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Starre Vartan

@starrevartan.bsky.social

540 followers 230 following 850 posts

🧬 Science Journo| 🏺 Sculptor of ceramics & words 📖 Author: The Stronger Sex (Seal Press/Hachette, 2025) 🌊 Wild swimmer | 💃 Ecstatic Dancer | 🌍 Trailrunner 🇦🇺🇺🇸 dual citizen Bylines: Nat Geo, Undark, SciAm (+ pods), my book 👇 🔗 https://tinyurl.com/ye7nrwp7

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Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · Jul 15

Its my pub day! You can now get my book everywhere is the US & Canada! (UK, Australia, New Zealand, China, and Korea coming soon). Order it to join in on a celebration of the female body's strength!

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Reposted by Starre Vartan

bioGraphic @biographic.bsky.social · 2d

In case you missed it: we are hard at work on a deep dive into how the Trump Administration's policies are affecting biodiversity.

bioGraphic's news editor, @colinschultz.bsky.social, wants to know: what do you, our readers, want to know more about this topic? What questions do you have?

Colin Schultz @colinschultz.bsky.social · 5d

1/ 🧪🍃🐙📰 We @biographic.bsky.social have been hard at work for the past 8 months developing a deep, rich, behind-the-scenes feature story exploring how the Trump Administration's cuts to international conservation are affecting biodiversity on the ground.

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Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 2d

OK, thanks. I'm wondering if there's a pattern here at all....since this seems to have happened a few times to others including you and I've never heard of this before. I'm already nervous enough flying into/out of the US.

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 2d

ahahahahahaha!

Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 3d

I love it when academics publish papers that are like, "I checked and I'm still right"
www.jstor.org/stable/24393...

In this paper I review research since 2000 and conclude
that it has vindicated this view

Reposted by Starre Vartan

Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 3d

The petition for Rodney Taylor, a disabled double amputee being held in an ICE camp, is over 3300 signatures!

Rodney has been in the US since he was 2 years old.

He was days away from receiving new prosthetic legs when ICE grabbed him.

He’s in solitary confinement & facing deportation to Liberia

Help Rodney Taylor, a Disabled Double Amputee Being Held by ICE

Rodney has been in the country more than 40 years. He's in solitary confinement in Georgia, being denied disability accommodations and having his medical needs ignored. He must be released.

www.disabledginger.com

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Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 2d

And what kind of work does your wife do? (in general)? I'm asking these questions as a dual citizen who travels in/out of the US and I'm concerned about not being able to get back to Australia when I need to.

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Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 2d

Were you leaving the US?

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 2d

Was this in the US?

Reposted by Starre Vartan

Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 4d

I've been working on a book proposal and alternating between "this is meaningful" and "this is pointless," and a friend recently shared this quote that she stumble on in a Goodreads review: "Every book is a grand gesture of optimism on the part of both the reader and writer." Keep creating, friends.

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Reposted by Starre Vartan

Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 3d

We’ve known for years that many viruses are oncogenic in nature… there’s ample evidence to suggest Covid is as well.

Yet another reason to wear a good quality mask like an N95, get boosted, clean the air and keep fighting for paid time off & better mitigations!

Megaholt 𓅃 @megaholt.medsky.social · 3d

That’s…not good.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40813533/

SARS-CoV-2 infection heightens the risk of developing HPV-related carcinoma in situ and cancer - PubMed

SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with elevated risks of HPV-related carcinoma in situ and cancer, irrespective of age or race. The findings underscore the importance of understanding the interplay b...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 3d

Oh I would have been out there in 20 minutes. FIVE HOURS???

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 3d

What a badass Fred is!!!!

Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 4d

when you try and get your PhD advisor to review your manuscript 😂

Nobel committee unable to reach prize winner who is ‘living his best life’ hiking off grid

Fred Ramsdell was among those honoured with a 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine but might not know because he is somewhere in Idaho and uncontactable

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 3d

You can see one of the Guard is trying to push her away but she stood her ground and got her shot. That's toughness.

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 3d

So much is so crappy right now, but then you turn in a big edit to your editor and the first email in your inbox is new research from Japan:
"Slime Mold Metabolites Are a Promising, Eco-Friendly Repellent of Root-Knot Nematodes"
And you know you are living your best life.

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 4d

I've heard that argument before and it's a good one! It's basically how people would like to live. I noticed a lot of New England small cities were like this and one of the reasons I liked living there - they were built before cars were dominant. Look for a town built in the mid-1800s.

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 4d

Man, I'm always looking up. Pointing stuff out, laughing at bird antics, noticing clouds, etc. Didn't know that's weird for adults!

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 4d

I do too. I'm always pointing stuff out. Can't wear hats (unless super-necessary for sun protection) because how am I supposed to see properly with a hat on? Never dated a man who wears a baseball cap b/c of this. Blinkering oneself.

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 5d

Even as a fairly rebellious woman—even I didn't think there was this much leeway on the rules. I'm superpissed.

Anna Gifty @itsafronomics.bsky.social · 5d

lol this entire era of politics has proven to me that rules are indeed fake

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 5d

THE. FUCKING. GOAT.

KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 @kojamf.bsky.social · 6d

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 5d

This quote really sums up why so many sexual predators will never admit what they've done - it's ALL about them at the expense of others, always: "I don't accept being labelled a rapist," he protested. "It's too heavy a burden for me to carry."

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 6d

LOVE a good "eff you with the garbage rules you gave me" -so satisfying.

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Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 6d

Beautiful, heartwarming owl-rescue story! My troubled soul is briefly becalmed.

Dr Delyth Badder @folklorewales.com · 6d

Six weeks ago, I picked up a year-old tawny owl with a broken leg off the main road near our home and dropped him off at our nearest vet.

After a few days, I received one of the most bizarre phone calls I’ve ever had, asking “So when are you coming to pick up your owl?” 🧵

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 6d

Haha, also self-employed, def no fat checks to almas mater or anyone else!

Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 7d

Haha, I went to SU, got a degree in geology, and became an influencer and (nominally) a podcaster!

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Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 9d

It's OK to let them figure it out on their own!

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Starre Vartan @starrevartan.bsky.social · 9d

Same. I thought writers at my level (when I started writing and looked into the future) were def all set and could relax into their careers. Haha! Its one of the many prices we pay for doing work we like/love/care abt.