Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Andy Fraass

Chris Lowery @chrislowery.bsky.social · 1d

Happy #FossilFriday, the University of Texas is hiring two curators/non-TT professors for our Vertebrate and Non-vertebrate Paleontology Labs: apply.interfolio.com/175702

Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio

apply.interfolio.com

1 10 5

Andy Fraass @fraass.bsky.social · 1d

I still think that they should have used this picture, I still think it's the best out of the options I sent.

Displeased man, making a frowning face at his spouse taking the picture, standing next to a sign that says "Dirt Pile... HERE". Man is wearing a shirt with a Styracosaurus skull in the style of the jolly rodger flag.

4

Reposted by Andy Fraass

Jay T. Cullen @jaytcullen.bsky.social · 1d

Look it's @fraass.bsky.social from @seos-uvic.bsky.social @uvicscience.bsky.social ! 🔬

University of Victoria @uvic.ca · 1d

🚨 Big news! UVic researchers receive $1.13M from CFI-JELF to advance their work in climate and health innovation. These locally grounded projects are creating global impact, from BC’s alpine ecosystems to coastal communities and beyond. 🌍

ow.ly/sXrw50X9T4t

3 12

Reposted by Andy Fraass

University of Victoria @uvic.ca · 1d

🚨 Big news! UVic researchers receive $1.13M from CFI-JELF to advance their work in climate and health innovation. These locally grounded projects are creating global impact, from BC’s alpine ecosystems to coastal communities and beyond. 🌍

ow.ly/sXrw50X9T4t

5 14

Reposted by Andy Fraass

Shelly Gaynor @shellygaynor.bsky.social · Sep 10

Always excited for an increased salary submission! Congrats to the Department of Biological Sciences at New Jersey Institute of Tech for their stipend increase! This union-based win brings the pay almost to the 1:1 line! Update your department and find out more here: rhettrautsaw.app/shiny/Biolog...

Salary to Living Wage - only two points fall above the 1:1 line. A star indicates New Jersey Institute of Technology is almost to the 1:1 line!

12 37

Reposted by Andy Fraass

Shelly Gaynor @shellygaynor.bsky.social · 18d

Just a reminder - if you run/recruit or have anything to do with an ecology & evolutionary biology PhD program, check out our database and update your departments salary here: rhettrautsaw.app/shiny/Biolog...

15 20

Reposted by Andy Fraass

Richard @rwpickard.bsky.social · 17d

So great to have @fraass.bsky.social in as a guest speaker for my first-year composition class today!

Though I was horrified by his saying a Caribbean volcano had erupted "in the 1900s": I thought he meant the 1990s eruptions, WHEN I WAS OVER 20, but nope, 1902. Safe to call that the 1900s. #uvic

1 1 3

Andy Fraass @fraass.bsky.social · 16d

Hah! The new running joke in all my classes and lab is that I'm old.
"Back when this paper came out when I was in graduate school"
"I hadn't been born yet"
"Get out."

1 2

Andy Fraass @fraass.bsky.social · Jul 30

Not that typesetting is that important as an aspect of the science, but as I was curious what was actually in there, the references are done inconsistently, lots of self citations, and it's just... ugly?

1

Andy Fraass @fraass.bsky.social · Jul 25

I spent the first few days thinking "Nah, there's no way, the meds are just going to give me a panic attack since it's a stimulant", but feeling so calm after taking them was a pretty clear sign that it's correct. I hope you feel the same way!

1 1

Andy Fraass @fraass.bsky.social · Jul 25

Yes, making a meme about this while I'm writing a paper is a clear sign that I'm not on the right dose yet, why do you ask?

2

Andy Fraass @fraass.bsky.social · Jul 25

Also, holy shit, I _might_ have been misdiagnosed with Anxiety and not ADHD (or just anxiety and not both) when I was 20? How would my career have been different?

1 3

Andy Fraass @fraass.bsky.social · Jul 25

It's really wild to be diagnosed with and medicated for ADHD in your 40's. Like, I didn't realize that my brain was supposed to work like this? The meds work so fast. 1 day you're fighting 13 trains of thought and the next it's fully calm and ordered inside your skull.

Strangest experience.

4 5

Reposted by Andy Fraass

Pal(a)eoPERCS @palaeopercs.bsky.social · Jul 25

Next week at #PalaeoPERCS we will be joined by Jenny Rashall from Stephen F. Austin State University, USA.
Sign up here: paleopercs.com/participate/
(1/4)

1 2 1

Reposted by Andy Fraass

Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her) @hbowescatton.bsky.social · Jul 24

Are you neurodivergent & have done, or considered, a PhD? We’re researching how doctoral study works (or doesn’t) for neurodivergent people. Take our 30min survey & help make academia more inclusive forms.office.com/e/ft9jyWsPUW

Questions? Email [email protected]

#PhD #Neurodivergent

Three shelves of brightly coloured books

4 35 34

Reposted by Andy Fraass

Elizabeth Sibert, PhD @elizabethsibert.bsky.social · Jul 22

So excited to participate in this panel discussing the history and future of #PalaeoPERCS and the amazing, inclusive, and absolutely brilliant international community of early career pal(a)eo scientists! Please join us at 15:00 UTC today for this really important discussion!

Pal(a)eoPERCS @palaeopercs.bsky.social · Jul 19

Next week at #PalaeoPERCS we will be hosting a special seminar celebrating our 5th anniversary. We'll be joined by our past & current committee members. We'd be glad if you could also be a part of this celebration & collective reflection.
Sign up here: paleopercs.com/participate/
(1/4)

4 5

Reposted by Andy Fraass

Maria Antoniak @mariaa.bsky.social · Jul 20

I made a little tool to sync my papers in @paperpile.com with @obsidian.md. It generates a markdown file for each paper and should handle annoying things like paper renaming and deletion.

I wish Paperpile would expose more data but the basic paper info gets imported.

Please use, extend, enjoy!

GitHub - maria-antoniak/sync-paperpile-obsidian: a simple tool to sync your papers from paperpile to obsidian

a simple tool to sync your papers from paperpile to obsidian - maria-antoniak/sync-paperpile-obsidian

github.com

1 2 46

Reposted by Andy Fraass

Eos @eos.org · Jul 19

Opinion: If scientific databases in the Earth and environmental sciences are not adequately supported, we risk losing and potentially needing to replace these resources, an extremely costly, yet preventable, outcome.

buff.ly/WTgm4IC

Read more: bit.ly/Eos-Jul2025

The Valuable, Vulnerable, Long Tail of Earth Science Databases - Eos

Community-curated data resources in the Earth sciences, highly valuable but systematically underfunded, are vital to research on a changing planet.

eos.org

4 11

Reposted by Andy Fraass

Eos @eos.org · Jul 10

Data on how ecosystems evolve over geologic time may be key to understanding modern-day ecosystem changes. A study of marine biomass over the past 541 million years gets scientists one step closer.

Biomass and Biodiversity Were Coupled in Earth's Past - Eos

Measuring shells and skeletons encased in thousands of limestone samples has revealed that the sheer amount of living stuff in Earth’s oceans changed alongside the diversity of organisms.

eos.org

2 3

Reposted by Andy Fraass

Dr. Andrea Wishart @wishartae.bsky.social · Jul 8

“Only 2 of 225 US biology PhD programs assessed offer annual salaries meeting basic living wages”

Sad parallel with our findings in Canada, recently published in PLOS One (Fraass et al. 2025)

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · Jun 24

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

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

12 24

Andy Fraass @fraass.bsky.social · Jul 8

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

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

1

Reposted by Andy Fraass

Tom Ezard @tomezard.bsky.social · Jul 3

New paper led by @aniekebrombacher.bsky.social using x-ray CT and laser ablation to detect plastic environmental responses in fossil individuals www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2421549122 featuring @jamesmulqueeney.bsky.social @clivetrue.bsky.social @thefosterlab.bsky.social

1 15 22

Reposted by Andy Fraass

Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social · Jul 7

As of today, all current NOAA Climate and Global Change postdoctoral fellows have been furloughed due to the Dept of Commerce not releasing the funding for the program. In addition no new Fellows were awarded this year. cpaess.ucar.edu/cgc

NOAA Climate & Global Change (C&GC) Postdoctoral Program | Cooperative Programs for the Advancement of Earth System ScienceNOAA Climate & Global Change (C&GC) Postdoctoral Program | Cooperative Progra...

cpaess.ucar.edu

15 250 370

Reposted by Andy Fraass

Eos @eos.org · Jul 3

Opinion: If scientific databases in the Earth and environmental sciences are not adequately supported, we risk losing and potentially needing to replace these resources, an extremely costly, yet preventable, outcome.

buff.ly/WTgm4IC

Read more: bit.ly/Eos-Jul2025

The Valuable, Vulnerable, Long Tail of Earth Science Databases - Eos

Community-curated data resources in the Earth sciences, highly valuable but systematically underfunded, are vital to research on a changing planet.

eos.org

24 56

Reposted by Andy Fraass

Rage Against the Miocene @organiccarbon.bsky.social · Jul 4

To the non-expert, this will seem esoteric, so allow me to summarise: we have profoundly altered the distribution of nutient elements on the ocean, with a potentially profound impact on the life that lives in it.

Nature Geoscience @natgeosci.nature.com · Jul 3

⚒️ Article: The proportion of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in the ocean now substantially differs from the Redfield ratio, likely reflecting a reduction in phosphorus limitation

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

Schematic illustration of the spatiotemporal variations of marine ecological stoichiometries of C, N and P

4 43 87