Jackie Caplan-Auerbach
@geophysichick.bsky.social
Seismologist, volcanologist, professor, and hazards junkie. Soapbox stander. Opinions are my own but I'm happy to share. She/her.
I used to emphasize the importance of putting units on answers by asking my students "If I say that I'm 61, am I telling the truth?", since I'm 61 inches tall. Students used to look shocked and puzzled when I asked, assuming I was asking about my age.
They now consider it and slowly nod.
They now consider it and slowly nod.
Somewhere between becoming a professor at the age of 27 and being one now at the age of 53, I crossed this line without realizing it until the looks on my students' faces drove it home.
You definitely want to learn to stop saying, "I am SO OLD!" long before the people to whom you're saying it just look at you in response with expressions that say, "I mean...yes."
February 7, 2026 at 9:11 PM
I used to emphasize the importance of putting units on answers by asking my students "If I say that I'm 61, am I telling the truth?", since I'm 61 inches tall. Students used to look shocked and puzzled when I asked, assuming I was asking about my age.
They now consider it and slowly nod.
They now consider it and slowly nod.
Reposted by Jackie Caplan-Auerbach
Assistant Professor in Cognitive Psychology, Tenure-Track Position at Western Washington University.
This is an assistant professor position in applied cognitive psychology.
Short 🧵 about this position. 1/?
Here is the link with details and for applying: hr.wwu.edu/careers-facu...
This is an assistant professor position in applied cognitive psychology.
Short 🧵 about this position. 1/?
Here is the link with details and for applying: hr.wwu.edu/careers-facu...
January 28, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Assistant Professor in Cognitive Psychology, Tenure-Track Position at Western Washington University.
This is an assistant professor position in applied cognitive psychology.
Short 🧵 about this position. 1/?
Here is the link with details and for applying: hr.wwu.edu/careers-facu...
This is an assistant professor position in applied cognitive psychology.
Short 🧵 about this position. 1/?
Here is the link with details and for applying: hr.wwu.edu/careers-facu...
Reposted by Jackie Caplan-Auerbach
One armed goon loses his shit at an observer who's backing up, and then several more armed goons tackle the observer to the ground, and then even more armed goons form a protective shield around the armed goons handcuffing the observer for hurting an armed goon's feelings.
This can't be "reformed"
This can't be "reformed"
January 27, 2026 at 3:20 PM
One armed goon loses his shit at an observer who's backing up, and then several more armed goons tackle the observer to the ground, and then even more armed goons form a protective shield around the armed goons handcuffing the observer for hurting an armed goon's feelings.
This can't be "reformed"
This can't be "reformed"
Timeline cleanse. The sun is warm, but Titan's head is very heavy.
January 25, 2026 at 10:25 PM
Timeline cleanse. The sun is warm, but Titan's head is very heavy.
Anyone want to rate this translation, as requested?
January 25, 2026 at 9:02 PM
Anyone want to rate this translation, as requested?
Reposted by Jackie Caplan-Auerbach
ICE has now carried out two summary executions of innocent people in the streets of an American city.
If you work for ICE, there's no denying that's the mission you're supporting now. You don't get to claim in one year or ten or twenty that you didn't know what ICE was doing. You're complicit.
If you work for ICE, there's no denying that's the mission you're supporting now. You don't get to claim in one year or ten or twenty that you didn't know what ICE was doing. You're complicit.
January 24, 2026 at 3:55 PM
ICE has now carried out two summary executions of innocent people in the streets of an American city.
If you work for ICE, there's no denying that's the mission you're supporting now. You don't get to claim in one year or ten or twenty that you didn't know what ICE was doing. You're complicit.
If you work for ICE, there's no denying that's the mission you're supporting now. You don't get to claim in one year or ten or twenty that you didn't know what ICE was doing. You're complicit.
Reposted by Jackie Caplan-Auerbach
ICE is a paramilitary that summarily executes people who dare to protest against them. That is who they are. They cannot be reformed. Everyone who works for them at this point must face consequences.
January 24, 2026 at 4:06 PM
ICE is a paramilitary that summarily executes people who dare to protest against them. That is who they are. They cannot be reformed. Everyone who works for them at this point must face consequences.
The absolute best part of being an educator and scientist is the students I get to mentor. How proud I am of @infrasound.bsky.social who took an undergraduate project and turned it into a scientific career. ❤️
Twenty years ago, an eruption occurred in Alaska that had a profound impact on my career: the 2006 eruption of Augustine Volcano. At the time, I was an undergraduate at WWU studying geology, with no long-term plans, taking things one quarter at a time.
January 22, 2026 at 5:18 AM
The absolute best part of being an educator and scientist is the students I get to mentor. How proud I am of @infrasound.bsky.social who took an undergraduate project and turned it into a scientific career. ❤️
Fabulous thread on aurora generation and forecasting! Check it out and if you're in an affected area, look up in the skies tonight!
MUST READ thread before Monday night's forecasted G4 / SEVERE geomagnetic storm. Auroras could be seen as far south as the U.S.-Mexico border at times. Widespread mid-latitude displays are possible. Here's what you need to know to have a successful aurora chase tonight! 🧵
#heliophysics #aurora
#heliophysics #aurora
January 19, 2026 at 7:45 PM
Fabulous thread on aurora generation and forecasting! Check it out and if you're in an affected area, look up in the skies tonight!
Reposted by Jackie Caplan-Auerbach
I can't believe I'm posting this video - but we actually have to have a conversation about the real world implications of America going to war over Greenland.
Let me walk you through it. It doesn't turn out well for us.
Let me walk you through it. It doesn't turn out well for us.
January 11, 2026 at 2:44 AM
I can't believe I'm posting this video - but we actually have to have a conversation about the real world implications of America going to war over Greenland.
Let me walk you through it. It doesn't turn out well for us.
Let me walk you through it. It doesn't turn out well for us.
Reposted by Jackie Caplan-Auerbach
Things are grim right now but as a reminder of who we are and why we fight, this is the US Women’s figuring skating champion.
January 10, 2026 at 11:43 PM
Things are grim right now but as a reminder of who we are and why we fight, this is the US Women’s figuring skating champion.
Wanna see how an earthquake works? Here's today's lab in my seismology class. An explanation follows.
🧪
🧪
January 9, 2026 at 11:53 PM
Wanna see how an earthquake works? Here's today's lab in my seismology class. An explanation follows.
🧪
🧪
Reposted by Jackie Caplan-Auerbach
NEW: MAYOR FREY: “They are already trying to spin this as an act of self defense. I’ve seen the video myself and I want to tell everybody directly; that is bullshit.”
January 7, 2026 at 6:52 PM
NEW: MAYOR FREY: “They are already trying to spin this as an act of self defense. I’ve seen the video myself and I want to tell everybody directly; that is bullshit.”
Totally normal that the man who pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández and gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh, a man who committed fraud associated with opiate addiction, just bombed a country over alleged narco-terrorism. In other words, it's not about the drugs.
January 3, 2026 at 8:07 PM
Totally normal that the man who pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández and gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh, a man who committed fraud associated with opiate addiction, just bombed a country over alleged narco-terrorism. In other words, it's not about the drugs.
Reposted by Jackie Caplan-Auerbach
Just woke up even angrier. Impeach, convict, remove. Draft articles now. Either we have a representative government or we don’t. Do not shut up about this until there’s a vote.
January 3, 2026 at 1:48 PM
Just woke up even angrier. Impeach, convict, remove. Draft articles now. Either we have a representative government or we don’t. Do not shut up about this until there’s a vote.
Reposted by Jackie Caplan-Auerbach
Canada's Quakes of 2025
Southwest #BritishColumbia - #Canada's seismic hotspot where tectonic plates collide. During 2025, 1315 #earthquakes (M0.1-5.0) were located here. 17 were felt and most were offshore along the active faults.
More:
www.earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/pprs-pprp/pu...
⚒️🧪🇨🇦
Southwest #BritishColumbia - #Canada's seismic hotspot where tectonic plates collide. During 2025, 1315 #earthquakes (M0.1-5.0) were located here. 17 were felt and most were offshore along the active faults.
More:
www.earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/pprs-pprp/pu...
⚒️🧪🇨🇦
January 2, 2026 at 1:21 AM
Canada's Quakes of 2025
Southwest #BritishColumbia - #Canada's seismic hotspot where tectonic plates collide. During 2025, 1315 #earthquakes (M0.1-5.0) were located here. 17 were felt and most were offshore along the active faults.
More:
www.earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/pprs-pprp/pu...
⚒️🧪🇨🇦
Southwest #BritishColumbia - #Canada's seismic hotspot where tectonic plates collide. During 2025, 1315 #earthquakes (M0.1-5.0) were located here. 17 were felt and most were offshore along the active faults.
More:
www.earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/pprs-pprp/pu...
⚒️🧪🇨🇦
First I failed the Wordle, and now this. Not a good start to 2026.
January 1, 2026 at 7:16 PM
First I failed the Wordle, and now this. Not a good start to 2026.
Space needle has a certain Arrival vibe to it this new year's Eve.
January 1, 2026 at 8:20 AM
Space needle has a certain Arrival vibe to it this new year's Eve.
Reposted by Jackie Caplan-Auerbach
Please find below a Physics teaching resource on misconceptions, by topic. It also includes diagnostic quizzes
#iTeachPhysics
#Science 🧪
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
#iTeachPhysics
#Science 🧪
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
December 29, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Please find below a Physics teaching resource on misconceptions, by topic. It also includes diagnostic quizzes
#iTeachPhysics
#Science 🧪
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
#iTeachPhysics
#Science 🧪
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Reposted by Jackie Caplan-Auerbach
I can't believe those athletes wasted all that time lifting weights. There isn't a single barbell on the field during a game!
December 21, 2025 at 6:36 PM
I can't believe those athletes wasted all that time lifting weights. There isn't a single barbell on the field during a game!
Reposted by Jackie Caplan-Auerbach
Almost a year into this presidency, Trump voters have gotten nothing except the Big Beautiful Bill, which was usual Republican politics of giving tax cuts to the rich and slashing social spending for the poor. Housing remains unaffordable, cost of living is rising, and manufacturing jobs fell.
December 19, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Almost a year into this presidency, Trump voters have gotten nothing except the Big Beautiful Bill, which was usual Republican politics of giving tax cuts to the rich and slashing social spending for the poor. Housing remains unaffordable, cost of living is rising, and manufacturing jobs fell.
Not my discipline, but my university! And if you come here you get to work with the incomparable @irahyman.bsky.social , so get your applications ready!
📣
Faculty line in cognitive psychology in my department at Western Washington University.
We just, finally, received permission to search. Details will be posted in early January.
But hey, I just want to get this out so people will be watching.
Nice place and university. I’ve liked it.
Faculty line in cognitive psychology in my department at Western Washington University.
We just, finally, received permission to search. Details will be posted in early January.
But hey, I just want to get this out so people will be watching.
Nice place and university. I’ve liked it.
December 19, 2025 at 4:36 AM
Not my discipline, but my university! And if you come here you get to work with the incomparable @irahyman.bsky.social , so get your applications ready!
Reposted by Jackie Caplan-Auerbach
The name "Popular Science" doesn't mean we shift our coverage depending on public opinion. It means we cover relevant subjects that are rigorously researched, reliable, and grounded in reality.
And trans lives are grounded in reality.
We see y'all. No matter what.
www.popsci.com/science/tran...
And trans lives are grounded in reality.
We see y'all. No matter what.
www.popsci.com/science/tran...
First-of-a-kind study shows encouraging data for trans kids who socially transition
Ninety-four percent of participants in a new study stood firm in their trans identity after five years, and "detransitioning" is rare.
www.popsci.com
December 18, 2025 at 5:16 PM
The name "Popular Science" doesn't mean we shift our coverage depending on public opinion. It means we cover relevant subjects that are rigorously researched, reliable, and grounded in reality.
And trans lives are grounded in reality.
We see y'all. No matter what.
www.popsci.com/science/tran...
And trans lives are grounded in reality.
We see y'all. No matter what.
www.popsci.com/science/tran...
Reposted by Jackie Caplan-Auerbach
Rob Reiner either made your favorite movie, or made somebody you know’s favorite movie. If you’re a Californian, he’s also part of the reason you or your friends can get married. He has changed more lives for the better than this asshole commenting on him ever did.
December 15, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Rob Reiner either made your favorite movie, or made somebody you know’s favorite movie. If you’re a Californian, he’s also part of the reason you or your friends can get married. He has changed more lives for the better than this asshole commenting on him ever did.
Reposted by Jackie Caplan-Auerbach
Just want to share with my American friends how the Australians respond to a shooting tragedy. Action, rather than thoughts and prayers.
December 15, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Just want to share with my American friends how the Australians respond to a shooting tragedy. Action, rather than thoughts and prayers.