Holly Bik
@hollybik.bsky.social
Associate Professor at the University of Georgia + Associate Director of UGA Institute of Bioinformatics. Marine Biology, Polar Science, Deep-Sea Worms (nematodes!), Environmental Genomics, and Science Writing. Views are my own. http://www.hollybik.com
Reposted by Holly Bik
Great question!
1) First and foremost, we evaluate a candidate based on the departmental guidelines and expectations provided. We don't hold the candidate to arbitrary standards, or even to those of our own institution unless asked to do so. We assess the materials against the guidelines provided.
1) First and foremost, we evaluate a candidate based on the departmental guidelines and expectations provided. We don't hold the candidate to arbitrary standards, or even to those of our own institution unless asked to do so. We assess the materials against the guidelines provided.
Dear senior profs who have written tenure letters.
Can you help demystify the process for some junior profs up for tenure soon?
What do you look for? How do you make your evaluation?
We are told that the letters are the most important part of the file, but not what letter writers look for.
1/
Can you help demystify the process for some junior profs up for tenure soon?
What do you look for? How do you make your evaluation?
We are told that the letters are the most important part of the file, but not what letter writers look for.
1/
December 4, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Great question!
1) First and foremost, we evaluate a candidate based on the departmental guidelines and expectations provided. We don't hold the candidate to arbitrary standards, or even to those of our own institution unless asked to do so. We assess the materials against the guidelines provided.
1) First and foremost, we evaluate a candidate based on the departmental guidelines and expectations provided. We don't hold the candidate to arbitrary standards, or even to those of our own institution unless asked to do so. We assess the materials against the guidelines provided.
Reposted by Holly Bik
Arrows are tricky. For us, as the designer of the visual, it will be super clear what it means. But for someone looking at our visual for the first time, it can be highly ambiguous. Depending on the reader, the same arrow can mean sequence, zoom, range, label, movement,...
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December 4, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Arrows are tricky. For us, as the designer of the visual, it will be super clear what it means. But for someone looking at our visual for the first time, it can be highly ambiguous. Depending on the reader, the same arrow can mean sequence, zoom, range, label, movement,...
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Reposted by Holly Bik
[New Paper] Reveals an unexpectedly high animal diversity at Nankai Trough cold seeps: 80 species incl. >10 new discoveries!
OPEN ACCESS in @esajournals.bsky.social Ecosphere:
doi.org/10.1002/ecs2...
This is the 1st paper from the June 2025 JAMSTEC x @oceancensus.bsky.social "SHINKAI" cruise.
OPEN ACCESS in @esajournals.bsky.social Ecosphere:
doi.org/10.1002/ecs2...
This is the 1st paper from the June 2025 JAMSTEC x @oceancensus.bsky.social "SHINKAI" cruise.
November 19, 2025 at 1:57 PM
[New Paper] Reveals an unexpectedly high animal diversity at Nankai Trough cold seeps: 80 species incl. >10 new discoveries!
OPEN ACCESS in @esajournals.bsky.social Ecosphere:
doi.org/10.1002/ecs2...
This is the 1st paper from the June 2025 JAMSTEC x @oceancensus.bsky.social "SHINKAI" cruise.
OPEN ACCESS in @esajournals.bsky.social Ecosphere:
doi.org/10.1002/ecs2...
This is the 1st paper from the June 2025 JAMSTEC x @oceancensus.bsky.social "SHINKAI" cruise.
Reposted by Holly Bik
for anyone trying to extricate yourself from the clutches of Amazon: bookstores make more than a third of their money between now & New Year’s, & most bookstores ship nationwide 💌
November 11, 2024 at 10:10 PM
for anyone trying to extricate yourself from the clutches of Amazon: bookstores make more than a third of their money between now & New Year’s, & most bookstores ship nationwide 💌
Congrats to the Sapelo Island LTER for getting their NSF grant renewed! A big relief given the 2025 federal funding landscape…
The National Science Foundation has renewed a $7.5 million grant for the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems research program, a long-term ecological research project run by the University of Georgia Marine Institute on Sapelo Island!
https://t.uga.edu/3KCIRg6
https://t.uga.edu/3KCIRg6
December 2, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Congrats to the Sapelo Island LTER for getting their NSF grant renewed! A big relief given the 2025 federal funding landscape…
Reposted by Holly Bik
EEB Postdoctoral Fellowship @ U.Toronto app deadline Jan 15 2026. Opportunity for independent research, encourages collab across labs/disciplines. Lots of great folks to interact with, Come join us!
eeb.utoronto.ca/employment-2/
eeb.utoronto.ca/employment-2/
Employment - Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
eeb.utoronto.ca
December 2, 2025 at 9:09 PM
EEB Postdoctoral Fellowship @ U.Toronto app deadline Jan 15 2026. Opportunity for independent research, encourages collab across labs/disciplines. Lots of great folks to interact with, Come join us!
eeb.utoronto.ca/employment-2/
eeb.utoronto.ca/employment-2/
Lots of great free #SciComm resources on @vgwschutte.bsky.social’s website - she hosts open Zoom office hours too!
I recently updated my scicomm community directory and then someone asked where to find community. So. Here you go.
www.virginiaschutte.com/scicomm-comm...
www.virginiaschutte.com/scicomm-comm...
Where to find science communication and STEM communities | Virginia Schutte
Where you can find SciComm and identity-based STEM communities online.
www.virginiaschutte.com
December 2, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Lots of great free #SciComm resources on @vgwschutte.bsky.social’s website - she hosts open Zoom office hours too!
Reposted by Holly Bik
Two #SciComm communities I want to highlight:
1. @sciencetalkorg.bsky.social, which is more than a conference. Paid membership gets you access to online forums, digital events, and more
2. SciCommUnity NYC, which is planning some meetups in 2026: www.linkedin.com/company/scic...
1. @sciencetalkorg.bsky.social, which is more than a conference. Paid membership gets you access to online forums, digital events, and more
2. SciCommUnity NYC, which is planning some meetups in 2026: www.linkedin.com/company/scic...
SciCommUnity NYC | LinkedIn
SciCommUnity NYC | 79 followers on LinkedIn. A fundamental force bringing science communicators together. | SciCommUnity NYC is a community of practice of NYC-based science communicators. We are build...
www.linkedin.com
December 2, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Two #SciComm communities I want to highlight:
1. @sciencetalkorg.bsky.social, which is more than a conference. Paid membership gets you access to online forums, digital events, and more
2. SciCommUnity NYC, which is planning some meetups in 2026: www.linkedin.com/company/scic...
1. @sciencetalkorg.bsky.social, which is more than a conference. Paid membership gets you access to online forums, digital events, and more
2. SciCommUnity NYC, which is planning some meetups in 2026: www.linkedin.com/company/scic...
Reposted by Holly Bik
The Sick Times is out here doing top grade research and reporting on topics other publications won’t touch.
As someone with long COVID, their work is INCREDIBLY important to me. Please boost or donate, if you can.
As someone with long COVID, their work is INCREDIBLY important to me. Please boost or donate, if you can.
We're kicking off our biggest fundraiser of the year by participating in NewsMatch, a national campaign to support newsrooms across the US run by the Institute for Nonprofit News.
We need your help to keep telling #LongCOVID stories. Will you donate today? the-sick-times.fundjournalism.org/donate/
We need your help to keep telling #LongCOVID stories. Will you donate today? the-sick-times.fundjournalism.org/donate/
December 2, 2025 at 7:59 PM
The Sick Times is out here doing top grade research and reporting on topics other publications won’t touch.
As someone with long COVID, their work is INCREDIBLY important to me. Please boost or donate, if you can.
As someone with long COVID, their work is INCREDIBLY important to me. Please boost or donate, if you can.
Reposted by Holly Bik
Frogs drink most of their dietary water through their butts.
Kermit could not be reached for comment.
Kermit could not be reached for comment.
Have you ever seen a toad or frog 'wallow' in a puddle after a dry spell?
You may know that they mostly drink through their skin, but not all over!
There's a "seat patch" on their bellies that makes up ~10% of skin surface, but absorbs 70% of liquid in a rehydrating frog or toad.
(📷: S. Hillyard)
You may know that they mostly drink through their skin, but not all over!
There's a "seat patch" on their bellies that makes up ~10% of skin surface, but absorbs 70% of liquid in a rehydrating frog or toad.
(📷: S. Hillyard)
December 2, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Frogs drink most of their dietary water through their butts.
Kermit could not be reached for comment.
Kermit could not be reached for comment.
Reposted by Holly Bik
Most departments don't have crisis plans. Most universities do.
Most crisis plans protect the university and not (or at the expense of) employees.
This is a MAJOR HOLE in #SciComm advocacy.
Data on this are scattered, but here's some to start with:
newprairiepress.org/cgi/viewcont...
Most crisis plans protect the university and not (or at the expense of) employees.
This is a MAJOR HOLE in #SciComm advocacy.
Data on this are scattered, but here's some to start with:
newprairiepress.org/cgi/viewcont...
December 1, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Most departments don't have crisis plans. Most universities do.
Most crisis plans protect the university and not (or at the expense of) employees.
This is a MAJOR HOLE in #SciComm advocacy.
Data on this are scattered, but here's some to start with:
newprairiepress.org/cgi/viewcont...
Most crisis plans protect the university and not (or at the expense of) employees.
This is a MAJOR HOLE in #SciComm advocacy.
Data on this are scattered, but here's some to start with:
newprairiepress.org/cgi/viewcont...
Reposted by Holly Bik
New post by me on #MITPressReader @mitpress.bsky.social
On the 100th anniversary of the #ScopesMonkeyTrial
the ways we depict #evolution can still give an erroneous progressive view (that evolution leads to humans or ‘increased complexity’).
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/is-our-pictu...
On the 100th anniversary of the #ScopesMonkeyTrial
the ways we depict #evolution can still give an erroneous progressive view (that evolution leads to humans or ‘increased complexity’).
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/is-our-pictu...
December 1, 2025 at 5:56 PM
New post by me on #MITPressReader @mitpress.bsky.social
On the 100th anniversary of the #ScopesMonkeyTrial
the ways we depict #evolution can still give an erroneous progressive view (that evolution leads to humans or ‘increased complexity’).
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/is-our-pictu...
On the 100th anniversary of the #ScopesMonkeyTrial
the ways we depict #evolution can still give an erroneous progressive view (that evolution leads to humans or ‘increased complexity’).
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/is-our-pictu...
Reposted by Holly Bik
What the heck, this is a #Crustmas post because V is an ostracod and W and X are copepods!
It’s #MeiofaunaMonday! “Meiofauna” are microbial eukaryotes with a body size <1 mm (these animals and protists are as small as specks of dust you might see on a glass coffee table). Almost all of the 38 major animal groups have at least some small-bodied meiofauna species.
December 1, 2025 at 3:20 PM
What the heck, this is a #Crustmas post because V is an ostracod and W and X are copepods!
Reposted by Holly Bik
well Impossible Metals is so mad about this report that they spent all weekend posting about it on my LinkedIn...so you are definitely going to want to tune in! Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
December 1, 2025 at 2:50 PM
well Impossible Metals is so mad about this report that they spent all weekend posting about it on my LinkedIn...so you are definitely going to want to tune in! Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
It’s #MeiofaunaMonday! “Meiofauna” are microbial eukaryotes with a body size <1 mm (these animals and protists are as small as specks of dust you might see on a glass coffee table). Almost all of the 38 major animal groups have at least some small-bodied meiofauna species.
December 1, 2025 at 3:16 PM
It’s #MeiofaunaMonday! “Meiofauna” are microbial eukaryotes with a body size <1 mm (these animals and protists are as small as specks of dust you might see on a glass coffee table). Almost all of the 38 major animal groups have at least some small-bodied meiofauna species.
Reposted by Holly Bik
It's the FINAL DAY of #Nudivember! And our last species to end the month is Hallaxa fuscescens.
Thank you to everyone who participated this year! I hope you had fun and enjoyed the nudibranchs and artwork.
Info: www.seaslugforum.net/find/22064
Photos: www.inaturalist.org/taxa/548310-...
Thank you to everyone who participated this year! I hope you had fun and enjoyed the nudibranchs and artwork.
Info: www.seaslugforum.net/find/22064
Photos: www.inaturalist.org/taxa/548310-...
November 30, 2025 at 7:35 PM
It's the FINAL DAY of #Nudivember! And our last species to end the month is Hallaxa fuscescens.
Thank you to everyone who participated this year! I hope you had fun and enjoyed the nudibranchs and artwork.
Info: www.seaslugforum.net/find/22064
Photos: www.inaturalist.org/taxa/548310-...
Thank you to everyone who participated this year! I hope you had fun and enjoyed the nudibranchs and artwork.
Info: www.seaslugforum.net/find/22064
Photos: www.inaturalist.org/taxa/548310-...
Wow, I guess I’m adding that journal (Science of the Total Environment) to my nope list! My new goal is to support society journals as much as possible, and not pad out Elsevier’s 38% profit margin…
Interesting investigation into a dodgy Elsevier journal -- with the additional nugget that the CEO of Elsevier's parent company made more than €15 million in total compensation last year.
english.elpais.com/science-tech...
english.elpais.com/science-tech...
The fall of a prolific science journal exposes the billion-dollar profits of scientific publishing
One of the 15 publications that put out the most studies globally has been expelled from the indexing system for irregularities. Its publisher, Elsevier, has a 38% profit margin that reached $1.5 bill...
english.elpais.com
November 30, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Wow, I guess I’m adding that journal (Science of the Total Environment) to my nope list! My new goal is to support society journals as much as possible, and not pad out Elsevier’s 38% profit margin…
Reposted by Holly Bik
Hey folks, we (the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University) are looking for an Assistant Teaching Professor in microbiology and immunology. Please pass this on to anyone you think might be interested, or check it out if you are interested yourself!
apply.interfolio.com/176994
apply.interfolio.com/176994
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Hey folks, we (the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University) are looking for an Assistant Teaching Professor in microbiology and immunology. Please pass this on to anyone you think might be interested, or check it out if you are interested yourself!
apply.interfolio.com/176994
apply.interfolio.com/176994
Reposted by Holly Bik
An adorable Platyhelminthes! I see that the classification has changed, so this is now subphylum Rhabditophora? Anyhoo, a real cutie!
#marineplankton 🦑
#marineplankton 🦑
November 28, 2025 at 8:25 PM
An adorable Platyhelminthes! I see that the classification has changed, so this is now subphylum Rhabditophora? Anyhoo, a real cutie!
#marineplankton 🦑
#marineplankton 🦑
Reposted by Holly Bik
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
November 28, 2025 at 3:07 PM
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
Reposted by Holly Bik
I guess I now have to do a thread on shoes in ancient Mesopotamia in response to this (which happens to be from one of my favourite accounts).
I’m not an archaeologist, nor do I really know anything about shoes, but let’s go on this journey together.
I’m not an archaeologist, nor do I really know anything about shoes, but let’s go on this journey together.
can't believe this ancient mesopotamia shoe wearing ass said people need to dress up at the airport
November 26, 2025 at 9:03 AM
I guess I now have to do a thread on shoes in ancient Mesopotamia in response to this (which happens to be from one of my favourite accounts).
I’m not an archaeologist, nor do I really know anything about shoes, but let’s go on this journey together.
I’m not an archaeologist, nor do I really know anything about shoes, but let’s go on this journey together.
As basic science advances I’d argue that model organisms (and new model species) will become even MORE important - my lab works on free-living marine nematodes, but we’re increasingly trawling the C.elegans literature to make sense of our unexpected bacterial microbiome results!
Read this inspiring perspectives coauthored by the Worm Resource directors and worm Nobel Laureates! 4 Nobel Prizes and how they were enabled by major NIH-supported research resources (the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center, WormBase, and WormAtlas) www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
November 26, 2025 at 4:42 PM
As basic science advances I’d argue that model organisms (and new model species) will become even MORE important - my lab works on free-living marine nematodes, but we’re increasingly trawling the C.elegans literature to make sense of our unexpected bacterial microbiome results!
Faculty plan out our grant writing MONTHS if not YEARS in advance - having programs suddenly disappear like this is utterly demoralizing and completely destructive for everyone’s productivity (including students!)
The NSF Bio Anthro Program DDRIG, Cultural Anthrpology DDRIG, and Archaeology DDRIG have all been archived (as of yesterday afternoon). Please speak with your grad students and plan accordingly. To say I am angry and depressed about this is an understatement.
November 26, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Faculty plan out our grant writing MONTHS if not YEARS in advance - having programs suddenly disappear like this is utterly demoralizing and completely destructive for everyone’s productivity (including students!)
Reposted by Holly Bik
Cancer Undergrad Research Educational Program
🔬 10-wk summer experience (May–July 2026)
💡 Hands-on cancer research, year-long coaching
Present at the symposium & attend a national conference
$6,000 stipend + campus housing
Apply by Jan 20, 2025
@unclineberger.bsky.social
unclineberger.org/curep
🔬 10-wk summer experience (May–July 2026)
💡 Hands-on cancer research, year-long coaching
Present at the symposium & attend a national conference
$6,000 stipend + campus housing
Apply by Jan 20, 2025
@unclineberger.bsky.social
unclineberger.org/curep
Cancer Undergraduate Research Education Program (CUREP) - UNC Lineberger
Our objective is to create a summer undergraduate research program in a collaborative partnership with two other North Carolina universities. Our goal is to enhance the success rates of undergraduate ...
unclineberger.org
November 26, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Cancer Undergrad Research Educational Program
🔬 10-wk summer experience (May–July 2026)
💡 Hands-on cancer research, year-long coaching
Present at the symposium & attend a national conference
$6,000 stipend + campus housing
Apply by Jan 20, 2025
@unclineberger.bsky.social
unclineberger.org/curep
🔬 10-wk summer experience (May–July 2026)
💡 Hands-on cancer research, year-long coaching
Present at the symposium & attend a national conference
$6,000 stipend + campus housing
Apply by Jan 20, 2025
@unclineberger.bsky.social
unclineberger.org/curep
Reposted by Holly Bik
Please join Michael Barnard, Lyle Trytten, and I for a public webinar to discuss their new report on whether seabed mining in the American Samoa region is economically viable and technically achievable. Tues 12/2 at 3 PM ET/12 PM PT/9 AM SST. Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
November 25, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Please join Michael Barnard, Lyle Trytten, and I for a public webinar to discuss their new report on whether seabed mining in the American Samoa region is economically viable and technically achievable. Tues 12/2 at 3 PM ET/12 PM PT/9 AM SST. Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...