Spotted on my way home from the library.
I went to a marina today and found lichens everywhere.
My video on hybridization is live! I put a ton of work into this video - from the research behind it to figuring out how to communicate it in a way that folks with at least high school level biology can understand - so I really hope ya’ll enjoy it. If you do, please like and reblog!
My video on hybridization is live! I put a ton of work into this video - from the research behind it to figuring out how to communicate it in a way that folks with at least high school level biology can understand - so I really hope ya’ll enjoy it. If you do, please like and reblog!
I arrived in Wisconsin yesterday and did not hesitate to get back into the woods. I’m so happy to be back in the appropriate ecosystem. I did see skunk cabbages melting their way through the ice, which is a little concerning because the earliest I’ve seen them in the past is the beginning of March, so January 1st is…too early. I’m hoping just a few come up now and the rest come up at a better time - they need flies to be pollinated.
Along I-70, from Grand Junction to Denver.
Doing my exhausting solo cross-country move. Yesterday I had a conversation with this magpie outside of Glenwood Springs, CO.
On this blog I always tell folks to put their mental and physical health above school, while I myself have neglected to do that essentially since my first semester of grad school 4 years ago. I took a 7 month leave of absence this year to recover, but after returning to school in August many of my health problems came back. I tried to ignore them - I’m so close to the end! Why not just push a little further until I have my PhD? But earlier this month it became clear that there was no more “pushing a little further,” especially since many of my health problems are directly triggered by stress. I need to honor my body.
I have officially decided to leave with a master’s degree. I’m disappointed, but I think more than anything I’m relieved. And I am so excited to have the time and energy to post content on this blog again. I was working on my CV earlier this week, and I think my main takeaway from grad school is that I really love teaching.
I am going to take some time to rest and recover (and do the things I need to do to get my master’s), but after that? I will be breathing life into this blog. I will be taking pictures, making videos, reviving my Patreon. I’ve learned a lot, and I’m going to share my knowledge with ya’ll!
Ah yes, this setting in Geneious to make my nucleotides dance is…so useful.
All right, nerds, what the heck are these guys?? I took this video under the microscope a few months ago. They were less than a cm long.
For those who are interested
Well folks, I woke myself up because I was saying “teeny teeny tiny” out loud - I was having a dream in which I was explaining my microscopic pictures of moss to folks I was sharing an art studio with…
New Patreon Post!
I have just put up my most recent Patreon post that is a checklist of slime molds at Warner Park in Madison, WI. Most, if not all, of these species are cosmopolitan and can likely be found in your own woods! Confession: most of these shots I got from putting a little piece of wood with slime molds on them into a small container and biking them home, hoping they didn’t shift or get squished along the way, so I am very proud that I got some cool shots.
Anonymous asked:
HI I found an old bench in a pseudo industrial area which has 4 different lichen on it. Here on the east coast of U.S, Is that normal?
I think that’s pretty normal! Some lichen species are pretty good at growing wherever.