CoreyWelch_STEM
@coreywelch.bsky.social
Director/Founder, STEM Scholars Prog. Iowa State; STEM Equity speaker; Former Zoologist; Facilitator, SACNAS Leadership Institutes; Member of ◆Northern Cheyenne Nation◆ + 1st Gen/Pell; My views. I’m waay more fun live than online.
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
When I explain to people what is involved with writing a successful grant, they simply don’t believe me.
I explained it once to a famous person from Pixar, and he looked me square in the eye and said: You mean all the cancer and Alzheimer’s grants work that way? You’ve gotta be &$%#ing kidding me!
I explained it once to a famous person from Pixar, and he looked me square in the eye and said: You mean all the cancer and Alzheimer’s grants work that way? You’ve gotta be &$%#ing kidding me!
I don't think you non-science people realize what it takes to get a grant funded by NIH. Started experiments in Sept 2021 to generate 3 new mouse mutants to model human disease. Prelim dara shows they have relevant disease phenotypes worthy of study. Need a small grant first to characterize /1
January 3, 2026 at 1:14 AM
When I explain to people what is involved with writing a successful grant, they simply don’t believe me.
I explained it once to a famous person from Pixar, and he looked me square in the eye and said: You mean all the cancer and Alzheimer’s grants work that way? You’ve gotta be &$%#ing kidding me!
I explained it once to a famous person from Pixar, and he looked me square in the eye and said: You mean all the cancer and Alzheimer’s grants work that way? You’ve gotta be &$%#ing kidding me!
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
"I don’t know why my fellowship was terminated. I suspect that it has something to do with studying a species that doesn’t fit the binary of what we expect to see in nature, with completely different males and females."
@carlzimmer.com profiles my wonderful coauthor @jjinsing.bsky.social Gift link.
@carlzimmer.com profiles my wonderful coauthor @jjinsing.bsky.social Gift link.
He Studied Why Some Female Birds Look Like Males
www.nytimes.com
January 2, 2026 at 6:10 PM
"I don’t know why my fellowship was terminated. I suspect that it has something to do with studying a species that doesn’t fit the binary of what we expect to see in nature, with completely different males and females."
@carlzimmer.com profiles my wonderful coauthor @jjinsing.bsky.social Gift link.
@carlzimmer.com profiles my wonderful coauthor @jjinsing.bsky.social Gift link.
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
Psst. Nobody post on BlueSky to the next 24 hours. Pass it on.
January 1, 2026 at 5:59 AM
Psst. Nobody post on BlueSky to the next 24 hours. Pass it on.
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
Joe is obviously thinking quite similarly, and in this thread he does one better and demolishes the central claim in one recent such story using a bit of Fermi estimation. A reporter (as contrasted with a stenographer) would have done the same.
It's strange how rarely journalists covering this space can ask "Hey, but is it bullshit?". CEO's whose companies are over-leveraged, bubbly, and unprofitable promise a major breakthrough that will justify their fragile position and no one seems to *consider* they may be lying.
It's Theranos 2.0.
It's Theranos 2.0.
Gary, I hope you know that I really appreciate your views as a way to keep myself honest instead of falling into the easy traps of minimizing what AI can do.
Yet I find this kind of talk to strain credulity at best.
Yet I find this kind of talk to strain credulity at best.
December 30, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Joe is obviously thinking quite similarly, and in this thread he does one better and demolishes the central claim in one recent such story using a bit of Fermi estimation. A reporter (as contrasted with a stenographer) would have done the same.
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
But in the tech startup space, the reward is cold hard cash.
Reputation schmeputation.
And so this requires a very different sort of due diligence from science reporters who, because of their domain of work, are used to interviewing reasonably trustworthy subjects.
Nature etc. have yet to adapt.
Reputation schmeputation.
And so this requires a very different sort of due diligence from science reporters who, because of their domain of work, are used to interviewing reasonably trustworthy subjects.
Nature etc. have yet to adapt.
December 30, 2025 at 10:11 PM
But in the tech startup space, the reward is cold hard cash.
Reputation schmeputation.
And so this requires a very different sort of due diligence from science reporters who, because of their domain of work, are used to interviewing reasonably trustworthy subjects.
Nature etc. have yet to adapt.
Reputation schmeputation.
And so this requires a very different sort of due diligence from science reporters who, because of their domain of work, are used to interviewing reasonably trustworthy subjects.
Nature etc. have yet to adapt.
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
...they're running into a cultural mismatch. In the past, if a scientist makes a scientific claim, they're not going to just outright lie about it because the credit or reward they receive is reputational. Straight up lying to Nature with false claims about what you did is a reputation killer.
December 30, 2025 at 10:09 PM
...they're running into a cultural mismatch. In the past, if a scientist makes a scientific claim, they're not going to just outright lie about it because the credit or reward they receive is reputational. Straight up lying to Nature with false claims about what you did is a reputation killer.
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
Every week, Nature publishes yet another breathless puff piece about some AI startup, based only unpublished claims from the company and interviewing only those who work there.
How can the leading scientific journal publish piece after piece that would make Kevin Roose blush?
I think it's that...
How can the leading scientific journal publish piece after piece that would make Kevin Roose blush?
I think it's that...
December 30, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Every week, Nature publishes yet another breathless puff piece about some AI startup, based only unpublished claims from the company and interviewing only those who work there.
How can the leading scientific journal publish piece after piece that would make Kevin Roose blush?
I think it's that...
How can the leading scientific journal publish piece after piece that would make Kevin Roose blush?
I think it's that...
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
At the Peabody Museum at Yale: one reason the Trump administration wants to eliminate exhibitions like this on race is because they show that scientific racism is not new but a step backwards to a discredited past.
December 30, 2025 at 5:03 PM
At the Peabody Museum at Yale: one reason the Trump administration wants to eliminate exhibitions like this on race is because they show that scientific racism is not new but a step backwards to a discredited past.
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
I'm fortunate to talk with @chanda.blacksky.app about When Trees Testify. Feb 6 @ 7 PM, Harvard Bookstore.
Talked about Lessons From Plants & I'll keep writing books to talk w/BRILLIANT Chanda!❤️
Pre-order When Trees Testify (link in bio) AND Chanda's next book, The Edge of Space-Time, out in 2026.
Talked about Lessons From Plants & I'll keep writing books to talk w/BRILLIANT Chanda!❤️
Pre-order When Trees Testify (link in bio) AND Chanda's next book, The Edge of Space-Time, out in 2026.
December 30, 2025 at 6:56 PM
I'm fortunate to talk with @chanda.blacksky.app about When Trees Testify. Feb 6 @ 7 PM, Harvard Bookstore.
Talked about Lessons From Plants & I'll keep writing books to talk w/BRILLIANT Chanda!❤️
Pre-order When Trees Testify (link in bio) AND Chanda's next book, The Edge of Space-Time, out in 2026.
Talked about Lessons From Plants & I'll keep writing books to talk w/BRILLIANT Chanda!❤️
Pre-order When Trees Testify (link in bio) AND Chanda's next book, The Edge of Space-Time, out in 2026.
Thread
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stated that the 1918 flu pandemic was caused by a lab virus from vaccine research, a defective influenza vaccine. Let’s analyze what a lie this is. First, in 1918, 107 years ago, virology was in its infancy
December 28, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Thread
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
Recently accepted by #QJE, “Marginal Returns to Public Universities,” by Jack Mountjoy: doi.org/10.1093/qje/...
Marginal Returns to Public Universities
Abstract. This paper studies the returns to enrolling in American public universities by comparing the long-term outcomes of barely admitted versus barely
doi.org
December 24, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Recently accepted by #QJE, “Marginal Returns to Public Universities,” by Jack Mountjoy: doi.org/10.1093/qje/...
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
Everyone involved in the publication and promotion of this book should be embarrassed. It's not a "harsh truth" that COVID mitigation was a mistake, it's ghoulish and false.
"In Covid's Wake" Part 1: Lyin… - If Books Could Kill - Apple Podcasts
Podcast Episode · If Books Could Kill · 06/17/2025 · 58m
podcasts.apple.com
December 24, 2025 at 5:08 AM
Everyone involved in the publication and promotion of this book should be embarrassed. It's not a "harsh truth" that COVID mitigation was a mistake, it's ghoulish and false.
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
The thesis of the book is that early COVID lockdowns weren't worth it and mid-COVID mitigation measures like masks, contact tracing and business closures don't work.
This is laughably false and the authors have endorsed the people now running Trump's HHS.
This is laughably false and the authors have endorsed the people now running Trump's HHS.
December 24, 2025 at 5:04 AM
The thesis of the book is that early COVID lockdowns weren't worth it and mid-COVID mitigation measures like masks, contact tracing and business closures don't work.
This is laughably false and the authors have endorsed the people now running Trump's HHS.
This is laughably false and the authors have endorsed the people now running Trump's HHS.
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
This is genuinely horrifying. Fact-free far-right agitprop given accolades by credible media across the political spectrum.
Congratulations to Stephen Macedo & Frances Lee, whose book In Covid's Wake has been recognized as:
⭐ A @newyorker.com Best Book of the Year
⭐ An @economist.com Book of the Year
⭐ A @wsj.com Best Book of the Year
Learn more about this eye-opening book: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
⭐ A @newyorker.com Best Book of the Year
⭐ An @economist.com Book of the Year
⭐ A @wsj.com Best Book of the Year
Learn more about this eye-opening book: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
December 24, 2025 at 5:00 AM
This is genuinely horrifying. Fact-free far-right agitprop given accolades by credible media across the political spectrum.
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
Very excited for this incredible lineup of talks at #SSB2026!
ssb2026.github.io/talks.html
For those giving talks, more instructions will be sent shortly.
@systbiol.bsky.social
ssb2026.github.io/talks.html
For those giving talks, more instructions will be sent shortly.
@systbiol.bsky.social
December 17, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Very excited for this incredible lineup of talks at #SSB2026!
ssb2026.github.io/talks.html
For those giving talks, more instructions will be sent shortly.
@systbiol.bsky.social
ssb2026.github.io/talks.html
For those giving talks, more instructions will be sent shortly.
@systbiol.bsky.social
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
I’m working on a report about data centers in Illinois and remembered this resource that gathers redlining maps from across the USA in case anybody else might find the resource useful for similar (or other) projects:
Mapping Inequality
Redlining in New Deal America
dsl.richmond.edu
December 23, 2025 at 8:47 PM
I’m working on a report about data centers in Illinois and remembered this resource that gathers redlining maps from across the USA in case anybody else might find the resource useful for similar (or other) projects:
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
Every science journalist who normally would be happy to write about my press releases has been conscripted into the "politics beat." They hate it, but coverage of the destruction of U.S. science takes priority.
But science marches on, and this week, like all weeks, is full of new discoveries: 🩺 🧪 🧵
But science marches on, and this week, like all weeks, is full of new discoveries: 🩺 🧪 🧵
December 23, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Every science journalist who normally would be happy to write about my press releases has been conscripted into the "politics beat." They hate it, but coverage of the destruction of U.S. science takes priority.
But science marches on, and this week, like all weeks, is full of new discoveries: 🩺 🧪 🧵
But science marches on, and this week, like all weeks, is full of new discoveries: 🩺 🧪 🧵
Just had a New Mexican lunch and I feel seen. #AmesIowaLimitations
In the hallmark movies where the lady goes back home from the big city, they never talk about the game she must play pretending that the ethnic food in the small town is anywhere near as good as her family thinks it is. Just grimacing while eating mid Thai food.
December 23, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Just had a New Mexican lunch and I feel seen. #AmesIowaLimitations
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
In the hallmark movies where the lady goes back home from the big city, they never talk about the game she must play pretending that the ethnic food in the small town is anywhere near as good as her family thinks it is. Just grimacing while eating mid Thai food.
December 23, 2025 at 5:59 PM
In the hallmark movies where the lady goes back home from the big city, they never talk about the game she must play pretending that the ethnic food in the small town is anywhere near as good as her family thinks it is. Just grimacing while eating mid Thai food.
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
The “free speech” and “cancel culture” panics have led to overt state censorship because that was always their purpose. (Gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
December 23, 2025 at 4:54 PM
The “free speech” and “cancel culture” panics have led to overt state censorship because that was always their purpose. (Gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
I’m so happy to host Beronda L. Montgomery in DC and College Park Feb 2-3!! When Trees Testify comes out in January 2026 and you can see her talk at both Howard (Feb 2) and University of Maryland, College Park (Feb 3). See you there!
December 20, 2025 at 1:55 PM
I’m so happy to host Beronda L. Montgomery in DC and College Park Feb 2-3!! When Trees Testify comes out in January 2026 and you can see her talk at both Howard (Feb 2) and University of Maryland, College Park (Feb 3). See you there!
Fall 2025 STEM Scholars Program mini update (ad hoc):
2 graduated, 6 accepted summer internships, 1 Master degree offer, 1 PA school acceptance, 1 has 3 PhD Chem offers, 4 have PhD 2-4 interview offers. 3 new publications (33 total).
33 new members accepted, 1 transferred, & 54 LOR submitted.
2 graduated, 6 accepted summer internships, 1 Master degree offer, 1 PA school acceptance, 1 has 3 PhD Chem offers, 4 have PhD 2-4 interview offers. 3 new publications (33 total).
33 new members accepted, 1 transferred, & 54 LOR submitted.
December 21, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Fall 2025 STEM Scholars Program mini update (ad hoc):
2 graduated, 6 accepted summer internships, 1 Master degree offer, 1 PA school acceptance, 1 has 3 PhD Chem offers, 4 have PhD 2-4 interview offers. 3 new publications (33 total).
33 new members accepted, 1 transferred, & 54 LOR submitted.
2 graduated, 6 accepted summer internships, 1 Master degree offer, 1 PA school acceptance, 1 has 3 PhD Chem offers, 4 have PhD 2-4 interview offers. 3 new publications (33 total).
33 new members accepted, 1 transferred, & 54 LOR submitted.
Reposted by CoreyWelch_STEM
This is that good shit. Straight to my veins.
BE LOUD ABOUT HOW YOU HELP PEOPLE. Signal the fuck out of your virtue. Peer pressure people into kindness. Make it cool and badass to help strangers not for clout but because it feels good for everyone to partake in their society. It rocks! Do it!
BE LOUD ABOUT HOW YOU HELP PEOPLE. Signal the fuck out of your virtue. Peer pressure people into kindness. Make it cool and badass to help strangers not for clout but because it feels good for everyone to partake in their society. It rocks! Do it!
This is my Christmas gift to my homeless neighbors, to the volunteers who get great joy from helping them…and, yes, to myself. Merry Christmas to all!
🧵 9 of 9
🧵 9 of 9
December 21, 2025 at 1:12 PM
This is that good shit. Straight to my veins.
BE LOUD ABOUT HOW YOU HELP PEOPLE. Signal the fuck out of your virtue. Peer pressure people into kindness. Make it cool and badass to help strangers not for clout but because it feels good for everyone to partake in their society. It rocks! Do it!
BE LOUD ABOUT HOW YOU HELP PEOPLE. Signal the fuck out of your virtue. Peer pressure people into kindness. Make it cool and badass to help strangers not for clout but because it feels good for everyone to partake in their society. It rocks! Do it!