Becky Smith
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rlsdvm.bsky.social
Becky Smith
@rlsdvm.bsky.social
4.2K followers 4.6K following 2.2K posts
Epidemiologist at UIUC, working in One Health
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rlsdvm.bsky.social
Great resource for talking to kids I just saw from an educator friend
How to talk to kids about ICE: Ages 3-6: focus on comfort, stick to routines and offer extra hugs, what to say: some families aren't being treated nicely because of where they were born, reassure them: remind them they are safe and loved Ages 7-11: Explain the situation: some families are being separated because of how they came here. That isn't right. Open dialogue: let them ask questions, Safety first: remind them to only discuss this with trusted adults Ages 12-18: be direct: it is unfair that people are treated differently based on where they are from, listen: encourage them to share their feelings, empower them: support them if they want to take positive action Source: Children's network
January 14, 2026 at 10:23 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
I'll take it.
Screenshot of a post from Merriam-Webster: take a screenshot of the GIF, and whichever new word you land on is YOUR word for 2026. Picture says "potato"
January 1, 2026 at 4:39 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
Happy holidays from Honeymoon Island, Florida!
View of horizon across water, with orange sun just touching the horizon. Across the middle us a line of gentle wave, and in the middle front is a small pile of sand with thin cover of water
December 28, 2025 at 11:55 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
The only other sunbeam in the house is a bed currently being made
A gray chair and ottoman in front of a sunny bay window with plants. One black cat is curled into one sunbeam in a corner of the chair. Another black cat is sitting in another sunbeam on the edge of the chair seat, staring blankly at nothing
December 21, 2025 at 6:47 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
Cool thing about LED Christmas lights is that if you string your lights at ground level and it snows, you get this magical effect
A snow bank with some dead plants sticking out and a line of colored light circles shining through A short stone retaining wall with snow above and below. Circles of colored light are bleeding through the upper snow A short stone retaining wall along a sidewalk with snow on the upper level and puddles of colored light shining on circles along the edges A snow bank with some dead plants sticking out and a curving line of colored circles shining through. Blue is especially strong
December 16, 2025 at 11:29 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
It's here! I didn't expect my copy to arrive 10 days before the official release date!
Blue book sitting on a cream surface, title is K-12 Schools and Public Health Partnerships
December 12, 2025 at 9:58 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
Is #caturday over yet?
Black cat curled tightly into a ball on a teal couch, one yellow eye staring at the camera in apparent fear
December 6, 2025 at 11:06 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
And we return to the time of year that I have to fight for control of my scarves
A small black cat is curled up on a plaid blanket scarf, tail wrapped around to her nose and a determined look on her face
December 1, 2025 at 1:43 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
If anyone needs to get off the grid for a while, I highly recommend the cabins at Allegany State Park. Cozy, and with all this!
A gray lake ringed by spruce trees with a dark on the far side and snow-covered meadows on each side
November 29, 2025 at 4:34 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
Happy #caturday! Orville started the day in conference with Nami
On the left, a bearded dragon in a glass enclosure, head up. On the right, a black cat sitting on a cat tree, looking at the camera
November 15, 2025 at 5:25 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
Finally, how long do the different species bloom? Here's a density plot of the number of weeks in bloom by type. The invasives are clearly bimodal, but the others have a nice distribution with a fat tail
Line plot with density on the y-axis (0 to 0.14) and weeks in bloom on the x-axis (0 to 25). Light blue is invasive, royal blue is native, black is non-native
November 10, 2025 at 3:54 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
This graph sums up the number of species blooming in a given week by color and by status (native, non-native, and invasive - I define invasive as a non-native I want to get rid of because they spread too quickly and don't behave)
3 stacked bar charts, with count on the y-axis and Date on the x-axis (ticks at April, July, and October), with Non-native on top, Native in the middle, and Invasive on the bottom. Stacked bars are filled with colors
November 10, 2025 at 3:54 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
Here are the individual species and their weeks of appearance and bloom color. We clearly have a good range of start dates, although still not enough early blooms
A tile graph with names on the y-axis, Date on the x-axis (tabs at April, July, and October), and a mix of purple, white, yellow, pink, green, red, and blue lines
November 10, 2025 at 3:54 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
I'm declaring the bloom census over for the year, thanks to last night's lake effect snow. Time to play with the data!
Looking out from a porch to a front walk and across a street. Everything has about an inch of snow. Plants can be seen on either side of the walk, sometimes almost covered. Across the street, one tree still has yellow leaves
November 10, 2025 at 3:54 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
Solar cats
2 black cats with green eyes on a gray chair with a sunny window to the right. The cat on the left is sitting, looking over its right shoulder. The cat on the right is lying down
November 7, 2025 at 4:20 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
This week's bloom census, mostly stray blossoms:
Violet, catmint, tomato, rose, lavender, hydrangea, hydrangea tree, coneflower, brown-eyed Susan, goldenrod, sky blue aster, calico aster
A pair of sky blue aster blossoms (thin violet petals around a spiky brown core) amid a mix of sedges (long wide green leaves) and brown oak leaves on the edge of a sidewalk
November 3, 2025 at 3:15 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
The remains of 4 large bowls of candy and a small bowl of bouncy balls. We had a big group of undergrads in the neighborhood, and good for them!

Now I have to raid 8's stash for my Reece's
A clear bowl from above, showing 4 dumdums, a Twizzler, a rainbow Twizzler, and a few hard candies
November 1, 2025 at 1:56 AM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
This week's bloom census, a few still hanging on:
Violet, tomato, rose, rosy sedge, hydrangea, coneflower, lady's thumb, brown-eyed Susan, tomatillo, hydrangea tree, swithchgrass, goldenrod, white snakeroot, sky blue aster, calico aster
Very sad looking brown-eyed Susan flowers, with 3-4 yellow petals still clinging to a dark center, among a mix of brown stems and dead heads and a few green leaves
October 27, 2025 at 2:03 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
For your Monday. You can't hear the purr, but it was loud and happy
Black cat head from slightly above, looking left, with a pink string across the top of the head and along the nose Black cat head looking slightly right, eyes wide and whiskers forward, with a pink string over the head and in front of the left ear
October 20, 2025 at 1:56 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
This week's bloom census, all continuing:
Violet, rose, hydrangea, coneflower, lady's thumb, plantain, white clover, brown-eyed Susan, whorled mountain mint, hydrangea tree, Joe Pye weed, swithchgrass, Drummond's aster, goldenrod, white snakeroot, calico aster, sky blue aster
Sky Blue aster- thin blue petals around a yellow fuzzy center on a long green streak with long green leaves. In the background, rain chain, tomatillos, and dried leaves
October 20, 2025 at 1:54 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
Waning super moon still shining on IGB this fine autumn morning
Moon just barely shining in a clear blue sky, seen through a gap in the red blob statue in the plaza in front of IGB, with sunlit trees in the distance
October 9, 2025 at 1:41 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
cont.: blue mist flower, showy goldenrod, pannicled aster

Some new aster names, thanks to a handy guide to identifying the white asters of the Midwest (I don't plant them, they volunteer, and iNaturalist was wrong on all of them)

Ramping down now for winter
Joe Pye weed (clusters of pink and white blossoms with tight petals and long white stamens) with a fuzzy bee in the middle
October 6, 2025 at 3:07 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
This week's bloom census, all continuing:
lavender, hydrangea, coneflower, pokeweed, lady's thumb, plantain, brown-eyed susan, whorled mountain mint, Joe Pye weed, tomatillo, hydrangea tree, partridge pea, switchgrass, Drummond's aster, goldenrod, white snakeroot, sky blue aster, calico aster, ...
Asters - white daisy-like flowers with yellow centers amid a range of different green leaves. In the bottom left, some of the leaves are shading to yellow on the edges
October 6, 2025 at 3:07 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
cont: Queen Anne's lace, Missouri ironweed, sunflower, devil's beggartick, white snakeroot, horseweed, smooth blue aster, sky blue aster, false aster

New: blue mist flower, showy goldenrod
Blue mistflower: fuzzy round periwinkle blossoms in a clump on a long green stem with oblate green leaves along it at intervals Showy goldenrod: yellow star-shaped blossoms clumped along the last 1.5 inches of a green stem, with long stamens sticking out, over mostly bare ground with some dead leaves
September 29, 2025 at 2:20 PM
rlsdvm.bsky.social
How cool is the work our campus photographer does? Related story: news.illinois.edu/study-identi...
A man leaning against a concrete block wall to the left, wearing a gray shirt over a black t-shirt. Behind his shoulder is a woman in glasses with a green shirt and black blazer, hands in her pockets. Over her shoulder, projected on the wall, is a map of Illinois highlighting 3 regions with red boxes, pictures of the ticks common in those regions, and boxes with the list of diseases those ticks carry
September 22, 2025 at 1:56 PM