Iโm super honored to be invited by @sciantsmedia.com to chat about my path to being a professor & what itโs been like as a #womaninstem. Join me for an interactive #livestream this evening at 9pm EST/8pm CST over on twitch.tv/sciants_stre... ๐!!
Omggggggg
Arlo a big white Great Pyrenees smiles with his tongue out and care bear stare
In case of racist uncles or dead moms or someone saying "only two genders" or your gifts didn't arrive on time or you have a tummy ache or this day is just awkward and you wish it was over:
Arlo loves you as you are. You can be okay anyway and it's okay to not be okay. Happy Thursday!
Thin Section Thursday!
A photo of garnet peridotite from Francis "Joe" Boyd in 2000, who allowed Carnegie scientists to saw off a slice.
The xenolith is embedded in epoxy, which has turned a bit yellow. It is about 15 cm wide.
& a close up. Contributed by Andreas Mรถller. #thinsectionthursday
Petrology & Plate Tectonics: an Earth Systems Approach, by Allen Glazner & Matt Kohn
Just got my paper copy of the new Petrology book Iโm adopting next semester. ๐๐๐๐
Itโs well-written & I thoroughly enjoy the footnoted commentary on some of the more historical aspects of petrology, too! ๐คฃ
JWST version of the Pillars of Creation. But with Googly eyes on the pillars.
Pillars of ๐
๐ญ๐ก๐งช๐จ
My teen, who had dreamt of being an astrophysicist, just told me he wants to go to law school because, โScience isnโt going to be a priority in the US in the futureโฆI donโt want a job where Iโll be constantly worried my funding will be taken away.โ
Gutting. How many future scientists have we lost?
Guess what is going to be our class discussion topic for the climate change segment in my Intro Earth Science course?
An article in the Daily Mail entitled "America's deadliest volcano enters unprecedented 72-hour tremor phase as eruption threat looms over millions". This is incorrect.
Speaking of bad science in media (and I am using the term "media" pretty loosely here), allow me to use The Daily Mail as evidence of why you should get your science information from reputable agencies rather than crap websites. I'm not going to link the article, but it looks like this:
1/n
Someone is claiming to predict the exact date of a future earthquake. Should you listen? Flowchart begins with a diamond that says โstartโ. An arrow leads to a box that says: NO (written in big bold capital letters) There are big earthquakes constantly, so if anyone ever DOES (in smaller bold capital letters) figure this out, it will be immediately obvious that their method works and then the worldโs seismologists will not shut up about it. You wonโt need this flowchart.
Earthquake Prediction Flowchart from @xkcd.com.
cc: @drwendyrocks.bsky.social
Dr. John Wakabayashi, metamorphic petrologist & field geologist, will give TWO lectures next week at Wichita State: 1) a Dept lecture at 3:30 pm on Wednesday, Nov 12, entitled โThe 2025 State of the Franciscanโ, in the Geology Dept Lecture Hall, room 101 2) a Public lecture at 3pm on Thursday, Nov 13, entitled โGeologic fieldwork as cutting edge science: Recognition of new patterns leads to major advancesโ, in Hubbard Hall room 208 This is a public event, open to all who would like to attend!!
Iโm very excited to announce that the always fantastic field geologist Dr. John Wakabayashi is invited as Wichita State Geologyโs Watkins Lecturer next Wed & Thurs, 12-13 Nov.
If youโre around south-central KS/northern OK & interested in Earth Science, this is a multi-day event not to be missed!!
This is very, uh, not great. Just fyi. Especially for those of us in the direct path of a major tsunami from Alaska. ๐
Undergrad Ricky Nichols presenting his preliminary fieldwork on Big Obsidian Flow at Newberry Caldera, Central Oregon. Stop by poster 277 from 3:30-5:30pm today (10/19/25) to learn more!
I had to back out of #GSAConnects but my VERY FIRST STUDENT is still there presenting our summer fieldwork at Newberry Volcano. ๐๐ฅณ
Stop on by Poster 277 between 3:30-5:30 pm today to learn about what mafic enclaves can tell us about Central ORโs last eruption & where magma is beneath this caldera!!
Dear funding agencies,
I know we all want to discover the wonder drug that will cure the horrible diseases, but to do that, we need to invest in basic, unsexy, foundational research on how the systems work. Funding canโt all be drug development.
Sincerely,
Looking for basic research grants.
Nevermind cutting funding to train the next generation of geologists to find the things they want to mineโฆ..
In all my years of existence, I have never once stepped foot into an IKEA and itโs now a point of pride for me.
If a tiny fraction of the resources deployed towards AI was invested instead in actual artists we'd be enjoying a renaissance rather than drowning in a sea of garbage
Iโll admit, #Tugtupite is a toughie, but as a Mineral Cup rookie, we all know that the Reindeer Blood stoneโs approach will be to slide its blade along the stubby sides of #Kyanite to no effect whatsoever! Anisotropic. Beautiful DEEP blue. Kyanite is rested and ready to be #MinCup25 champion!
Dude, SRSLY?!? Why would somebody ballot-stuff? MinCup is supposed to be a fun competition-itโs not that deep!!
Portland doesnโt need the military. Portland has its own defenses.
It sure is! Taken in 2022, iirc.
I genuinely had this conversation w/ my 1st year grad student TODAY.
There's STILL no solicitation posted, but the hard deadline stands - making it impossible to know the specific guidelines for the application or even apply! This is INFURIATING as an advisor and a scientist & totally unacceptable.
To eat through the awfulness, here is a reminder that nature is, in the most literal sense, AWESOME.
You and me both, dude.
The federal government has censored the work of dozens of scientists, including work by my lab, on the impacts of climate change on Acadia National Park. Signs have been removed from Cadillac and Great Meadow. Theyโre also removing signs about the Wabanakiโs sacred connections to Cadillac.
As you cancel streaming services, here is a casual reminder that only 16% of Americans read for pleasure anymore, and your local library has hundreds or thousands of books you haven't read.
They would love to see you stop by and renew your library card.
This is the playbook, folks.
If you're not paying attention now and doing something about it, then you're going to have to sit down the rest of your life because democracy is being taken away.
Do not be quiet in this moment.
The people I know who hard scrabbled their way out of poverty - ACTUAL poverty - donโt call themselves โself madeโ. They are more apt to call themselves โcommunity madeโ. They see and acknowledge the ones who helped them build along the way.
And will then become someone elseโs community too.
Cuprosklodowskite has a cool name, is a uranium mineral, and has our vote in todayโs #MinCup25 matchup. eos.org/tag/uranium
Plus you add a couple of googly eyes and itโs a Muppet, so itโs got that going for it.
Strongly leaning towards Scrabble champion #Cuprosklodowskite over #Ikaite. Not only is it a radioactive devil & named after Marie Skลodowska Curie, its color range โ โgreenโ to โmore greenโ โ gives it a deadly look. Itโs mad, bad & dangerous to know. #MinCup25 might just be a Green v Blue tourney!
