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Michael Sheehan

@sheehanmj.bsky.social
649 followers 772 following 40 posts

Associate Prof at Cornell Neurobiology and Behavior. Social behavior, evolution, neuroscience. Paper wasps and mice.

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Reposted by Michael Sheehan
Ann T. Tate @annttate.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Please RT: Do you use math to address interesting biological problems? Join us at Vanderbilt BioSci! We are conducting an open-rank TT search in Theoretical Biology: apply.interfolio.com/194619. We are a friendly and collaborative department with interests spanning a range of biological disciplines!
apply.interfolio.com
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
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Ben de Bivort @debivort.bsky.social · 15h
Are you interested in supporting scientific research and teaching focused on living things and the natural world? My department, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology is hiring two full-time Lab Coordinators (faculty assistants). Union jobs with good benefits. careers.harvard.edu/job/laborato...
Telephoto shot of four meerkats standing with yellow grass and blue sky in the background
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Nacho Sanguinetti @neuroetho.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Come work with us at Penn!:
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Alright, this is pretty effing hilarious... www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/m...
nbcchicago.com
'I do not want to bake': Michigan school fundraiser goes viral for hilariously direct approach
A Michigan middle school fundraiser is going viral for its direct approach after a dad shared a form his daughter brought home in a social media post.
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Ishmail Abdus-Saboor @ishmailsaboor.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Excited to see our fMRI paper is out, led by Itamar Kahn’s lab. Our grad students, Amir Lawen and Bella Succi, in collab with Darcy Peterka, built a setup for simultaneous fMRI and dopamine fiber photometry in awake behaving mice. We learned some new biology too. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Dopamine release-associated striatal blood oxygenation and whole-brain dynamics during associative learning
Dopaminergic signaling in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is central to reward-based learning, but its relationship to brain-wide hemodynamics remains unclear. Using concurrent fMRI and dopamine photometr...
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Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Top-tier weird little guy on an incantation bowl from Nippur, Iraq, c 500 BCE, in the Penn Museum.
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Neil Tsutsui @neiltsutsui.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Only 3 more days to apply for our Assistant Professor in Arthropod Biodiversity position! The application deadline is October 9, 11:59pm! aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05523
aprecruit.berkeley.edu
Assistant Professor - Arthropod Biodiversity - Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!
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Cornish Jackdaw Project @cornishjackdaws.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
New paper led by @lucahahn.bsky.social! Jackdaw partners coordinate & accept short-term costs to stay together. Relationships promote access to food & info. @uniexecec.bsky.social @shoalgroup.bsky.social @guillmcivor.bsky.social @royalsocietypublishing.org @swbiodtp.bsky.social tinyurl.com/rrv483hb
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ASAB @asab.org · 07/10/2026
In 2021 @andyradford.bsky.social became the ASAB executive editor of the #AnimalBehaviourJournal, a joint venture with our sister society @animbehsociety.bsky.social With their exec editor & a great support team, Andy has worked hard to bring out an issue every month - a real undertaking! #MeetASAB
Andy holding a pied babbler with the ASAB logo in the corner
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Odd Jacobson @oddjacobson.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
New paper out in PNAS! Thank you to the Tuanan Orangutan Research Station, all the researchers who collected these data over the years, and co-authors. This paper is the culmination from so much prior effort and a huge collaborative success 🦧
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Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Arachnophobic spiders, in case you needed something else to think about.
npr.org
Spiders can have arachnophobia! : Short Wave
If you're not so fond of spiders, you may find kindred spirits in other spiders! Researcher Daniela Roessler worked with jumping spiders and found that they know to get away from the presence of othe...
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Andres Bendesky @bendeskylab.com · 04/10/2026
10 days left to apply for an Assistant Professorship in Evolutionary Biology at Columbia.
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Genome Biology and Evolution @genomebiolevol.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Sociality has evolved repeatedly across the tree of life. @meganbarkdull.bsky.social & @corriemoreau.bsky.social review how insect sociality both arises from and influences genome evolution. 🔗 academic.oup.com/gbe/article/... 📷 Philipp Hoenle #societyjournal
GBE | Genome Evolution in Social Insects 

Tetramorium fulviceps. Photo: Philipp Hoenle
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toilet bones @toiletbones.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Found the email I sent when I got accidentally added to the faculty listserv of an orthopedic surgery clinic and nobody would remove me so I sent this email to all faculty/staff/med students and they removed me almost immediately
Hello Bone Colleagues, 
I have invented a new type of ankle and I'm very excited to show it to you. Early raccoon trials suggest a 60% increase in scurrying speed and dramatic increases in fine motor banditry. I know we are not supposed to create super raccoons, but I think you'll change your mind and professional ethics when you see how cute they are. I believe we are on the cusp of a new era in advanced human scurrying because if medical science has taught me anything, it's that improvements in raccoons correspond 1:1 to improvements in humans. 

--
[My name]
Chief Bone Inventor
Chair, Department of Foot and Leg Innovation
Lord Mayor, Musculoskeletal Medicine 
Hartford HealthCare,
The Bone & Joint Institute at Hartford Hospital.
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beetle moses @beetlemoses.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Three panel comic. Panel 1: on the set of the Jerry Springer show, a man sits in a chair. Jerry signals off-stage and says, “we have with us: your ancestor who crawled out of the ocean 375 million years ago!” Panel 2: the live studio audience is booing. Panel 3: security attempts to break up a fight between the man on stage, and his ancestor, a tiktaalik.
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Will Oestreich @will-oestreich.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I am recruiting a PhD student to work with our group at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior! Learn more & apply here: tinyurl.com/kd4xx4ku Deadline: 15 Nov 2026 Start date: Flexible (summer-fall 2027) @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social @livingingroups.bsky.social @carlzeissstiftung.bsky.social
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Bob Wong @bbmwong.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Monash University is offering a fully-funded PhD scholarship to an outstanding student in animal behaviour/evolutionary ecology. Choose from eight project areas. For information about what project I'm offering, please DM me or see application form: forms.gle/ia9t4KPD3FKT.... Deadline: 15 Nov.
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Megan Barkdull @meganbarkdull.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I’m really happy to share that my invited review on social insect genome evolution, co-authored with @corriemoreau.bsky.social, is out now in @genomebiolevol.bsky.social 🐝🐜 This is the paper I wish I’d had when studying for quals in grad school, and was a ton of fun to write.
Greyscale illustrations of eight social taxa: the wasp Parischnogaster nigricans; the bee Ceratina calcarata; the thrips Kladothrips; the aphid Pseudoregma bambucicola; the bee Austroplebeia cincta; the ambrosia beetle Austroplatypus incompertus; and the ants and termites.
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Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The answer to this question is a very loud and resounding NO. And neurobiologists don't just consider the notion of a "lizard brain" in humans misleading. It is wrong. Very wrong. The only lizard brain is that found within lizards. #neuroethology #neuroskyence www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
theguardian.com
Do humans really have a ‘lizard brain’ lurking beneath our rational minds?
It’s a powerful analogy that captured the popular imagination, but the biological reality is quite different
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Dr Michelle LaRue @drmichellelarue.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Come to University of Canterbury to do a PhD on penguin genetics with Sarah Flanagan and me! Everything you need to know is in the link below, check it out and please spread the word 🧪🦑🌍🦉🐧 www.canterbury.ac.nz/study/uc-gra...
canterbury.ac.nz
Leveraging lessons in international conservation from Antarctica to build adaptive management plans for taonga species in Aotearoa | UC
This project focuses on the conservation of two iconic penguin species, who live in two extremes: emperor penguins, the largest penguins who breed on the extreme cold, isolated ice in Antarctica; and ...
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ContempraInn 🌹 @contemprainn.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Rabbits show dominance by demanding to be groomed, while cats show dominance by grooming the other. A perfect relationship 💞
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Jennifer Smith Richards @jsmithrichards.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I've been a reporter for a long time and this might be the strangest thing I've ever done. We've been reporting on privatization of schools this year and found that just about anyone can open a private school in most states. So we asked, Could reporters do it?
propublica.org
Almost Anyone Can Start a Private School. We Put This to the Test.
Our reporting has shown how easily people — some with questionable backgrounds — have founded their own private schools in barns, strip malls and other places. That led us to an experiment: If the hur...
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 03/10/2026
I have absolutely wondered about this. Amazing.
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Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
don't like to engage in finger-pointing, but everything is this ant's fault
Macro photo of an elongate, wasplike red and black Harpegnathos ant with long jaws standing in a white field facing a much larger human fingertip
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Stuart McDaniel @stuartmcdaniel.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
UF Biology is searching for an Assistant Professor in Plant Ecology, pass it along explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/search...
explore.jobs.ufl.edu
University of Florida - Search Results
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UNR Biology Buzz @unr-biologybuzz.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
We are hiring! 🧪 Tenure-track position in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Nevada, Reno. Great colleagues, nearby mountains, and of course a certain lake... Application info: nshe.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UNR-external... www.unr.edu/biology #evolution #EEB #ecoevo #evolsky #academicjobs
A winter view of Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada mountains with snow on the ground and trees
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Kieran 🦘🇨🇦 @hellbendermuseum.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Proud to present my lifesize T. rex head, affectionately named Hannibal. I created this myself from start to finish- digital sculpture, resin 3D printing, painting, etc. Huge thanks to my friend @rj-palmer.com for instrumental crits and redlines during the sculpting process.
Life-size t rex head model from front 3/4 view. I am also in frameLife size t rex head model, from frontLife size t-rex model, from front and staring directly down the barrel of the camera
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🦋 Alie of the Woods 🦋 (is looking at lichen in the cemetery) @humanbyweight.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I found a cricket leech after work today! :0 Cricket leeches are the larval form of solitary wasps in the family Rhopalosomatidae, which is the ancestral branch of all paper and potter wasps.
A photo of a dark bean-like entity stuck to the side of a cricket between its body and left hind leg. The cricket's posture looks like if a basketball player was trying to hide the fact that they got bit by a tick the size of a poodle, carrying it casually under one arm. The wasp may not directly kill its host, but the loss of so much hemolymph will likely reduce the cricket's lifespan. A photo of the same unfortunate pair from further away, so you can see the scale of the parasite. The cricket is gravid and will likely lay her eggs soon, parasitic wasp be damned. #girlpower
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Dr Hannah M. Rowland @hannahmrowland.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Hope your day was better than Darwin’s, on this day 165 years ago
I am very poorly today & very stupid & hate everybody &everything.

Charles Darwin
Letter to Charles Lyell
1st October 1861
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Elizabeth Hobson @elizabethhobson.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I am recruiting new parakeet postbacs to join my research team! If you are (or know of) someone who recently graduated undergrad & is looking to build research experience prior to applying to grad school or a career path (and you like animal sociality and cognition) apply here! tinyurl.com/59rf8jcy
tinyurl.com
Recruiting parakeet research contractors
Recruiting parakeet research technicians!   The Hobson Lab at the University of Cincinnati is recruiting research contractors on our Monk Parakeet sociality and cognition project at our resear…
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Matt Friedman @friedmanlab.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
New exhibit at UMMNH. Come for the eurypterids, stay for the ostracoderms.
Image of a museum display featuring a large model of an aquatic arthropod.Close-up of part of museum display featuring casts and models of jawless fishes.
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Zoë Goldsborough @zoegoldsborough.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Why care about weird animal behaviors? Just out as an advanced publication, my contribution to the next Frans de Waal special issue in Behaviour @degruyterbrill.bsky.social. Unusual behaviors are a recurring theme in my career, and I much enjoyed writing this perspective! doi.org/10.1163/1568...
doi.org
The science of the unusual: how rare observations reveal the diversity of animal behaviour
Abstract Behavioural biology often focuses on identifying general patterns, yet unusual or rare behaviours at both the population and individual level can provide insight into animal behaviour. Here, ...
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Michael Sheehan @sheehanmj.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Congrats!
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Anita Devineni @anitadevineni.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The Emory Biology department is hiring a tenure-track ecologist at any rank. Deadline is Nov 1, link below! As I've said many times before, I couldn't ask for a more supportive department. Our faculty colleagues, dept chair, and admin staff are truly awesome ❤️ apply.interfolio.com/191783
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David Baracchi @davidbaracchi.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I'm pleased to share our new review, published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, with L.Baciadonna, C.Macri & M.Giurfa. We discuss evidence for emotions in insects and their possible deep evolutionary roots, while stressing the need for rigor and caution doi.org/10.1098/rstb...
doi.org
Exploring emotional expression in invertebrates: mechanisms, functions and phylogeny
Abstract. The idea that invertebrates may exhibit basic forms of emotion, and possibly sentience, is gaining traction as evidence of their advanced cogniti
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Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 25/09/2026
FYI to everyone submitting this October NIH cycle You need to re-certify your ScienCV AFTER Sept 26 (tomorrow) for your application or it may not be accepted. Great timing!
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Kate Baker @ksbakes.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
We have an open Assistant/Associate Professor position in Pathogen Biology at the Department of Genetics - come and join us! 🦠 🧫 🧬https://www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/assistantassociate-professor-in-pathogen-genetics-pc51175
cam.ac.uk
Assistant/Associate Professor in Pathogen Genetics
Applications are invited for an Assistant or Associate Professorship in Pathogen Genetics to be held in the Department of Genetics. We are searching for a talented individual with a track record of fu...
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Mina Kimes @minakimes.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
One of my favorite pastimes it tracking the esoteric options that toddler toy companies come up with for the letter Q
Quokka
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Michael Warburton @michaelwarburton.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
33yrs ago the New York Times published an article criticising Federico Fellini and other foreign language films — calling them "hard work". MARTIN SCORSESE sent this in response.
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
If you want a full rundown of the Academy of Natural sciences situation, this video does a really good job of covering it. youtu.be/nxyfBfCrbDw?...
youtu.be
The Plan To Destroy Americas Oldest Natural History Museum
YouTube video by Miniminuteman
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Acid Rain @bearysweet.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Milo 😾 : Momma, Ah want a "Blabbermouth" button installed asap! 😾😼😂 (Cr @wordypaws) #dog #cat #wordsmith
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Yun S. Song @yun-s-song.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Please help spread the word! We are recruiting multiple Postdoctoral Fellows as part of the recently launched Bakar Computational Biomedicine Initiative (BCBI) at UC Berkeley and UCSF. BCBI website: bcbi.berkeley.edu Apply by Nov 1, 2026: berkeley.infoready4.com#freeformComp... (1/n)
bcbi.berkeley.edu
Bakar Computational Biomedicine Initiative | Bakar Computational Biomedicine Initiative
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Judith Mank @judithmank.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
So very, very happy to see this out @plosbiology.org : Ancient inversion polymorphisms associate with sexually selected traits across natural guppy populations. Beautiful work by two very clever and talented coauthors, Yuying Lin and @vdbijl.bsky.social . journals.plos.org/plosbiology/... 1/
journals.plos.org
Ancient inversion polymorphisms associate with sexually selected traits across natural guppy populations
Genomic inversions spanning many genes can persist for millions of years. This study of Trinidadian guppy populations reveals how both ecological conditions and mate choice help maintain this hidden l...
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Rich Meisel @richmeisel.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
We're hiring an Assistant or Associate Professor in Evolutionary Biology in my department at the university of Houston @uh-ecoevo.bsky.social Come be my colleague careers.uh.edu/jobs/assista...
careers.uh.edu
Assistant or Associate Professor - Evolutionary Biology - Houston, Texas, United States
Department: Biology and Biochemistry Salary: Commensurate with experience Description: The Department of Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Houston seeks to hire an evolutionary biolog...
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Katie Porter’s White Board @ohdangitevie.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This poor cat has been fated to answer phones in a call center for life.
White cat with black markings that look like a call center headset
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Michael Sheehan @sheehanmj.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
There are additional details in the ad beyond what makes sense to layout in a short social media post. But we are not looking for a specific organism or one kind of research method. We are really open to many possibilities. I’m the search chair and people can reach out if they have questions.
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Michael Sheehan @sheehanmj.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
We are hiring an Asst Prof in Neuroethology (broadly defined) here at Cornell. If you work on neurobiology of animal behavior, check out the job and apply! academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/32592
academicjobsonline.org
Cornell University, Neurobiology and Behavior (CALS)
Job #AJO32592, WDR-00061329 Assistant Professor: Neural Mechanisms of Natural Behavior, Neurobiology and Behavior (CALS), Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, US
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Gitta Coaker @gittacoaker.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Assistant Professor position at University of Michigan. Applicants in all areas of cellular/molecular biology in prokaryotes, plants, and animals are encouraged to apply. lsa.umich.edu/mcdb/news-ev...
lsa.umich.edu
MCDB Solicits Applications for an Assistant Professor | U-M LSA Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB)
The faculty position will be tenure track with a university year appointment starting August 25, 2027 or January 1, 2028. Apply now through October 1, 2026.
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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
🚨We're hiring a new Curator of Mammals!!🚨 🦍🐕🦝🐅🦓🦌🐃🐖🐏🐫🐘🦏🦛🐿️🦔🦇🦥🦦🦨🦘🦡🐋🦭🦒🧸 Come join the Vertebrate Unit at @nhmdk.bsky.social—a fantastic team in the heart of Denmark's beautiful capital! Amazing collections, incredible history. Please share widely! 🧪🏛️ candidate.hr-manager.net/ApplicationI...
candidate.hr-manager.net
Tenure Track Assistant Professor or Associate Professor and Curator of Mammals
Tenure Track Assistant Professor / Associate Professor, and Curator of Mammals at Natural History Museum Denmark The Natural History Museum Denmark wishes to ap
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Hey Philly save the date, 5pm Sept 27th, we’re gonna pull something together for the academy, details coming soon, but mark your calendars.
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