Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
@kirkwoodlab.bsky.social
Professor of Aquatic Ecology with a dash of Wastewater-based Epidemiology | PI of the CLEAR research group (https://kirkwoodlab.weebly.com/) | Science Advocacy | Located on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island FN
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
It's easier for the media to say "trade war tensions" than for them to explain to Americans that much of Canada -- and the world -- now sees the U.S. as a dangerous authoritarian state that's unsafe for travel.
They refuse to acknowledge that a huge reason Canadians aren't coming there is because they're led by a man who gets off on throwing innocent people in Venezuela torture prisons and checking our phones at the border for subversive memes. It's almost fascinating.
share.google/mTZbIqyUWcJa...
share.google/mTZbIqyUWcJa...
U.S. senators say tariffs causing ‘cultural break’ in relations with Canada - National | Globalnews.ca
Maine Senator King said the lingering rift between Canadians and Americans is particularly troubling in a state that borders on New Brunswick and Quebec.
share.google
November 26, 2025 at 4:37 PM
It's easier for the media to say "trade war tensions" than for them to explain to Americans that much of Canada -- and the world -- now sees the U.S. as a dangerous authoritarian state that's unsafe for travel.
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
You know those labs that keep harming students, again and again? Some reflections on why it's so hard to stop this from happening and where our responsibilities lie.
scienceforeveryone.science/bad-mentors-... 🧪
scienceforeveryone.science/bad-mentors-... 🧪
Bad mentors hurt people
What to do about bad mentors?
scienceforeveryone.science
November 25, 2025 at 6:38 PM
You know those labs that keep harming students, again and again? Some reflections on why it's so hard to stop this from happening and where our responsibilities lie.
scienceforeveryone.science/bad-mentors-... 🧪
scienceforeveryone.science/bad-mentors-... 🧪
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
Our new study: light and nutrients interactively shape the thermal traits of phytoplankton -> Interactions matter!
#phytoplankton
#light
#nutrients
#temperature
#traits
Led by @alheinrichs.bsky.social and in cooperation with Miriam Gerhard
#bestteam
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
#phytoplankton
#light
#nutrients
#temperature
#traits
Led by @alheinrichs.bsky.social and in cooperation with Miriam Gerhard
#bestteam
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Interactive effects of light and nutrients shape phytoplankton thermal traits - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Interactive effects of light and nutrients shape phytoplankton thermal traits
doi.org
November 23, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Our new study: light and nutrients interactively shape the thermal traits of phytoplankton -> Interactions matter!
#phytoplankton
#light
#nutrients
#temperature
#traits
Led by @alheinrichs.bsky.social and in cooperation with Miriam Gerhard
#bestteam
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
#phytoplankton
#light
#nutrients
#temperature
#traits
Led by @alheinrichs.bsky.social and in cooperation with Miriam Gerhard
#bestteam
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
Excited to share our new review article on Viral Dark Matter led by PhD student @kosmopoulos.bsky.social. We talk about what is known and unknown in the world of viruses (specifically phage), and highlight future opportunities for research and biotechnology. pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Viral Dark Matter: Illuminating Protein Function, Ecology, and Biotechnological Promises
Viruses are the most abundant biological entities on Earth and play central roles in shaping microbiomes and influencing ecosystem functions. Yet, most viral genes remain uncharacterized, comprising w...
pubs.acs.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Excited to share our new review article on Viral Dark Matter led by PhD student @kosmopoulos.bsky.social. We talk about what is known and unknown in the world of viruses (specifically phage), and highlight future opportunities for research and biotechnology. pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
Seeking an experienced postdoc in freshwater environmental genetics to join our exciting @ercrefresh.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu @ukri.org team to investigate environment x gene interactions in freshwater biotic responses to environmental stressors www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPK766/s... @mgenner.bsky.social
November 19, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Seeking an experienced postdoc in freshwater environmental genetics to join our exciting @ercrefresh.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu @ukri.org team to investigate environment x gene interactions in freshwater biotic responses to environmental stressors www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPK766/s... @mgenner.bsky.social
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
Happy International Day of LGBTQIA+ People In STEM!
How are you celebrating it?
#LGBTQSTEMDay #PrideInSTEM
How are you celebrating it?
#LGBTQSTEMDay #PrideInSTEM
November 18, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Happy International Day of LGBTQIA+ People In STEM!
How are you celebrating it?
#LGBTQSTEMDay #PrideInSTEM
How are you celebrating it?
#LGBTQSTEMDay #PrideInSTEM
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
Hydrology Paper of the Day @kirkwoodlab.bsky.social on decades of water quality data from Severn Sound, Georgian Bay, Lake Huron: processing of data and GAMM models used to obtain periods of change, and PCA to identify relationships between water quality parameters and site-specific processes.
NEW PAPER: Nearly 50 years of water quality monitoring shows improvements and remaining challenges for a delisted Great Lakes Area of Concern. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@iaglr.bsky.social @otwomen.bsky.social @ontariotechscience.bsky.social
@iaglr.bsky.social @otwomen.bsky.social @ontariotechscience.bsky.social
November 18, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Hydrology Paper of the Day @kirkwoodlab.bsky.social on decades of water quality data from Severn Sound, Georgian Bay, Lake Huron: processing of data and GAMM models used to obtain periods of change, and PCA to identify relationships between water quality parameters and site-specific processes.
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
November 17, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Forgot to add that the paper is Open-Access:)
NEW PAPER: Nearly 50 years of water quality monitoring shows improvements and remaining challenges for a delisted Great Lakes Area of Concern. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@iaglr.bsky.social @otwomen.bsky.social @ontariotechscience.bsky.social
@iaglr.bsky.social @otwomen.bsky.social @ontariotechscience.bsky.social
November 17, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Forgot to add that the paper is Open-Access:)
NEW PAPER: Nearly 50 years of water quality monitoring shows improvements and remaining challenges for a delisted Great Lakes Area of Concern. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@iaglr.bsky.social @otwomen.bsky.social @ontariotechscience.bsky.social
@iaglr.bsky.social @otwomen.bsky.social @ontariotechscience.bsky.social
November 17, 2025 at 6:42 PM
NEW PAPER: Nearly 50 years of water quality monitoring shows improvements and remaining challenges for a delisted Great Lakes Area of Concern. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@iaglr.bsky.social @otwomen.bsky.social @ontariotechscience.bsky.social
@iaglr.bsky.social @otwomen.bsky.social @ontariotechscience.bsky.social
When the City of Toronto amalgamated, services for places like Scarborough noticeably got worse. This was in large part due to these peripheral communities having less representation and influence at a centralized city hall biased towards the old City of Toronto.
The Doug Ford government is setting its sites on conservation authorities for the fifth time, merging the watershed protection agencies. Staff tell @fatimabsyed.bsky.social it may ‘slow approvals, create confusion’ — not to mention it's leaving them with ‘whiplash.’ thenarwhal.ca/ontario-cons...
Inside Ontario’s plan to merge 36 conservation authorities to 7 | The Narwhal
Doug Ford’s government is seeking public feedback on its plan to overhaul Ontario’s conservation authorities, reducing local agencies from 36 to 7
thenarwhal.ca
November 16, 2025 at 12:42 AM
When the City of Toronto amalgamated, services for places like Scarborough noticeably got worse. This was in large part due to these peripheral communities having less representation and influence at a centralized city hall biased towards the old City of Toronto.
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
The Doug Ford government is setting its sites on conservation authorities for the fifth time, merging the watershed protection agencies. Staff tell @fatimabsyed.bsky.social it may ‘slow approvals, create confusion’ — not to mention it's leaving them with ‘whiplash.’ thenarwhal.ca/ontario-cons...
Inside Ontario’s plan to merge 36 conservation authorities to 7 | The Narwhal
Doug Ford’s government is seeking public feedback on its plan to overhaul Ontario’s conservation authorities, reducing local agencies from 36 to 7
thenarwhal.ca
November 15, 2025 at 2:17 PM
The Doug Ford government is setting its sites on conservation authorities for the fifth time, merging the watershed protection agencies. Staff tell @fatimabsyed.bsky.social it may ‘slow approvals, create confusion’ — not to mention it's leaving them with ‘whiplash.’ thenarwhal.ca/ontario-cons...
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
Opinion on the potential and future of so-called "generative AI" is polarized to the point of hyperbole. But if you peel back the extremes, we're having an important debate.
My take on the ethics of AI.
conservechange.medium.com/is-ethical-a...
My take on the ethics of AI.
conservechange.medium.com/is-ethical-a...
Is “ethical AI” possible?
In which I discuss Luddites, skilled labor, and the difference between an LLM and a hammer.
conservechange.medium.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Opinion on the potential and future of so-called "generative AI" is polarized to the point of hyperbole. But if you peel back the extremes, we're having an important debate.
My take on the ethics of AI.
conservechange.medium.com/is-ethical-a...
My take on the ethics of AI.
conservechange.medium.com/is-ethical-a...
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
I know no media is covering the Canada Student Grant cuts, but it's real and it's going to cost several hundred thousand students about $1200 this year. Here's the explainer.
The Canada Student Grant Cut | HESA
Somewhat remarkably, no media have picked up the story that the Canada Student Grants were slashed in last week’s budget. Possibly, this is because the government did not issue a press release saying ...
higheredstrategy.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:34 PM
I know no media is covering the Canada Student Grant cuts, but it's real and it's going to cost several hundred thousand students about $1200 this year. Here's the explainer.
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
New OnlineFirst article: "Design, Disability, and Critical Pedagogy in STS" by Kaitlin Stack Whitney, Kristoffer Whitney, Katie Healey, Jessica Hardin, Anna Carter, Angeline Hamele, + Lee Smith @kstackwhitney.bsky.social #criticalSTS #pedagogy #technoableism journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
November 10, 2025 at 11:37 PM
New OnlineFirst article: "Design, Disability, and Critical Pedagogy in STS" by Kaitlin Stack Whitney, Kristoffer Whitney, Katie Healey, Jessica Hardin, Anna Carter, Angeline Hamele, + Lee Smith @kstackwhitney.bsky.social #criticalSTS #pedagogy #technoableism journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
I feel this is an excellent example of how we massively overestimate the importance of one person (genius complex). I guarantee that the double helix would have been discovered irrespective of Watson, and his remaining contributions of racism and horribleness, far outweighs his stolen valour.
Hey folks, as news of Watson's demise spreads, please don't set aside his weighty legacy of misogyny and racism. He was truly among the worst of us. www.vox.com/2019/1/15/18...
DNA scientist James Watson has a remarkably long history of sexist, racist public comments
“People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty,” he said in 2003. “I think it would be great.”
www.vox.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:17 PM
I feel this is an excellent example of how we massively overestimate the importance of one person (genius complex). I guarantee that the double helix would have been discovered irrespective of Watson, and his remaining contributions of racism and horribleness, far outweighs his stolen valour.
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
Hey folks, as news of Watson's demise spreads, please don't set aside his weighty legacy of misogyny and racism. He was truly among the worst of us. www.vox.com/2019/1/15/18...
DNA scientist James Watson has a remarkably long history of sexist, racist public comments
“People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty,” he said in 2003. “I think it would be great.”
www.vox.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Hey folks, as news of Watson's demise spreads, please don't set aside his weighty legacy of misogyny and racism. He was truly among the worst of us. www.vox.com/2019/1/15/18...
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
One thing to do, especially if you’re a science writer or editor, is when you have occasion to mention the names of the discoverers of the structure of DNA, just say “Watson, Crick, and Franklin.” No one can stop us, and it is correct.
November 7, 2025 at 9:52 PM
One thing to do, especially if you’re a science writer or editor, is when you have occasion to mention the names of the discoverers of the structure of DNA, just say “Watson, Crick, and Franklin.” No one can stop us, and it is correct.
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
On the event of James Watson's death, I highly recommend this 2023 commentary from @matthewcobb.bsky.social and Nathaniel Comfort with crucial new insights into the discovery of the double helix. (And also check out Cobb's brand new biography of Francis Crick) www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
www.nature.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:25 PM
On the event of James Watson's death, I highly recommend this 2023 commentary from @matthewcobb.bsky.social and Nathaniel Comfort with crucial new insights into the discovery of the double helix. (And also check out Cobb's brand new biography of Francis Crick) www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
This is correct, with one important caveat - most decisions on funding, admin, publishing, career, are made (and can be derailed) by people who by definition benefited the most from these metrics and incentives, and stand to lose the most by changing them.
Academics set their metrics and incentives. And that defines everything. Including the future of scientific publishing.
And if at any point, one feels that incentives are being defined from outside, that's what needs to be fought against.
But the power of change lies within.
And if at any point, one feels that incentives are being defined from outside, that's what needs to be fought against.
But the power of change lies within.
November 6, 2025 at 1:25 PM
This is correct, with one important caveat - most decisions on funding, admin, publishing, career, are made (and can be derailed) by people who by definition benefited the most from these metrics and incentives, and stand to lose the most by changing them.
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
The 🇨🇦 Standing Committee on Science and Research passed a modified resolution this afternoon that the requested ricouncil applicant and reviewer data can be aggregated and anonymized. Thanks to the many researchers who signed letters pointing out legitimate data privacy concerns. 👏👏
November 6, 2025 at 12:22 AM
The 🇨🇦 Standing Committee on Science and Research passed a modified resolution this afternoon that the requested ricouncil applicant and reviewer data can be aggregated and anonymized. Thanks to the many researchers who signed letters pointing out legitimate data privacy concerns. 👏👏
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
Thanks to @royalsocietynz.bsky.social for awarding me the Callaghan medal for Science Communication. Thanks to my many supporters, NZ communities for being curious, & the many people in various agencies who really do want to use evidence in decision-making. This is critical now, more than ever. 🌐🌏🧪
November 5, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Thanks to @royalsocietynz.bsky.social for awarding me the Callaghan medal for Science Communication. Thanks to my many supporters, NZ communities for being curious, & the many people in various agencies who really do want to use evidence in decision-making. This is critical now, more than ever. 🌐🌏🧪
Reposted by Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)
Very happy and proud to see this one published! Have a look at this global assessment of the effect – or lack of effect – of extra oxygen (hyperoxia) on ectotherm thermal tolerance! Led by @graham-raby.bsky.social and a team of incredible collaborators working on multiple taxa 🐟 🐠 🦀 🦐.
Oxygen supersaturation has been reported to protect aquatic animals from heat waves. We tested this in a large collaborative experiment on many species of fish and crustaceans. Our new paper in @plosbiology.org shows that the effect of hyperoxia on thermal tolerance is negligible. Unfortunately.
November 5, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Very happy and proud to see this one published! Have a look at this global assessment of the effect – or lack of effect – of extra oxygen (hyperoxia) on ectotherm thermal tolerance! Led by @graham-raby.bsky.social and a team of incredible collaborators working on multiple taxa 🐟 🐠 🦀 🦐.