Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
@adrianabriscoe.bsky.social
🦋 #Vision #science| #butterfly wrangler | Distinguished Professor | #Guggenheim | American Academy of Arts and Sciences | NAS | Words: NPR, PBS, ConversationUS | Macondista | Interested in #history | Latina in #STEM
Lab website: www.visiongene.org
Lab website: www.visiongene.org
Pinned
I'm a biologist. Here's why I wrote about U.S. history (1929-1939)
I was one of those Mexican American elementary school children in California who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s not knowing about the deportation or forced expulsion of 350,000-500,000 people of Mexic...
communities.springernature.com
I wrote my first blog about why I felt that writing about my family's experiences with the mass deportation of people of Mexican descent during the Great Depression was more important than the National Science Foundation grant I was writing last summer. communities.springernature.com/posts/i-m-a-...
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
Delighted that our review on taste in butterflies and caterpillars still made it into the special collection of "Neuroethology in Lepidoptera" 🐛 🦋:
lnkd.in/epXNNK_z
This article, led by Dimitri Peftuloglu, gives a great overview of how these wonderful insects detect plant metabolites 🌱.
lnkd.in/epXNNK_z
This article, led by Dimitri Peftuloglu, gives a great overview of how these wonderful insects detect plant metabolites 🌱.
December 29, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Delighted that our review on taste in butterflies and caterpillars still made it into the special collection of "Neuroethology in Lepidoptera" 🐛 🦋:
lnkd.in/epXNNK_z
This article, led by Dimitri Peftuloglu, gives a great overview of how these wonderful insects detect plant metabolites 🌱.
lnkd.in/epXNNK_z
This article, led by Dimitri Peftuloglu, gives a great overview of how these wonderful insects detect plant metabolites 🌱.
Reading: Discovery of rapamycin was an unexpected benefit of studying Easter Island’s Indigenous people theconversation.com/a-billion-do...
A billion-dollar drug was found in Easter Island soil – what scientists and companies owe the Indigenous people they studied
Cancer. Diabetes. Aging itself. Rapamycin’s potential to treat an array of diseases has been a source of scientific fascination. But many aren’t aware of its origins – and its complicated legacy.
theconversation.com
December 28, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Reading: Discovery of rapamycin was an unexpected benefit of studying Easter Island’s Indigenous people theconversation.com/a-billion-do...
Not another one of those “I shined a UV light on some random thing and it glows so it must be for a reason” story.
Deer urine glows under ultraviolet light and may pop out of the dark like highway reflectors for other deer.
Deer urine glows like holiday lights in the breeding season
“Photoluminescence” may be a way for the animals to communicate with each other
www.science.org
December 27, 2025 at 5:04 AM
Not another one of those “I shined a UV light on some random thing and it glows so it must be for a reason” story.
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
This story is absolutely wild. Did you know that avocados change sex over the course of a day? And that it's controlled by a single ancient balanced polymorphism? This is flat our crazy
Balanced polymorphism in a floral transcription factor underlies an ancient rhythm of daily sex alternation in avocado https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.22.695989v1
December 25, 2025 at 6:33 AM
This story is absolutely wild. Did you know that avocados change sex over the course of a day? And that it's controlled by a single ancient balanced polymorphism? This is flat our crazy
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
"the researchers found that withdrawing support for rapidly advancing mRNA vaccine technology could result in over 49,000 preventable deaths annually among patients diagnosed with four major cancers"
A new report from researchers at the Yale School of Public Health warns that the U.S. government’s abrupt cancellation of funding for mRNA vaccine research could have devastating health and economic consequences for the nation.
New report sounds alarm on health fallout from mRNA vaccine funding cuts
A new report from the Yale School of Public Health warns that the U.S. government’s abrupt cancellation of funding for mRNA vaccine research could have
ysph.yale.edu
December 23, 2025 at 2:50 AM
"the researchers found that withdrawing support for rapidly advancing mRNA vaccine technology could result in over 49,000 preventable deaths annually among patients diagnosed with four major cancers"
Have to say I’m really enjoying listening to Arundhathi Roy’s memoir MOTHER MARY COMES TO ME while I do my end-of-the-year chores. Gorgeous writing. Highly recommend.
December 23, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Have to say I’m really enjoying listening to Arundhathi Roy’s memoir MOTHER MARY COMES TO ME while I do my end-of-the-year chores. Gorgeous writing. Highly recommend.
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
We know that the role of nocturnal moths as pollinators has been greatly underestimated in Europe, but this impressive new study shows that tiger moths (Arctiinae) are important generalist pollinators in a lowland rainforest in Ecuador #teammoth 🌎
royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
December 23, 2025 at 9:27 AM
We know that the role of nocturnal moths as pollinators has been greatly underestimated in Europe, but this impressive new study shows that tiger moths (Arctiinae) are important generalist pollinators in a lowland rainforest in Ecuador #teammoth 🌎
royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
I'm honored that my article "Leaving Michoacán..." is being made freely available until January 31, 2026. There are some obvious parallels between the hacienda system of the late 19th century and the rise of billionaire oligarchs in the U.S. today. Please read and share. muse.jhu.edu/pub/4/articl...
December 23, 2025 at 5:04 PM
I'm honored that my article "Leaving Michoacán..." is being made freely available until January 31, 2026. There are some obvious parallels between the hacienda system of the late 19th century and the rise of billionaire oligarchs in the U.S. today. Please read and share. muse.jhu.edu/pub/4/articl...
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
Very cool study: matricide in ants as a maniputing behaviour favouring social parasitism! 🤯🤯
->Socially parasitic ant queens chemically induce queen-matricide in host workers. Current Biology. www.cell.com/current-biol...
->Socially parasitic ant queens chemically induce queen-matricide in host workers. Current Biology. www.cell.com/current-biol...
Socially parasitic ant queens chemically induce queen-matricide in host workers
Taku Shimada and colleagues show that socially parasitic queens of two ant species
spray their respective host queens with chemical signals that trigger host workers
to kill the resident queen.
www.cell.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Very cool study: matricide in ants as a maniputing behaviour favouring social parasitism! 🤯🤯
->Socially parasitic ant queens chemically induce queen-matricide in host workers. Current Biology. www.cell.com/current-biol...
->Socially parasitic ant queens chemically induce queen-matricide in host workers. Current Biology. www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
Native American farmers in the southwestern U.S. have long deployed weather-adaptive techniques to grow crops in high-desert environments.
This month, Mongabay spoke with the leaders of these groups about how these farming techniques can be replicated in increasingly dry regions around the world.
This month, Mongabay spoke with the leaders of these groups about how these farming techniques can be replicated in increasingly dry regions around the world.
From waffle gardens to terraces, Indigenous groups revive farming heritage in America’s deserts
In 1985, with two young daughters and little money, Roxanne Swentzell, a Native American sculptor and ceramic artist, returned from her studies in Portland, in the U.S. state of Oregon, to her Santa…
news.mongabay.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Native American farmers in the southwestern U.S. have long deployed weather-adaptive techniques to grow crops in high-desert environments.
This month, Mongabay spoke with the leaders of these groups about how these farming techniques can be replicated in increasingly dry regions around the world.
This month, Mongabay spoke with the leaders of these groups about how these farming techniques can be replicated in increasingly dry regions around the world.
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
Free Sarah Kendzior.
November 11, 2025 at 5:47 AM
Free Sarah Kendzior.
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
2026 Esri Global Operations Sustainability SUMMER INTERNSHIP available! This is an opportunity to join alongside the Esri team leading global operational efforts for a company committed to simply "doing the right thing" as an excellent global citizen!
Apply at:
app.ripplematch.com/v2/public/jo...
Apply at:
app.ripplematch.com/v2/public/jo...
November 11, 2025 at 2:05 PM
2026 Esri Global Operations Sustainability SUMMER INTERNSHIP available! This is an opportunity to join alongside the Esri team leading global operational efforts for a company committed to simply "doing the right thing" as an excellent global citizen!
Apply at:
app.ripplematch.com/v2/public/jo...
Apply at:
app.ripplematch.com/v2/public/jo...
An interview with the gracious Susan Straight. Looking forward to finishing her last novel, MECCA, and diving into her new one, SACRAMENT. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/b...
Susan Straight’s First English Professor Turned Her On to ‘Badass’ Women
www.nytimes.com
November 11, 2025 at 11:23 PM
An interview with the gracious Susan Straight. Looking forward to finishing her last novel, MECCA, and diving into her new one, SACRAMENT. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/b...
Basic science reveals a mechanism of beauty: How a Sea Creature’s Fossils Show All the Colors of the Rainbow www.nytimes.com/2025/11/11/s...
How a Sea Creature’s Fossils Show All the Colors of the Rainbow
www.nytimes.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Basic science reveals a mechanism of beauty: How a Sea Creature’s Fossils Show All the Colors of the Rainbow www.nytimes.com/2025/11/11/s...
#NSF funding is crucial for uncovering and developing new engineered solutions to our probleme based on plant and animal biology. #saveNSF www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
How Inventors Find Inspiration in Evolution
Soft batteries and water-walking robots are among the many creations made possible by studying animals and plants.
www.nytimes.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:44 PM
#NSF funding is crucial for uncovering and developing new engineered solutions to our probleme based on plant and animal biology. #saveNSF www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
Susan Straight’s First English Professor Turned Her On to ‘Badass’ Women
Meeting traveling nurses during the pandemic led to “Sacrament,” her 10th novel. “Our memories will be indelible,” she says, “like my father’s stories of the Dust Bowl.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/b...
Meeting traveling nurses during the pandemic led to “Sacrament,” her 10th novel. “Our memories will be indelible,” she says, “like my father’s stories of the Dust Bowl.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/b...
Susan Straight’s First English Professor Turned Her On to ‘Badass’ Women
www.nytimes.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Susan Straight’s First English Professor Turned Her On to ‘Badass’ Women
Meeting traveling nurses during the pandemic led to “Sacrament,” her 10th novel. “Our memories will be indelible,” she says, “like my father’s stories of the Dust Bowl.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/b...
Meeting traveling nurses during the pandemic led to “Sacrament,” her 10th novel. “Our memories will be indelible,” she says, “like my father’s stories of the Dust Bowl.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/b...
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
California Attorney Captures the Absurdity of U.S. Immigration Policies in Play Turned Book.
#ICYMI Ania Hull of the Santa Fe New Mexican discusses the publication of my play, Waiting for Godínez (University of New Mexico Press).
www.santafenewmexican.com/pasatiempo/c... #playwriting #immigration
#ICYMI Ania Hull of the Santa Fe New Mexican discusses the publication of my play, Waiting for Godínez (University of New Mexico Press).
www.santafenewmexican.com/pasatiempo/c... #playwriting #immigration
California Attorney Captures the Absurdity of U.S. Immigration Policies in Play Turned Book
"Pasatiempo" speaks to Daniel Olivas, the author of "Waiting for Godínez," a play about immigration the attorney and writer based on "Waiting for Godot."
www.santafenewmexican.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:26 PM
California Attorney Captures the Absurdity of U.S. Immigration Policies in Play Turned Book.
#ICYMI Ania Hull of the Santa Fe New Mexican discusses the publication of my play, Waiting for Godínez (University of New Mexico Press).
www.santafenewmexican.com/pasatiempo/c... #playwriting #immigration
#ICYMI Ania Hull of the Santa Fe New Mexican discusses the publication of my play, Waiting for Godínez (University of New Mexico Press).
www.santafenewmexican.com/pasatiempo/c... #playwriting #immigration
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
November 5, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
When Trees Testify coming from @henryholtbooks.bsky.social Jan. 20, 2026 sitting pretty with other forthcoming books & reviewed in @publisherswkly.bsky.social
November 6, 2025 at 2:39 PM
When Trees Testify coming from @henryholtbooks.bsky.social Jan. 20, 2026 sitting pretty with other forthcoming books & reviewed in @publisherswkly.bsky.social
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
Happy Native American Heritage Month! To celebrate, I recommend two recent books by @uwapress.uw.edu : Caitlin Keliiaa’s Resfusing Settler Domesticity and Olivia Chilcote’s Unrecognized in California
Take a look at the blog link here & check out these books!
uwpressblog.com/2025/11/04/f...
Take a look at the blog link here & check out these books!
uwpressblog.com/2025/11/04/f...
Five Recommended Reads for Native American Heritage Month
Every November, we mark Native American Heritage Month as a time to uplift the traditions, languages, and stories of Native American and Alaska Native communities, ensuring their contributions and …
uwpressblog.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Happy Native American Heritage Month! To celebrate, I recommend two recent books by @uwapress.uw.edu : Caitlin Keliiaa’s Resfusing Settler Domesticity and Olivia Chilcote’s Unrecognized in California
Take a look at the blog link here & check out these books!
uwpressblog.com/2025/11/04/f...
Take a look at the blog link here & check out these books!
uwpressblog.com/2025/11/04/f...
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
MY LATEST @kcrw.com ORANGE COUNTY LINE: OC federal election monitors are not new. Share, porfas!
Gustavo Arellano: OC federal election monitors are… | KCRW
The Trump Administration's plans for monitors during the Nov. 4th special election reflect a long history of questioning election integrity in Orange County.
www.kcrw.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:15 AM
MY LATEST @kcrw.com ORANGE COUNTY LINE: OC federal election monitors are not new. Share, porfas!
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
Read the story: buff.ly/KWRTD6H
You’re probably richer than you think because of the safety net – but you’d have more of that hidden wealth if you lived in Norway
The typical worker on the verge of retirement is due roughly $412,000 in this under-the-radar wealth.
theconversation.com
November 4, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Read the story: buff.ly/KWRTD6H
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
💰💲Think you know your net worth? Most people add up cash, investments and home equity, then subtract debt.
@umich.edu sociology professor Robert Manduca says people leave out a huge piece: the future benefits they’ll get from Social Security.
@umich.edu sociology professor Robert Manduca says people leave out a huge piece: the future benefits they’ll get from Social Security.
November 4, 2025 at 1:42 PM
💰💲Think you know your net worth? Most people add up cash, investments and home equity, then subtract debt.
@umich.edu sociology professor Robert Manduca says people leave out a huge piece: the future benefits they’ll get from Social Security.
@umich.edu sociology professor Robert Manduca says people leave out a huge piece: the future benefits they’ll get from Social Security.
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
I've been pretty quiet here lately, trying to cut down on doomscrolling for the sake of my mental health... BUT I have a new story out at @therevelator.org, on how climate change is contributing to bird population declines in multiple biomes around the world. #birds 🪶🌏
Studies: Extreme Weather Fueled by Climate Change Is Adding to Bird Declines • The Revelator
Scientists have typically pointed to habitat loss as the key factor behind the worldwide drop in bird populations worldwide, but climate change poses a second, closely linked threat.
therevelator.org
November 3, 2025 at 6:29 PM
I've been pretty quiet here lately, trying to cut down on doomscrolling for the sake of my mental health... BUT I have a new story out at @therevelator.org, on how climate change is contributing to bird population declines in multiple biomes around the world. #birds 🪶🌏
Reposted by Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe
And mind you, affirmative action has been illegal in California for *decades*
The President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, PPFP, has been a jewel in the crown for faculty development and recruitment at the University of California for years and the results have been an expanded faculty with almost 100% tenure rates — unprecedented success.
November 2, 2025 at 11:37 PM
And mind you, affirmative action has been illegal in California for *decades*