Tara Chestnut, PhD
@tcastanea.bsky.social
Wildlife Ecology | Natural History | Disease | Invasive Species | Contaminants | Aquatic Science | Reintroductions | Science Communication | March Mammal Madness narrator | she/her
Pinned
Tara Chestnut, PhD
@tcastanea.bsky.social
· Jul 22
Need a moment of joy today? I recently gave a talk about what Indigenous inclusion in science looks like. Grab some tissues and get ready to ugly cry… 🐻🪶🐍🐸🐟🧪
We were so bummed!! We had a whole obstacle course planned with different sized balls, frisbees (maybe even a human tribute). I still chortle when I remember the look on people’s faces as the net poured to the ground. Good times! Thanks for letting me remember again!
February 11, 2026 at 2:39 AM
We were so bummed!! We had a whole obstacle course planned with different sized balls, frisbees (maybe even a human tribute). I still chortle when I remember the look on people’s faces as the net poured to the ground. Good times! Thanks for letting me remember again!
When I started my job at Mount Rainier I discovered a CO2 net gun in my office for animals fox to grouse sized. I’d never used such a tool so I brought it home one weekend to practice. I set up a course w/ camp chairs. The net spilled out like flaccid ramen noodles. The seals were blown 1/10⭐️
February 10, 2026 at 6:48 AM
When I started my job at Mount Rainier I discovered a CO2 net gun in my office for animals fox to grouse sized. I’d never used such a tool so I brought it home one weekend to practice. I set up a course w/ camp chairs. The net spilled out like flaccid ramen noodles. The seals were blown 1/10⭐️
Reposted by Tara Chestnut, PhD
Fun news! @gcbias.bsky.social and I are teaching a 2-week online population genetics workshop this summer to raise money for the Center for Population Biology at UC Davis. We're trying to gauge interest -- please fill this out if you might be interested! And please share broadly!
Davis Summer Population Genomics Program
Want to learn population genetics? Please fill out this form to indicate your potential interest in a 2-week intensive online summer population genetics course taught by Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra and Graham...
docs.google.com
February 9, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Fun news! @gcbias.bsky.social and I are teaching a 2-week online population genetics workshop this summer to raise money for the Center for Population Biology at UC Davis. We're trying to gauge interest -- please fill this out if you might be interested! And please share broadly!
I was rollerskating on a trail in Alaska and encountered a baby moose with no mama in sight. I’ve never backwards skated so fast! I needed to get around it so I gave it WIDE berth and clumsily bushwhacked through the willows tiptoeing on my toe stops. Never saw mama. Had to replace my muddy bearings
February 9, 2026 at 9:23 PM
I was rollerskating on a trail in Alaska and encountered a baby moose with no mama in sight. I’ve never backwards skated so fast! I needed to get around it so I gave it WIDE berth and clumsily bushwhacked through the willows tiptoeing on my toe stops. Never saw mama. Had to replace my muddy bearings
And if you are a librarian who has used MMM in the past & plan to use MMM in 2026- drop me a DM :-D #2026MMM
a black and white photo of a dog wearing headphones and a bow tie talking on a telephone .
Alt: old timey footage of two dogs "talking" on old timey phones.
media.tenor.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:58 AM
We’re looking at YOU educators! #2026MMM
EDUCATORS who use #2026MMM
Please follow the link below to the request form for free educator materials for 2026 March Mammal Madness Tournament and an optional educator survey. @mmmletsgo.bsky.social forms.gle/PNTRw4CbndMT...
Please follow the link below to the request form for free educator materials for 2026 March Mammal Madness Tournament and an optional educator survey. @mmmletsgo.bsky.social forms.gle/PNTRw4CbndMT...
Educator Materials Request for March Mammal Madness #2026MMM
WELCOME EDUCATOR!!! Thank you & your students for participating in, as one twitter user phrased it, this "delightfully bonkers" science education outreach where the motto is always "if you're learning...
forms.gle
February 5, 2026 at 4:57 AM
We’re looking at YOU educators! #2026MMM
This can’t be its seed in the actual tree of life, can it?
February 5, 2026 at 4:56 AM
This can’t be its seed in the actual tree of life, can it?
Reposted by Tara Chestnut, PhD
In honor of 10 tournaments of the March Mammal Madness LibGuide at ASU Library, #2026MMM Celebrates LIBRARIES!
More than books, and definitely more than admonishments to shush, libraries are incredible collections of human knowledge, information, imagination, & creativity @mmmletsgo.bsky.social
More than books, and definitely more than admonishments to shush, libraries are incredible collections of human knowledge, information, imagination, & creativity @mmmletsgo.bsky.social
The Worm Dance GIF
Alt: An awesome dancer does The Worm Dance on top of a bookshelf in the stacks of a library
media.tenor.com
February 2, 2026 at 5:42 PM
In honor of 10 tournaments of the March Mammal Madness LibGuide at ASU Library, #2026MMM Celebrates LIBRARIES!
More than books, and definitely more than admonishments to shush, libraries are incredible collections of human knowledge, information, imagination, & creativity @mmmletsgo.bsky.social
More than books, and definitely more than admonishments to shush, libraries are incredible collections of human knowledge, information, imagination, & creativity @mmmletsgo.bsky.social
Who am I to put my community at risk when there are safe options to prevent suffering?
If you listen closely, the loudest cheer is from Polio.
This madness will require FL's state legislature to fully achieve, so let's see how far Ladapo & DeSantis' push to make kids sick, hospitalized, disabled, & die really goes.
Press: easy way to state this--Florida declares war on children. 🛟
This madness will require FL's state legislature to fully achieve, so let's see how far Ladapo & DeSantis' push to make kids sick, hospitalized, disabled, & die really goes.
Press: easy way to state this--Florida declares war on children. 🛟
February 2, 2026 at 2:10 AM
Who am I to put my community at risk when there are safe options to prevent suffering?
When I worked for the USGS (US Dept of Interior) I was given similar direction to cease contact with collaborators from Russia and Cuba. We were studying amphibian diseases, which was considered a biosecurity threat. We still got the papers out, w/ serious delay www.researchgate.net/profile/Luis...
January 26, 2026 at 10:00 PM
When I worked for the USGS (US Dept of Interior) I was given similar direction to cease contact with collaborators from Russia and Cuba. We were studying amphibian diseases, which was considered a biosecurity threat. We still got the papers out, w/ serious delay www.researchgate.net/profile/Luis...
Hear ye! Hear ye! We discovered that the link to scholarship application guidelines was broken so it’s been extended to Feb 9! Do you work with vertebrates in the west? Are you a student at a university in the west? We would love to learn about your research!! thesnvb.org/scholarship-...
January 19, 2026 at 5:37 AM
Hear ye! Hear ye! We discovered that the link to scholarship application guidelines was broken so it’s been extended to Feb 9! Do you work with vertebrates in the west? Are you a student at a university in the west? We would love to learn about your research!! thesnvb.org/scholarship-...
Fun facts about me! I’m a wildlife ecologist, my birthday is on the most sacred of mammal holidays, Groundhog Day, when I caught a habituated marmot & worked w/ @nwtrek.bsky.social to make him an ambassador animal rather than euthanizing, they named him Chestnut ❤️🦫🌰 🎂 www.nwtrek.org/marmot-finds...
January 18, 2026 at 5:10 AM
Fun facts about me! I’m a wildlife ecologist, my birthday is on the most sacred of mammal holidays, Groundhog Day, when I caught a habituated marmot & worked w/ @nwtrek.bsky.social to make him an ambassador animal rather than euthanizing, they named him Chestnut ❤️🦫🌰 🎂 www.nwtrek.org/marmot-finds...
Are you an undergrad or grad student at a Pacific Northwest university studying wildlife? “PNW” loosely defined as North America west of the Great Plains and north of the Mojave Desert. Scholarship application deadline is this Monday! thesnvb.org/scholarship/
Scholarship - The Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology
thesnvb.org
January 15, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Are you an undergrad or grad student at a Pacific Northwest university studying wildlife? “PNW” loosely defined as North America west of the Great Plains and north of the Mojave Desert. Scholarship application deadline is this Monday! thesnvb.org/scholarship/
I nominate Truth or Consequences (NM)
January 12, 2026 at 3:19 AM
I nominate Truth or Consequences (NM)
I grew up catholic so I must confess. Please absolve me of my sin… As much as I adore flycatchers, at MAPS stations, my least favorite thing is to get an Empidonax in the net. I curse them on super busy days.
January 10, 2026 at 5:32 AM
I grew up catholic so I must confess. Please absolve me of my sin… As much as I adore flycatchers, at MAPS stations, my least favorite thing is to get an Empidonax in the net. I curse them on super busy days.
Yeah, the Smithfield closed a while ago and def had an interesting toilet situation. In my memory they were facing each other but your pic made me wonder if my memory was slightly off. Either way, I suppose the arrangement could be quite useful for a parent with a little working on toilet training 😂
January 2, 2026 at 9:54 PM
Yeah, the Smithfield closed a while ago and def had an interesting toilet situation. In my memory they were facing each other but your pic made me wonder if my memory was slightly off. Either way, I suppose the arrangement could be quite useful for a parent with a little working on toilet training 😂
Was this the Smithfield Cafe? I feel like I remember this from the Smithfield Cafe lol
January 2, 2026 at 2:11 AM
Was this the Smithfield Cafe? I feel like I remember this from the Smithfield Cafe lol
This is me 😂 I have one rod that’s rated to 30 pounds and used to just change the weight of my line. I got such funny looks at our local fishing hole! I finally got an ugly stick that’s been super versatile
December 31, 2025 at 4:25 AM
This is me 😂 I have one rod that’s rated to 30 pounds and used to just change the weight of my line. I got such funny looks at our local fishing hole! I finally got an ugly stick that’s been super versatile
Me, prepping for tonight’s city council meeting. Based on the posted agenda, it was sure to be a spicy one. The mayor did a good job of bringing the temperature down in the room while I ate my popcorn in the back. I encourage you all to get involved with local politics!! It’s fun plus snacks!
a cartoon of snoopy wearing a chef 's hat cooking
Alt: A cartoon of snoopy wearing a chef 's hat cooking popcorn on the stovetop. He is wearing a red apron, standing on a green stool. When to popcorn starts lifting the lid of the pot, he turns and dumps it into a bowl
media.tenor.com
December 30, 2025 at 4:33 AM
Me, prepping for tonight’s city council meeting. Based on the posted agenda, it was sure to be a spicy one. The mayor did a good job of bringing the temperature down in the room while I ate my popcorn in the back. I encourage you all to get involved with local politics!! It’s fun plus snacks!
Me too!! ologies is always such a joy to listen to, and this one especially because I saw my first platypus in the wild this year when went to Australia for my 50th birthday!!
December 30, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Me too!! ologies is always such a joy to listen to, and this one especially because I saw my first platypus in the wild this year when went to Australia for my 50th birthday!!
I was shared this unlisted video: a message from our top boss evangelizing one particular view of the holiday season.
Sec. Rollins, please be respectful of faith traditions different from your own.
That said— glad you’re enjoying a festively decorated tree this Saturnalia🪐
Sec. Rollins, please be respectful of faith traditions different from your own.
That said— glad you’re enjoying a festively decorated tree this Saturnalia🪐
Secretary Brooke Rollins Christmas Message
YouTube video by USDA
youtu.be
December 25, 2025 at 11:19 PM
I have several co-authors that are so wonderful that we end convos with ‘I love yous’ as if we were close siblings. It’s so heartfelt, especially after we challenge each other. So good!
December 24, 2025 at 6:54 AM
I have several co-authors that are so wonderful that we end convos with ‘I love yous’ as if we were close siblings. It’s so heartfelt, especially after we challenge each other. So good!