Sneha Rao

🫰snaps🫰for @snapcoalition.bsky.social, the first group of grad students to join us on the plenary stage in almost 180 years!

For a panel this morning at the #aaasmtg, the other speakers and I will share ideas and examples for improving trust in science. Here are a few I'll mention if I get a chance (we have a LOT to talk about). I'd love to hear yours. (1/7)

Listen to #ECRs @mjarnett.bsky.social @erinmorrow.bsky.social @jpflores.rbind.io @isakoditomassi.bsky.social and Alex Rich about "Building a New Generation of Scientists Who Lead in Policy and Civic Engagement"

Then join us at our reception to learn more! forms.gle/8AQkJAtHoqvC...

#AAAS2026

Member SNAPshots: February 2026 Our Member SNAPshot series shines a spotlight on the early-career researchers who make up the Scientist Network for Advancing Policy. Each…

NEW Science Policy in a SNAP just dropped!

Learn more about members @ashyeneng.bsky.social @brycewedig.bsky.social and @bdavisbio.bsky.social, and why they do the amazing things they do.

medium.com/science-poli...

Thrilled to be attending my first @aaas.org meeting with fellow members of @snapcoalition.bsky.social! Come say hi at the SNAP booth and be sure to catch the SNAP plenary panel with the incredible Miles Arnett, @isakoditomassi.bsky.social, @jpflores.rbind.io, @erinmorrow.bsky.social, & Alex Rich!! 🤩

Who's ready for #AAAS2026?

Come see SNAPpers at a plenary panel session on Friday, Feb. 13 at 1 p.m.!

We started a blog for @snapcoalition.bsky.social and I was excited to write our introductory post! Check it out on #Medium

medium.com/@snapscipolo...

More long- and short-winded thoughts in the #science-policy space coming soon

Thrilled to announce the launch of my lab
@cri-utsw.bsky.social at UTSW this January!

We will explore how cells sense and respond to mechanical forces, focusing on membrane mechanics to reveal how tension and signaling work together to shape cell behavior.

Model organisms as platforms for training scientific minds

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Thanks @mildobserver.bsky.social for taking the time to chat with me, superstar @erinmorrow.bsky.social & others. Our convo was inspired by the McClintock Letters, run by @cornellasap.bsky.social & @snapcoalition.bsky.social, w/ the mission of reconnecting scientists with their hometown communities.

People diving into a pool of books and figures, with text: How I learned to teach like a scientist

“I will miss the creativity of teaching.”

On #WorldTeachersDay, check out this #ScienceWorkingLife essay from a retired professor emeritus on how she challenged students to think beyond facts—and how she learned to teach like a scientist. https://scim.ag/4nvwosR

Dialogue is so important in science engagement.

“Our responsibility is … to speak with humility, to listen with care, and to earn the trust of those we hope to reach… To change what people believe, we must first understand why they believe it and what purpose that belief serves in their lives.”

Sign-up to join us here ➡️ www.spgatucsf.org/join

The best group!!! Now is a great time to join us if you’re interested in learning about how to engage in advocacy and policy as a scientist!

Very lucky to be at UCSF with such great microscopy facilities. These instruments are definitely pushing the limits of what we thought feasible in live imaging! Excited to keep exploring how these single cells organize and secrete such precise morphologies.

Open Letter: A Call to Preserve the Future of American Science The Scientist Network for Advancing Policy (SNAP) invites early-career scientists (e.g., student, post-bacc, PhD candidate, post-doctoral researcher, early-career faculty) in the United States to join...

Science is under unprecedented threat in the US, and we need to speak out to save it.

If you are an early-career researcher, please consider signing our open letter calling to preserve the future of American science: tinyurl.com/mcclintockle....

Our futures, and our country's future, depend on it.

An Icon of St. Hildegard, from Wikipedia

We all know scientists who are also musicians In fact, one of my favorites just dropped a new album last month. I was surprised me, though, since she died over 800 years ago. Turns out she might also be the first woman to ever write about developmental biology. 🧵 1/16

Image for a McClintock Letters writing workshop tomorrow at 12p ET, hosted by Dr. Katherine Xue at UC Irvine, who has written for the New Yorker. She will walk participants through how to write and pitch your op-ed!

There's still time to write a McClintock Letter in support of federal funding of research!

Interested and don't know where to start?

Join this workshop tomorrow, June 6th, at 12 ET ☀️

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Are you an early career scientist impacted by federal research funding cuts? We want to hear your views and stories! Impacts survey: https://bit.ly/3Z1aFPj Stories survey: https://bit.ly/3Sghx7R. Open May 23 - June 6, 2025.

As citizens concerned about the future #STEM #workforce, we want to hear stories and impacts of #federal #funding cuts on early career #scientists. Take the surveys by June 6! @scienceforgood.bsky.social @jpflores.rbind.io

Impacts survey: bit.ly/3Z1aFPj
Stories survey: bit.ly/3Sghx7R

#savescience

Excellent article, big thnx #McClintockLetters collaborators @mjarnett.bsky.social @bdavisbio.bsky.social @erinmorrow.bsky.social @jpflores.rbind.io @emmalovesscience.bsky.social @kassstem.bsky.social @sneharao.bsky.social @eselland.bsky.social @rosemalb.bsky.social @viv-cc.bsky.social + others

Direct measurements of active forces and material properties unveil the active mechanics of early embryogenesis Despite progress in probing tissue mechanics, direct long-term measurements in live embryonic epithelia are lacking. This limits our understanding of amniote embryonic morphogenesis, which takes place...

🚨📣 New preprint alert!
Excited to share my new postdoc work on direct force and mechanical properties measurements in live embryos!
A great team effort with A. Chamolly (theory), under the supervision of F. Corson and @jeromegros.bsky.social
📄 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#devbio #mechanics

🧪 Ranking member Lofgren and 11 other House dems sent a fiery 7-page letter to acting NSF director today

"The cancelation of these awards suggests instead that NSF is willing to apply political censorship of awards under direction from President Trump and the DOGE teenagers"

Share widely #SaveNSF

Are you interested in writing for the McClintock Letters, but aren't sure where to start?

Join us for an Op-Ed workshop led by author and NYT reporter and editor Clay Risen @risenc.bsky.social this Wednesday, May 7th at 4pm ET. Register here to attend on Zoom: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

So important to stay in touch with our local and hometown communities - write for the #McClintockLetters and be part of this incredible grassroots initiative!

😱 A very hungry #PacManoid ate the original post 🍬🍬🍬

Here’s the 🧵 on our latest in @cp-cellstemcell.bsky.social again!

Gastruloids w/ a sweet tooth better model natural embryos: doi.org/10.1016/j.st...

Spearheaded by @cryaaa.bsky.social & Alba Villaronga-Luque @mpi-cbg.de @poldresden.bsky.social

Energizing day at @aaas.org #CASE2025, representing UCSF w @aasencor.bsky.social, Yanilka Soto-Muñiz & Kai Trepka!

“Relationships are built in teaspoons & lost in buckets” - AAAS CEO Sudip Parikh’s advice to show up consistently in your community to affect grassroots change.

#MakingOurCASE #SciPol

Would love to be added!