Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · 14h

A little fella enjoying the Fall

A gray cat named Turnip who is outdoors among fallen leaves

Reposted by Crystal Uminski

Jocelyn Bosley @scitalker.bsky.social · 7d

DEADLINE EXTENDED to Oct. 12!✨

I don't need to tell you that public support is crucial to sustaining science. #SciComm has never been more important, so don’t miss this chance to give the public a window into how science really works—and why it works so well. Join the #MySciJourney Challenge!

Galactic Polymath Education Studio (GP) @galacticpolymath.com · 25d

Scientists, only 2 weeks left to share your work, why it matters & win up to $500!
It's as easy as making a slideshow with our template. This #MySciJourney challenge sponsored by @ncse.bsky.social #scicomm 🧪🔊🐸
👉https://galacticpolymath.com/blog/my-scijourney-scicomm-competition-2025

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Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · 4d

I’m delighted to be back on the Elizabethtown campus to receive the Honors Outstanding Young Alumni Award!

Crystal with a certificate for the Elizabethtown College Honors Program Outstanding Young Alumni Award

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Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · 15d

Turnip is getting a lesson about neuroplasticity from David Byrne 🧠

Turnip, a gray cat, sitting in front of a TV showing a scene from American Utopia. In the scene, David Byrne holds a model of a human brain.

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Reposted by Crystal Uminski

Jocelyn Bosley @scitalker.bsky.social · 22d

To appreciate the power & promise of science, people need a deeper understanding of the _processes_ of science. Join the #MySciJourney Challenge to show the world what “doing science” looks like for you! Scientists at all stages are invited to submit their short videos by September 30.

Galactic Polymath Education Studio (GP) @galacticpolymath.com · 25d

Scientists, only 2 weeks left to share your work, why it matters & win up to $500!
It's as easy as making a slideshow with our template. This #MySciJourney challenge sponsored by @ncse.bsky.social #scicomm 🧪🔊🐸
👉https://galacticpolymath.com/blog/my-scijourney-scicomm-competition-2025

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Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · 16d

It doesn't have the fun animations like on the DNA Landscape website, but we do have some ideas about how to teach and draw alleles in this paper!

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · 16d

We do a small bit about alleles in the "Beta Globin" tab (all the animations are in the context of the HBB gene that makes beta globin), but we don't have any spiffy animations specifically of alleles.

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Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · 16d

I'm teaching about the structure of DNA, genes, and chromosomes. If you're in the same boat, consider bringing the DNA Landscape into your class! It can be tricky to "see" how representations of DNA are related, so we created animations to make it more visible! sites.google.com/view/dnaland...

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Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · 27d

I love the idea of a Science Library! What a great way to make science accessible! (Also, the way this one is painted is perfect! 🦑)

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Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · 27d

A new office on campus means new places to hang up David Byrne art

Crystal standing in front of a framed poster of David Byrne

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Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · Sep 6

Turnip has some opinions about the new David Byrne album

A gray cat named Turnip sitting on top of a turntable playing a copy of David Byrne’s “Who Is The Sky”

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Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · Aug 26

Delilah is a little adventurer 🌿

A gray cat named Delilah on a harnessed leash. Delilah is standing in a small shrub.

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Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · Aug 23

Speaking in Meows

A gray cat next to a cat-themed painting of the Talking Heads album “Speaking in Tongues”

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Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · Aug 18

Dreams walking in broad daylight! These Talking Heads lyrics best capture what I’m feeling as I’m starting as a tenure-track professor at Towson University! @towsonu.bsky.social

Crystal standing in front of a sign for Towson University

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Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · Aug 8

I’m gonna keep on dancing at the Pink Poodle Club 🐩

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Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · Jul 29

Turnip: Beastie Boys edition.

Turnip the cat painted as Mike D of Beastie Boys

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Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · Jul 26

Tonight’s painting: Turnip in the David Byrne Big Suit 🎨

Turnip the cat painted wearing David Byrne’s Big Suit from Stop Making Sense

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Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · Jul 24

I perused published figures and found misshaped chromosomes, mismatched chromatids, and missized genes! Yikes!

Representing chromosomes and genes can be a tricky task, so I published ideas for easy edits to figures that can mitigate misconceptions.

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

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Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · Jul 21

An evening painting root vegetables and a cat named after them 🎨

A painting of Turnip the cat surrounded by turnips

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Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · Jul 15

I try to explore each city I travel to for conferences. This year, I attended SABER in Minneapolis to present research on how visual models are used on biology exams and I adventured to Prince's Paisley Park!

Crystal standing in front of the title slide for a presentation "Biology exams rarely use visual models to engage higher-order cognitive skills"

Crystal standing in front of the Prince Symbol sculpture at Paisley Park

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Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · Jul 9

What a beautiful little adventure cat! (And a great name for him too! ☕️)

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Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · Jul 9

I’m attending a science communication education research meeting and found the perfect book in a local bookstore for the occasion! I study models of chromosomes and this 1960s educational book is filled with fascinating illustrations of chromosomes in mitosis and meiosis models!

Crystal with a book titled Mitosis and Meiosis

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Reposted by Crystal Uminski

DBER Scholars in Training @dbersit.bsky.social · Jul 7

DBER-SiT, part of the @sabercommunity.bsky.social, is thrilled to finally join Bluesky! ⭐ We're a community of early career scholars in #BER and #DBER. Let's connect for chats about research, social and professional events, and a growing community of early career scholars!

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Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · Jul 7

Great question! I like the multiple-true-false format for large scale grading. One way to do that would be to use a flawed model (with intentional errors) and have students respond to a series of True-False statements about whether a particular change might make the model “better.”

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Crystal Uminski @crystaluminski.bsky.social · Jul 2

If you are attending the @sabercommunity.bsky.social conference next week, I'll be sharing this work in a short talk on Saturday at 10:00 in Bruininks 220!

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