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Reposted by Elinne Becket, PhD

Jennifer Nuzzo, DrPH, SM @jennifernuzzo.bsky.social · 15h

Some of these people have now been fired and rehired TWICE since January. The current state of dysfunction is mind boggling.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 17h

OOOPS! UPDATE: Two HHS officials tell me that disease detectives, measles response officers, global health officials and the MMWR staff were laid off by mistake and will be reinstated. But Washington office is still RIFed

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 1d

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

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Reposted by Elinne Becket, PhD

Rob Edwards @linsalrob.bsky.social · 14h

🦠Join the legendary @viromegirl.bsky.social lab

Jobs in marine micro, virology & genomics
💻 Viral 'omics in seagrass
🧬 Marine microbial & bioinformatics
🧫 Vibrio phage + iron biogeochemistry
🎓 sea urchin–ciliate diseases

👉 www.marine.usf.edu/genomics/app...

#MarineVirology #Phagesky #Microbiome

Welcome to the Breitbart Lab - Genomics

We are modern virus hunters, using metagenomic sequencing to discover viruses in a wide range of environments and hosts. Have fun exploring the marvels of microbiology on this website!

marine.usf.edu

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Elinne Becket, PhD @bielleogy.bsky.social · 13h

I'm so glad my lab understands and embraces how much of a sarcastic humor I have 😆🫣

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Elinne Becket, PhD @bielleogy.bsky.social · 14h

😆🤌

Elinne Becket, PhD @bielleogy.bsky.social · 15h

🤣 still waiting on that

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Elinne Becket, PhD @bielleogy.bsky.social · 15h

The mood stabilizing effect as frustration grows is very needed

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Elinne Becket, PhD @bielleogy.bsky.social · 16h

🤣

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Elinne Becket, PhD @bielleogy.bsky.social · 16h

When you grade at a winery, you can grade on a Cu(r)vée.

Photo of lab reports being graded at a patio table with a glass of wine behind them.

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Reposted by Elinne Becket, PhD

Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 23h

For more information about the Friday night massacre at CDC, I wrote up an analysis of who got terminated and what that means for public health.

Grateful to @saveamericamvmt.bsky.social for supporting and amplifying. We are in really terrible trouble.

rasmussenretorts.substack.com/p/the-death-...

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Reposted by Elinne Becket, PhD

DEI Virologist @kyt-thatsme.bsky.social · 1d

Anyone wanna form a viral or pathogen evolution working group ?

Society for the Study of Evolution @sse-evolution.bsky.social · 3d

Now accepting proposals for new Research Synthesis Working Groups! Each funded group will present a symposium at the Evolution meeting, collaborate on a publication, and establish a lasting research network. Submit your proposal by January 6: www.evolutionsociety.org/content/soci...

Text: Society for the Study of Evolution Call for Proposals: Research Synthesis Working Groups. Deadline: January 6.

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Reposted by Elinne Becket, PhD

Teppo Hiltunen @teppo-h.bsky.social · 1d

Evolution induced state shifts in a long-term microbial community experiment www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Evolution induced state shifts in a long-term microbial community experiment

Biological communities are complex, dynamic systems that underpin ecosystem functionality, yet their long-term dynamics and predictability remain poorly understood. Understanding how Darwinian evoluti...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Elinne Becket, PhD

Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 1d

I don’t know who needs to hear this but the CDC is being eviscerated right now. America is not going to have any kind of outbreak response capacity after tonight. Americans’ health data is no longer secure. Say goodbye to federal public health in any capacity. It’s a disaster. We won’t recover.

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Reposted by Elinne Becket, PhD

Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 1d

You would not fire these people—including the staff of the hugely, HUGELY important 'Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report'—if you cared at all about public health, if you wanted people to live.

And you would not let your thuggish henchmen fire people like this if you were a responsible president.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 1d

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

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Elinne Becket, PhD @bielleogy.bsky.social · 1d

Yes but he rich so

Elinne Becket, PhD @bielleogy.bsky.social · 1d

👀🤔

Elinne Becket, PhD @bielleogy.bsky.social · 1d

Also at the moment I'm a bit more preoccupied with fascism that maybe my contempt for the oligarchy seems diluted

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Elinne Becket, PhD @bielleogy.bsky.social · 1d

See you gotta be on my feed more

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Elinne Becket, PhD @bielleogy.bsky.social · 1d

Lol why? I do coastal microbial ecology and I hate the oligarchy. Totally on brand.

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Elinne Becket, PhD @bielleogy.bsky.social · 1d

Sadly though, if the penalty is only a fine, that means nothing to this person.

Meatball Rob @wrenispinkle.bsky.social · 2d

HAHAHAHAHAHA get fucked you rich asshole

Carlsbad homeowner ordered to remove private gate to public beach, fined $1.4 million

John Levy was penalized by state Coastal Commission for a string of Coastal Act violations stretching back years

www.sandiegouniontribune.com

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Elinne Becket, PhD @bielleogy.bsky.social · 1d

Amen

Elinne Becket, PhD @bielleogy.bsky.social · 1d

........ 😮‍💨

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Elinne Becket, PhD @bielleogy.bsky.social · 1d

Colleagues, this IS an option. You don't HAVE to choose the first one.

Screenshot of email reply options in the following order: "Reply All", "Reply", "Forward", and "Edit Recipients", with the "Reply" option circled.

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Elinne Becket, PhD @bielleogy.bsky.social · 1d

I get irrationally irritated when I get a calendar invite for something with zero context given.

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Reposted by Elinne Becket, PhD

Kathleen Clark @kathleenclark.bsky.social · 2d

A master class from MIT in responding to authoritarian overreach:

Your “premise … is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
… America’s leadership in science & innovation depends on independent thinking & open competition for excellence.

Dear Madam Secretary,
I write in response to your letter of October 1, inviting MIT to review a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education." I acknowledge the vital importance of these matters.
I appreciated the chance to meet with you earlier this year to discuss the priorities we share for American higher education.
As we discussed, the Institute's mission of service to the nation directs us to advance knowledge, educate students and bring knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges.
We do that in line with a clear set of values, with excellence above all. Some practical examples:
• MIT prides itself on rewarding merit. Students, faculty and staff succeed here based on the strength of their talent, ideas and hard work. For instance, the Institute was the first to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirement after the pandemic. And MIT has never had legacy preferences in admissions.
• MIT opens its doors to the most talented students regardless of their family's finances. Admissions are need-blind. Incoming undergraduates whose families earn less than $200,000 a year pay no tuition. Nearly 88% of our last graduating class left MIT with no debt for their education. We make a wealth of free courses and low-cost certificates available to any American with an internet connection. Of the undergraduate degrees we award, 94% are in STEM fields. And in service to the nation, we cap enrollment of international undergraduates at roughly 10%.

source:
https://orgchart.mit.edu/letters/regarding-compact

• We value free expression, as clearly described in the MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom. We must hear facts and opinions we don't like - and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree.
These values and other MIT practices meet or exceed many standards outlined in the document you sent. We freely choose these values because they're right, and we live by them because they support our mission - work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health and security of the United States. And of course, MIT abides by the law.
The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
In our view, America's leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences. Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.
As you know, MIT's record of service to the nation is long and enduring. Eight decades ago, MIT leaders helped invent a scientific partnership between America's research universities and the U.S. government that has delivered extraordinary benefits for the American people. We continue to believe in the power of this partnership to serve the nation.
Sincerely,
Sally Kornbluth

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Reposted by Elinne Becket, PhD

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 2d

Every targeted institution (my own very much included) should cut and paste this letter onto their letterhead.

Kathleen Clark @kathleenclark.bsky.social · 2d

A master class from MIT in responding to authoritarian overreach:

Your “premise … is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
… America’s leadership in science & innovation depends on independent thinking & open competition for excellence.

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