Dr. Emily Dolson
@emilydolson.bsky.social
Assistant Professor at Michigan State University studying eco-evolutionary dynamics in artificial life, cancer, and evolutionary computation. she/her 🏳️🌈
@[email protected] on Mastodon
@[email protected] on Mastodon
This is awesome work! Also, I'm biased, but I'm loving the empirical support for holding conferences in the great lakes region :)
June 20, 2025 at 12:24 AM
This is awesome work! Also, I'm biased, but I'm loving the empirical support for holding conferences in the great lakes region :)
Surprised he actually responded to my call. Not surprised that his response does not remotely answer my question.
April 15, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Surprised he actually responded to my call. Not surprised that his response does not remotely answer my question.
I'm trying really hard to understand how this bullet point from Representative Tom Barrett's list of accomplishments in his newsletter is anything other than a bald-faced lie. The bill he and his colleagues passed *removed* overdraft protections, increasing possible fees from $5 to $35.
April 13, 2025 at 4:42 PM
I'm trying really hard to understand how this bullet point from Representative Tom Barrett's list of accomplishments in his newsletter is anything other than a bald-faced lie. The bill he and his colleagues passed *removed* overdraft protections, increasing possible fees from $5 to $35.
Here's the message about DOE cuts that I just left for my representative and senators (this version is tailored to my rep because he needs more convincing). I cut out a few parts while I was talking because this is a little long, but I'm posting the whole thing here in case it's useful.
April 12, 2025 at 2:29 AM
Here's the message about DOE cuts that I just left for my representative and senators (this version is tailored to my rep because he needs more convincing). I cut out a few parts while I was talking because this is a little long, but I'm posting the whole thing here in case it's useful.
Hopefully this one doesn't hold up in court either.
![DOE’s action, announced at 5 pm on Friday (see policy flash below), is expected to elicit similar criticism from research advocates. “This 15% cap is ill informed,” says Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), the top Democrat on the science committee for the U.S. House of Representatives. “It will kneecap research universities' ability to conduct critical research on behalf of the federal government. This Administration seems to be assuming that ‘indirect’ means ‘unnecessary’ – that’s just not true.”
DOE’s directive does contain one new—and puzzling—element. It declares that it will “terminate all grant awards to [academic institutions] that do not conform with this updated policy,” which is effective immediately. “Recipients subject to termination will receive separate notice and guidance,” it adds.
Science lobbyists say they are baffled by that language. DOE awards the indirect costs along with the research grant, so institutions have no control over how much they receive—and therefore no power to violate the new policy, noted one senior administrator, who requested anonymity because they hadn’t had time to fully analyze the policy.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vbo3pbq7drflpiiuny5g72zi/bafkreidaidnrcgdxteo3yd5v4kbn65iovbl42lq4tlxfmlwvh45yq5mqhu@jpeg)
April 12, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Hopefully this one doesn't hold up in court either.
And it has since grown a lot! I've been to a lot of rallies at the Lansing Capitol building and this is definitely among the bigger ones! #standupforscience2025
March 7, 2025 at 6:42 PM
And it has since grown a lot! I've been to a lot of rallies at the Lansing Capitol building and this is definitely among the bigger ones! #standupforscience2025
Barely noon and there's already a great turnout at the Lansing #standupforscience2025 rally! Easily over 200 people so far!
March 7, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Barely noon and there's already a great turnout at the Lansing #standupforscience2025 rally! Easily over 200 people so far!
Got my signs ready for the Stand Up for Science rally in Lansing tomorrow! Hope to see lots of you there!
March 7, 2025 at 6:07 AM
Got my signs ready for the Stand Up for Science rally in Lansing tomorrow! Hope to see lots of you there!
Oh, just found a better parking map:
March 5, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Oh, just found a better parking map:
Great turnout to protest (organized by the MI 7 @indivisible.org group) at Representative Barrett's office today! Predictably, he refused to hold a town hall or meet with his constituents during this week's recess. And he hasn't lifted a finger to help protect us from attacks on science.
February 21, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Great turnout to protest (organized by the MI 7 @indivisible.org group) at Representative Barrett's office today! Predictably, he refused to hold a town hall or meet with his constituents during this week's recess. And he hasn't lifted a finger to help protect us from attacks on science.
I know it's the lowest of bars, but I'm honestly really encouraged by this graph.
February 20, 2025 at 5:37 PM
I know it's the lowest of bars, but I'm honestly really encouraged by this graph.
For today's call script to my representative, I had two contingency plans based on whether anyone answered. My call went to voicemail, so I voiced my concerns about DOGE's cybersecurity and software development practice. If it hadn't, I would have tried to get a statement about science funding.
February 20, 2025 at 4:46 PM
For today's call script to my representative, I had two contingency plans based on whether anyone answered. My call went to voicemail, so I voiced my concerns about DOGE's cybersecurity and software development practice. If it hadn't, I would have tried to get a statement about science funding.
We don't, more's the pity. For us, Telly is this monster from a children's show
February 18, 2025 at 8:32 PM
We don't, more's the pity. For us, Telly is this monster from a children's show
Here's the script I wrote for calling my representative about the latest horrors. Would probably benefit from a better breakdown of how indirects work, but I didn't want it to get too long.
Now I just need to decide whether to call now or wait for Monday when I can talk to an actual person.
Now I just need to decide whether to call now or wait for Monday when I can talk to an actual person.
February 8, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Here's the script I wrote for calling my representative about the latest horrors. Would probably benefit from a better breakdown of how indirects work, but I didn't want it to get too long.
Now I just need to decide whether to call now or wait for Monday when I can talk to an actual person.
Now I just need to decide whether to call now or wait for Monday when I can talk to an actual person.
- Tried to call representative but his voice mailbox was full. Topic would have been the deletion of CDC datasets. Here's the script I typed up for myself:
February 1, 2025 at 10:19 PM
- Tried to call representative but his voice mailbox was full. Topic would have been the deletion of CDC datasets. Here's the script I typed up for myself:
Just called my senators and representative to urge them to take action on Trump's illegal impoundment of our tax dollars. I encourage everyone in the US to do the same! In case it helps, here's the loose script I typed up for myself
January 28, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Just called my senators and representative to urge them to take action on Trump's illegal impoundment of our tax dollars. I encourage everyone in the US to do the same! In case it helps, here's the loose script I typed up for myself
My initial thought upon reading this: "What could possibly have necessitated this clarification?"
My thought after reading what it's quote-posting:
My thought after reading what it's quote-posting:
January 25, 2025 at 2:33 AM
My initial thought upon reading this: "What could possibly have necessitated this clarification?"
My thought after reading what it's quote-posting:
My thought after reading what it's quote-posting:
Just called my representative about the current NIH situation! Here's a rough script that I typed out as a guide (ended up deviating from it a little, but I hit all the main points). Feel free to borrow it! Obviously tailor the details to your own situation :)
January 23, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Just called my representative about the current NIH situation! Here's a rough script that I typed out as a guide (ended up deviating from it a little, but I hit all the main points). Feel free to borrow it! Obviously tailor the details to your own situation :)
How I feel whenever any large tech company sends me a notification about improving my data security:
January 13, 2025 at 6:01 AM
How I feel whenever any large tech company sends me a notification about improving my data security:
That's all well and good, but what if you don't know what representation is best for your task(s)? Or what if you don't know how many agents you want focused on each task? Turns out you can just let the number of brains with each controller evolve and it works!
(figure explanation in alt text) 9/n
(figure explanation in alt text) 9/n
December 6, 2024 at 1:44 AM
That's all well and good, but what if you don't know what representation is best for your task(s)? Or what if you don't know how many agents you want focused on each task? Turns out you can just let the number of brains with each controller evolve and it works!
(figure explanation in alt text) 9/n
(figure explanation in alt text) 9/n
Sure enough, Markov Brains and CGP both did better than neural nets (RNNs), and swarms with both did the best (although it turns out CGP could solve the task we designed for Markov Brains better than we expected).
As expected, each representation specialized on the task it was better at. 8/n
As expected, each representation specialized on the task it was better at. 8/n
December 6, 2024 at 1:44 AM
Sure enough, Markov Brains and CGP both did better than neural nets (RNNs), and swarms with both did the best (although it turns out CGP could solve the task we designed for Markov Brains better than we expected).
As expected, each representation specialized on the task it was better at. 8/n
As expected, each representation specialized on the task it was better at. 8/n
Liked my "I voted" sticker so much that I carved it into a pumpkin!
October 28, 2024 at 12:04 AM
Liked my "I voted" sticker so much that I carved it into a pumpkin!
Early voting is now open statewide in Michigan! And you can get this badass werewolf sticker!
October 26, 2024 at 7:28 PM
Early voting is now open statewide in Michigan! And you can get this badass werewolf sticker!