Sarah Schwartz
@flaskandquill.bsky.social
Environmental microbiologist + science writer.
Soon: Researcher @ Lancaster Environment Centre 🦠🧬🌍🦆
Previously: UC Berkeley, MIT, Science News, UCSD.
She/her, opinions my own, likes/saves aren't endorsements.
sarahlschwartz.com
Soon: Researcher @ Lancaster Environment Centre 🦠🧬🌍🦆
Previously: UC Berkeley, MIT, Science News, UCSD.
She/her, opinions my own, likes/saves aren't endorsements.
sarahlschwartz.com
Me, fixing a batch file for the sixth time: I hate phylogenetics
Me, talking to literally anybody about phylogenetics:
🧪
Me, talking to literally anybody about phylogenetics:
🧪
October 21, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Me, fixing a batch file for the sixth time: I hate phylogenetics
Me, talking to literally anybody about phylogenetics:
🧪
Me, talking to literally anybody about phylogenetics:
🧪
No new PFAS restrictions in CA cookware, food packaging, dental floss, children's playpens and strollers, and other everyday products. 1/3 🧪
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/c...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/c...
Newsom Vetoes California’s Ban on ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Cookware
www.nytimes.com
October 14, 2025 at 9:34 PM
No new PFAS restrictions in CA cookware, food packaging, dental floss, children's playpens and strollers, and other everyday products. 1/3 🧪
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/c...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/c...
Reposted by Sarah Schwartz
MIT rejects "compact" proposed by the Trump administration.
MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...
MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...
Regarding the Compact | MIT Organization Chart
orgchart.mit.edu
October 10, 2025 at 1:20 PM
MIT rejects "compact" proposed by the Trump administration.
MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...
MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...
Please be extra patient with your friends and colleagues in the Bay Area today. Most of us were up at 3 am for the earthquake, and to make matters worse, the Earth DIDN'T finish the job and swallow us whole
September 22, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Please be extra patient with your friends and colleagues in the Bay Area today. Most of us were up at 3 am for the earthquake, and to make matters worse, the Earth DIDN'T finish the job and swallow us whole
Small joys: The Campanile today, singing the song of angry men.
August 19, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Small joys: The Campanile today, singing the song of angry men.
Last week, the EPA rolled back regulations on 4 of 6 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that were strictly regulated in drinking water under the previous administration. (1/8) 🧪
tinyurl.com/y3bdhbkz
tinyurl.com/y3bdhbkz
Trump Administration to Uphold Some PFAS Limits but Eliminate Others
www.nytimes.com
May 19, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Last week, the EPA rolled back regulations on 4 of 6 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that were strictly regulated in drinking water under the previous administration. (1/8) 🧪
tinyurl.com/y3bdhbkz
tinyurl.com/y3bdhbkz
If you give a plant some silicon...it might make a pest-killing goo?
Many thanks to the experts who told me about the complex science of silica supplementation. www.sciencenews.org/article/sili...
🧪
Many thanks to the experts who told me about the complex science of silica supplementation. www.sciencenews.org/article/sili...
🧪
How silicon turns tomato plants into mean, green, pest-killing machines
Treated plants fight pests without the need for toxic pesticides, oozing a "larval toffee" that stunts tomato pinworms’ growth and attracts predators.
www.sciencenews.org
March 27, 2025 at 8:20 PM
If you give a plant some silicon...it might make a pest-killing goo?
Many thanks to the experts who told me about the complex science of silica supplementation. www.sciencenews.org/article/sili...
🧪
Many thanks to the experts who told me about the complex science of silica supplementation. www.sciencenews.org/article/sili...
🧪
Reposted by Sarah Schwartz
I can’t believe this needs to be said.
TransGENIC mice
are not
TransGENDER mice
TransGENIC mice
are not
TransGENDER mice
March 5, 2025 at 2:51 AM
I can’t believe this needs to be said.
TransGENIC mice
are not
TransGENDER mice
TransGENIC mice
are not
TransGENDER mice
Reposted by Sarah Schwartz
New writing! For @sciam.bsky.social, I talk about misleading memes.
If you understand evolution enough to know this already, great! But memes/youtubes/etc reach folks with no biology background. Science has been twisted to justify bad things, such as eugenics, before. NOT IN CRABS' NAME.
🦀🧪🦑⚒️
If you understand evolution enough to know this already, great! But memes/youtubes/etc reach folks with no biology background. Science has been twisted to justify bad things, such as eugenics, before. NOT IN CRABS' NAME.
🦀🧪🦑⚒️
Crab Memes Amplify Mistaken Ideas about Evolution
Memes about repeated evolution of crabs have been co-opted to joke about technology and “ultimate forms.” They’re hilarious, but they oversimplify natural variation, giving bad arguments a scientific ...
www.scientificamerican.com
February 27, 2025 at 1:15 PM
New writing! For @sciam.bsky.social, I talk about misleading memes.
If you understand evolution enough to know this already, great! But memes/youtubes/etc reach folks with no biology background. Science has been twisted to justify bad things, such as eugenics, before. NOT IN CRABS' NAME.
🦀🧪🦑⚒️
If you understand evolution enough to know this already, great! But memes/youtubes/etc reach folks with no biology background. Science has been twisted to justify bad things, such as eugenics, before. NOT IN CRABS' NAME.
🦀🧪🦑⚒️
If you also feel like displaying the NSF's "banned words" wherever you go, you can get them on a t-shirt, tote, or mug. The proceeds are donated to various science and research nonprofits in the US. www.bonfire.com/store/nerd-b... 🧪
Nerd Behavior | Official Merchandise | Bonfire
By researchers, for everyone. All proceeds donated to support research in the USA.
www.bonfire.com
February 18, 2025 at 2:42 AM
If you also feel like displaying the NSF's "banned words" wherever you go, you can get them on a t-shirt, tote, or mug. The proceeds are donated to various science and research nonprofits in the US. www.bonfire.com/store/nerd-b... 🧪
So, how are we all doing? 🧪
a man in a suit is carrying a stack of pizza boxes .
Alt: The scene from Community where Troy enters the apartment carrying pizza boxes, only to find the entire apartment engulfed in fire and chaos
media.tenor.com
January 28, 2025 at 7:35 PM
So, how are we all doing? 🧪
I work in a group studying PFAS. These compounds are nearly everywhere on Earth now, are EXTREMELY hard to clean up or break down, and have been repeatedly linked to a ton of health risks--cancers, heart issues, immune/ neuro/ hormonal effects, etc. Not what you want in your water. 🧪
Trump Promises Clean Water. Will He Clean Up PFAS?
Public health advocates worry that Donald Trump could unravel federal clean water efforts, including restrictions on lead pipes and chemicals known as PFAS.
www.nytimes.com
November 22, 2024 at 12:09 AM
I work in a group studying PFAS. These compounds are nearly everywhere on Earth now, are EXTREMELY hard to clean up or break down, and have been repeatedly linked to a ton of health risks--cancers, heart issues, immune/ neuro/ hormonal effects, etc. Not what you want in your water. 🧪
So, which necessary and seemingly-benign scientific entities have gradually become your sworn enemies? I'll go first:
1. Pure glycerol
2. Conda environments
3. eRA. Commons.
🧪 🦠 😒
1. Pure glycerol
2. Conda environments
3. eRA. Commons.
🧪 🦠 😒
September 9, 2024 at 1:59 AM
So, which necessary and seemingly-benign scientific entities have gradually become your sworn enemies? I'll go first:
1. Pure glycerol
2. Conda environments
3. eRA. Commons.
🧪 🦠 😒
1. Pure glycerol
2. Conda environments
3. eRA. Commons.
🧪 🦠 😒
On a dark road in Massachusetts last night. Absolutely incredible. 🧪
May 11, 2024 at 2:17 PM
On a dark road in Massachusetts last night. Absolutely incredible. 🧪
When someone asks me how I would describe myself 🧪
April 30, 2024 at 10:28 PM
When someone asks me how I would describe myself 🧪
The SDS for a chemical I just received is offered in two forms of English. What are the chances that the European version lists exposure hazards entirely in Cockney rhyming slang? 🧪
April 17, 2024 at 9:49 PM
The SDS for a chemical I just received is offered in two forms of English. What are the chances that the European version lists exposure hazards entirely in Cockney rhyming slang? 🧪
Imagine if "peers" were more literal, and THIS had to be the whole jury
April 15, 2024 at 10:03 PM
Imagine if "peers" were more literal, and THIS had to be the whole jury
The lab supply chain in a nutshell:
The redox reagent that was scheduled to arrive today actually arrived last week, but what did arrive today was the bicarb that I ordered 8 months ago
The redox reagent that was scheduled to arrive today actually arrived last week, but what did arrive today was the bicarb that I ordered 8 months ago
February 15, 2024 at 8:20 PM
The lab supply chain in a nutshell:
The redox reagent that was scheduled to arrive today actually arrived last week, but what did arrive today was the bicarb that I ordered 8 months ago
The redox reagent that was scheduled to arrive today actually arrived last week, but what did arrive today was the bicarb that I ordered 8 months ago
Reposted by Sarah Schwartz
The Biering Lab at UCSD is now hiring!
Lab Manager: employment.ucsd.edu/lab-assistan...
Lab Technician: employment.ucsd.edu/sra-1-126961...
Postdocs and grad students should also reach out for more info!
Learn more here: bieringlab.biosci.ucsd.edu
Please repost
Lab Manager: employment.ucsd.edu/lab-assistan...
Lab Technician: employment.ucsd.edu/sra-1-126961...
Postdocs and grad students should also reach out for more info!
Learn more here: bieringlab.biosci.ucsd.edu
Please repost
December 11, 2023 at 5:51 AM
The Biering Lab at UCSD is now hiring!
Lab Manager: employment.ucsd.edu/lab-assistan...
Lab Technician: employment.ucsd.edu/sra-1-126961...
Postdocs and grad students should also reach out for more info!
Learn more here: bieringlab.biosci.ucsd.edu
Please repost
Lab Manager: employment.ucsd.edu/lab-assistan...
Lab Technician: employment.ucsd.edu/sra-1-126961...
Postdocs and grad students should also reach out for more info!
Learn more here: bieringlab.biosci.ucsd.edu
Please repost
Rapidly running out of culture(d) puns 🧪🦠
November 30, 2023 at 9:10 PM
Rapidly running out of culture(d) puns 🧪🦠
"Combining experimental and bioinformatic approaches" 🧪 🦠
October 24, 2023 at 10:26 PM
"Combining experimental and bioinformatic approaches" 🧪 🦠
POV i'm your postdoc 🧪
October 19, 2023 at 12:41 AM
POV i'm your postdoc 🧪
It's that time of year again. Halidon. Fall. Mix.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMPR...
Science 🧪 + writing peeps (skeeps?), this is *elite* working music. Your copy will be cleaner, your data more significant, your self-worth higher. Treat yourself
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMPR...
Science 🧪 + writing peeps (skeeps?), this is *elite* working music. Your copy will be cleaner, your data more significant, your self-worth higher. Treat yourself
Classical Music for Autumn
🎵 Buy the MP3 album on the Official Halidon Music Store: https://bit.ly/45XcNIM🎧 Listen to our playlist on Spotify: http://bit.ly/ClassicalAutumn💿 Order "...
www.youtube.com
September 26, 2023 at 6:02 PM
It's that time of year again. Halidon. Fall. Mix.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMPR...
Science 🧪 + writing peeps (skeeps?), this is *elite* working music. Your copy will be cleaner, your data more significant, your self-worth higher. Treat yourself
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMPR...
Science 🧪 + writing peeps (skeeps?), this is *elite* working music. Your copy will be cleaner, your data more significant, your self-worth higher. Treat yourself
It's September 21...can we also chase the *smoke* away? Asking for a friend. Also for myself. Also for the whole Bay Area
September 21, 2023 at 3:45 PM
It's September 21...can we also chase the *smoke* away? Asking for a friend. Also for myself. Also for the whole Bay Area
Freezer problem = laboratory ice fishing!
Who knows what reagents lurk below 🧪
Who knows what reagents lurk below 🧪
September 19, 2023 at 10:18 PM
Freezer problem = laboratory ice fishing!
Who knows what reagents lurk below 🧪
Who knows what reagents lurk below 🧪