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Rachel Dale

@drracheldale.bsky.social

1.2K followers 220 following 86 posts

Senior scientist with 2 science hats: Mental health (humans) & animal behaviour (canids/elephants). Co-host ‪@wildbehaviorpod.bsky.social‬ Mountain and camping addict. Scot in Austria. 🏳️‍🌈

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Rachel Dale @drracheldale.bsky.social · Jan 17

NEW PODCAST!
Woohoo 🥳 My side project with Megan Lambert is finally coming to fruition. If you're into animal behaviour and/or podcasts please give us a follow and subscribe 🎙️

#AVeryNotSeriousSciencePodcast #SciComm #animal #podcast

Wild Behavior Podcast @wildbehaviorpod.bsky.social · Jan 17

Dive into the world of animal behaviour with us.
Subscribe now so you don't miss the first episode!

Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/6vxB3zL...

Or wherever you get your podcasts.
#SciComm #animal #podcast

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Rachel Dale @drracheldale.bsky.social · 9d

It's not everyday you get to climb at work. Oh wait, now it is thanks to our new boulder wall!

Thanks @unikrems.bsky.social for this new research (and climbing) opportunity!

#PerkOfTheJob #ClimbingTherapy #MentalHealth

A boulder wall at the university for continuing education krems with 6 of our team members trying it out.

Reposted by Rachel Dale

Wild Behavior Podcast @wildbehaviorpod.bsky.social · 12d

❔❓ Which animals or topics do you want to hear about next❔❓

Let us know via the comments, DMs, re-posts, carrier pigeon....

#podcast #SciComm

Blue fading to green background. Many little images of different animal appendages. The text reads: We want to hear from YOU! Which animals do you want to hear about on Series 2 of the Wild Behavior Podcast?

Rachel Dale @drracheldale.bsky.social · 14d

Not one of my usual topics, but it's great to see some good science news.
An exciting breakthrough to add some positivity to our feeds!

Yay for science 🧪

Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time

One of the most devastating diseases finally has a treatment that can slow its progression and transform lives, tearful doctors tell BBC.

www.bbc.com

Rachel Dale @drracheldale.bsky.social · 15d

Oh this is perfect for my class on the psychology of human-animal interactions. Looking forward to reading!

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Reposted by Rachel Dale

Nature @nature.com · 17d

Highlights of this year’s Ig Nobel recipients include a nutrition prize for studying the preferred pizza toppings of rainbow lizards at a seaside resort in Togo

go.nature.com/3I4wd8E

Tipsy bats and perfect pasta: Ig Nobels celebrate ‘improbable’ research

Nature - The annual awards are a celebration of weird but thought-provoking science.

go.nature.com

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Rachel Dale @drracheldale.bsky.social · 24d

Cool! 🐙I love the names of the movements 😅

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Rachel Dale @drracheldale.bsky.social · 29d

Bill Hader Eating Popcorn GIF

ALT: Bill Hader Eating Popcorn GIF

media.tenor.com

Rachel Dale @drracheldale.bsky.social · Sep 4

"good advice should balance doing more with doing less... while well-meaning, it can unintentionally make mental health feel like an endless list of chores."

I think even mental health professionals have a bias for additive advice. This is an interesting concept that definitely needs more research

BPS Research Digest @researchdigest.bsky.social · Sep 4

New research finds that people prefer to advise others to engage in more tasks to benefit their mental health, rather than dial their activities back to create breathing room: www.bps.org.uk/research-dig...

People neglect 'subtractive' mental health advice | BPS

New research finds that people prefer to advise others to engage in more tasks to benefit their mental health, rather than dial their activities back to create breathing room.

www.bps.org.uk

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Rachel Dale @drracheldale.bsky.social · Aug 28

Incredible shots as always for the #Wildlife photographer of the year.

The elephant in the rubbish tip is particularly shocking and the wolf photo is simply beautiful.

Wildlife photographer of the year 2025 – in pictures

Picked from a record 60,636 entries, the first images from the Natural History Museum’s wildlife photographer of the year competition have been released. The photographs, which range from a lion facin...

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Rachel Dale

Raul Pacheco-Vega @raulpachecovega.bsky.social · Aug 25

“First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you're inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won't. Habit is persistence in practice.”
― Octavia Butler

#AcWri #WritingSky #AcademicSky

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Rachel Dale @drracheldale.bsky.social · Aug 18

We propose craving and sleep hygiene could be incorporated into future interventions for healthy phone use. 3/3

Rachel Dale @drracheldale.bsky.social · Aug 18

We found HRV was linked to levels of craving and sleep quality.

This suggests that although people felt better when not using their phones excessively, they may have been experiencing a kind of withdrawal. 2/3

Rachel Dale @drracheldale.bsky.social · Aug 18

📣 New paper!

When young adults took part in a digital detox to use their phones for <2h/day, their mental health and stress improved. Great! BUT...

their heart rate variability went up, indicating higher physiological stress.

What’s going on? 🧵 1/3

@ehps.bsky.social #psychology

The influence of smartphone reduction on heart rate variability: a secondary analysis from a randomised controlled trial

Despite the benefits smartphone technology offers, our phones are available to us almost all of the time and excessive smartphone use may be linked to problematic behaviours and mental illness symp...

www.tandfonline.com

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Reposted by Rachel Dale

WHO @who.int · Aug 14

Do you know the difference between misinformation and disinformation? Find out. 👇🏿

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Reposted by Rachel Dale

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Aug 12

1. "'Trusting the experts is not a feature of either a science or democracy," Kennedy said."

It's literally a vital feature of both science and of representative democracy.

I've written a fair bit about trust in expertise as a vital mechanism in the collective epistemology of science.

RFK Jr. in interview with Scripps News: ‘Trusting the experts is not science’

HHS Secretary RFK Jr. sat down with Scripps News for a wide-ranging interview, discussing mRNA vaccine funding policy changes and a recent shooting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

www.scrippsnews.com

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Rachel Dale @drracheldale.bsky.social · Aug 12

It's world elephant day! 🐘
I so missing working with these goofy guys but at least I still get to talk about them on the podcast

Wild Behavior Podcast @wildbehaviorpod.bsky.social · Aug 12

🐘 HAPPY WORLD ELEPHANT DAY! 🐘

If you're curious about these hugely intelligent gentle giants check out our ele ep:
open.spotify.com/episode/7kJT...

And our 'meet the hosts' ep:
open.spotify.com/episode/4piX...

Spotify or wherever you get your pods!
Photo: Rachel Dale
#elephant #SciComm

A photo of a male African elephant walking.

Rachel Dale @drracheldale.bsky.social · Aug 9

Living in Vienna I get complacent about the beauty of the city. Seeing the buildings through fresh eyes at #ICBM2025 this week 🤩

The outside of the main uni Vienna building

Rachel Dale @drracheldale.bsky.social · Aug 8

How cool! Can't wait to watch 😀

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Rachel Dale @drracheldale.bsky.social · Aug 5

Excited for #ICBM2025 this week!
If you're interested in inclusive healthcare for LGBTQIA+ people, come along to my talk:

Image of my talk title and schedule. Inclusive psychotherapy: attitudes and training of psychotherapists for working with sexual and gender minority clients. Saturday 9th August at 3:30pm.

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Reposted by Rachel Dale

Dr Charlie Gardner @charliejgardner.bsky.social · Jul 31

Social movements play an essential role pushing for action on climate and nature, and it’s now widely recognised that support from scientists can make them more effective

But not everyone can take to the streets or risk arrest

That’s ok – there’s lots we can do in other ways

🧵1/

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Rachel Dale @drracheldale.bsky.social · Jul 31

Grant editing day. It's time to kill my darlings

#AcademicChatter #AcademicWriting

a woman with blue nails is holding a pair of scissors in her hand

ALT: a woman with blue nails is holding a pair of scissors in her hand

media.tenor.com

Rachel Dale @drracheldale.bsky.social · Jul 31

This is so cute! I just registered 😀

Dr. Gita Gnanadesikan ❌👑 @ggnanadesikan.bsky.social · Jul 30

I've had a middle school penpal through LPS for a couple years: it's a great way to share your excitement for science, broaden views of what a scientist looks like & what we do, and connect with a student & encourage them.

Registration is open! (PhD not required)

prescientist.org/volunteers/

For STEM Professionals - Letters to a Pre-Scientist

Pen Pal Program Overview We encourage STEM Professionals of all kinds to get involved with Letters to a Pre-Scientist! STEM professionals send and receive letters throughout a school year from ...

prescientist.org

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Reposted by Rachel Dale

Eiko Fried @eikofried.bsky.social · Jul 30

Psychologists & related fields: what is a big methods question that you believe remains somewhat unanswered & that you'd love to see adressed? There may be an opportunity for a large-scale meta-science project with many teams trying to figure out a question.

Any thoughts welcome! #psychscisky

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Rachel Dale @drracheldale.bsky.social · Jul 29

Great! See you there 😀

Rachel Dale @drracheldale.bsky.social · Jul 25

I went with male because I kinda want to be in a cool gang. But maybe I don't have what it takes to handle the stresses of dolphin alliance life? 🤔🐬 #LifesToughQuestions #HardHittingSciComm