iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Hey, so cocktail sauce should really be called shrimple syrup.

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

Look, I understand why we can't, and I'm not even really saying we *should*, but thesis and dissertation defenses would probably be a lot less stressful if we could bring wine.

120

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

I dropped queso on my phone screen and have confirmed that you can, in fact, accidentally like an Instagram post with your tongue. These kinds of important data and discovery are the reason I became a scientist.

1222

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Clothing company: Our shirts look great on guys of all shapes and sizes! *Models are 6'3" with 6-packs and the ability to speak to animals* Me: ...It'll probably be fine, I'll just find it in my size... *Looks like a manatee draped in a tarp, unable to talk to the other manatees about it*

270

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

This whole CEO concert affair thing is just a ploy by Big Coldplay to get you to buy more clocks.

050

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

Anyway, I'm hoping to launch the show in January and will have a lot more info soon!

000

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

I'm in charge of starting a podcast for my College about the work we do and how it impacts the community. I have a colleague doing fascinating work on bats and ecology. It'll be great, but I already know I can't title it, "It's Frickin' Bats," and I'm terribly sad in advance, deep in my soul.

160

Reposted by Vikram Baliga, PhD

neonsquidbooks.bsky.social @neonsquidbooks.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

The Tree of Life by Nalini Nadkarni is out in the USA today! 🎉

The book cover of The Tree of Life. It features pink text over tree branches and leaves. Some animals such as squirrels and birds are in the scene as well. The book cover is set against a dark green background.

021

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

I couldn't think of the word "hip" just now and went with "leg shoulder." Things are clearly going well.

190

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

"Fire ze missiles" is like a Millennial dog whistle. Also, it still holds up 22 years later. I checked.

2304

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

I went out with friends tonight *starting* at 7:30. What am l, a 30 year old? Absurd. Wonderful.

1180

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Every now and then, I'll go back and watch clips from the Mexican Food episode of Great British Bake Off, just to feel something* *The something is a weird combination of horror, rage, and disappointment

241

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

Plants are political. Nature is political. Food is political. The struggle for our planet is the struggle for liberation and equity.

312715

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

After running non-stop for the past month on primarily caffeine, adrenaline, and spite, I'm finally getting to decompress for a few hours today. Fam, I should have just kept moving so the consequences of pushing too hard couldn't catch me.

media.tenor.com

a woman in a suit says everything hurts and i 'm dying .

Alt: a woman in a suit says everything hurts and i 'm dying .

1121

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Airports are their own weird little urban ecosystems that aren't bound by normal conventions. Want to get a martini and Panda Express orange chicken at 7:02 am? Sure thing. Need a laptop and an entire Lord of the Rings box set? You bet. Wanna pay less than $46 for a cup of coffee? Lol cute, bestie.

0292

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

We share an atrium with another department, and a high pitched alarm keeps going off somewhere in their offices. That feels like more than enough reason for me to just work from home all summer.

191

Reposted by Vikram Baliga, PhD

Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · 20/05/2025

If you’re looking for an encouragement and meaning in life, I really appreciated the thoughts of my colleague @theplantprof.bsky.social here. As I often say, they won’t put your academic CV on your tombstone. So what really matters in life?

open.substack.com

What's Your Value?

The intersection of accomplishments and values

108914

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

I'm out of writing practice, and thought finally starting a Substack would be a good way to get back into working out those muscles again. You'll get a deeper look inside my brain (I'm so sorry) and more detailed answers to your plant and academic questions! Welcome to Office Hours! bit.ly/3ZnvYL2

bit.ly

Welcome to Office Hours!

Questions, answer, and photosynthetic chaos

0194

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

I couldn't remember the word bacon just now, so I ordered "maple donuts with meat sprinkles." They looked at me weird, but I got the right thing so 🤷🏽‍♂️ I need more coffee.

1111

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

I just watched a grad student (in my department, but not my student) respond to a not-question with, "ah, I understand, that's more of a suggestion than a question. I think the suggestion is debatable, but I appreciate the thought." Then he moved on. It was awesome, I'm very impressed.

0111

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

I get to interview so many amazing people for Planthropology that remind me how much I still have to learn about being a scientist, educator, and human. It's genuinely one of the greatest joys in my life to talk with a community of folks who always inspire me to be better!

0132

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Can I just tell you how happy it makes me to get tagged in this stuff

000

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Checking out at the grocery store: Me: Geez, $300?! I just bought essentials! Also me: ...bro, you bought 4 bottles of wine and enough oreos to kill a rhino. Me again: *checks news notification* I said what I said.

0202

Reposted by Vikram Baliga, PhD

Nicole Tersigni @nicsigni.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

you’re fired. wait you’re rehired. email us a list of things you’ve done today wait forget it you’re fired again. come back your job was important. you’re fired. or hired. come in to the office. wait the office has no computers go home. we are the department of government efficiency.

15249606726494

Reposted by Vikram Baliga, PhD

Hank Green @hankgreen.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

We are experiencing an assault on science unparalleled by anything I’ve seen in my life. It’s not one issue or another anymore, the entire institution is under attack by the most powerful individuals in the country. This Friday, where will you be? standupforscience2025.org

standupforscience2025.org

STAND UP FOR SCIENCE

March 7, 2025. Washington DC and nationwide. Because science is for everyone.

6404399212013

Reposted by Vikram Baliga, PhD

immunevet.bsky.social @immunevet.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

TWiV 1195 is a tribute to our late co-host Dickson Despimmier 🤍 youtu.be/2PRYLYwgCmo?...

youtu.be

TWiV 1195: Dickson Despommier, parasitologist without borders

YouTube video by MicrobeTV

2134

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Passionate about everything from parasitology to vertical farming and ecology, Dr. Despommier seems to have been a brilliant scientist and a good man. We have to support the sciences and the innovators and educators who are going to carry us into the future! 3/3 www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/s...

nytimes.com

Dickson Despommier Dies at 84; Championed Farming in Skyscrapers

A Columbia microbiologist, he popularized “vertical farming” — raising crops in tall buildings — to remediate climate change and feed more people.

050

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

The other hosts posted an episode reminiscing about him today, and I can only hope to walk through my life and career in such a way that my friends, colleagues, and students talk about me the way they're talking about him. 2/3

140

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

This is a little niche, but I've been an avid listener of a podcast called This Week in Virology since Covid hit in early 2020. It's a great listen and I've learned a ton. One of the rotating hosts, Dr. Dickson Despommier, passed away a couple of weeks ago. 1/3

161

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

I definitely feel like it should be both!

010

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

It's good for them. It builds character.

0181

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

I have my annual faculty evaluation with my department chair next week. I'm finishing up my report and don't know where to put "staring into the middle distance in existential dread" or which part of my appointment it fits into. Service, maybe? Please advise.

2182

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

That little rhyme they taught us as kids to help us remember how many days are in each month was such a lie. They missed by an order of magnitude on January

110

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

In case you were wondering, it's STILL January.

3200

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Academic folks: how many times is it reasonable to reformat your CV in a given week before you land on something you like and/or admit you have no idea what you're doing? I'm on like the 4th revision, and I think I'm leaning towards "camp no idea."

140

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

I just feel like Tom Bombadil would have a jaunty little song that would help a lot right now.

815616

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Alana and I are having cereal and Oreos for dinner, because why the hell not at this point

2130

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

Definitely yes! The biggest thing is getting your grind size right. If its too fine, it plugs up the filter and slows everything down. You want medium-fine to medium-coarse and it works out great.

110

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

I have nothing meaningful to add to today's conversation. Instead, here's the most important video I've ever made, from way back in 2021. #mrpourovercoffeeman

1172

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

😂😂 it's like the grail of social media

010

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

Maybe you live in a reasonable place, but here where I am, we have brown sky dirt season, and it showed up early this year. The air is crunchy.

1250

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

The best way* to process a scientific article is to re-read the same section 3 times because you keep forgetting what you're doing, then stare into the middle distance in existential dread for at least 20 minutes. *these statements have only been evaluated by me

4383

Vikram Baliga, PhD @theplantprof.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

It's the 2 year anniversary of my grandma putting a curse on someone. I'm unsure of that person's fate, but they stopped calling, so

0240