Isabel
@isabelott.bsky.social
Evolutionary & population biology of vector-borne viral disease systems. 🦟 genetics PhD student in NC.
Arbovirologist, orthobunyavirus wonk, feral reference librarian, & public health advocate. 80s mosquito. Coaster-sized earrings. (she/her) 🏳️🌈
Arbovirologist, orthobunyavirus wonk, feral reference librarian, & public health advocate. 80s mosquito. Coaster-sized earrings. (she/her) 🏳️🌈
Pinned
Isabel
@isabelott.bsky.social
· Jun 11
The Athens (GA) Immigrants Rights Coalition, which I volunteered with for several years, is currently fundraising for their Support for Immigrant Families in Crisis fund. 98.5% of donations go straight to families in need. Please boost & contribute if you can!
www.athensimmigrantrights.org/donate
www.athensimmigrantrights.org/donate
Reposted by Isabel
UNC is close to finalizing its policy which outlines permissible circumstances to *SECRETLY RECORD FACULTY IN THE CLASSROOM.*
UNC-Chapel Hill Preps Policy on Recording Professors
The school aims to clarify guidelines after a secret recording controversy and growing fear of surveillance.
www.theassemblync.com
February 10, 2026 at 12:58 PM
UNC is close to finalizing its policy which outlines permissible circumstances to *SECRETLY RECORD FACULTY IN THE CLASSROOM.*
Reposted by Isabel
just a fucking weird statement on it's face but also highlights how filthy rich and completely out of touch trump's whole cabinet is. a private boat for a family vacation? stopping by a billionaire's island for lunch? nannies, plural?? the epstein class, indeed.
VAN HOLLEN: Did you in fact make the visit to Epstein's private island?
LUTNICK: I did have lunch w/ him as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation. My wife was with me as were my 4 children and nannies. We had lunch on the island. That's true. For an hour. We left with all of my children
LUTNICK: I did have lunch w/ him as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation. My wife was with me as were my 4 children and nannies. We had lunch on the island. That's true. For an hour. We left with all of my children
February 10, 2026 at 4:36 PM
just a fucking weird statement on it's face but also highlights how filthy rich and completely out of touch trump's whole cabinet is. a private boat for a family vacation? stopping by a billionaire's island for lunch? nannies, plural?? the epstein class, indeed.
Reposted by Isabel
Mike Coston: afludiary.blogspot.com/2026/02/natu...
Nature Comms: Assessing HPAI-H5 Transmission Risk Across Wild Bird Migratory Flyways in the United States
#19,048 The world has been watching HPAI H5N1 for nearly 3 decades, but today's HPAI H5 viruses are a far cry from the A/Goose/Guangdong/1...
afludiary.blogspot.com
February 10, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Mike Coston: afludiary.blogspot.com/2026/02/natu...
Reposted by Isabel
The current administration wants to do away with 8(a) contracts, which prioritizes minority owned businesses. I have a lot of mixed feelings abt that as an Alaska Native who has shares in an Alaska Native company. However, this kind of bias in contracts is exactly why they exist.
"Black- and Brown-owned businesses win significantly less contract value compared to certified vendors owned by white women and Asian-American men. In addition, there is a gender disparity and Native American-owned firms received close to no contracts."
February 10, 2026 at 2:25 PM
The current administration wants to do away with 8(a) contracts, which prioritizes minority owned businesses. I have a lot of mixed feelings abt that as an Alaska Native who has shares in an Alaska Native company. However, this kind of bias in contracts is exactly why they exist.
Reposted by Isabel
Reposted by Isabel
as the saying goes, “the more spherical the catnap, the more potent the research assistance”
February 10, 2026 at 1:37 PM
as the saying goes, “the more spherical the catnap, the more potent the research assistance”
Reposted by Isabel
A Naïve RNA Sampling Core Enables Adaptive piRNA Specificity Against Transposable Elements https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.07.704324v1
February 10, 2026 at 5:17 AM
A Naïve RNA Sampling Core Enables Adaptive piRNA Specificity Against Transposable Elements https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.07.704324v1
Reposted by Isabel
[NEW] Voter fraud is almost nonexistent in North Carolina.
Despite overwhelming evidence that voter fraud in North Carolina is extremely rare, our state's lawmakers are pushing new rules that make it harder for eligible voters to register and cast a ballot.
carolinaforward.org/blog/propose...
Despite overwhelming evidence that voter fraud in North Carolina is extremely rare, our state's lawmakers are pushing new rules that make it harder for eligible voters to register and cast a ballot.
carolinaforward.org/blog/propose...
February 10, 2026 at 1:01 PM
[NEW] Voter fraud is almost nonexistent in North Carolina.
Despite overwhelming evidence that voter fraud in North Carolina is extremely rare, our state's lawmakers are pushing new rules that make it harder for eligible voters to register and cast a ballot.
carolinaforward.org/blog/propose...
Despite overwhelming evidence that voter fraud in North Carolina is extremely rare, our state's lawmakers are pushing new rules that make it harder for eligible voters to register and cast a ballot.
carolinaforward.org/blog/propose...
Reposted by Isabel
if I ever glance offscreen on zoom calls, it’s because my research assistant has brought something urgent to my attention. (usually a dire need for scritches)
February 10, 2026 at 3:19 AM
if I ever glance offscreen on zoom calls, it’s because my research assistant has brought something urgent to my attention. (usually a dire need for scritches)
Reposted by Isabel
VERY excited that @harmitmalik.bsky.social will be giving the UNC Biology seminar tomorrow, and is featured in one of Bob Goldstein's gig posters. I missed him the last time he cams through (I was away giving a talk) and thus have never heard him speak
February 9, 2026 at 4:38 PM
VERY excited that @harmitmalik.bsky.social will be giving the UNC Biology seminar tomorrow, and is featured in one of Bob Goldstein's gig posters. I missed him the last time he cams through (I was away giving a talk) and thus have never heard him speak
Reposted by Isabel
Co-occurrence is the most important predictor of HGT, followed by phylogenetic distance. Genomes from particle-associated fractions of the water columns tend to share more genes, as do genomes sampled at similar depths, temperatures, salinity, etc. (3/n)
February 9, 2026 at 8:42 PM
Co-occurrence is the most important predictor of HGT, followed by phylogenetic distance. Genomes from particle-associated fractions of the water columns tend to share more genes, as do genomes sampled at similar depths, temperatures, salinity, etc. (3/n)
Reposted by Isabel
I tried to take a photo of a grasshopper on my windshield, but now it looks like a gigantic bug destroying the town.
February 10, 2026 at 6:10 AM
I tried to take a photo of a grasshopper on my windshield, but now it looks like a gigantic bug destroying the town.
Reposted by Isabel
NEW: The AMA and a leading public health research group focused on vaccines are teaming up to create a parallel system to review vaccine safety and effectiveness.
The CDC’s vaccine review process has “effectively collapsed” under RFKJr. My story.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
AMA joins effort to launch vaccine science review amid CDC turmoil
The American Medical Association and a partner group are taking on a new role in reviewing vaccine safety and effectiveness as the CDC’s review process faces criticism.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 10, 2026 at 12:15 PM
NEW: The AMA and a leading public health research group focused on vaccines are teaming up to create a parallel system to review vaccine safety and effectiveness.
The CDC’s vaccine review process has “effectively collapsed” under RFKJr. My story.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
Reposted by Isabel
Unilateral steps by Israel's govt make it easier for Jewish settlers to buy land and undercut the Palestinian Authority in parts of the West Bank that it administers, appearing to flout important agreements that Israel signed under the Oslo peace process decades ago.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/w...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/w...
Israel Gives Itself More Control Over Occupied West Bank
www.nytimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Unilateral steps by Israel's govt make it easier for Jewish settlers to buy land and undercut the Palestinian Authority in parts of the West Bank that it administers, appearing to flout important agreements that Israel signed under the Oslo peace process decades ago.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/w...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/w...
Reposted by Isabel
Here's a link to the article in the first post
thenode.biologists.com/why-seeing-s...
thenode.biologists.com/why-seeing-s...
Why Seeing Still Matters in Biology - the Node
or, Why all biologists needs data visualization Biology probes form and function of Life. Form is easy to grasp: cells under a microscope, subcellular
thenode.biologists.com
February 10, 2026 at 12:11 PM
Here's a link to the article in the first post
thenode.biologists.com/why-seeing-s...
thenode.biologists.com/why-seeing-s...
Reposted by Isabel
A perfect chance juxtaposition of posts emphasizing that variation is at the center of life, and we need approaches that highlight rather than average out that variation
February 10, 2026 at 12:10 PM
A perfect chance juxtaposition of posts emphasizing that variation is at the center of life, and we need approaches that highlight rather than average out that variation
Reposted by Isabel
My take on AI use
1) It's making it harder for people to learn *how* to learn
2) If you can't do everything you think ou should be doing without resorting to it — then you're doing (or being asked to do) too much
www.patreon.com/posts/149942...
1) It's making it harder for people to learn *how* to learn
2) If you can't do everything you think ou should be doing without resorting to it — then you're doing (or being asked to do) too much
www.patreon.com/posts/149942...
Don’t Let The Machines Do The Living | Culture Study
Get more from Culture Study on Patreon
www.patreon.com
February 10, 2026 at 3:30 AM
My take on AI use
1) It's making it harder for people to learn *how* to learn
2) If you can't do everything you think ou should be doing without resorting to it — then you're doing (or being asked to do) too much
www.patreon.com/posts/149942...
1) It's making it harder for people to learn *how* to learn
2) If you can't do everything you think ou should be doing without resorting to it — then you're doing (or being asked to do) too much
www.patreon.com/posts/149942...
Reposted by Isabel
Jesus.
Thomas Massie is cooking right now and explicitly states that UAE Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem was sending torture videos to Epstein
February 10, 2026 at 3:36 AM
Jesus.
Reposted by Isabel
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is an extreme org that has opposed all animal research since the group’s inception. They have largely existed at the fringe of science/medicine but now have sway w/ NIH leaders. Primate research is their easiest target but they won’t stop there. 🧪
“A sanctuary is not a strategy. It is a capitulation to fear and the political pressure that ignores scientific reality”
Well said @vincentcostaphd.bsky.social
Well said @vincentcostaphd.bsky.social
BREAKING: The Oregon Health & Science University board of directors has voted to begin negotiations with the NIH about potentially transitioning the university’s primate research center to a sanctuary for the animals.
By @callimcflurry.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
bit.ly/4a6mycK
By @callimcflurry.bsky.social
#neuroskyence
bit.ly/4a6mycK
February 10, 2026 at 3:18 AM
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is an extreme org that has opposed all animal research since the group’s inception. They have largely existed at the fringe of science/medicine but now have sway w/ NIH leaders. Primate research is their easiest target but they won’t stop there. 🧪
Reposted by Isabel
I talked w/ uniformed health workers about their deployments to prisons where ICE holds immigrants.
ICE's operation is especially secretive at Guantanamo -- the place where America flouted its own rules to torture detainees post 9/11.
@wired.com and @kffhealthnews.org (no paywall)
ICE's operation is especially secretive at Guantanamo -- the place where America flouted its own rules to torture detainees post 9/11.
@wired.com and @kffhealthnews.org (no paywall)
Public Health Workers Are Quitting Over Assignments to Guantánamo
Doctors, nurses, and other officers are increasingly being deployed to ICE detention centers. Some have resigned in protest, while others offer a rare look into bleak conditions.
www.wired.com
February 9, 2026 at 2:02 PM
I talked w/ uniformed health workers about their deployments to prisons where ICE holds immigrants.
ICE's operation is especially secretive at Guantanamo -- the place where America flouted its own rules to torture detainees post 9/11.
@wired.com and @kffhealthnews.org (no paywall)
ICE's operation is especially secretive at Guantanamo -- the place where America flouted its own rules to torture detainees post 9/11.
@wired.com and @kffhealthnews.org (no paywall)
Reposted by Isabel
February 10, 2026 at 3:05 AM
Reposted by Isabel
some things are actually getting worse here.
In one 30-minute stretch, three legal observers were arrested — as Trump’s Border czar Tom Homan calls on locals to “end the resistance.”
“Uptick In Abductions”: ICE Ramps Up Targeting of Minneapolis Legal Observers
In one 30-minute stretch, three Minneapolis legal observers were arrested as ICE ramped up its targeting of community volunteers.
interc.pt
February 9, 2026 at 8:13 PM
some things are actually getting worse here.
if I ever glance offscreen on zoom calls, it’s because my research assistant has brought something urgent to my attention. (usually a dire need for scritches)
February 10, 2026 at 3:19 AM
if I ever glance offscreen on zoom calls, it’s because my research assistant has brought something urgent to my attention. (usually a dire need for scritches)
Reposted by Isabel
Immigrants and POC in warehouses. Veterans in sheds. Trump is building himself a ballroom.
"The courts have said we need to provide housing, so enjoy living in this tiny backyard shed with absolutely no accessibility and no running water. Thank you for your service."
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Veterans stunned by VA accommodation plan using hundreds of tiny sheds in California
Quick build homeless shelters branded ‘sheds’ as pressure mounts to house America’s homeless veterans
www.independent.co.uk
February 10, 2026 at 2:58 AM
Immigrants and POC in warehouses. Veterans in sheds. Trump is building himself a ballroom.
Reposted by Isabel
Her community rallied so fast and so diligently. This is a victory to uphold and celebrate. Reminds everyone that it's worth fighting back.
An immigration court dropped its case against Turkish graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk, a little less than a year after federal agents arrested her on a street near Tufts University
Immigration Court Drops Case Against Tufts Student Rumeysa Ozturk
The Turkish national had been arrested by plainclothes federal officers outside her apartment.
on.wsj.com
February 10, 2026 at 1:30 AM
Her community rallied so fast and so diligently. This is a victory to uphold and celebrate. Reminds everyone that it's worth fighting back.