Jennie Mason
@jenmasonphd.bsky.social
Associate Professor at Clemson University, Dept. of Genetics and Biochemistry, Research focuses on DNA repair and replication 🧬, amateur curler 🥌
you can acknowledge contributions to science AND also acknowledge he was not a good person. This is not nuanced. He told you he was on a regular basis, believe him.
Scientific breakthroughs are rarely unique; someone else would’ve made them soon enough. But when prominent scientists cause harm, that harm isn’t inevitable; the world might simply have been better had the harm not been inflicted.
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...
James Watson in his own words
“Some anti-Semitism is justified” “Whenever you interview fat people, you feel bad, because you know you’re not going to hire them” “Japan should be bombed for d…
liorpachter.wordpress.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:55 PM
you can acknowledge contributions to science AND also acknowledge he was not a good person. This is not nuanced. He told you he was on a regular basis, believe him.
Given recent events, I do not have faith the university I work for will not sign this. And likely without faculty knowing they did.
As expected, the first 9 compacts were a trial run.
They have now come for all of us.
And each of us, and all of us, should say no.
Scoop via @liamknox.bsky.social at Bloomberg:
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
They have now come for all of us.
And each of us, and all of us, should say no.
Scoop via @liamknox.bsky.social at Bloomberg:
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Trump Offers All Colleges Preferential Funding Plan Rejected by MIT
The Trump administration is inviting all US colleges to participate in a compact — initially rejected by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — that would grant preferential federal funding in re...
www.bloomberg.com
October 14, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Given recent events, I do not have faith the university I work for will not sign this. And likely without faculty knowing they did.
So sad. I had to email my very talented 2nd year grad student to let her know the app she has been working on cannot be submitted 😢😭
The GRFP announcement from NSF cuts out an entire cohort of 2nd year students from consideration, without warning. This is so deeply unfair that it warrants a formal protest from the scientific community. If someone wants to work with me to craft an open letter and solicit signatures, LMK.
New: After a long wait, the GRFP solicitation is live! Deadlines have been extended to early November, so applicants have a bit over a month to submit. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
September 26, 2025 at 10:47 PM
So sad. I had to email my very talented 2nd year grad student to let her know the app she has been working on cannot be submitted 😢😭
It has been one of the harder weeks at work so far. This is a great article that clearly describes my viewpoints on the manner. We are all angry and afraid right now.
www.thestate.com/opinion/arti...
www.thestate.com/opinion/arti...
I teach at Clemson. It shouldn’t have fired faculty for Charlie Kirk comments | Opinion
Mike Gregory, an assistant professor of philosophy at Clemson University, says it “has just shown the country what happens when a university forgets what it is.”
www.thestate.com
September 19, 2025 at 1:08 PM
It has been one of the harder weeks at work so far. This is a great article that clearly describes my viewpoints on the manner. We are all angry and afraid right now.
www.thestate.com/opinion/arti...
www.thestate.com/opinion/arti...
😢 RIP. Still to this day my favorite experiment in molecular biology.
July 8, 2025 at 3:04 AM
😢 RIP. Still to this day my favorite experiment in molecular biology.
This! This is how I review papers.
We are the only ones that can fix this and stop asking for a lot of unnecessary experiments.
I will say the last few manuscripts we have submitted have been reviewed this way as well.
We are the only ones that can fix this and stop asking for a lot of unnecessary experiments.
I will say the last few manuscripts we have submitted have been reviewed this way as well.
Excellent tips on peer review here:
"It is not our job as reviewers to demand ‘predicted’ results of experiments that have not been performed."
The list that follows is superb!
The Sticky Wicket series at @jcellsci.bsky.social really is a treasure.
doi.org/10.1242/jcs....
"It is not our job as reviewers to demand ‘predicted’ results of experiments that have not been performed."
The list that follows is superb!
The Sticky Wicket series at @jcellsci.bsky.social really is a treasure.
doi.org/10.1242/jcs....
Let's Review II
Good afternoon! Buenos tardes, Buon pomeriggio, Guten tag, Jo napot, Boa tarde, God eftermiddag, Nuq'neH! (Okay, in Klingon this translates to ‘What do you want?’ but it is the traditional response wh...
doi.org
July 4, 2025 at 2:15 PM
This! This is how I review papers.
We are the only ones that can fix this and stop asking for a lot of unnecessary experiments.
I will say the last few manuscripts we have submitted have been reviewed this way as well.
We are the only ones that can fix this and stop asking for a lot of unnecessary experiments.
I will say the last few manuscripts we have submitted have been reviewed this way as well.
This! i cringe every time I read that this is scientist’s fault because we don’t have spend more time convincing the public why our science matters. 1) I am socially awkward. 2) we have an office at the uni for that 3) I already don’t have enough time to do the other 19 jobs my job entails.
It is not realistic or sustainable for every single government program to constantly promote itself to the public. The clear villain in the DOGE immiseration campaign is the right. We don't need to play into their attacks by implying that we deserve it.
July 1, 2025 at 11:05 AM
This! i cringe every time I read that this is scientist’s fault because we don’t have spend more time convincing the public why our science matters. 1) I am socially awkward. 2) we have an office at the uni for that 3) I already don’t have enough time to do the other 19 jobs my job entails.
Yes!! One of the best pieces of advice I received as an Asst Prof is “The institution will never love you back”.
Every action a university makes becomes clear when you realize that their needs are usually diametrically opposed to your own. We care about the sustainability of science. They care about the sustainability of the institute. These are two VERY different things.
June 2, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Yes!! One of the best pieces of advice I received as an Asst Prof is “The institution will never love you back”.
An amazing, custom made, going away present from two undergraduates (twins). Can’t wait to get it hung in my office!!
May 1, 2025 at 9:08 PM
An amazing, custom made, going away present from two undergraduates (twins). Can’t wait to get it hung in my office!!
Very great read! Share widely esp to non-scientist friends.
April 24, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Very great read! Share widely esp to non-scientist friends.
I really hope leadership stands up soon!
I am a professor at Columbia University. All of the student NIH training grants have been canceled and now there are reports that ALL funding will be frozen. Why are Universities not banding together and speaking out publicly and forcibly about governmental attacks on biomedical research?
April 11, 2025 at 9:07 PM
I really hope leadership stands up soon!
Not surprised. Complying will not work. The goal is to destroy. My heart breaks for all my colleagues at Columbia.
Exclusive: Weeks after President Donald Trump’s administration ordered NIH to pull $250 million in biomedical research grants to Columbia University, the agency is freezing all remaining grant money owed to the university until further notice. scim.ag/4if5Rg1
NIH freezes all research grants to Columbia University
Amid negotiations with Trump, the university could risk losing nearly $700 million
scim.ag
April 9, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Not surprised. Complying will not work. The goal is to destroy. My heart breaks for all my colleagues at Columbia.
Reposted by Jennie Mason
I am actively looking for a research scientist position in the East Lansing/Ann Arbor/Grand Rapids area. I have experience with in vivo stereotaxy, epifluorescence, confocal and light sheet microscopy. Please reach out if my background and skillset might fit your lab’s interests. #neuroskyence
February 18, 2025 at 12:09 AM
I am actively looking for a research scientist position in the East Lansing/Ann Arbor/Grand Rapids area. I have experience with in vivo stereotaxy, epifluorescence, confocal and light sheet microscopy. Please reach out if my background and skillset might fit your lab’s interests. #neuroskyence
Such a big loss to the scientific community. I still remember when he came to Umich for a seminar when I was a grad student. Such a blast! Thinking of all the meiosis peeps today!
Sadly, our colleague and friend Scott Hawley passed away this morning. He was an irreplaceable presence and force for good in the meiosis an Drosophila communities and will be sorely missed.
February 1, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Such a big loss to the scientific community. I still remember when he came to Umich for a seminar when I was a grad student. Such a blast! Thinking of all the meiosis peeps today!
Finally had a whole week to get stuff done now that the semester is over…instead I now have jury duty🤷♀️
December 16, 2024 at 1:22 PM
Finally had a whole week to get stuff done now that the semester is over…instead I now have jury duty🤷♀️
Small victory. After battling injuries and illness (stupid COVID), I ran for 30 minutes without stopping for the first time in 3+ years! Still slow as molasses right now but stoked about my progress!!!
November 17, 2024 at 7:35 PM
Small victory. After battling injuries and illness (stupid COVID), I ran for 30 minutes without stopping for the first time in 3+ years! Still slow as molasses right now but stoked about my progress!!!
Introducing Dr. Josh Turner. He rocked his Ph.D. defense yesterday. I was so proud!! By far, this will always my favorite part of this job!
November 15, 2024 at 4:09 AM
Introducing Dr. Josh Turner. He rocked his Ph.D. defense yesterday. I was so proud!! By far, this will always my favorite part of this job!
Hoping to reconnect with peeps on here! Genome instability folks please follow if you are out there!
November 15, 2024 at 3:40 AM
Hoping to reconnect with peeps on here! Genome instability folks please follow if you are out there!