Avery Russell
@draverbee.bsky.social
#RussellLab studies #bees #behaviour #microbes & #flower #evolution @MissouriState https://therusselllab.net/
| #PUI | #SciComm #DiversityInSTEM #BLM #WomenInSTEM #Humanities | he/him
| #PUI | #SciComm #DiversityInSTEM #BLM #WomenInSTEM #Humanities | he/him
Pinned
Avery Russell
@draverbee.bsky.social
· Dec 10
Bacteria accumulate quicker on shorter lived flowers, but abiotic factors affect flower aging and bacterial accumulation
Abstract. Outcomes of ecological interactions often depend on the abundance and identity of the organisms involved. Flower-bacteria interactions can strong
academic.oup.com
Wonder how flower longevity affects bacterial populations? Excited to share how environ, 🥀longevity, and 🦠pop interact, now in Integrative & Comparative Biology! @sicb.bsky.social @sicbjournals.bsky.social by grad Rita Afagwu & undergrad Ciara Stewart from our lab!
academic.oup.com/icb/advance-...
academic.oup.com/icb/advance-...
Reposted by Avery Russell
this was disappointing but not surprising to read and I hate that I have to repeat: there is NO conflict between pursuing diversity, equity and inclusion and hiring people based on merit.
“The idea behind DEI was very simple, that the composition of institutions should reflect the public they serve...But I think the left took it too far."
I'd note how status threat and reaction often drives this feeling: "the left took it too far," and it serves to justify wrecking.
I'd note how status threat and reaction often drives this feeling: "the left took it too far," and it serves to justify wrecking.
Which of Trump’s upheavals in U.S. science are likely to stick?
A future president could reverse many changes, but greater White House control of science agencies may be here to stay
www.science.org
January 22, 2026 at 2:45 AM
this was disappointing but not surprising to read and I hate that I have to repeat: there is NO conflict between pursuing diversity, equity and inclusion and hiring people based on merit.
Reposted by Avery Russell
Very timely and important- thinking about the microplastics we produce and consume. Also very proud of my mother for her insights in this interview! www.ksmu.org/show/growing...
Microplastics in our environment
In this episode, Kelly speaks with Springfield Plateau Master Naturalist Gwen Morrison about the growing concerns around microplastics.
www.ksmu.org
January 22, 2026 at 12:58 AM
Very timely and important- thinking about the microplastics we produce and consume. Also very proud of my mother for her insights in this interview! www.ksmu.org/show/growing...
Reposted by Avery Russell
NATURE has done a terrific (if depressing) job of summarizing the devastating cuts to science during Trump's first year. At this point, only the willingness of the House and Senate to restore research budgets prevents scientific extinction. www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
US science after a year of Trump: what has been lost and what remains
A series of graphics reveals how the Trump administration has sought historic cuts to science and the research workforce.
www.nature.com
January 21, 2026 at 12:06 AM
NATURE has done a terrific (if depressing) job of summarizing the devastating cuts to science during Trump's first year. At this point, only the willingness of the House and Senate to restore research budgets prevents scientific extinction. www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
Reposted by Avery Russell
NSF seeks public input on its Fiscal Year (FY) 2026–2030 NSF Strategic Plan
www.nsf.gov
January 20, 2026 at 9:59 PM
Reposted by Avery Russell
Pedicularis groenlandica, our Elephant's Head, blooming at Hessie #nativeplants
#FallBackFlowers #FallBack to July 20 🌿
#FallBackFlowers #FallBack to July 20 🌿
January 20, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Pedicularis groenlandica, our Elephant's Head, blooming at Hessie #nativeplants
#FallBackFlowers #FallBack to July 20 🌿
#FallBackFlowers #FallBack to July 20 🌿
Reposted by Avery Russell
Imagine you're a scientist trying to publish a new study, and being told you can't, unless you do background checks on co-authors who aren't U.S. citizens and send their names to national security staff.
Also, studies about climate change or DEI written w/foreign scientists = rejected. ⬇️
Also, studies about climate change or DEI written w/foreign scientists = rejected. ⬇️
The new directive asks USDA workers in the agency’s research arm to use Google to check the backgrounds of all foreign nationals collaborating with its scientists.
The names of flagged scientists are being sent to national security experts at the agency, according to records reviewed by ProPublica.
The names of flagged scientists are being sent to national security experts at the agency, according to records reviewed by ProPublica.
Trump Administration Orders USDA Employees to Investigate Foreign Researchers They Work With
The new directive asks workers to check the backgrounds of foreign nationals collaborating with the department’s scientists for evidence of “subversive or criminal activity.” Their names are being sen...
www.propublica.org
January 20, 2026 at 4:04 PM
Imagine you're a scientist trying to publish a new study, and being told you can't, unless you do background checks on co-authors who aren't U.S. citizens and send their names to national security staff.
Also, studies about climate change or DEI written w/foreign scientists = rejected. ⬇️
Also, studies about climate change or DEI written w/foreign scientists = rejected. ⬇️
Reposted by Avery Russell
I’ve been writing Popular Information for 8 years, and this is one of the most important stories I’ve ever published. This is a humanitarian crisis that has gone unreported.
ICE has stopped paying for detainee medical treatment
ICE halted payments in October, and the situation will persist for at least several more months
popular.info
January 20, 2026 at 1:47 PM
I’ve been writing Popular Information for 8 years, and this is one of the most important stories I’ve ever published. This is a humanitarian crisis that has gone unreported.
Reposted by Avery Russell
Signs of spring on a hike up into the coastal range hills (central valley, CA). #BloomScrolling
January 20, 2026 at 5:41 AM
Signs of spring on a hike up into the coastal range hills (central valley, CA). #BloomScrolling
Reposted by Avery Russell
"Abolish ICE" is the moderate position. "Try everyone involved in ICE for crimes against humanity" is the progressive one.
A third immigrant detainee at facility in El Paso has died, ICE says.
Third immigrant detainee at facility in El Paso has died, ICE says
Camp East Montana on Fort Bliss in El Paso is one of the largest ICE detention centers in the country.
nbcnews.to
January 19, 2026 at 9:01 PM
"Abolish ICE" is the moderate position. "Try everyone involved in ICE for crimes against humanity" is the progressive one.
Reposted by Avery Russell
German Jews were citizens of Germany at the start of 1933. By the end of 1933, the Nazis had
removed citizenship from naturalized citizen Jews.
In 1935, all German Jews were fully stripped of their German citizenship.
Citizenship under dictatorships is contingent for targeted minorities.
removed citizenship from naturalized citizen Jews.
In 1935, all German Jews were fully stripped of their German citizenship.
Citizenship under dictatorships is contingent for targeted minorities.
January 19, 2026 at 10:22 PM
German Jews were citizens of Germany at the start of 1933. By the end of 1933, the Nazis had
removed citizenship from naturalized citizen Jews.
In 1935, all German Jews were fully stripped of their German citizenship.
Citizenship under dictatorships is contingent for targeted minorities.
removed citizenship from naturalized citizen Jews.
In 1935, all German Jews were fully stripped of their German citizenship.
Citizenship under dictatorships is contingent for targeted minorities.
Reposted by Avery Russell
"The number of trans people is simultaneously presented as so large that their participation in data projects jeopardizes the quality of information gathered (), yet also so small that their concerns about how they are counted can be ignored ()"
Well worth your time reading this:
Well worth your time reading this:
New research maps the campaign to erase trans people from UK data 🔢
This peer-reviewed article offers the first detailed account of how UK campaign groups have sought to define sex as strictly biological across the census, policing, healthcare and digital ID.
doi.org/10.1080/0958...
This peer-reviewed article offers the first detailed account of how UK campaign groups have sought to define sex as strictly biological across the census, policing, healthcare and digital ID.
doi.org/10.1080/0958...
January 19, 2026 at 5:05 PM
"The number of trans people is simultaneously presented as so large that their participation in data projects jeopardizes the quality of information gathered (), yet also so small that their concerns about how they are counted can be ignored ()"
Well worth your time reading this:
Well worth your time reading this:
Reposted by Avery Russell
Flowers of centaury, Centaurium erythraea (#Gentianaceae). Stereo pair (instructions in ALT). #bloomscrolling 🌱🇳🇿
January 19, 2026 at 4:15 AM
Flowers of centaury, Centaurium erythraea (#Gentianaceae). Stereo pair (instructions in ALT). #bloomscrolling 🌱🇳🇿
Reposted by Avery Russell
Today marks 66 years since the Battle of Hayes Pond - a key moment in Lumbee history and in the intersecting stories of Civil and Indigenous Rights. Read my unrolled thread from the 60th anniversary commemoration (2018) to learn more about it.
threadreaderapp.com/thread/95385...
threadreaderapp.com/thread/95385...
January 18, 2024 at 1:34 PM
Today marks 66 years since the Battle of Hayes Pond - a key moment in Lumbee history and in the intersecting stories of Civil and Indigenous Rights. Read my unrolled thread from the 60th anniversary commemoration (2018) to learn more about it.
threadreaderapp.com/thread/95385...
threadreaderapp.com/thread/95385...
Reposted by Avery Russell
PSA we’re brassica posting again bsky.app/profile/wait...
This isn’t actually a thread of different posts. It’s all just different cultivars of a single post
January 18, 2026 at 3:16 AM
PSA we’re brassica posting again bsky.app/profile/wait...
Reposted by Avery Russell
I have some bad news. One, if you need to use ChatGPT for your graduate application letter, you are not ready for graduate school.
Two, no, not "everyone is doing it" and those who don't do it aren't "losing out." ChatGPT is not an advantage.
Two, no, not "everyone is doing it" and those who don't do it aren't "losing out." ChatGPT is not an advantage.
An impressive number of graduate applications this year used the phrase “curiosity-driven approach” 🤔
January 17, 2026 at 10:46 PM
I have some bad news. One, if you need to use ChatGPT for your graduate application letter, you are not ready for graduate school.
Two, no, not "everyone is doing it" and those who don't do it aren't "losing out." ChatGPT is not an advantage.
Two, no, not "everyone is doing it" and those who don't do it aren't "losing out." ChatGPT is not an advantage.
Reposted by Avery Russell
It’s bad enough how many losses there have been in federal jobs, but the private sector should be ashamed of itself for being complicit in this process.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/17/b...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/17/b...
Black Women Turn to One Another as Their Career Paths Suddenly Recede
www.nytimes.com
January 17, 2026 at 7:09 PM
It’s bad enough how many losses there have been in federal jobs, but the private sector should be ashamed of itself for being complicit in this process.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/17/b...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/17/b...
Reposted by Avery Russell
Marking MLKs birth by recalling when folks opposed me as the King event speaker so I created a radical critique of white racism and capitalism composed entirely of King’s speeches without telling people until the end that the words were King’s and not mine. Can we say: Sublime.
Elite Club Members Tried To Stop Nikole Hannah-Jones’ MLK Day Speech. So She Schooled Them Using Dr. King’s Words
DOWNTOWN — A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist swapped her words for those of Martin Luther King Jr. after some members of a long-running Chicago club
blockclubchicago.org
January 15, 2026 at 3:36 PM
Marking MLKs birth by recalling when folks opposed me as the King event speaker so I created a radical critique of white racism and capitalism composed entirely of King’s speeches without telling people until the end that the words were King’s and not mine. Can we say: Sublime.
Reposted by Avery Russell
2 new paintings in the shop, both watercolors mounted on board - one inspired by a neuron, one by xylem artologica.etsy.com 🧠🦠🐡🧪
January 14, 2026 at 6:43 PM
2 new paintings in the shop, both watercolors mounted on board - one inspired by a neuron, one by xylem artologica.etsy.com 🧠🦠🐡🧪
Reposted by Avery Russell
"Less than 24 hours after the Trump administration informed more than 2,000 addiction and mental health programs nationwide that it was immediately terminating almost $2 billion of their funding, the administration reversed course and reinstated the money." Gift link: nyti.ms/4pzDSLz
nyti.ms
January 15, 2026 at 3:46 PM
"Less than 24 hours after the Trump administration informed more than 2,000 addiction and mental health programs nationwide that it was immediately terminating almost $2 billion of their funding, the administration reversed course and reinstated the money." Gift link: nyti.ms/4pzDSLz
Reposted by Avery Russell
The Trump admin, which says it was investigating fraud in Democratic-led states, quietly shelved a massive welfare fraud investigation in Mississippi involving public funds funneled to Brett Favre and others
Trump Admin Went Easy On A Red State After Punishing Blue States For The Same Exact Thing
Mississippi caught a break on an embezzlement scandal that funneled money to Brett Favre and others.
www.huffpost.com
January 15, 2026 at 1:10 PM
The Trump admin, which says it was investigating fraud in Democratic-led states, quietly shelved a massive welfare fraud investigation in Mississippi involving public funds funneled to Brett Favre and others
Reposted by Avery Russell
Newly emerged mantidfly with her old clothes nearby, wings dried, in my yard 🤎
January 15, 2026 at 2:04 AM
Newly emerged mantidfly with her old clothes nearby, wings dried, in my yard 🤎
Reposted by Avery Russell
Supervisor applications now open! Propose a project for the BSPP Undergraduate Vacation Bursary and mentor an undergraduate researcher in plant pathology this summer.
🔗 www.bspp.org.uk/funds/underg...
#PlantPathology #StudentFunding #BSPP #UndergradResearch
🔗 www.bspp.org.uk/funds/underg...
#PlantPathology #StudentFunding #BSPP #UndergradResearch
January 13, 2026 at 9:01 AM
Supervisor applications now open! Propose a project for the BSPP Undergraduate Vacation Bursary and mentor an undergraduate researcher in plant pathology this summer.
🔗 www.bspp.org.uk/funds/underg...
#PlantPathology #StudentFunding #BSPP #UndergradResearch
🔗 www.bspp.org.uk/funds/underg...
#PlantPathology #StudentFunding #BSPP #UndergradResearch
Reposted by Avery Russell
I know this won’t get a lot of attention beyond “well it’s New Hampshire, what did you expect” but I want you all to know there are a lot of kids and families of color here and we all deserve better than this kind of garbage representation
Leaked Signal chat shows NH House education chair advocating whites-only schools
The group chat allegedly shows NH House Education Committee Chair Kristin Noble suggesting test scores would rise if students were split into white and
granitepostnews.com
January 15, 2026 at 12:43 AM
I know this won’t get a lot of attention beyond “well it’s New Hampshire, what did you expect” but I want you all to know there are a lot of kids and families of color here and we all deserve better than this kind of garbage representation
Reposted by Avery Russell
"Homeland Security refused to release more information, unless the tribe “entered into an immigration agreement with ICE.”
The audacity of this demand.
apnews.com/article/ice-...
The audacity of this demand.
apnews.com/article/ice-...
January 14, 2026 at 2:30 PM
"Homeland Security refused to release more information, unless the tribe “entered into an immigration agreement with ICE.”
The audacity of this demand.
apnews.com/article/ice-...
The audacity of this demand.
apnews.com/article/ice-...