iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

🦆 Alee Vestal-Laborde M.S. @thewaterbirds.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Survived Quals back in June, enjoyed summer, started up the fall semester again with more of a teaching load. Finally painted something again in the last few weeks. #watercolor

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🦆 Alee Vestal-Laborde M.S. @thewaterbirds.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

While I anxiously await the final Louisiana May 16 votes to see if my child gets removed from her fantastic school because a bunch of grandparents want to Balkanize/segregate the public schools, I decided to chart the daily early vote counts. #Louisiana If you're in LA, it's No to Number 2!

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🦆 Alee Vestal-Laborde M.S. @thewaterbirds.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

After 5 years as a part time PhD student taking classes, my oral general exam is scheduled for 5 weeks from now. Words of wisdom? #gradschool

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Sarah Hörst @planetdr.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Speaking of Threads, this one got me in the feels.

medusaglare › Artemis I| 7h
@ Threads
i thought i stopped caring about space. turns out
I was just sick of SpaceX, not NASA.
• 18.3K Q145 G807ł
→ 143

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Coestar @coestar.live · 04/04/2026

I will never be "going to a chatbot" unless I'm at a data center and holding a magnet

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🦆 Alee Vestal-Laborde M.S. @thewaterbirds.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Look, mom! My ducks are on the website "cover". Chapter 1 for my dissertation. "A Review of Coronaviruses in Wild Birds and Opportunities for Future Research on Migratory Waterfowl" www.mdpi.com/2673-6004/6/...

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🦆 Alee Vestal-Laborde M.S. @thewaterbirds.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

Haven’t really painted in a few weeks because of a few different symposiums. Back into it with this cutie.

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Glendon Mellow @flyingtrilobite.com · 10/03/2026

Every American should watch this clip.

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🦆 Alee Vestal-Laborde M.S. @thewaterbirds.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Starting back on this life size guy after settling back home after conference travels. Layer by layer.

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🦆 Alee Vestal-Laborde M.S. @thewaterbirds.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Apparently, if you google "Ural owl", one of my watercolor pieces pops up. 🦉

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Center for Biological Diversity @biologicaldiversity.org · 05/03/2026

A sobering fact: We’ve lost around 3 billion #birds in North America since 1970 — a loss of nearly one in four birds. And yet, this week a congressional panel is meeting to consider weakening the #MigratoryBirdTreatyAct. We'll continue to fight for them. Join us ➡️ bit.ly/4cu2DpR

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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

A lot of people say AI isn't very good for the world and its outputs are routinely unreliable, but these haters fail to see how it's revolutionizing how we incinerate schoolchildren.

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🦆 Alee Vestal-Laborde M.S. @thewaterbirds.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Day 1 waterfowl flyway conference. Lets go. 🦆

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

In light of the news that the Trump administration was successful in their cartoon-villain-scheme to rip the Lesser Prairie-chicken off the Endangered Species List, I’ll just say: this alone would be enough to make me a radical opponent of this administration. As if we needed more reasons.

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🦆 Alee Vestal-Laborde M.S. @thewaterbirds.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Almost missed today because I had a poster to present at a symposium. #birds #art #BirdWhisperer

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Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Dr. Simpson nails the issue. RFK Jr's demand that all vaccines be tested against placebos reflects a complete disregard for medical ethics. Following the horrors of "Untreated Syphilis Study" at Tuskegee, researches NEVER deny care to study participants. It is immoral to do so, or to suggest it.

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🦆 Alee Vestal-Laborde M.S. @thewaterbirds.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Put in some work on this guy before we head out to hit a parade today.

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🦆 Alee Vestal-Laborde M.S. @thewaterbirds.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

I am so many days into this guy and just doing the slightest layers each time I sit down. We’re getting somewhere but it’s slow.

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

This is, once again, like Captain Planet villain comic book stupidly one-dimensionally evil.

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 10/02/2026

Friends from Minneapolis reporting to me that things are at the point where folks are being hidden in other people's houses and we are in the "again" part of "never again" which the "never" was supposed to preclude

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Absolute Fareed @fareedblackman.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

No one has ever tried to sell me drugs as hard as people try to sell me on AI.

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I support Somali-Americans @adamrothman.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference.

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Danielle Froom 🏳️‍🌈 @danifroom.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

"I need AI to make art, human art is only for the rich and privileged-"

Iron Man meme, edited, Obadiah Stane yelling, "Your ancestors made timeless art in a cave! With berries and ash!"

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🦆 Alee Vestal-Laborde M.S. @thewaterbirds.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

I love all my babies equally, but, I already like this guy more equally.

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Isabel, booonyavirus wonk @isabelott.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

cognitive reframing ahead of quals: ❌ I will be stuck in a room with a firing squad of friends and allies whose eyes will go red like robots in the movies for 2 hours to grill me ✅ THEY will be stuck in there with ME while I talk a 2 hour blue streak about my very favorite stuff in the world 😌

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🦆 Alee Vestal-Laborde M.S. @thewaterbirds.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

It took about 14 scans, but I got these guys onto the computer finally. #watercolor

Watercolor painting of 3 ducks standing at the edge of a river.

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🦆 Alee Vestal-Laborde M.S. @thewaterbirds.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

This guy is my last bird for #birbfest2026 this year, the red junglefowl.

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🦆 Alee Vestal-Laborde M.S. @thewaterbirds.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Gryfalcon for the first #BirdWhisperer bird of the year! I think I accidentally gave him kestrel proportion vibes during the sketching process. #watercolor

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🦆 Alee Vestal-Laborde M.S. @thewaterbirds.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

I’ve been working on these guys for 10 days and I think the front guy is nearly there. Biggest #watercolor painting that I have ever attempted.

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Meade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

"106,636 years of federal work experience were lost across the 10,109 employees with Ph.D.s who departed STEM or health roles 1 January–30 November." It isn't just the scientific knowledge but the *institutional* knowledge that's been lost. Rebuilding federal science will be a generational effort.

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🌱 MK/RET @retquits.art · 24/01/2026

so don't get too comfortable. #art

A digital painting of an ice cube, followed by several hands closed over each other with water pouring from them. Bold text on the art reads: "ICE MELTS".

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Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 24/01/2026

I have spent my entire adult life being lectured by Republican politicians and conservative legal movement types about how important it is to preserve the sacred constitutional right to self-defense of *specifically this person* and then secret police murdered him in the street

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🦆 Alee Vestal-Laborde M.S. @thewaterbirds.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Today's #birbfest2026 birb is the Galah Cockatoo. The pinks were so much fun for these guys. One more to go and it's the bird I teach to vet students for my "How did we screw up chickens?" lecture each spring. #watercolor #sciart

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Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Calling all the PhDs I know to make monumental annoyances of themselves (and honestly, who better)

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang doesn't want "well-respected people" like PhDs and CEOs to criticize AI, especially in front of governments.

He labeled concerns about the AI technology a "doomer narrative": https://80.lv/articles/nvidia-ceo-doesn-t-want-well-respected-people-to-criticize-ai

The screenshot includes a color photo of Jensen Huang wearing his typical leather jacket. He is an Asian man, with glasses and silver hair. His overall affect is smug.

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👻👹 boo-rit 👹👻 @britculpsapp.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

loon beats snek

the yellow gadsden flag saying don’t tread on me but a loon is biting off the snake’s head

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Dr. Holly Walters @manigarm.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

I have some bad news. One, if you need to use ChatGPT for your graduate application letter, you are not ready for graduate school. Two, no, not "everyone is doing it" and those who don't do it aren't "losing out." ChatGPT is not an advantage.

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Boze Herrington, Library Owl @sketchesbyboze.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

I find Gmail’s new “write this for me” feature deeply sinister. They’re trying to convince you that you are dumb and helpless. Don’t let them steal your ability to formulate thoughts and communicate. You were capable of writing an email in 2022 and you’re capable now.

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🦆 Alee Vestal-Laborde M.S. @thewaterbirds.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

Today's #birbfest2026 bird is the Short-Eared Owl. Oh boy. This guy was a struggle, but I played around with a new granulating watercolor shade as the background and think it's neat. Something about the owl face feathers that get me everytime. #birdart

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