Paula Adams, PhD
@peadams.bsky.social
Postdoc in biology education
PhD in bioinformatics and genome evolution
#firstgen | she/her/hers | Roll Tide 🐘
PhD in bioinformatics and genome evolution
#firstgen | she/her/hers | Roll Tide 🐘
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
Episode 46: Sapiens
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
Sapiens
Podcast Episode · If Books Could Kill · 11/20/2025 · 1h 38m
podcasts.apple.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Episode 46: Sapiens
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
Thanks to Congress slashing funding for PBS, Alabama Public Television, the nation’s oldest public educational network, may sever ties with PBS, which would effectively kill the network. www.al.com/news/birming...
Alabama Public Television could lose millions, members and programs if they drop PBS
Board to discuss potential disaffiliation on Nov. 18 as some commissioners claim PBS has become "enemy" to conservative values.
www.al.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Thanks to Congress slashing funding for PBS, Alabama Public Television, the nation’s oldest public educational network, may sever ties with PBS, which would effectively kill the network. www.al.com/news/birming...
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
Socioeconomic roots of academic faculty
Tenure-track faculty are up to 25 times more likely to have a parent with a Ph.D. Moreover, this rate nearly doubles at prestigious universities and is stable across the past 50 years.
#AcademicSky
Tenure-track faculty are up to 25 times more likely to have a parent with a Ph.D. Moreover, this rate nearly doubles at prestigious universities and is stable across the past 50 years.
#AcademicSky
Socioeconomic roots of academic faculty - Nature Human Behaviour
Studying socioeconomic backgrounds and intergenerational transmission in the US academia, Morgan et al. find that faculty have a parent with a Ph.D. degree a striking 25 times more often than the gene...
www.nature.com
November 1, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Socioeconomic roots of academic faculty
Tenure-track faculty are up to 25 times more likely to have a parent with a Ph.D. Moreover, this rate nearly doubles at prestigious universities and is stable across the past 50 years.
#AcademicSky
Tenure-track faculty are up to 25 times more likely to have a parent with a Ph.D. Moreover, this rate nearly doubles at prestigious universities and is stable across the past 50 years.
#AcademicSky
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
like basically everyone who works in software I embody this tweet and do not under any circumstances want to talk to my computer
October 16, 2025 at 3:19 PM
like basically everyone who works in software I embody this tweet and do not under any circumstances want to talk to my computer
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
Western Alaska was hit hard by the recent storms. Houses floated away in Kipnuk, houses flipped over, people lost everything from the flooding that came with the storms. Please donate if you can. This group has a long history of supporting AK communities.
alaskacf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/c...
alaskacf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/c...
October 13, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Western Alaska was hit hard by the recent storms. Houses floated away in Kipnuk, houses flipped over, people lost everything from the flooding that came with the storms. Please donate if you can. This group has a long history of supporting AK communities.
alaskacf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/c...
alaskacf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/c...
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
Biology is much more complicated than most non-biologists can imagine. And AI is not going to change this anytime soon.
blog.genesmindsmachines.com/p/we-still-c...
blog.genesmindsmachines.com/p/we-still-c...
We still can’t predict much of anything in biology
Biology is hard. Yes, even for AI.
blog.genesmindsmachines.com
October 7, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Biology is much more complicated than most non-biologists can imagine. And AI is not going to change this anytime soon.
blog.genesmindsmachines.com/p/we-still-c...
blog.genesmindsmachines.com/p/we-still-c...
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.
October 5, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
The Smith Bee Lab is HIRING! 🐝🐝🐝
- Postdoc (2-4yrs, flexible start-date)
- 1-2 Graduate Students (to start Fall 2026)
No prior experience with honey bees needed, we encourage people from diverse research areas to apply!
(no jerks, plz)
- Postdoc (2-4yrs, flexible start-date)
- 1-2 Graduate Students (to start Fall 2026)
No prior experience with honey bees needed, we encourage people from diverse research areas to apply!
(no jerks, plz)
September 16, 2025 at 3:36 PM
The Smith Bee Lab is HIRING! 🐝🐝🐝
- Postdoc (2-4yrs, flexible start-date)
- 1-2 Graduate Students (to start Fall 2026)
No prior experience with honey bees needed, we encourage people from diverse research areas to apply!
(no jerks, plz)
- Postdoc (2-4yrs, flexible start-date)
- 1-2 Graduate Students (to start Fall 2026)
No prior experience with honey bees needed, we encourage people from diverse research areas to apply!
(no jerks, plz)
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
What are you gonna do, tackle him?
September 28, 2025 at 1:27 AM
What are you gonna do, tackle him?
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
Surprisingly, the phylogeny implies (equivocally, to be sure) that the Elegans Supergroup of species, which includes C. elegans, is derived from American ancestors, and that a lot of the groups diversification may have taken place in Oceania, prior to subsequent invasions of Asia.
September 24, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Surprisingly, the phylogeny implies (equivocally, to be sure) that the Elegans Supergroup of species, which includes C. elegans, is derived from American ancestors, and that a lot of the groups diversification may have taken place in Oceania, prior to subsequent invasions of Asia.
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
C. elegans is a real animal and we set out to understand how it comes to have its distinctive biogeography. Its ancestral center of diversity is in the higher elevation forests of Hawaii. Its closest relatives are spread across east Asia. Did they travel from Asia? [Preprint 🧵]
September 24, 2025 at 8:33 PM
C. elegans is a real animal and we set out to understand how it comes to have its distinctive biogeography. Its ancestral center of diversity is in the higher elevation forests of Hawaii. Its closest relatives are spread across east Asia. Did they travel from Asia? [Preprint 🧵]
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
Applying to the NSF-GRFP (or another fellowship) on a tight deadline?
We built a 7-week guide + timeline to get you from draft to submission. It’s not too late — you’ve got this! ✨
🔗 cientificolatino.com/apply-in-7-weeks
#NSFGRFP #GradSchool #Fellowship
We built a 7-week guide + timeline to get you from draft to submission. It’s not too late — you’ve got this! ✨
🔗 cientificolatino.com/apply-in-7-weeks
#NSFGRFP #GradSchool #Fellowship
September 9, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Applying to the NSF-GRFP (or another fellowship) on a tight deadline?
We built a 7-week guide + timeline to get you from draft to submission. It’s not too late — you’ve got this! ✨
🔗 cientificolatino.com/apply-in-7-weeks
#NSFGRFP #GradSchool #Fellowship
We built a 7-week guide + timeline to get you from draft to submission. It’s not too late — you’ve got this! ✨
🔗 cientificolatino.com/apply-in-7-weeks
#NSFGRFP #GradSchool #Fellowship
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
Vaccines are battle training for your immune system. If you could give it intel on the enemy, why would you withhold that? Give me ALL the vaccines! I want to be prepared for everything!
As a guy who got a cancer that was probably caused by a virus, I think we should have /more/ vaccines.
September 8, 2025 at 3:03 AM
Vaccines are battle training for your immune system. If you could give it intel on the enemy, why would you withhold that? Give me ALL the vaccines! I want to be prepared for everything!
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
Obligatory sharing of John Oliver's take on this administrations fight against research and Universities #academia
youtu.be/xk94il8L820?...
youtu.be/xk94il8L820?...
Trump vs. Higher Education: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
YouTube video by LastWeekTonight
youtu.be
September 8, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Obligatory sharing of John Oliver's take on this administrations fight against research and Universities #academia
youtu.be/xk94il8L820?...
youtu.be/xk94il8L820?...
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
Nearly all PhDs take 5 years--with finishing in 4 a rare outcome. This is deliberately designed to eliminate the international powerhouse that is US postgraduate training.
Trump admin planning to change student visas from lasting for duration of academic program to fixed 4-yr term, and then much harder to renew
Could destroy US ability to attract global talent, particularly those seeking advanced degrees in STEM. The median time to complete a PhD is 5.7 yrs per NSF.
Could destroy US ability to attract global talent, particularly those seeking advanced degrees in STEM. The median time to complete a PhD is 5.7 yrs per NSF.
Trump Deals A New Immigration Blow To International Students
Trump officials have proposed a new rule limiting international students to fixed periods of entry, making a U.S. education more precarious.
www.forbes.com
August 29, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Nearly all PhDs take 5 years--with finishing in 4 a rare outcome. This is deliberately designed to eliminate the international powerhouse that is US postgraduate training.
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
There are a lot of details in yesterday's sweeping executive order, but the bottom line is that it gives political appointees immense power over scientific grants, which have until now been stewarded by career civil servants and experts.
My reporting:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
My reporting:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Trump order gives political appointees vast powers over research grants
Researchers are alarmed that the move might upend a long-standing tradition of peer-review for grants.
www.nature.com
August 8, 2025 at 8:49 PM
There are a lot of details in yesterday's sweeping executive order, but the bottom line is that it gives political appointees immense power over scientific grants, which have until now been stewarded by career civil servants and experts.
My reporting:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
My reporting:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
@emilydriessen.bsky.social and I wrote a letter in Science calling for us to lean into our communities and increase support for change agents during this time of adversity and funding cuts.
#DBER #BioEd
Community support for inclusive US education | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#DBER #BioEd
Community support for inclusive US education | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Community support for inclusive US education
The Trump administration is working to dismantle inclusive education efforts by opposing diversity, equity, and inclusion (1); encouraging divisive actions in K-12 schools such as banning books (2) an...
www.science.org
August 8, 2025 at 12:53 AM
@emilydriessen.bsky.social and I wrote a letter in Science calling for us to lean into our communities and increase support for change agents during this time of adversity and funding cuts.
#DBER #BioEd
Community support for inclusive US education | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#DBER #BioEd
Community support for inclusive US education | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
If I have to explain to you why it's a bad idea to use a machine that makes shit up 15-80% of the time AND destroys the environment AND contributes to rising fascism and genocide AND puts brilliant skillful creatives out of work by stealing their work, then we're already speaking different languages
August 6, 2025 at 1:01 AM
If I have to explain to you why it's a bad idea to use a machine that makes shit up 15-80% of the time AND destroys the environment AND contributes to rising fascism and genocide AND puts brilliant skillful creatives out of work by stealing their work, then we're already speaking different languages
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
Why isn’t bell hooks’s writing around men and love not seen as a progressive text on how men can get laid, i.e., form healthy romantic relationships with people in their lives?
August 1, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Why isn’t bell hooks’s writing around men and love not seen as a progressive text on how men can get laid, i.e., form healthy romantic relationships with people in their lives?
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
NEW: 18,500 children have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza.
The Washington Post has just published every single known name.
A seminal moment.
The Washington Post has just published every single known name.
A seminal moment.
July 30, 2025 at 10:29 AM
NEW: 18,500 children have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza.
The Washington Post has just published every single known name.
A seminal moment.
The Washington Post has just published every single known name.
A seminal moment.
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
STEM ed has been foundational to NSF's mission & mandated functions ever since its founding in 1950.
Ex: Remember the Magic School Bus? NSF funded that.
Bill Nye the Science Guy? Zoom? Reading Rainbow?
NSF was a key funder in all those [with others like the imperiled Corp for Public Broadcasting]
Ex: Remember the Magic School Bus? NSF funded that.
Bill Nye the Science Guy? Zoom? Reading Rainbow?
NSF was a key funder in all those [with others like the imperiled Corp for Public Broadcasting]
PBS - The Magic School Bus Ending Credits and Fundings
YouTube video by RoadRunnerCoyote2015
www.youtube.com
July 18, 2025 at 6:01 PM
STEM ed has been foundational to NSF's mission & mandated functions ever since its founding in 1950.
Ex: Remember the Magic School Bus? NSF funded that.
Bill Nye the Science Guy? Zoom? Reading Rainbow?
NSF was a key funder in all those [with others like the imperiled Corp for Public Broadcasting]
Ex: Remember the Magic School Bus? NSF funded that.
Bill Nye the Science Guy? Zoom? Reading Rainbow?
NSF was a key funder in all those [with others like the imperiled Corp for Public Broadcasting]
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
Normally write whatever comes to mind, but the editors specifically requested, if I had the time, to breakdown the meteorological factors that caused the Texas Floods. Here’s my take on 5 key ingredients
www.forbes.com/sites/marsha...
www.forbes.com/sites/marsha...
5 Key Weather Ingredients That Led To Texas Floods
A meteorologist breaks down five key ingredients that led to the tragic Texas flooding on July 4th.
www.forbes.com
July 11, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Normally write whatever comes to mind, but the editors specifically requested, if I had the time, to breakdown the meteorological factors that caused the Texas Floods. Here’s my take on 5 key ingredients
www.forbes.com/sites/marsha...
www.forbes.com/sites/marsha...
Reposted by Paula Adams, PhD
To Craig's point, I always bring up the CRAZY stat buried in Morgan et al. '22:
Babies of profs become faculty ~9.5% of the time, while the overall prob a STUDENT IN A PHD becomes faculty = ~12%. One would hope ≥20 years of work & commitment toward a goal puts you far ahead of babies, but no.
Babies of profs become faculty ~9.5% of the time, while the overall prob a STUDENT IN A PHD becomes faculty = ~12%. One would hope ≥20 years of work & commitment toward a goal puts you far ahead of babies, but no.
July 10, 2025 at 2:49 PM
To Craig's point, I always bring up the CRAZY stat buried in Morgan et al. '22:
Babies of profs become faculty ~9.5% of the time, while the overall prob a STUDENT IN A PHD becomes faculty = ~12%. One would hope ≥20 years of work & commitment toward a goal puts you far ahead of babies, but no.
Babies of profs become faculty ~9.5% of the time, while the overall prob a STUDENT IN A PHD becomes faculty = ~12%. One would hope ≥20 years of work & commitment toward a goal puts you far ahead of babies, but no.