Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
@adrianabriscoe.bsky.social
🦋 #Vision #science| #butterfly wrangler | Distinguished Professor | #Guggenheim | American Academy of Arts and Sciences | NAS | Words: NPR, PBS, ConversationUS | Macondista | Interested in #history | Latina in #STEM
Lab website: www.visiongene.org
Lab website: www.visiongene.org
Pinned
I'm a biologist. Here's why I wrote about U.S. history (1929-1939)
I was one of those Mexican American elementary school children in California who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s not knowing about the deportation or forced expulsion of 350,000-500,000 people of Mexic...
communities.springernature.com
I wrote my first blog about why I felt that writing about my family's experiences with the mass deportation of people of Mexican descent during the Great Depression was more important than the National Science Foundation grant I was writing last summer. communities.springernature.com/posts/i-m-a-...
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
Science friends, this week's briefing is squarely in your wheelhouse.
Please read & share the 🧵. Even better, dig into the briefing unbreaking.org/blog/this-we... & follow the reporters we rely on like @aniloza.bsky.social @maxkozlov.bsky.social @dangaristo.bsky.social @amymaxmen.bsky.social
Please read & share the 🧵. Even better, dig into the briefing unbreaking.org/blog/this-we... & follow the reporters we rely on like @aniloza.bsky.social @maxkozlov.bsky.social @dangaristo.bsky.social @amymaxmen.bsky.social
January 31, 2026 at 12:52 AM
Science friends, this week's briefing is squarely in your wheelhouse.
Please read & share the 🧵. Even better, dig into the briefing unbreaking.org/blog/this-we... & follow the reporters we rely on like @aniloza.bsky.social @maxkozlov.bsky.social @dangaristo.bsky.social @amymaxmen.bsky.social
Please read & share the 🧵. Even better, dig into the briefing unbreaking.org/blog/this-we... & follow the reporters we rely on like @aniloza.bsky.social @maxkozlov.bsky.social @dangaristo.bsky.social @amymaxmen.bsky.social
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
Very excited to share that my first first-author pre-print is out today! Many thanks go out to all of our collaborators, especially those who helped with the fieldwork in Peru - it really wouldn't have been possible without you! 🦋
Evolution of Reproductive Plasticity in a Seasonal Tropical Environment https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.20.700078v1
January 23, 2026 at 9:35 AM
Very excited to share that my first first-author pre-print is out today! Many thanks go out to all of our collaborators, especially those who helped with the fieldwork in Peru - it really wouldn't have been possible without you! 🦋
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
I get tired of saying it, but I’ll say it again: the nature of oppression in America is that they workshop it first on Black, Latino, Asian & Native people.
But it is always, in the end, coming for everyone.
But it is always, in the end, coming for everyone.
The arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort are a test for every MSM member with a platform. If you are not voicing your outrage at this blatant violation of the First Amendment, you are utterly discredited as a journalist.
January 30, 2026 at 4:46 PM
I get tired of saying it, but I’ll say it again: the nature of oppression in America is that they workshop it first on Black, Latino, Asian & Native people.
But it is always, in the end, coming for everyone.
But it is always, in the end, coming for everyone.
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
West Coast monarch butterfly populations hit historic low. This may be the 'new normal'
West Coast monarch butterfly populations hit historic low. This may be the 'new normal'
The latest count of western monarch butterfly populations is the third-lowest yet, after 2024 and 2020.
www.latimes.com
January 30, 2026 at 2:05 PM
West Coast monarch butterfly populations hit historic low. This may be the 'new normal'
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
I had to cobble together a parenting practice that felt authentic to me (I found surprisingly few resources) but this from @chanda.blacksky.app about how to approach mentoring without transferring trauma was invaluable
medium.com/@chanda/trau...
medium.com/@chanda/trau...
Traumatized Mentoring & STEM
Becoming a mentor when you’ve been traumatized requires careful consideration.
medium.com
January 30, 2026 at 3:13 PM
I had to cobble together a parenting practice that felt authentic to me (I found surprisingly few resources) but this from @chanda.blacksky.app about how to approach mentoring without transferring trauma was invaluable
medium.com/@chanda/trau...
medium.com/@chanda/trau...
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
Dr Glaucomflecken, an actual ophthalmologist, with helpful instructions for dealing with pepper spray to the face.
youtube.com/shorts/z4dy0...
youtube.com/shorts/z4dy0...
What To Do If You Get Pepper Sprayed
YouTube video by Dr. Glaucomflecken
youtube.com
January 29, 2026 at 11:45 PM
Dr Glaucomflecken, an actual ophthalmologist, with helpful instructions for dealing with pepper spray to the face.
youtube.com/shorts/z4dy0...
youtube.com/shorts/z4dy0...
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
I'm horrified. This image is from the Anthropic lawsuit case, showing the destructive scanning warehouse. I want to know if there's a list of destructively scanned paperbacks. This is NOT the same as the works list harvested via pirate sites, this has got to be a separate lawsuit. 😡#writingcommunity
January 29, 2026 at 2:15 AM
I'm horrified. This image is from the Anthropic lawsuit case, showing the destructive scanning warehouse. I want to know if there's a list of destructively scanned paperbacks. This is NOT the same as the works list harvested via pirate sites, this has got to be a separate lawsuit. 😡#writingcommunity
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
Our kids are suffering. Some will face lifelong complications, we will lose others.
This was preventable.
We refuse to standby while the most vulnerable suffer 👇
RALLY TO TAKE BACK SCIENCE! 🔬🧪✊
March 7th, 2026 in Washington, DC
Learn more at standupforscience.net/march7
#Standupforscience
This was preventable.
We refuse to standby while the most vulnerable suffer 👇
RALLY TO TAKE BACK SCIENCE! 🔬🧪✊
March 7th, 2026 in Washington, DC
Learn more at standupforscience.net/march7
#Standupforscience
January 29, 2026 at 7:39 PM
Our kids are suffering. Some will face lifelong complications, we will lose others.
This was preventable.
We refuse to standby while the most vulnerable suffer 👇
RALLY TO TAKE BACK SCIENCE! 🔬🧪✊
March 7th, 2026 in Washington, DC
Learn more at standupforscience.net/march7
#Standupforscience
This was preventable.
We refuse to standby while the most vulnerable suffer 👇
RALLY TO TAKE BACK SCIENCE! 🔬🧪✊
March 7th, 2026 in Washington, DC
Learn more at standupforscience.net/march7
#Standupforscience
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
Hotter, drier and more seasonal forests in the eastern and southern Amazon are losing species, while Northern Andean forests are accumulating species, acting as a refuge for those that are climate-displaced 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Tree diversity is changing across tropical Andean and Amazonian forests in response to global change - Nature Ecology & Evolution
This study examines long-term changes in species richness across tropical forests in the Andes and Amazon. Hotter, drier and more seasonal forests in the eastern and southern Amazon are losing species...
www.nature.com
January 29, 2026 at 1:34 PM
Hotter, drier and more seasonal forests in the eastern and southern Amazon are losing species, while Northern Andean forests are accumulating species, acting as a refuge for those that are climate-displaced 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
I am hearing that RFK Jr.’s minions are going to go after HPV vaccines. I’ve got problems with these people and now you’re going to hear about them, first from a personal perspective and then from a professional one.
It all boils down to this: WE HAVE A SAFE VACCINE THAT PREVENTS CANCER.
It all boils down to this: WE HAVE A SAFE VACCINE THAT PREVENTS CANCER.
January 28, 2026 at 7:52 PM
I am hearing that RFK Jr.’s minions are going to go after HPV vaccines. I’ve got problems with these people and now you’re going to hear about them, first from a personal perspective and then from a professional one.
It all boils down to this: WE HAVE A SAFE VACCINE THAT PREVENTS CANCER.
It all boils down to this: WE HAVE A SAFE VACCINE THAT PREVENTS CANCER.
"The distinguishing irony of Ms. Watso’s detention is that she is Native American...She and other tribal members are alone among the many players in the immigration operation...in having a legitimate claim to possessing no immigrant blood." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/u...
For Minneapolis’s Native Americans, a New Fight Echoes a Bitter History
www.nytimes.com
January 29, 2026 at 2:23 PM
"The distinguishing irony of Ms. Watso’s detention is that she is Native American...She and other tribal members are alone among the many players in the immigration operation...in having a legitimate claim to possessing no immigrant blood." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/u...
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
Climate change could lead to 123 million additional malaria cases and 532,000 deaths between 2024 and 2050. Extreme weather events are identified as the primary driver. The findings emphasize the need for climate-resilient malaria control strategies and robust emergency response systems.
Projected impacts of climate change on malaria in Africa - Nature
Projected impacts of climate change on malaria burden in Africa by 2050 highlight the urgent need for climate-resilient malaria control strategies and robust emergency response systems to safeguard pr...
www.nature.com
January 29, 2026 at 12:10 PM
Climate change could lead to 123 million additional malaria cases and 532,000 deaths between 2024 and 2050. Extreme weather events are identified as the primary driver. The findings emphasize the need for climate-resilient malaria control strategies and robust emergency response systems.
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
Last week on the trail, I found one of my favorite quiet miracles.
These are Pipevine flowers — easy to miss, blooming before the leaves arrive, long before most things wake up.
They’re part of a remarkable relationship that eventually gives rise to the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly.
These are Pipevine flowers — easy to miss, blooming before the leaves arrive, long before most things wake up.
They’re part of a remarkable relationship that eventually gives rise to the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly.
January 27, 2026 at 10:41 PM
Last week on the trail, I found one of my favorite quiet miracles.
These are Pipevine flowers — easy to miss, blooming before the leaves arrive, long before most things wake up.
They’re part of a remarkable relationship that eventually gives rise to the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly.
These are Pipevine flowers — easy to miss, blooming before the leaves arrive, long before most things wake up.
They’re part of a remarkable relationship that eventually gives rise to the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly.
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
January 28, 2026 at 9:23 PM
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
For those not familiar with "destructive scanning", this means Anthropic would buy up millions of physical books, use “hydraulic powered cutting machines” to chop them up, scan the pages on “high speed, high quality, production level scanners,” then send the pages to recycling companies!!!
Absolutely damning from @aaronschaffer.com, @willoremus.com, & @nitasha.bsky.social.
To get more data, Anthropic:
* "destructively scanned" millions of books
* downloaded the shadow library LibGen
* hailed another shadow library's arrival as "just in time!!!"
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
To get more data, Anthropic:
* "destructively scanned" millions of books
* downloaded the shadow library LibGen
* hailed another shadow library's arrival as "just in time!!!"
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Inside an AI start-up’s plan to scan and dispose of millions of books
Court filings reveal how AI companies raced to obtain more books to feed chatbots, including by buying, scanning and disposing of millions of titles.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 28, 2026 at 9:26 PM
For those not familiar with "destructive scanning", this means Anthropic would buy up millions of physical books, use “hydraulic powered cutting machines” to chop them up, scan the pages on “high speed, high quality, production level scanners,” then send the pages to recycling companies!!!
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
NEW: Liam Conejo Ramos, the 5-year-old who ICE agents in Minneapolis nabbed last week and shipped off to a Texas detention facility with his dad, is now in poor health, his school superintendent told me today www.huffpost.com/entry/liam-c...
5-Year-Old in ICE Detention Is Sick, Says Top School Official
The 5-year-old who was taken by federal agents in Minneapolis is being held behind bars with his father in Texas.
www.huffpost.com
January 28, 2026 at 9:59 PM
NEW: Liam Conejo Ramos, the 5-year-old who ICE agents in Minneapolis nabbed last week and shipped off to a Texas detention facility with his dad, is now in poor health, his school superintendent told me today www.huffpost.com/entry/liam-c...
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
This is simply insane - demanding the removal of a perfectly safe preservative will require changing the entire production and distribution pipeline. For no reason whatsoever.
While the money is held up, tens of thousands of children are at risk of dying from preventable diseases.
While the money is held up, tens of thousands of children are at risk of dying from preventable diseases.
Reuters reports the Trump adminstration wants to condition any future funding to @gavi.org on the organization agreeing to phase out use of vaccines containing the preservative thimerosal. I wrote late last year about how unnecessary & impractical that would be. www.statnews.com/2025/11/19/r...
January 28, 2026 at 3:17 PM
This is simply insane - demanding the removal of a perfectly safe preservative will require changing the entire production and distribution pipeline. For no reason whatsoever.
While the money is held up, tens of thousands of children are at risk of dying from preventable diseases.
While the money is held up, tens of thousands of children are at risk of dying from preventable diseases.
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
"NCAR is not just another research center. It is purpose-built critical infrastructure designed to integrate observations, modeling, supercomputing, and applied research in ways that no single university, agency, or contractor can replicate on its own."
NCAR represents what is possible when a nation chooses to invest in science as a public good, writes @carlonimbus.bsky.social of @ucs.org. #SaveNCAR eos.org/opinions/wha...
What Americans Lose If Their National Center for Atmospheric Research Is Dismantled - Eos
Five ways dismantling NCAR will cost the American people, and two ways to save it.
eos.org
January 27, 2026 at 4:41 PM
"NCAR is not just another research center. It is purpose-built critical infrastructure designed to integrate observations, modeling, supercomputing, and applied research in ways that no single university, agency, or contractor can replicate on its own."
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
If you want to learn about the viciously racist history of Border Patrol, I recommend Kelly Lytle Hernandez's "Migra!" It's really fascinating because Hernandez looks at the class and race implications of border patrol and who joined.
www.ucpress.edu/books/migra/...
www.ucpress.edu/books/migra/...
Migra! by Kelly Hernandez - Paper
Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.
www.ucpress.edu
January 27, 2026 at 8:50 PM
If you want to learn about the viciously racist history of Border Patrol, I recommend Kelly Lytle Hernandez's "Migra!" It's really fascinating because Hernandez looks at the class and race implications of border patrol and who joined.
www.ucpress.edu/books/migra/...
www.ucpress.edu/books/migra/...
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
The new report **Preparing Students for Civic Life** comes at a pivotal moment: colleges and universities have the opportunity and the responsibility to teach students how democracy works and to equip them with the skills to be good citizens.
🧪 #academicsky
www.amacad.org/ourcommonpur...
🧪 #academicsky
www.amacad.org/ourcommonpur...
Preparing Students for Civic Life: A Guide for Higher Education Leaders
A report from a working group at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences that offers eight strategies for moving higher education institutions toward a campus-wide commitment to democracy.
www.amacad.org
January 27, 2026 at 9:27 PM
The new report **Preparing Students for Civic Life** comes at a pivotal moment: colleges and universities have the opportunity and the responsibility to teach students how democracy works and to equip them with the skills to be good citizens.
🧪 #academicsky
www.amacad.org/ourcommonpur...
🧪 #academicsky
www.amacad.org/ourcommonpur...
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
In the 19th century, the average life expectancy in the US was ~40 with many kids dying of infections that are now preventable. We are witnessing measles surging in unvaccinated children in US (and UK) and Kennedy's advisors recently said polio vaccines weren't necessary. #ImpeachKennedy
RFK Jr. adviser questions need for polio vaccine
The head of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s panel of independent vaccine advisers recently questioned the necessity of the polio vaccine — spurring a sharp backlash.
www.politico.com
January 27, 2026 at 8:50 AM
In the 19th century, the average life expectancy in the US was ~40 with many kids dying of infections that are now preventable. We are witnessing measles surging in unvaccinated children in US (and UK) and Kennedy's advisors recently said polio vaccines weren't necessary. #ImpeachKennedy
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
“At NSF, the net reduction of 205 STEM Ph.D.s between 1 January and 30 November constituted 40% of its total pre-Trump Ph.D. workforce of 517, by far the largest percentage at any agency. STEM Ph.D.s also make up a larger percentage of the total workforce at NSF than at any other agency…”.
The US government lost more than 10,000 STEM PhDs last year, according to an analysis by Science of newly released OPM data, with 11 departures for every hire. And many OPM calls "voluntary" separations were probably pushed. www.science.org/content/arti...
U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office
A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies
www.science.org
January 27, 2026 at 11:37 AM
“At NSF, the net reduction of 205 STEM Ph.D.s between 1 January and 30 November constituted 40% of its total pre-Trump Ph.D. workforce of 517, by far the largest percentage at any agency. STEM Ph.D.s also make up a larger percentage of the total workforce at NSF than at any other agency…”.
Horrible news for people with treatment-resistant diseases
Moderna have announced that they won't run new phase three trials now with massive impacts for new vaccine development- why- its because of RFK Jr and his anti-vaccine campaigns and cancelling mRNA vaccine research which affect the sales the company can then make 🧪🧵 #PublicHealth
Moderna Won’t Run Phase III Vaccine Trials as Skepticism Grows in US: Bloomberg
Growing opposition to vaccines in the U.S., driven by recent government policy changes, makes it difficult to see a return on investment in vaccine development, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said this w...
www.biospace.com
January 27, 2026 at 12:52 PM
Horrible news for people with treatment-resistant diseases
A New Way to Flirt: Dazzle Potential Mates With Patterns Invisible to Humans www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/s...
A New Way to Flirt: Dazzle Potential Mates With Patterns Invisible to Humans
www.nytimes.com
January 27, 2026 at 12:37 PM
A New Way to Flirt: Dazzle Potential Mates With Patterns Invisible to Humans www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/s...