Dr Craig R McClain
@drcraigmc.bsky.social
Marine Ecologist, Deep-Sea Explorer, Climate Change Researcher, Science Communicator, Ed @deepseanews
Pinned
Dr Craig R McClain
@drcraigmc.bsky.social
· Jun 24
Too poor to science: How wealth determines who succeeds in STEM
From student to researcher, a career in science can come with a high price tag. This Perspective explores how persistent financial barriers limit who can succeed in science, revealing how wealth shape...
journals.plos.org
I've wanted to write this article for years. About my and other's struggles to even survive sometime in #academia. Thank you to the amazing editors at @plosbiology.org that gave me the forum to write this piece. #science
Why can't they all get onboard with reviewer 1
February 10, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Why can't they all get onboard with reviewer 1
Reposted by Dr Craig R McClain
🌍🦑 This #OpenAccess study from 'Landscape Ecology' highlights how seascape ecology can link spatial patterns and ecological processes across abyssal and hadal depths. @drcraigmc.bsky.social bit.ly/3Zuto5L #MarineEcology
February 10, 2026 at 4:00 PM
🌍🦑 This #OpenAccess study from 'Landscape Ecology' highlights how seascape ecology can link spatial patterns and ecological processes across abyssal and hadal depths. @drcraigmc.bsky.social bit.ly/3Zuto5L #MarineEcology
Reposted by Dr Craig R McClain
Some more commensal brittle stars (Ophiothela mirabilis) on a purple octocoral (Leptogorgia rigida). Playa Balandra, La Paz, Baja California. 🦀🦑 #baja #tidepool #echinoderm
February 9, 2026 at 3:09 PM
Some more commensal brittle stars (Ophiothela mirabilis) on a purple octocoral (Leptogorgia rigida). Playa Balandra, La Paz, Baja California. 🦀🦑 #baja #tidepool #echinoderm
Reposted by Dr Craig R McClain
Smiley for the win!!! #spottedeagleray #eagleray #smiley #remora #remorahat #ftw #stingraysofcoralcity #coralcity #coralcitycamera #miami #coral #portmiami #biscaynebay
February 9, 2026 at 4:26 PM
Smiley for the win!!! #spottedeagleray #eagleray #smiley #remora #remorahat #ftw #stingraysofcoralcity #coralcity #coralcitycamera #miami #coral #portmiami #biscaynebay
Although you seem to be a bit more in the the thick of it!
February 9, 2026 at 3:55 PM
Although you seem to be a bit more in the the thick of it!
I think I'm a little concerned (if I am reading this right) about how segregated academic ecology/conservation is from the rest of the Bluesky landscape.
February 9, 2026 at 3:53 PM
I think I'm a little concerned (if I am reading this right) about how segregated academic ecology/conservation is from the rest of the Bluesky landscape.
Today for our lab meeting we are reading about dolphin falls and I'll admit I'm. sucker for a good photo mosaic #marinelife www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
February 6, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Today for our lab meeting we are reading about dolphin falls and I'll admit I'm. sucker for a good photo mosaic #marinelife www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A genuinely informative watch. @drandrewthaler.bsky.social continues to be one of the clearest, strongest voices advocating for the deep sea and sound science.
Maxine Dexter Decries 'Concerning Lack Of Transparency' In Deep Sea Mining Permitting Process www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLY2...
Maxine Dexter Decries 'Concerning Lack Of Transparency' In Deep Sea Mining Permitting Process
YouTube video by Forbes Breaking News
www.youtube.com
February 6, 2026 at 5:00 PM
A genuinely informative watch. @drandrewthaler.bsky.social continues to be one of the clearest, strongest voices advocating for the deep sea and sound science.
Maxine Dexter Decries 'Concerning Lack Of Transparency' In Deep Sea Mining Permitting Process www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLY2...
Maxine Dexter Decries 'Concerning Lack Of Transparency' In Deep Sea Mining Permitting Process
YouTube video by Forbes Breaking News
www.youtube.com
February 6, 2026 at 4:52 PM
Maxine Dexter Decries 'Concerning Lack Of Transparency' In Deep Sea Mining Permitting Process www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLY2...
Reposted by Dr Craig R McClain
Dragon in the deep. 🐉
Dragonfish (family Stomiidae) are cunning predators. Although they are strong swimmers, they prefer to lie in wait and ambush unsuspecting fishes and crustaceans. This black dragonfish (Idiacanthus sp.) was spotted at 527 meters (1,729 feet) in Monterey Bay.
Dragonfish (family Stomiidae) are cunning predators. Although they are strong swimmers, they prefer to lie in wait and ambush unsuspecting fishes and crustaceans. This black dragonfish (Idiacanthus sp.) was spotted at 527 meters (1,729 feet) in Monterey Bay.
February 4, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Dragon in the deep. 🐉
Dragonfish (family Stomiidae) are cunning predators. Although they are strong swimmers, they prefer to lie in wait and ambush unsuspecting fishes and crustaceans. This black dragonfish (Idiacanthus sp.) was spotted at 527 meters (1,729 feet) in Monterey Bay.
Dragonfish (family Stomiidae) are cunning predators. Although they are strong swimmers, they prefer to lie in wait and ambush unsuspecting fishes and crustaceans. This black dragonfish (Idiacanthus sp.) was spotted at 527 meters (1,729 feet) in Monterey Bay.
Collections like these aren’t dusty archives. They are active infrastructure for science. Every jar is a data point across time, space, and extinction risk. Without collections, we lose our ability to ask new questions about the oceans.
February 4, 2026 at 2:37 PM
Collections like these aren’t dusty archives. They are active infrastructure for science. Every jar is a data point across time, space, and extinction risk. Without collections, we lose our ability to ask new questions about the oceans.
8/ Ended with a nerd bucket list item, Holopus crinoids which look like meaty little fist. Been fascinated with them since @echinoblog.bsky.social wrote about them years ago echinoblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/crin...
February 4, 2026 at 2:36 PM
8/ Ended with a nerd bucket list item, Holopus crinoids which look like meaty little fist. Been fascinated with them since @echinoblog.bsky.social wrote about them years ago echinoblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/crin...
7/ Started with a lineup of sea urchins armed with the most gnarly spines imaginable. Equal parts elegant and threatening. Evolution does not mess around.
February 4, 2026 at 2:35 PM
7/ Started with a lineup of sea urchins armed with the most gnarly spines imaginable. Equal parts elegant and threatening. Evolution does not mess around.
6/ Also: a jar holding tens of thousands of brittle stars. Not hyperbole. Just a quiet reminder of how abundant some deep-sea life can be when conditions line up.
February 4, 2026 at 2:34 PM
6/ Also: a jar holding tens of thousands of brittle stars. Not hyperbole. Just a quiet reminder of how abundant some deep-sea life can be when conditions line up.
5/ One specimen really stuck with me: a seastar from ~8,000 meters depth. That’s pressure most engineering materials struggle with. This thing just exists there.
February 4, 2026 at 2:33 PM
5/ One specimen really stuck with me: a seastar from ~8,000 meters depth. That’s pressure most engineering materials struggle with. This thing just exists there.
4/ Saw both extremes of the seastar world today: some of the largest species ever described and some so small they feel unreal in a jar. Scale in the oceans is wild.
February 4, 2026 at 2:32 PM
4/ Saw both extremes of the seastar world today: some of the largest species ever described and some so small they feel unreal in a jar. Scale in the oceans is wild.
3/ Learned that some starfish are nearly paper thin and live flattened against gravel. My mind is still blown by these guys.
February 4, 2026 at 2:21 PM
3/ Learned that some starfish are nearly paper thin and live flattened against gravel. My mind is still blown by these guys.
2/ Got an incredible behind-the-scenes tour of the echinoderm collection with Dr. Hugh Carter whose recent Nature Ecology & Evolution paper is a must-read for anyone thinking about deep-biodiversity www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Deep-sea-floor diversity in Asteroidea is shaped by competing processes across different latitudes and oceans - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Global trends in species richness in the deep sea are poorly explored. This study uses occurrence records of Asteroidea to show that species richness in the deep benthos is restricted below ~1.5 °C bu...
www.nature.com
February 4, 2026 at 2:19 PM
2/ Got an incredible behind-the-scenes tour of the echinoderm collection with Dr. Hugh Carter whose recent Nature Ecology & Evolution paper is a must-read for anyone thinking about deep-biodiversity www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Visited the Natural History Museum London last week and honestly: collections like this are the backbone of everything we think we know about the ocean. Absolute treasure trove.
February 4, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Visited the Natural History Museum London last week and honestly: collections like this are the backbone of everything we think we know about the ocean. Absolute treasure trove.
The mammal hall at @nhm-london.bsky.social gives a wonderful example of the scale of life. Here a full size elephant display is against a back drop of a replica full size blue whale. The blue whale is so large I cannot even fit it into the frame.
January 29, 2026 at 12:31 PM
The mammal hall at @nhm-london.bsky.social gives a wonderful example of the scale of life. Here a full size elephant display is against a back drop of a replica full size blue whale. The blue whale is so large I cannot even fit it into the frame.
Got to see two bucket item animals today at the @nhm-london.bsky.social the extinct dodo and ivory-billed woodpecker
January 29, 2026 at 12:29 PM
Got to see two bucket item animals today at the @nhm-london.bsky.social the extinct dodo and ivory-billed woodpecker
Need to up my deep-sea display collection in my lab, look at this amazing specimens in the Glover lab.
January 29, 2026 at 12:27 PM
Need to up my deep-sea display collection in my lab, look at this amazing specimens in the Glover lab.
Having a great week in the UK. First part with @tomjwebb.bsky.social continuing collaboration and then second half at @nhm-london.bsky.social with Adrian Glover
January 29, 2026 at 12:26 PM
Having a great week in the UK. First part with @tomjwebb.bsky.social continuing collaboration and then second half at @nhm-london.bsky.social with Adrian Glover