A.Zimmer
@atzimmer.bsky.social
Biology A.S in-progress 🧬
They/Them + She/Her
Dirt goblin, rock turner-over, sometimes-illustrator.
They/Them + She/Her
Dirt goblin, rock turner-over, sometimes-illustrator.
Reposted by A.Zimmer
My best photographs of 2025, a short thread.
A tobacco hornworm on one of its favorite foods, a garden tomato plant (Texas, May 2025). This one makes the cut because it is more aesthetically pleasing than I was aiming for, somehow.
A tobacco hornworm on one of its favorite foods, a garden tomato plant (Texas, May 2025). This one makes the cut because it is more aesthetically pleasing than I was aiming for, somehow.
December 31, 2025 at 5:01 PM
My best photographs of 2025, a short thread.
A tobacco hornworm on one of its favorite foods, a garden tomato plant (Texas, May 2025). This one makes the cut because it is more aesthetically pleasing than I was aiming for, somehow.
A tobacco hornworm on one of its favorite foods, a garden tomato plant (Texas, May 2025). This one makes the cut because it is more aesthetically pleasing than I was aiming for, somehow.
Was about to get up from a nap and the cat asks to snuggle under the covers.
Can’t get up.
Now he’s purring. Send help.
Can’t get up.
Now he’s purring. Send help.
December 27, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Was about to get up from a nap and the cat asks to snuggle under the covers.
Can’t get up.
Now he’s purring. Send help.
Can’t get up.
Now he’s purring. Send help.
Reposted by A.Zimmer
@invam.bsky.social collection, prairies, and AMF all featured in the awesome article
Defunding fungi: US’s living library of ‘vital ecosystem engineers’ is in danger of closing www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Defunding fungi: US’s living library of ‘vital ecosystem engineers’ is in danger of closing www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Defunding fungi: US’s living library of ‘vital ecosystem engineers’ is in danger of closing
These fungi boost plant growth and restore depleted ecosystems, but federal funding for a library housing them has been cut – and it may be forced to close
www.theguardian.com
December 26, 2025 at 8:33 PM
@invam.bsky.social collection, prairies, and AMF all featured in the awesome article
Defunding fungi: US’s living library of ‘vital ecosystem engineers’ is in danger of closing www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Defunding fungi: US’s living library of ‘vital ecosystem engineers’ is in danger of closing www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by A.Zimmer
📢 Attention undergrads & first-year med students! Apply now for Fred Hutch’s 8-week Summer Internship on Infectious Diseases in the Imunocompromised Host! Hands-on research + expert mentorship in state-of-the-art labs.
🦠 Apply by Jan. 30, 2026: https://bit.ly/48K89SV
🦠 Apply by Jan. 30, 2026: https://bit.ly/48K89SV
December 26, 2025 at 5:01 PM
📢 Attention undergrads & first-year med students! Apply now for Fred Hutch’s 8-week Summer Internship on Infectious Diseases in the Imunocompromised Host! Hands-on research + expert mentorship in state-of-the-art labs.
🦠 Apply by Jan. 30, 2026: https://bit.ly/48K89SV
🦠 Apply by Jan. 30, 2026: https://bit.ly/48K89SV
Heads up to anyone who still have images or artwork on Twitter/X.
Apparently Glaze and Nightshade don’t prevent this either.
Apparently Glaze and Nightshade don’t prevent this either.
Heads up to artists still using Twitter- Twitter is now adding an "Edit image" button under all images posted on the site that allows everyone to feed it into genAI and modify it as they wish with a prompt
December 24, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Heads up to anyone who still have images or artwork on Twitter/X.
Apparently Glaze and Nightshade don’t prevent this either.
Apparently Glaze and Nightshade don’t prevent this either.
Found a kakuna at work the other day!
December 24, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Found a kakuna at work the other day!
Reposted by A.Zimmer
Fleas Navidad.
December 19, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Fleas Navidad.
We’re lucky to be on high ground too.
I’d kiss the dirt if it weren’t so full of lead.
I’d kiss the dirt if it weren’t so full of lead.
It's shocking, but also not shocking that major news networks haven't done much reporting on the flooding happening right now in the PNW. We have another massive storm coming tomorrow, so power/drainage issues will only get worse. We're lucky to live in a high ground area.
December 18, 2025 at 8:15 AM
We’re lucky to be on high ground too.
I’d kiss the dirt if it weren’t so full of lead.
I’d kiss the dirt if it weren’t so full of lead.
Reposted by A.Zimmer
🎨 Paleoart deadline extended! 🎉
We’re happy to announce that the paleoart submission deadline is extended to January 14!
🖌️ You can submit up to 3 artworks (they don’t have to be original or unpublished).
Come share your work with the VCWAP community!
We’re happy to announce that the paleoart submission deadline is extended to January 14!
🖌️ You can submit up to 3 artworks (they don’t have to be original or unpublished).
Come share your work with the VCWAP community!
December 15, 2025 at 5:05 PM
🎨 Paleoart deadline extended! 🎉
We’re happy to announce that the paleoart submission deadline is extended to January 14!
🖌️ You can submit up to 3 artworks (they don’t have to be original or unpublished).
Come share your work with the VCWAP community!
We’re happy to announce that the paleoart submission deadline is extended to January 14!
🖌️ You can submit up to 3 artworks (they don’t have to be original or unpublished).
Come share your work with the VCWAP community!
As awful as the news is about Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, I appreciate the majority of news being shared focuses on their accomplishments and the good they did in the world.
December 15, 2025 at 5:57 AM
As awful as the news is about Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, I appreciate the majority of news being shared focuses on their accomplishments and the good they did in the world.
Reposted by A.Zimmer
Folks following the ramblings of Nobody Nursery may know of a recent project I took on, which was to cross-reference roughly 1500 relationships between Washington's native flora and the caterpillars of almost 700 species of butterfly and moth. As I roll this info out . . .
December 13, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Folks following the ramblings of Nobody Nursery may know of a recent project I took on, which was to cross-reference roughly 1500 relationships between Washington's native flora and the caterpillars of almost 700 species of butterfly and moth. As I roll this info out . . .
Reposted by A.Zimmer
We're matching $600 ‼️ We start week 33 of the giving circle—a project that is crumbling, but we keep going.
Our pledge is to try to bring reliable, weekly survival help to six families & a camp. The 'weekly' is faltering, so can you pledge a coffee and click 'weekly'? chuffed.org/project/hope...
Our pledge is to try to bring reliable, weekly survival help to six families & a camp. The 'weekly' is faltering, so can you pledge a coffee and click 'weekly'? chuffed.org/project/hope...
December 13, 2025 at 12:01 AM
We're matching $600 ‼️ We start week 33 of the giving circle—a project that is crumbling, but we keep going.
Our pledge is to try to bring reliable, weekly survival help to six families & a camp. The 'weekly' is faltering, so can you pledge a coffee and click 'weekly'? chuffed.org/project/hope...
Our pledge is to try to bring reliable, weekly survival help to six families & a camp. The 'weekly' is faltering, so can you pledge a coffee and click 'weekly'? chuffed.org/project/hope...
LRP: Sucks that my car is in the shop (because people can’t resist smashing into it) but I’m glad to not be driving rn.
December 10, 2025 at 7:26 PM
LRP: Sucks that my car is in the shop (because people can’t resist smashing into it) but I’m glad to not be driving rn.
Reposted by A.Zimmer
Many rivers in Western Washington are forecasted to reach major flooding levels. Please stay alert to warnings from local officials. For example, Skagit County is asking those in low-lying, flood-prone areas to prepare for possible evacuation.
December 10, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Many rivers in Western Washington are forecasted to reach major flooding levels. Please stay alert to warnings from local officials. For example, Skagit County is asking those in low-lying, flood-prone areas to prepare for possible evacuation.
🤍🩷🩵
Sharing one of my favorite ways to give this time of year. The holidays can be a tough time for lots of folks, and especially for trans kids. TranSanta is a great way to show them some joy and love. ❤️🏳️⚧️
Transanta
Send gifts to trans youth in need, safely and anonymously!
www.transanta.com
December 9, 2025 at 6:11 PM
🤍🩷🩵
Reposted by A.Zimmer
A study on 1.7 million people in Hong Kong shows superior hybrid immunity to Covid in people who got vaccinated before infection vs. people who got infected first. "Our findings are a direct rebuttal to arguments for natural immunity," the authors write. doi.org/10.1016/j.va...
Redirecting
doi.org
December 6, 2025 at 5:02 PM
A study on 1.7 million people in Hong Kong shows superior hybrid immunity to Covid in people who got vaccinated before infection vs. people who got infected first. "Our findings are a direct rebuttal to arguments for natural immunity," the authors write. doi.org/10.1016/j.va...
Not a teen, but if health insurance stays unaffordable and federal loans stay inaccessible to working students I might have to give up the science degree I already started.
My teen, who had dreamt of being an astrophysicist, just told me he wants to go to law school because, “Science isn’t going to be a priority in the US in the future…I don’t want a job where I’ll be constantly worried my funding will be taken away.”
Gutting. How many future scientists have we lost?
Gutting. How many future scientists have we lost?
December 7, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Not a teen, but if health insurance stays unaffordable and federal loans stay inaccessible to working students I might have to give up the science degree I already started.
Reposted by A.Zimmer
This afternoon, I was in a meeting with Jay Bhattacharya, and I can confirm this is *exactly* what he both wants and will be doing.
THIS IS NOT HYPERBOLE.
THIS IS NOT HYPERBOLE.
I missed this from a couple of weeks ago, but if you're an NIH-funded investigator, please read.
Peer review will exist to make things look legitimate, but can, and will, be over-ruled. Funding decisions, ultimately, will be done by political appointees.
grants.nih.gov/news-events/...
Peer review will exist to make things look legitimate, but can, and will, be over-ruled. Funding decisions, ultimately, will be done by political appointees.
grants.nih.gov/news-events/...
Implementing a Unified NIH Funding Strategy to Guide Consistent and Clearer Award Decisions | Grants & Funding
grants.nih.gov
December 5, 2025 at 10:07 PM
This afternoon, I was in a meeting with Jay Bhattacharya, and I can confirm this is *exactly* what he both wants and will be doing.
THIS IS NOT HYPERBOLE.
THIS IS NOT HYPERBOLE.
New funny bird call mnemonic just dropped!
A male rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) in winter plumage.
Ptarmigan is from Gaelic 'tarmachan' meaning "croaker". The p- was added when people mistakenly assumed it was a Greek word.
A bird forever warning people: "A werewolf!" (just in case of werewolves).
Ptarmigan is from Gaelic 'tarmachan' meaning "croaker". The p- was added when people mistakenly assumed it was a Greek word.
A bird forever warning people: "A werewolf!" (just in case of werewolves).
December 6, 2025 at 8:26 PM
New funny bird call mnemonic just dropped!
NOOOOOOOOO
And they’re putting his glowering carapace on the 2026 America The Beautiful pass, he thinks our public lands belong to him.
Why am I not surprised?
NPS has made Trump's birthday a free admission day, while deleting MLK Day and Juneteenth.
NPS has made Trump's birthday a free admission day, while deleting MLK Day and Juneteenth.
December 5, 2025 at 3:23 AM
NOOOOOOOOO
Reposted by A.Zimmer
These are the books I rely on every day as a professional scientific and wildlife illustrator. Here’s my top 5 (plus a bonus) - thread 👇👇
#art #books #illustration #nature
#art #books #illustration #nature
December 3, 2025 at 4:05 PM
These are the books I rely on every day as a professional scientific and wildlife illustrator. Here’s my top 5 (plus a bonus) - thread 👇👇
#art #books #illustration #nature
#art #books #illustration #nature
Reposted by A.Zimmer
We are working with WDFW and the Washington State Department of Health to monitor avian influenza in wildlife in the San Juan Islands. If you find dead wild waterfowl, raptors, or scavengers, do not handle them, contact us [email protected].
A gull I sampled has tested positive for HPAI. These are the first positive tests in the islands since 2023 and seem to be part of a regional outbreak www.sanjuancountywa.gov/CivicAlerts....
Avian Influenza in Domestic Flock Confirmed in San Juan County
There are no reported human cases of avian influenza in San Juan County.
www.sanjuancountywa.gov
December 3, 2025 at 5:16 PM
We are working with WDFW and the Washington State Department of Health to monitor avian influenza in wildlife in the San Juan Islands. If you find dead wild waterfowl, raptors, or scavengers, do not handle them, contact us [email protected].
