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masak.bsky.social
Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明
@masak.bsky.social
340 followers 730 following 150 posts
Mostly harmless.
parenting | neuroscience (UT-Austin) | portrait photography | mentoring
Personal account; views my own. he/his/him
📸 www.PhotonCorral.com
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明
keikoutorii.bsky.social
Tenure-Track Plant Biology Assistant Professor position at UT Austin MBS. Review of the applications starts Nov. 1! Please spread the words🤠🌱🌼🌽🫛🍃🌾
jobs.plantae.org/jobs/2176440...
Assistant Professor in Austin, TX for The University of Texas at Austin
Exciting opportunity in Austin, TX for The University of Texas at Austin as a Assistant Professor
jobs.plantae.org
October 27, 2025 at 8:10 PM
masak.bsky.social
This was a test shot from a recent headshot session. Hair is messy because I just came from swimming.
#photography #selfportrait 📸
This is a headshot of a middle-aged Japanese man wearing glasses and a blue-gray shirt.
October 27, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明
studentsforsci.bsky.social
Hey y’all! NEXT THURSDAY, in lieu of our usual SFS general meeting, we will be having an info session for ANY STUDENT interested in science advocacy! High school, undergraduate, and graduate students welcome. ANY SCHOOL, ANY STATE, ANY MAJOR!
October 26, 2025 at 5:35 PM
masak.bsky.social
Meeting of minds: Gina Turrigiano stopped by the lab of Kristen Harris (UT-Austin, @texasscience.bsky.social ) while visiting Austin to give a seminar on homeostatic plasticity. Learn more about @turrigiano.bsky.social at www.turrigianolab.org.

#photography #scientists #neuroscientists 📸🧪
A portrait of Kristen Harris (professor at The University of Texas at Austin) and Gina Turrigiano (professor at Brandeis University). Harris, on the left of the photo, is a Caucasian woman with graying blond hair wearing a pair of glasses and a blue sweater. Turrigiano on the right is a Caucasian woman with dark hair wearing a pair of glasses and a black jacket over a yellow-green sweater.
October 24, 2025 at 1:02 AM
masak.bsky.social
Sunrise this morning in Austin, Texas. I managed to catch this view just before my camera's battery died.
#photography 📸
This is a photo of a dramatic sky during sunrise as seen over a residential neighborhood in Austin, Texas. As the sun rises from the lower right of the image, beams of sunlight stream through and illuminate fast-moving clouds.
October 23, 2025 at 12:54 AM
masak.bsky.social
I just noticed that there is a new open-access book on science communication. Looks useful. #scicomm #science 🧪
doi.org/10.4324/9781...
Science Communication for Scientists | Linking Strategy with Creativit
Grounded in strategic thinking and social science research, this textbook empowers students to confidently navigate skillful and effective science
doi.org
October 15, 2025 at 2:37 PM
masak.bsky.social
I managed to swim butterfly for 25 yards today for the first time in my life.
October 13, 2025 at 1:11 AM
masak.bsky.social
A view of the moon this morning in Austin, Texas.
#photography 📸
This is a photo of the almost-full moon as seen in the Western cloudless sky over trees and the red roof of a school building, shot early in the morning in Austin, Texas.
October 9, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明
sfn.org
The Neuroscience Scholars Program (NSP) has expanded eligibility!

NSP is now open to all trainees meeting the eligibility criteria.

Applications are now open! Join a supportive network dedicated to your success.

Learn more & apply by October 21.

🔗 vist.ly/49kbu

#neurosky
October 7, 2025 at 4:01 PM
masak.bsky.social
Testing and refining headshot lighting today.
a: butterfly
b: similar to Peter Hurley's triangle
c: 3-point
#photography 📸
This is a triptych of a middle-aged Japanese man's headshots, done in three different lighting styles.
September 11, 2025 at 9:29 PM
masak.bsky.social
Golden Hour in Little Cottonwood Canyon (Utah). From a recent trip. 📸 #photography
A view of mountains along the South side of Little Cottonwood Canyon in Utah during an evening golden hour.
August 5, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明
flickrfdn.bsky.social
Today is World Brain Day established by the World Federation of Neurology in 2014. This year's theme is Brain Health for All Ages. Enjoy your brain today and these brainy images from Flickr Commons!
poster shows a drawing of a man in uniform, either military or a sea captain, with a light blue and orange fish on his head. He has his hand to his chin as if pondering an idea. Medical illustration showing a human head cutaway with numbers and pines pointing to various parts of it surrounded by words in italian. Drawing of a human brain exposed by retracting the membranes and showing the two cerebral hemispheres separated by the median plane. There is Japanese writing around it
July 22, 2025 at 5:23 PM
masak.bsky.social
It’s Sunday afternoon and thundershower is coming and going here in Austin, Texas. Not much wind so the water is shooting straight down. Flash flood warning again. My 13 yr old son is upstairs doing house chores while listening to Minecraft soundtrack and “Beyond the sea” by Bobby Darin.
July 13, 2025 at 5:33 PM
masak.bsky.social
A red-shouldered hawk, seen on my way to work this morning. I saw this one just perched on a lamp post, probably enjoying the morning sun, but surrounded by several angry Blue Jays. 📸🪶 #photography #birds
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) seen at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary (Austin, Texas, USA; 17 June 2025)
June 18, 2025 at 12:50 AM
masak.bsky.social
Hope you are enjoying your weekend.
Earlier this afternoon, I was testing a lighting setup (inspired by Peter Hurley's triangle light) for an upcoming headshot session. 📸 #photography #selfportrait
This is a headshot of a middle-aged Japanese man wearing a dark blue T-shirt.
May 26, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明
cahirokane.bsky.social
A beautiful ER ladder in a Drosophila mushroom body output neuron. Will be interesting to discover why some neurons have the ladder and others don't.
hhmijanelia.bsky.social Janelia Research Campus @hhmijanelia.bsky.social · Apr 27
🥼 Janelia researchers are helping to shed light on the molecular mechanisms underlying synaptic plasticity, which could increase our understanding of how the brain works normally & in diseases where these processes go awry, like Alzheimer’s. ➡️ hhmi.news/4jMHbNY
April 27, 2025 at 6:31 PM
masak.bsky.social
What does a neuroscience pioneer look like?
Dr. Kristen Harris has been at the forefront of studying the nanoscale 3D structures of brain cells, such as synapses. Studies done by her lab contributed greatly to our understanding of synapse structure and connections involved in learning and memory. 📸🧪
This is a portrait of Dr. Kristen Harris, a neuroscience professor at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a Caucasian with blond hair wearing a blue shirt. She is at the console of an electron microscope in her lab. Her male staff member is sitting next to her on the left side.
April 27, 2025 at 1:53 AM
masak.bsky.social
I recently had the honor of working with Mark Bernat, a world-renowned double bassist. In addition to leading an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player, Mark is passionate about bringing classical music to new and wider audiences.
#photography #portrait #classicalmusic
This is a portrait of Mark Bernat playing his double bass. Mark is a caucasian man wearing a blue jacket over a purple shirt. Background is white This is a portrait of Mark Bernat holding his double bass and looking straight at the camera. Mark is a caucasian man wearing a dark gray turtle neck sweater. Background is black. This is a portrait of Mark Bernat with his double bass. Mark is a caucasian man wearing a dark gray turtle neck sweater and a pair of blue jeans, sitting on a stool and looking at the camera. His bass is placed behind him, leaning against a wooden box. Background is designed to look like a classical painting of blue-gray sky.
March 8, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明
motherjones.com
These two PhD students spoke about the importance of their work: "If they go to a hospital, they're gonna get treated, but they don't see that we're the ones that are coming up with those cures in the first place—even going back to basic biology research, basic science research."
March 8, 2025 at 12:09 AM
masak.bsky.social
Today has been a blustery and dusty day in Austin, Texas. All that dust turned the sky pinkish brown, reminiscent of how a post-apocalyptic movie could be color-graded.
On another note, the study section to review my NIH grant application submitted in November has been rescheduled to late March.
March 5, 2025 at 12:24 AM
masak.bsky.social
It's almost 9 AM on this cloudy Saturday in Austin, Texas, and I just wanted to remind you that you are loved and you are enough.
February 15, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明
bwjones.bsky.social
This is the thing about basic science…

You never know where it will lead, and you cannot presuppose what commercial product comes out of it.

They don’t tend to award Nobel Prizes for translational science. They award them for basic, often exploratory science.
mcuban.bsky.social Mark Cuban @mcuban.bsky.social · Feb 9
This is the most relevant article to NIH and research cuts I’ve seen.

Imagine if this was today , how many people would be saying “Why are we studying Gila Monsters and their impact on diabetes ? That’s wasted money !”

globalnews.ca/news/9793403...
How a Canadian scientist and a venomous lizard helped pave the way for Ozempic - National | Globalnews.ca
In 1984, Dr. Daniel Drucker, an endocrinologist from the University of Toronto, discovered a hormone that helped pave the way for popular diabetes drugs such as Ozempic.
globalnews.ca
February 9, 2025 at 10:04 PM
masak.bsky.social
These #SuperbOwls spent a few days in my front yard four years ago. I hope you are enjoying your weekend.
#birds #photography 📸
Three young eastern screech owls (Megascops asio).
February 9, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明
auschwitzmemorial.bsky.social
Auschwitz was at the end of a long process. It did not start from gas chambers.

This hatred was gradually developed by humans. From ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.

Auschwitz took time.
A bird's-eye view of a former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp showing a wide dirt pathway flanked by parallel rows of barbed-wire fences. Groups of visitors walk along the path, surrounded by the remnants of brick structures and barracks, now reduced to foundations. Green grass contrasts with the somber history of the site, as the path leads toward a guard tower in the distance.
January 27, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Reposted by Masa Kuwajima | 桒島正明
liebschutz.bsky.social
Before panic sets it. The New NIH Director and Congress will want research to continue, so the machine will start up at some point. Keep writing papers and preparing proposals. AND educate the public about the key role peer review plays in science and the time and infrastructure investment needed
January 22, 2025 at 11:11 PM