iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Sometimes you have to wonder what the story was behind warning labels

Warnings
This product is not edible. Do not ingest.
This product is designed exclusively for stool sample collection.

Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I know goldenrod can be annoying in a small garden, but I just ID'd 3 bee species, 2 wasp species, a bee fly, 2 beetles, and an orb weaver on one patch in 2 minutes. There were others, but too small for my camera and I use iNaturalist for IDs

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Toe beans AND air biscuits? Yes please!

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

He has thoughts about the lap part of the laptop

A black cat sits on the back of a gray chair, one paw on a bare shoulder, one claw sticking into the skin

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Sound up! The partridge pea is such a joyful plant, even if it jumps around chaotically from year to year

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Your moment of zen for today

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Traded a collaborator a homemade scarf for this lovely gentleman - Culex pipiens

Acrylic painting with a wooden frame of a male mosquito upside down on a green leaf on a green background, hanging on a cream wall between a bookshelf and a full length window with plants on a middle shelf in pastel pots

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

POV you and your spouse have labs full of Brazilians. Round 1 of 6, plus sausage, pao de queijo, beans, and rice. And salad.

Grill with 7 steaks newly placed, a pair of tongs on the side

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

And for those who know us, Alex Lipka will also be promoted to full professor, in the College of ACES. He started his post-doc a year earlier than me (how we met), but other than that we've been on the exact same timeline. Here he is at Sweetwater playing his present to himself, a Rickenbacker bass

White man with brown hair and dark-framed glasses, wearing jeans and a black t-shirt, sitting on a stool and playing a natural wood-colored bass in front of a collection of amps and basses hanging on the wall

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Live in the Midwest US? We are conducting a research study to understand what people in the Midwest know about mosquitoes and the diseases they spread. Just one online survey that takes about 10-20 minutes. Ready to participate? Scan the QR code or go to: redcap.link/mosquitocont...

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

I'm jealous! I can only get common milkweed to stay. Otoh, I have 4 species of mallow

Rose mallow, 2 bright pink flowers with 5 leaves around a white center, among many green leaves. One flower has a bee on it

Kankakee mallow, several pale pink flowers along a teal green stall with many flat green leaves

Poppy mallow, magenta flowers growing low along the ground among spindly green leaves and other plants

Last year's swamp mallow, a giant pink flower with 5 petals and a large yellow stamen standing tall in front of dead leaves and distant plants

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

Cool! Flathead screws and bolts for the pulls. I'm not cleaning it off for a full picture, but this gives you an idea of the style. Leather top, very solid wood

Corner of a desk and pillar of drawers. Top is brown leather with gold design, wood is painted marbled gray-brown, drawer pulls are brass

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Someone is not happy that I am working on manuscript revisions instead of petting him

The back of a hand with a black cat paw resting on it, one nail digging into the skin

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Big public health takeaway - we see almost every TBD diagnosed 12 months out of the year, and across the state. Be safe out there!

Series of 5 maps of Illinois in 2 rows. Top row shows TBD incidence per 100k humans (Lyme, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, undetermined anaplasma/ehrlichia, and rickettsiosis), bottom row shows TBP seroprevalence in dogs (Lyme, anaplasma, ehrlichia) and TBDs in humans (babesiosis, Heartland virus). The Lyme, ehrlichia, anaplasma, and rickettsia maps show cases in almost every county.

Series of 5 bar graphs in 2 rows, showing number of cases of TBDs in humans over 2004 to 2022 by year. Top row is anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and ehrlichiosis; bottom row is Lyme and SFGR. Box fill shows where the tick was acquired - darkest for Illinois, then maybe Illinois, not Illinois, and unknown.

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

What do y'all think, will purring get picked up by the mic?

Woman with glasses and a bemused look behind a large silver microphone. Between them is a black cat, looking unbothered

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

WFH day (storms possible, so I'm staying off my bike) is appreciated

A gray armchair and ottoman next to a window with a pink blanket folded on the ottoman. On both ottoman and chair there is a black cat curled up and sleeping

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Towel racks. I have multiple of these

A rotating towel rack attached to a cream wall with a tan curtain to the left. Each arm of the rack has 1-2 scarves

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Okay #sciArt community, do you have reccs for a print on demand site? 13 is already preparing for an art career and thought it might be time to start a merch store for her best work. My favorite shared in thanks. Also taking advice on scanning pencil sketches!

Pencil sketch of a glass skyscraper with a large engorged tick climbing down the side, King Kong style. There are helicopters on either side, and a cityscape below

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Just to share that the prairie smoke and woodland stonecrop I planted last fall are starting to bloom.

Prairie smoke: small plant with green, complex leaves and pink buds in a cluster on a long stem, over dried leaves

Woodland stonecrop: long green stems with repeating small green leaves around white buds. In the center is a white flower in the shape of an 8 pointed star. Surrounded by green leaves, with a purple violet flower in the lower right

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

The world is hard right now, but the spring flowers are coming #NativePlants

Bloodroot blooms (white, daisy-style with yellow centers, very close to the ground, along the edge of a sidewalk against a background of dirt and dry leaves. In the middle is a clump of daffodil leaves (long and green), and in the back dried grass clumps

Common violets: small purple flowers among green oblong leaves in a clump against a background of gray pebbles

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Very grateful we can road trip in our EV Also, Ionna chargers are the best

Screen with:
Type CCS
delivered 42.9460 kwh
Average 76.72 kw
Charge time 33:42
SOC 53% -> 100%
Final cost $18.38

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

WNV incidence is stable nationally but highly variable locally, and most cases come in high population (and therefore low incidence) areas

Map of US with bubbles in shades of blue showing number of WNV cases (bubble size) does not match WNV incidence (shade)

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

The gardener in me is excited about the rain, but this view is also incredibly restful

Window looking over rainy field, observatory, and dome in the background and patio with large green and yellow blob sculptures in the near ground. On a ledge in the middle of the window are 4 pastel plant pots with glass watering bulbs and succulents, plus a small clear sign with a pink lotus flower

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Since Indiana DNR is not on here, I must share for them

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Great resource for talking to kids I just saw from an educator friend

How to talk to kids about ICE:
Ages 3-6: focus on comfort, stick to routines and offer extra hugs, what to say: some families aren't being treated nicely because of where they were born, reassure them: remind them they are safe and loved
Ages 7-11: Explain the situation: some families are being separated because of how they came here. That isn't right. Open dialogue: let them ask questions, Safety first: remind them to only discuss this with trusted adults
Ages 12-18: be direct: it is unfair that people are treated differently based on where they are from, listen: encourage them to share their feelings, empower them: support them if they want to take positive action
Source: Children's network

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

Happy holidays from Honeymoon Island, Florida!

View of horizon across water, with orange sun just touching the horizon. Across the middle us a line of gentle wave, and in the middle front is a small pile of sand with thin cover of water

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

The only other sunbeam in the house is a bed currently being made

A gray chair and ottoman in front of a sunny bay window with plants. One black cat is curled into one sunbeam in a corner of the chair. Another black cat is sitting in another sunbeam on the edge of the chair seat, staring blankly at nothing

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

Cool thing about LED Christmas lights is that if you string your lights at ground level and it snows, you get this magical effect

A snow bank with some dead plants sticking out and a line of colored light circles shining through

A short stone retaining wall with snow above and below. Circles of colored light are bleeding through the upper snow

A short stone retaining wall along a sidewalk with snow on the upper level and puddles of colored light shining on circles along the edges

A snow bank with some dead plants sticking out and a curving line of colored circles shining through. Blue is especially strong

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

It's here! I didn't expect my copy to arrive 10 days before the official release date!

Blue book sitting on a cream surface, title is K-12 Schools and Public Health Partnerships

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

And we return to the time of year that I have to fight for control of my scarves

A small black cat is curled up on a plaid blanket scarf, tail wrapped around to her nose and a determined look on her face

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

If anyone needs to get off the grid for a while, I highly recommend the cabins at Allegany State Park. Cozy, and with all this!

A gray lake ringed by spruce trees with a dark on the far side and snow-covered meadows on each side

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

Happy #caturday! Orville started the day in conference with Nami

On the left, a bearded dragon in a glass enclosure, head up. On the right, a black cat sitting on a cat tree, looking at the camera

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

Finally, how long do the different species bloom? Here's a density plot of the number of weeks in bloom by type. The invasives are clearly bimodal, but the others have a nice distribution with a fat tail

Line plot with density on the y-axis (0 to 0.14) and weeks in bloom on the x-axis (0 to 25). Light blue is invasive, royal blue is native, black is non-native

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

This graph sums up the number of species blooming in a given week by color and by status (native, non-native, and invasive - I define invasive as a non-native I want to get rid of because they spread too quickly and don't behave)

3 stacked bar charts, with count on the y-axis and Date on the x-axis (ticks at April, July, and October), with Non-native on top, Native in the middle, and Invasive on the bottom. Stacked bars are filled with colors

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

Here are the individual species and their weeks of appearance and bloom color. We clearly have a good range of start dates, although still not enough early blooms

A tile graph with names on the y-axis, Date on the x-axis (tabs at April, July, and October), and a mix of purple, white, yellow, pink, green, red, and blue lines

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

I'm declaring the bloom census over for the year, thanks to last night's lake effect snow. Time to play with the data!

Looking out from a porch to a front walk and across a street. Everything has about an inch of snow. Plants can be seen on either side of the walk, sometimes almost covered. Across the street, one tree still has yellow leaves

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

This week's bloom census, mostly stray blossoms: Violet, catmint, tomato, rose, lavender, hydrangea, hydrangea tree, coneflower, brown-eyed Susan, goldenrod, sky blue aster, calico aster

A pair of sky blue aster blossoms (thin violet petals around a spiky brown core) amid a mix of sedges (long wide green leaves) and brown oak leaves on the edge of a sidewalk

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

The remains of 4 large bowls of candy and a small bowl of bouncy balls. We had a big group of undergrads in the neighborhood, and good for them! Now I have to raid 8's stash for my Reece's

A clear bowl from above, showing 4 dumdums, a Twizzler, a rainbow Twizzler, and a few hard candies

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

This week's bloom census, a few still hanging on: Violet, tomato, rose, rosy sedge, hydrangea, coneflower, lady's thumb, brown-eyed Susan, tomatillo, hydrangea tree, swithchgrass, goldenrod, white snakeroot, sky blue aster, calico aster

Very sad looking brown-eyed Susan flowers, with 3-4 yellow petals still clinging to a dark center, among a mix of brown stems and dead heads and a few green leaves

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Becky Smith @rlsdvm.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

For your Monday. You can't hear the purr, but it was loud and happy

Black cat head from slightly above, looking left, with a pink string across the top of the head and along the nose

Black cat head looking slightly right, eyes wide and whiskers forward, with a pink string over the head and in front of the left ear

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