Sign in

Brittany Sutherland

@sutherlandbl.bsky.social
2.8K followers 859 following 3.5K posts

Assistant Professor, George Mason University Polyploidy, Evolution, Plants, Mating Systems Plants and Cats and Plants and Cats and

PostsRepliesMedia
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
"A man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing." ~ Oscar Wilde
newrepublic.com
Trump Moves to Cut Off Student Loans for Tons of Degrees
Under a new rule, if your degree doesn’t make enough money, you won’t be able to get a student loan.
040
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I'll be honest, if there's not at least ONE furry on a team handling anything technical, I feel much less confident in their abilities. If all the furries in IT suddenly vanished, the economy would crater immediately. Let people have hobbies, y'all!
2377
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
So is that 0.005 percent hit rate higher or lower than the rate of officers illegally using these systems to spy on their exes?
120
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Last time I buy carbonated paint.
031
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
This is just astonishingly cute.
1175
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I shifted slightly while Kyoshi was curled up in my lap. I have little time left. It was nice knowing you all.
Dark brown faced colorpoint cat with medium brown body and bright blue eyes. He appears to be glaring hard at the camera and has his ears back in annoyance.
060
Reposted by Brittany Sutherland
Botanical Society of America @botsocamerica.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
🌿 Congratulations to Dr. Jenn Coughlan (Yale University), recipient of the 2026 BSA Emerging Leader Award! We're honored to recognize them as a rising star in our community. 👏 Learn more at www.botany.org (click Awards). #BSA2026AwardsBlitz #IamaBotanist #PlantPeopleFTW
A portrait of Jennifer Coughlan wearing dark-framed glasses and a navy shirt patterned with cranes, pineapples, and blue flowers, smiling in front of a sunlit brick wall. The text reads: "Botanical Society of America 2026 Emerging Leader Award, Jennifer Coughlan, Yale University." A QR code and the text "Learn more about the Emerging Leader Award here!" appear at the bottom, along with the Botanical Society of America logo. The graphic has a border of pale green agave leaves.
49124
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Every few years when there's unrest in parts of Africa or the Middle East -- Toyota PR Team in Conference Room, watching war footage: Recent college graduate: *raises hand* Older rest of team: No. RCG: But, they're so dependa- OROT: NO!
3143
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Everyone breathlessly going on about Golden Age this and Golden Age that may want to pick up this less-known Twain novel: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3178
nature.com
White House rolls out AI funding — and signals a new era for US science
Chief US science adviser calls for a shake-up in funding while handing out grants to accelerate research with AI.
020
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Oh god, I just saw the news about Mokha and possible threat to the Bab-el-Mandeb strait. Has anyone checked on Sal Mercogliano? Or his liver?
lloydslist.com
000
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
When your brain scrambles and inadvertently pops out the truth.
040
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Our little cat tree by the front door has a hole in the middle level, and apparently Opal has decided to let it all hang out this morning.
A medium hair mostly black and grey tabby point is laying in a grey carpeted cat tree. She is laying on a flat board with a hole cut in it, spanning the hole such that her floofy belly sags through the hole and is visible below the board.
0216
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Every time I drive counterclockwise on 495, I get sad and angry when I pass NSF headquarters. But I’m happy my wife was driving yesterday when I first saw this monstrosity slung across it; I would’ve crashed my car. My language was not fit for print.
The slightly curved facade of the (Old? In flux? Imperiled?) NSF headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. It has a very large flag that resembles the American flag, but has a circle of stars with the number 250 in it. This is not the logo of the nonpartisan America 250 commemoration, but rather the right-wing Freedom 250 operation.
170
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Okay I’m calling it. In “things happen in threes” this is now the third stupid and/or awful chemical story this week, so we’re done. Everyone go back to following safety protocols and stop messing around with dangerous shit!
130
Reposted by Brittany Sutherland
Adam Conover @adamconover.net · 03/09/2026
Yet another way AI is ruining the internet: online shopping
33734221
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
"Gynandromorphism is not basic shit!" - me, to @rogue151.bsky.social this evening. We were discussing chimerism while she was getting ready for work (as one does). I mentioned gynandromorphism then paused and asked if she knew what that was. "Yes, Brittany, I know basic shit about Biology!"
120
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I think this is where we find a division between the elder millennials and the younger set. Because for the '77-'83 crowd, I believe the triggers were this linoleum and this couch:
70's-era linoleum floor in small squares and rectangles in various shades of olive green.A 70's-era couch with dark wooden armrests and frame and crushed velvet cushions. The cushions are covered in a farm scene with barn, water wheel, and several large flowers rendered mostly in shades of brown.
5130
Reposted by Brittany Sutherland
Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
The Republican Party has: Mass-fired scientists Blocked scientific travel and communication Withheld research funding Ignored scientific policy recommendations Redirected research funding to political allies Deported immigrant scientists Censored scientific results Deleted data
03010
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Polycules near campuses with larger Biology or Ecology departments now listing their effective population sizes.
182
Reposted by Brittany Sutherland
Hannah E. Marx, PhD @hannahmarx.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I’m excited to announce that we are looking for a Curatorial Associate to join our team and help lead the L. H. Bailey Hortorium Herbarium at Cornell University 🌿 Please help share with interested botanists! jobs.hr.cornell.edu/us/en/job/WD...
jobs.hr.cornell.edu
Curatorial Associate in Ithaca, New York, United States of America | Library & Museum at Cornell University
Apply for Curatorial Associate job with Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, United States of America. Library & Museum at Cornell University
12938
Reposted by Brittany Sutherland
charliedontsurf.bsky.social @charliedontsurf.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I hope you don't mind me pointing to a gofundme for a poor friend's rescued kitty that needs a vet checkup and spay. Your community is very generous and loves kitties, and he needs so little. www.gofundme.com/f/cover-sabr...
gofundme.com
Donate to Cover Sabrina's Vet Bills and Shots After Rescue, organized by Robert Lee
Hi, I’m raising funds to help with new kitty Sabrina’s vet bills and oth… Robert Lee needs your support for Cover Sabrina's Vet Bills and Shots After Rescue
02716
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Referenced Leeroy Jenkins in a message to my class, but thought it might be a little dated for my students to get the reference. That happened in 2005. Some of my students weren't born yet. *dries up and blows away in a puff of dust*
180
Reposted by Brittany Sutherland
Hanna Kokko @kokkonut.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Come and work with us (the Kokkonuts) as a postdoc! Our research within (theory-evo-eco) is broad; let's say it's implicitly defined by the journal club papers we read. Which is why the application process includes a JC-related task, I hope it'll be a fun one for you! www.evoldir.net/brian/evoldi...
evoldir.net
195117
Reposted by Brittany Sutherland
Al Jazeera English @aljazeera.com · 27/08/2026
The Tohono O'odham people have sued the US government to stop construction of a border wall through their reservation.
aljazeera.com
Tribe accuses US federal agents of ‘trespassing' on indigenous border land
The Tohono O'odham people have sued the US government to stop construction of a border wall through their reservation.
3358135
Reposted by Brittany Sutherland
Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
It's not just tumbling enrollment. Graduate programs rely on foreign students to sustain *critical mass.* Many (if not most) would collapse after a sudden 30% drop in enrollment. They think they're creating space for white, U.S.-born students, but they're actually destroying their own schools.
1428294
Reposted by Brittany Sutherland
derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I appreciate that Dolly Parton refused to participate in "dress respectability" and, by her own account, modeled her aesthetic after a town "tramp," who she thought was beautiful. She separated aesthetics from character and understood "classiness" to be about how you treat people, not how you dress.
194354265283
Reposted by Brittany Sutherland
Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 25/08/2026
Dolly Parton's family asked that, in lieu of flowers, fans make a donation to the singer's Imagination Library. Here's what the charity does ⬇️ www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
rollingstone.com
Turning Pages: Inside Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
Core team of 15 staff and thousands of volunteers and partners help the country-music philanthropist deliver books to kids around the world.
129190508281
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Cool, now I'm tearing up in the lobby.
040
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Does anyone have any history or backstory on why the notation for domestic feline chromosomes is so friggin' WEIRD? Apparently cats are too good for the standard line-'em-up-by-size-except-sex-chromosomes approach. They group by both size and centromere position.
143
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
First day of class, and my undergrad has already hired a new pest control intern.
Very close-up photo of a juvenile jumping spider (not sure what species) hiding in the crevice between my student's fingers.
040
Reposted by Brittany Sutherland
Nick Land Acknowledgement 🇵🇸🏳️‍🌈 @lonestartallboi.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
I think, with a fair amount of regularity, that in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, while Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and Chris Hitchens were all writing screeds one-handed about how Islam was incompatible with civilization, Gould simply got in his car and drove down to NYC and started helping.
218357
Reposted by Brittany Sutherland
Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
DON'T GET ALL EXCITED AND ASSUME GOOD WILL. This is an effort to rebrand already appropriated dollars and already developed programs before the midterms so they have something they can use against being called anti-science. THIS IS NOT NEW INVESTMENT. THESE ARE NOT NEW DOLLARS FOR SCIENCE.
5204123
Reposted by Brittany Sutherland
Jeremy Yoder says no war @jbyoder.org · 19/08/2026
What has population genomics told us about the dynamics of selection and plant adaptation? doi.org/10.1093/molb...
doi.org
What has population genomics told us about the dynamics of selection and plant adaptation?
Abstract. Population genomics has transformed our understanding of how natural selection shapes plant genomes. The explosion of whole-genome resequencing d
0129
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Look. I’m not saying the huge gouts of flame at the My Chemical Romance show at Nats Park tonight weren’t badass. I’m just saying we’re in DC and it’s AUGUST. We could feel the heat from those things and we were not that close. Dear God.
050
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
This is why I love that much of the old bird site Biology community has migrated and reconstructed what we had. Posted this an hour and got several solid suggestions for cleaning this up. I appreciate y'all!
080
Reposted by Brittany Sutherland
Shelly Gaynor @shellygaynor.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Extremely proud of @fkyeeb.bsky.social on receiving the Margaret Menzel Award for her #Botany2026 @botsocamerica.bsky.social talk! Keyi has accomplished so much this year, including finishing her PhD! Very proud to be part of her team! 🥳🎉
Keyi and her introduction slide, which reads "Improving Detection in Large-Scale Gene Family Expansions and Associated Phylogenomic Inference" by Keyi Feng, Shelly Gaynor, and Stephen Smith
0124
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
When your flow data starts showing beautiful, beautiful garbage.
Part of a Cytek Aurora worksheet showing FSC/SSC dotplots with an odd swirling pattern of events. Gated events (far upper right) appear as clean and sharp peaks and in predicted ranges, despite the weird trash gated out.
2112
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
I know a young man who cut his mother off after she'd spent years telling him that his autism reflected poorly on her and made her look like a bad parent. Sometimes people go LC/NC because it absolutely needs to happen.
120
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Please spare a thought for @rogue151.bsky.social, who just learned how cervids shed the velvet from their antlers and what that process looks like.
Whitetail deer shedding its velvet, with drying, bloody strips of flesh hanging off its antlers.
030
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Good news: Finally rounding the bend with this stupid flu. Bad news: Currently have the circadian rhythm of a caffeinated possum.
050
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Opal and her brother Kyoshi, AKA why females usually live longer.
Two cats are looking out an open front door at a chipmunk on the porch. A medium-hair female is sitting on the floor in front of the closed storm door. Her brother, a dark short hair colorpoint, is balanced precariously on the top edge of the open door.
150
Reposted by Brittany Sutherland
T. Ryan Gregory 🇨🇦 @tryangregory.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
If you're a biologist, especially one in a field that has a history of eugenics and racism (which absolutely includes my own field of evolutionary biology) and you choose to remain "neutral" as race science once again crawls out from under its rock, you are not in fact neutral.
6144431069
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
At least when similar idiocy was running around 17th-century Holland, there were pretty flowers to look at…
140
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Still recovering from post-Botany illness. The good news: It wasn’t COVID! The bad news: It was the flu. 😷
140
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
The Youths’ fashion trends today: Ridiculous, insidious signs of societal decay ME in magenta Manic Panic, three wallet chains and a boat-load of safety pins in high school: Morally upright, sign of a more innocent time
010
Reposted by Brittany Sutherland
Charlie Lynch @charlielynch.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Historian looking for freelance work. I’m a very experienced RA, I’m looking for anything really that might help me pay my bills, because in general my profession does not, and no one will let me try doing anything else…
04553
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Couldn’t decide, so went for maximal emotional and thematic dissonance. Film 1: “A few household chemicals in the proper proportions.” Film 2: “So, I do the only thing I can... I release you.”
Without naming the Film, say a line that would make any true fan immediately recognize the film?
010
Reposted by Brittany Sutherland
Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 14/08/2026
Two married professors and their son are being held in ICE detention, despite being legal permanent residents and having no criminal records. All, apparently, because their mom/MIL was a translator for the Iranian hostage takers in 1979, before they were even born. www.thenation.com/article/soci...
thenation.com
One Woman’s Message From the Hell of ICE Detention
My husband, son, and I have been locked up for months—despite being permanent residents with no criminal record. It is an unendurable, unending nightmare.
2721891176
Brittany Sutherland @sutherlandbl.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Go to any large, old cemetery. Make a note of when the incidence of infant graves drops off. We literally have the proof of vaccine efficacy etched in stone.
071
Reposted by Brittany Sutherland
Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
WOAH 👀🧪 "we show that eukaryotic chromosomes are ionic hydrogels and that the chromosomal material is a two-state system, with interconversion between condensed and decondensed states through a volume phase transition, analogous to a liquid-gas transition" www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
The eukaryote chromosome, a two-state system with interconversion by a volume phase transition
The formation of metaphase chromosomes requires the activity of condensins, DNA translocases that reduce chromosomal length through the process of loop extrusion. Reduction of length, however, does no...
23616