Liz Chrastil
@chrastil.bsky.social
980 followers 790 following 79 posts
spatial neuroscience researcher, associate professor at UC Irvine, creator of virtual environments, lover of mazes faculty.sites.uci.edu/spatialneuro/
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Reposted by Liz Chrastil
kyledcheney.bsky.social
BREAKING: A federal judge has granted a restraining order blocking President Trump's call-up of the National Guard in Portland.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Liz Chrastil
rosalafersousa.bsky.social
🚨 Are you an alum from one of the 9 universities Trump is attempting to extort right now?

✍️ Sign this petition to defend your university, free speech, and democracy. I signed.

This is a time for courage, not capitulation.
#JustSayNo #Compact 🧪🧠🧬

(context in thread)
Trump attacks 9 universities: Sign the alumni petition to defend your school now
Are you an alum outraged by Trump's attacks on universities? Defend your school now by signing this alumni petition in support of these 9 universities as well as campus communities across America.
alumni.controlshift.app
Reposted by Liz Chrastil
ryanmarino.bsky.social
ER doc here! This is a lie. Wait times are up because the American healthcare system is an unsustainable business model and a for-profit national healthcare system just doesn’t work. These problems will continue to get worse until we change that system. It literally has nothing to do with immigrants
atrupar.com
Vance: "If you're an American citizen & you've been to the hospital in the last few years, you've probably noticed wait times are especially large & very often somebody who's there in the ER is an illegal alien. Why do those people get healthcare benefits at hospitals paid for by American citizens?"
Reposted by Liz Chrastil
jamellebouie.net
the president of the united states wants to use the american military to kill american citizens on american soil. that's the whole story!
Reposted by Liz Chrastil
jaweedkaleem.bsky.social
The NIH has confirmed that it is complying with court orders and re-instating $500 million in frozen research grants to UCLA, Vice Chancellor for Research & Creative Activities Roger Wakimoto wrote today. He says workers “have shown great resilience in this challenging time.”
Reposted by Liz Chrastil
rheumcat.bsky.social
While I am genuinely concerned for my colleagues who are doctors currently on H1B visas, I acknowledge that I can't make people care about other humans.

But American *should* care about the fact that their ability to get medical care WILL be affected by these visa restrictions.
jamesdyoung.bsky.social
23% of all resident medical doctors are on H1B, many working in rural and underserved hospitals because those hospitals have trouble getting doctors to move to Danville, VA or Salina, KS.

www.business-standard.com/amp/immigrat...
www.business-standard.com
Reposted by Liz Chrastil
clarajeffery.bsky.social
Asking journalists to sign a pledge not to disclose anything the Pentagon doesn’t want you to see just as Pentagon is:
-sending troops into US cities
-illegally murdering alleged low level drug runners
-possibly preparing to invade Venezuela
Reposted by Liz Chrastil
irahyman.bsky.social
This thread.

Free speech to say the things conservatives want to say and hear.

But dare to criticize, simply quote what they say, or state what they do?

1/2
wamsleylab.bsky.social
Here's a partial list of university faculty who have been fired or suspended this week. 🧵

How are free speech and academic freedom doing at your university?

#academicsky #edusky #aaup #freespeech

1/x

1. A tenured Professor at Florida Atlantic:
FAU professor put on leave after social media comments about Charlie Kirk assassination
FAU President Adam Hasner released a statement Saturday on X, saying he became aware of repeated comments made online by the professor.
www.palmbeachpost.com
chrastil.bsky.social
Yes come work with us!!
aaronbornstein.bsky.social
Come work with us! UC Irvine Cognitive Sciences is looking for a new Assistant Professor to join our team: recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09896

I'm not on the committee, but happy to talk if you're interested.
Assistant Professor - Cognitive Sciences
University of California, Irvine is hiring. Apply now!
recruit.ap.uci.edu
Reposted by Liz Chrastil
scinews.bsky.social
“You are here to learn to ride a bicycle, not to invent a bicycle.”

"Now, I’m about to establish my own research group. I feel ready to design and invent my own bicycle. I’ll remind my trainees that their job, first and foremost, is to learn how to ride."

www.science.org/content/arti...
How a Ph.D. is like riding a bike
This researcher struggled in grad school—until he embraced it as a time for learning
www.science.org
Reposted by Liz Chrastil
blakeprof.bsky.social
🚨 150 University of California law professors (and counting) have now signed this open letter to the UC Regents and other officials, explaining the flagrant illegality of the Trump Administration’s UCLA funding cut offs, and urging the UC to fight back. sites.google.com/view/uclawfa...
Dear President Milliken, Regents, and Governor Newsom,
As faculty members of University of California law schools, we endorse Governor Newsom's commitment to resist the Trump Administration's unlawful actions taken against the University of California, Los Angeles. The Governor is on firm legal ground. The Trump Administration's termination and suspension of federal funds has violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in numerous ways. Governor Newsom and the University of California Regents will protect the vital interests not only of Californians but of all Americans if they defend the University of California's rights.
The U.S. Department of Justice notified UCLA on July 29, 2025, that it had found that UCLA had "violated its obligations under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964." Chancellor Frenk subsequently announced that
"the federal government claims antisemitism and bias as the reasons" for federal grant terminations. UCLA faces losses of at least $584 million, funding that has supported vital research on matters ranging from treatments for pancreatic cancer to advances in online security.
The Trump Administration has made no pretense of following the law. Title VI permits a federal agency to terminate funding only if it has found that the particular program receiving that funding has violated the law's non-discrimination provisions. Funding cannot disappear just because the agency's policy or political preferences differ from the institution's.
Moreover, the agency can act only after following specific procedural steps. Importantly, Title VI requires a formal administrative hearing—a proceeding much like a trial-before the agency can terminate funding. At the hearing, the agency would have the burden of proving the university's alleged violations of Title VI before an impartial decision-maker. If the agency prevails at the hearing, the university or other interested persons could appea… factually supported and consistent with civil rights laws. Without the steps Title VI requires, there is no protection against an administration alleging discrimination as a pretext to force compliance with its policy or partisan preferences. Title VI's procedures guarantee the constitutional due process requirement that no person can be deprived of liberty or property without fair notice and opportunity to be heard. They protect the university and its members' academic freedom, an endowment essential to scientific research, intellectual discovery, and open debate.
We are deeply committed to the core principle of non-discrimination codified in Title VI and in the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause. The principle that no person may suffer discrimination because of race, color, or national origin protects equality and ensures fairness in political as well as social life. Allegations of discrimination deserve serious and careful consideration and, where established, effective redress. But this enforcement effort must follow the law.
We urge Governor Newsom and the UC Regents to continue to stand up for the fundamental principles of the rule of law, due process, and equal protection. A defense of the University of California's rights in court will model respect for these bedrock principles of equality and fairness, and it will ensure that the government honors them. The Trump Administration's failure to abide by the law subverts these principles by denying the University of California a fair opportunity to contest the government's charges of unlawful discrimination before an impartial decisionmaker. It is precisely because we cherish the principles of the Civil Rights Act and the Constitution that we encourage Governor Newsom, the UC Regents, and the University of California to fight back.
Through its grantmaking powers, the federal government wields vast influence over social and economic life. If not held to account by the procedural protections enacted by Congres…
Reposted by Liz Chrastil
calmatters.org
Breaking: A federal judge ordered the Trump admin. to restore a portion of the 800 federal science research grants that it suspended at UCLA, delivering a major setback to efforts to force the university into a $1 billion settlement buff.ly/cJKbdTY

📝 @mzinshteyn.bsky.social
📸 Jules Hotz
Participants in the “Kill the Cuts” rally march against the Trump administration’s proposed research funding cuts in Los Angeles on April 8, 2025. Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters.

Hed: Federal judge orders Trump administration to restore hundreds of UCLA research grants
Reposted by Liz Chrastil
Reposted by Liz Chrastil
weijima.bsky.social
Thinking of applying to US-based Ph.D. programs in neuroscience, psychology, or cognitive science? We’ve got your back! NYU’s Application Support Group is a student-led, free mentorship program offering 1-on-1 support and guidance. Apply now! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
NYU Application Support Group Matching Form
Dear Prospective Neuroscience & Psychology PhD Students, We are a group of current NYU Neuroscience & Psychology PhD students who would like to help you with your PhD applications. We want to support...
docs.google.com
Reposted by Liz Chrastil
carlbergstrom.com
1. Federal funding for research promotes tech, biomedical, and scientific discovery in the US, and provides training for the sci/tech workforce that has brought immeasurable wealth to the US over the past 75 years.

Today's executive order includes a provision that will obliterate both functions.
Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to improve the process of Federal
www.whitehouse.gov
Reposted by Liz Chrastil
cwebbonline.com
Wait! FEMA has money to build concentration camps but doesn’t have money to help communities rebuild from floods, hurricanes, and wildfires?
Reposted by Liz Chrastil
thomasfortenberry.bsky.social
The President could deploy troops to help disaster recovery efforts from devastating storms, but instead he sends them to Los Angels to chase fry cooks and landscapers.
Reposted by Liz Chrastil
unseenjapan.com
Not Japan-related, but since we all need a distraction from The Horrors, Takaya Suzuki points out a study that examined 408 sleeping cats and found the majority (65%) curl leftwards.

I'm not sure how useful this information is, but...it's yours now.
Post by suzuki_takaya

衝撃の事実。ネコは1日12−16時間寝るけれども、この丸まったポジションの左巻き・右巻きのどちらが多いか。YouTubeで何匹もの眠るネコを観察し、266匹(65%)のネコが左巻き、142匹のネコが右巻きに寝ていたことを発見。有意な差が見られたとのこと。人類史上に残る幸せな研究といえる。
Reposted by Liz Chrastil
nickknudsenus.bsky.social
This is incredibly beautiful storytelling.
Reposted by Liz Chrastil
lizneeley.bsky.social
This is good news! 15% indirects blocked at NSF now too
dangaristo.bsky.social
BREAKING: Judge denies NSF's 15% indirect rate plan. Like the DOE and NIH attempts, it too has now been rejected by courts. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com