundayFishSketch! 🦑🐡🧪

Photo of crayon sketch of a twig catfish

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Reposted by Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist

Kristen Behrens, PhD @behrenskristen.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Shark Day was this past week so a whale shark it is for #SundayFishSketch! 🦈

Colored pencil drawing of a whale shark and two of its clinger friends

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Reposted by Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist

Titus Seilheimer @drfishsg.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Fish faces. Goldeye and goldfish sketched today for #SundayFishSketch with some others from the week.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Here's my #SundayFishSketch, a yellow bullhead catfish (Ameiurus natalis)! Micron fineliner and Copics markers. #fish #illustration #NoAI

A drawing of a greenish yellow catfish, focusing mainly on the front half of the fish, facing the viewer. It is drawn in ink pens and markers.

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Reposted by Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist

Dhiyanah @bydhiyanah.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Belated, extra scribbly #SundayFishSketch continuing with the ribbon eel study. Possible trails for new paintings, if the intense pain levels ease up and the studio set-up comes together soon (ceaseless internal screaming). #art #sketchbook #SciArt #DisabledArtist

Quick pencil sketches of ribbon eels. They look like silly, ceaselessly screaming water dragons. Drawn by artist Dhiyanah Hassan.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Have some Douglas' spikemoss (#Selaginella douglasii) to make your day better! #NativePlants #PNW 🌿

a close up photo of a plant made of slender stalks of tiny, spiky leaves.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

I had my first #MetalWorking class today, and I made these teensy bits of copper! Took me over two hours to cut them and get three really nice, flat edges for the various soldering techniques we'll try next week. (The turkey #vulture sketch took an additional two minutes.)

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

That's....not what #botanical means. (Found at a Fred Meyer in #Portland. No, I did not buy it; I have enough random stuff I need to get rid of anyway.) #insects #bugs #wildlife

A framed print in pastel colors showing several simple illustrations of butterflies and other insects. Above the images are the words Wild Life, and below it Botanical Art.

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Reposted by Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist

Steven Pumpkin Spice 🦇🎃 @silent0siris.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Note to self

iggyfing e
Oct 22, 2024
Follow
absolutely flabbergasting to see people who have so enthusiastically succumbed to despair. like okay denethor, but some of us are gonna actually face the armies of mordor in battle nonetheless.
figtreeandvine *®
Dec 19
The thing about Denethor is that he not only succumbed to despair, he wanted to ensure that Faramir succumbed with him. Similarly, a lot of people now are not only succumbing to despair, they're actively proselytizing despair, trying to convince others to join them in their hopelessness. Despair is apparently lonely and they want company in their self-immolation.
knives-in-the-dishwater
4d
btw denethor succumbed to despair bc he was doomscrolling on the palantir. Sauron tweaked his algorithm so he only saw bad news, and he fell into the trap of thinking the world couldn't be saved.

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Reposted by Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist

Stephen Leahy @stephenleahy.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

You wouldn't know it, but 75% of Americans understand climate change harms health, and the health risk is increasing leahy.substack.com/p/the-89-cli...

leahy.substack.com

The 89% Climate Solution

A majority of people know climate change is a serious threat to our health. Time to act and vote like it

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Oregon Zoo releases hundreds of rare #Oregon silverspot caterpillars at coast: www.kptv.com/2026/07/01/o... This is really amazing news for us here, because every release gives this subspecies a better foothold on restored coastal meadow habitats. #environment #conservation #EndangeredSpecies

An Orange butterfly with lacy black markings on its wings and a fuzzy brown body rests on a brown dead leaf surrounded by green plants.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

So here's the latest weird #nature thing I've run across: Pestalotiopsis funerea causing tip blight on Arborvitae sp. I usually associate this pale yellow with a lack of chlorophyll, but haven't seen it as the sx of a fungal pathogen. #plants #botany #gardening #horticulture #fungi 🌿

A close up of the foliage of a bush with prickly needles instead of leaves. Most of the foliage is deep green, but select portions are very pale yellow, almost cream.

A close up of the yellow foliage on a dry, bare branch.

A picture of the whole bush, showing patches of pale foliage scattered amid the green.

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Reposted by Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist

Kessu @kessuburd.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

I drew my DnD character! He's a very anxious druid named Galahad. Terrible things are gonna happen to him 💖

A colored bust sketch of a worried-looking brown-skinned man with flowy medium-length dark hair, a beard, and a mustache (meant to be reminiscent of Dev Patel in "The Green Knight"). Beside him is a stylized cross fox in a sort of jumoing/falling pose.

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Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist @rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Had art time with @kessuburd.bsky.social last night. Finally got that fly agaric right, and drew my first #Triceratops as an adult! Copics, fineliners, and white gel pen. #PaleoArt #mushrooms #FungiFriends #TraditionalMedia #NoAI #illustration

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