Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
@jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social
Evolutionary biologist and professional nerd. Asst Prof, University of Alaska Anchorage.
queer af, they/them. 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️✡️
jfmclaughlin.org
queer af, they/them. 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️✡️
jfmclaughlin.org
Pinned
Hello new followers! I'm Jess (they/them), and I'm a newly minted Assistant Professor at U University of Alaska Anchorage! I study evolutionary genomics, mostly in birds, and mainly post my various (mis)adventures and pet pictures. Welcome!
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
Dear bluskeeters!
I'm doing research with a friend.
If you're a Black Author with a speculative book publishing in 2026, could you please pitch and link me, please? This a difficult to sus intersection.
Please add your friends' work. Please tag people. Please share
I'm doing research with a friend.
If you're a Black Author with a speculative book publishing in 2026, could you please pitch and link me, please? This a difficult to sus intersection.
Please add your friends' work. Please tag people. Please share
December 29, 2025 at 6:04 AM
Dear bluskeeters!
I'm doing research with a friend.
If you're a Black Author with a speculative book publishing in 2026, could you please pitch and link me, please? This a difficult to sus intersection.
Please add your friends' work. Please tag people. Please share
I'm doing research with a friend.
If you're a Black Author with a speculative book publishing in 2026, could you please pitch and link me, please? This a difficult to sus intersection.
Please add your friends' work. Please tag people. Please share
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
"because AI is being crammed into everything, I could be using it at any time, it's hard to avoid!" should make you angry, not make you go "welp guess I gotta accept AI now"
December 29, 2025 at 4:45 AM
"because AI is being crammed into everything, I could be using it at any time, it's hard to avoid!" should make you angry, not make you go "welp guess I gotta accept AI now"
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
118. 🇩🇪 Germany- Leonie Swann, Three Bags Full
When their shepherd is found murdered, a flock of sheep set out to solve it. Of course, sheep see things rather differently than the humans do...
When their shepherd is found murdered, a flock of sheep set out to solve it. Of course, sheep see things rather differently than the humans do...
Three Bags Full
Check out Three Bags Full - <b>Soon to be a major motion picture (<i>The Sheep Detectives</i> with Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson), this funny and surprising mystery stars a new breed of detectives yo...
bookshop.org
December 18, 2025 at 7:21 AM
118. 🇩🇪 Germany- Leonie Swann, Three Bags Full
When their shepherd is found murdered, a flock of sheep set out to solve it. Of course, sheep see things rather differently than the humans do...
When their shepherd is found murdered, a flock of sheep set out to solve it. Of course, sheep see things rather differently than the humans do...
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
119. 🇨🇬 Republic of Congo- Emmanuel Dongala, Jazz and Palm Wine
This project really has gotten me into single-author short-story collections in a way I haven't been before
This project really has gotten me into single-author short-story collections in a way I haven't been before
Jazz and Palm Wine
Check out Jazz and Palm Wine - <p>Jazz, aliens, and witchcraft collide in this collection of short stories by renowned author Emmanuel Dongala. The influence of Kongo culture is tangible throughout, a...
bookshop.org
December 26, 2025 at 5:28 AM
119. 🇨🇬 Republic of Congo- Emmanuel Dongala, Jazz and Palm Wine
This project really has gotten me into single-author short-story collections in a way I haven't been before
This project really has gotten me into single-author short-story collections in a way I haven't been before
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
120. 🇧🇴 Bolivia- Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows
This one is for the person with the bumper sticker that said "honk if you'd rather be watching the 1998 cinematic masterpiece 'The Mummy'" that I saw once at a Target in Berkeley. Except this time the bad guy is Colonialism.
This one is for the person with the bumper sticker that said "honk if you'd rather be watching the 1998 cinematic masterpiece 'The Mummy'" that I saw once at a Target in Berkeley. Except this time the bad guy is Colonialism.
What the River Knows: A Novel
A Novel
bookshop.org
December 29, 2025 at 5:40 AM
120. 🇧🇴 Bolivia- Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows
This one is for the person with the bumper sticker that said "honk if you'd rather be watching the 1998 cinematic masterpiece 'The Mummy'" that I saw once at a Target in Berkeley. Except this time the bad guy is Colonialism.
This one is for the person with the bumper sticker that said "honk if you'd rather be watching the 1998 cinematic masterpiece 'The Mummy'" that I saw once at a Target in Berkeley. Except this time the bad guy is Colonialism.
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
Jewish folks: do you like your synagogue's newsletter?
If you do, why?
(Please feel free to reskeet, snark unwelcome.)
If you do, why?
(Please feel free to reskeet, snark unwelcome.)
December 28, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Jewish folks: do you like your synagogue's newsletter?
If you do, why?
(Please feel free to reskeet, snark unwelcome.)
If you do, why?
(Please feel free to reskeet, snark unwelcome.)
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
I haven't seen enough Juneau Icefield Research Program on hype on BlueSky!
Are you a student interested in polar science? Are you a researcher imagining future field work? Are you an educator looking to teach the best and brightest?
JIRP is for you! Deadlines are soon!
www.juneauicefield.org 🧪⚒️
Are you a student interested in polar science? Are you a researcher imagining future field work? Are you an educator looking to teach the best and brightest?
JIRP is for you! Deadlines are soon!
www.juneauicefield.org 🧪⚒️
December 29, 2025 at 2:01 AM
I haven't seen enough Juneau Icefield Research Program on hype on BlueSky!
Are you a student interested in polar science? Are you a researcher imagining future field work? Are you an educator looking to teach the best and brightest?
JIRP is for you! Deadlines are soon!
www.juneauicefield.org 🧪⚒️
Are you a student interested in polar science? Are you a researcher imagining future field work? Are you an educator looking to teach the best and brightest?
JIRP is for you! Deadlines are soon!
www.juneauicefield.org 🧪⚒️
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
Maybe, if you're not actually in university classrooms, teaching students in the age of gAI, perhaps you might want to stop and listen when people actually in those classrooms raise concerns about what they are seeing; and not just dismiss us as luddites, or boomers, or cruel profs playing cops
December 28, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Maybe, if you're not actually in university classrooms, teaching students in the age of gAI, perhaps you might want to stop and listen when people actually in those classrooms raise concerns about what they are seeing; and not just dismiss us as luddites, or boomers, or cruel profs playing cops
this seems fun.
1 like = 1 goal for 2026
1 like = 1 goal for 2026
Ok. It's 3am. I'm waiting for girl dig to be ready to sleep again. So let's play a game.
1 like = 1 plan for 2026
I'll get increasingly improbable and optiministic as we go.
1 like = 1 plan for 2026
I'll get increasingly improbable and optiministic as we go.
December 29, 2025 at 12:06 AM
this seems fun.
1 like = 1 goal for 2026
1 like = 1 goal for 2026
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
... ok I have a long shot q. Maybe a lawyer can help me.
I'm trying to write an initial trial prep scene for my MC and her father (obvs can't testify at the same time or anything), I don't know exactly what I'm doing, other than uh I need to make it kinda realistic but with a fictional take.
I'm trying to write an initial trial prep scene for my MC and her father (obvs can't testify at the same time or anything), I don't know exactly what I'm doing, other than uh I need to make it kinda realistic but with a fictional take.
December 28, 2025 at 11:25 PM
... ok I have a long shot q. Maybe a lawyer can help me.
I'm trying to write an initial trial prep scene for my MC and her father (obvs can't testify at the same time or anything), I don't know exactly what I'm doing, other than uh I need to make it kinda realistic but with a fictional take.
I'm trying to write an initial trial prep scene for my MC and her father (obvs can't testify at the same time or anything), I don't know exactly what I'm doing, other than uh I need to make it kinda realistic but with a fictional take.
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
A perfect party game for your Jewish Christmas and/or goyish New Year party. No prep needed—we've got full tables of bits.
We've also got four dreidel-based attributes:
GREAT - Bravery, skill, prowess
MIRACLE - Luck, divine favor
HAPPENED - Forethought, planning
THERE! - Kludging, improvisation
We've also got four dreidel-based attributes:
GREAT - Bravery, skill, prowess
MIRACLE - Luck, divine favor
HAPPENED - Forethought, planning
THERE! - Kludging, improvisation
December 28, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
And we're itchfunding a print run!
If we makes $613 in sales by 12 Tevet 5786 (January 1st 2026) we'll do a professional print run of the trifold available for sale!
Pick up the PDF for your party in the next week & help us make this a reality!
If we makes $613 in sales by 12 Tevet 5786 (January 1st 2026) we'll do a professional print run of the trifold available for sale!
Pick up the PDF for your party in the next week & help us make this a reality!
December 24, 2025 at 7:58 PM
And we're itchfunding a print run!
If we makes $613 in sales by 12 Tevet 5786 (January 1st 2026) we'll do a professional print run of the trifold available for sale!
Pick up the PDF for your party in the next week & help us make this a reality!
If we makes $613 in sales by 12 Tevet 5786 (January 1st 2026) we'll do a professional print run of the trifold available for sale!
Pick up the PDF for your party in the next week & help us make this a reality!
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
Happy Birthday to the dorkiest thread I've ever put together.
ლ(ಠ_ಠ ლ)
ლ(ಠ_ಠ ლ)
I made this over the break. Why would I do such a thing? Am I some sort of #phylogenetics dork? Well... yes, but that's not why. To fully explain I'll have to do one of those sewing-strings-wrapped-around-a-spool dealies. 1/ 🧪
December 28, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Happy Birthday to the dorkiest thread I've ever put together.
ლ(ಠ_ಠ ლ)
ლ(ಠ_ಠ ლ)
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
December 28, 2025 at 10:24 PM
The first project: upstairs bathroom.
December 28, 2025 at 9:41 PM
The first project: upstairs bathroom.
DONE
RENOVATIONS COMMENCE IMMEDIATELY
RENOVATIONS COMMENCE IMMEDIATELY
Woohoo!
Got everything except a portion of the garage done, and need to do a run to the dump on Monday, but sounds like for the first time in forever I'm getting my deposit back 🥳
Got everything except a portion of the garage done, and need to do a run to the dump on Monday, but sounds like for the first time in forever I'm getting my deposit back 🥳
December 28, 2025 at 8:46 PM
DONE
RENOVATIONS COMMENCE IMMEDIATELY
RENOVATIONS COMMENCE IMMEDIATELY
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
You won't hear many fond remembrances of Bridget Bardot coming from the Arctic. Her activism caused hardship, poverty and death here. On top of that, she was super racist. I highly recommend watching the documentary Angry Inuk to learn more about that history.
December 28, 2025 at 7:49 PM
You won't hear many fond remembrances of Bridget Bardot coming from the Arctic. Her activism caused hardship, poverty and death here. On top of that, she was super racist. I highly recommend watching the documentary Angry Inuk to learn more about that history.
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
Aquatic species biologist here.
Invasive aquatic species are extremely expensive to control and treat. The value of world class fisheries to Colorado is immense.
The guy that makes insane money exorcising ghosts from people’s joints can afford to play in Texas.
Invasive aquatic species are extremely expensive to control and treat. The value of world class fisheries to Colorado is immense.
The guy that makes insane money exorcising ghosts from people’s joints can afford to play in Texas.
Dear Colorado seaplane owner:
you’re a chiropractor, so selfish & not good at logic, but we are landlocked, an arid climate with limited water access, and preventing invasive species, so that’s why you can’t land on reservoirs. Be a grownup — move to where you can play with your toy.
🎁
you’re a chiropractor, so selfish & not good at logic, but we are landlocked, an arid climate with limited water access, and preventing invasive species, so that’s why you can’t land on reservoirs. Be a grownup — move to where you can play with your toy.
🎁
Landlocked Colorado’s seaplane enthusiasts want fewer takeoff and landing restrictions on state waters
“A seaplane is no different than a power boat — it just gets into the water in a slightly different manner,” said Ray Hawkins, the executive director of the Colorado Seaplane Init…
www.denverpost.com
December 28, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Aquatic species biologist here.
Invasive aquatic species are extremely expensive to control and treat. The value of world class fisheries to Colorado is immense.
The guy that makes insane money exorcising ghosts from people’s joints can afford to play in Texas.
Invasive aquatic species are extremely expensive to control and treat. The value of world class fisheries to Colorado is immense.
The guy that makes insane money exorcising ghosts from people’s joints can afford to play in Texas.
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
We didn't survive and thrive as a species because we had warriors or hunters - pretty much every omnivore can manage that.
We did so because we developed Grandmothers, and domesticated Dogs.
Community is what defines us as a species, and every "self-reliant" libertarian shitweasel be damned.
We did so because we developed Grandmothers, and domesticated Dogs.
Community is what defines us as a species, and every "self-reliant" libertarian shitweasel be damned.
"my least woke opinion is---"
That's enough. We've had enough people indulging in the "thrill of a little conservatism", as a treat. Of considering reactionary thought to be a salacious and taboo in a world descending into reactionary mania.
Give me your MOST woke opinions. We're bringing it back.
That's enough. We've had enough people indulging in the "thrill of a little conservatism", as a treat. Of considering reactionary thought to be a salacious and taboo in a world descending into reactionary mania.
Give me your MOST woke opinions. We're bringing it back.
December 28, 2025 at 5:00 AM
We didn't survive and thrive as a species because we had warriors or hunters - pretty much every omnivore can manage that.
We did so because we developed Grandmothers, and domesticated Dogs.
Community is what defines us as a species, and every "self-reliant" libertarian shitweasel be damned.
We did so because we developed Grandmothers, and domesticated Dogs.
Community is what defines us as a species, and every "self-reliant" libertarian shitweasel be damned.
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
“Then they shouldn’t have voted for this!”
Bitch, Asheville is a blue college town and the county has gone blue for decades. I am so sick of this “if I pretend disasters only happen to red areas, it means I’m safe because I’m properly on the left!” No. You’re not safe. That’s why we save everybody.
Bitch, Asheville is a blue college town and the county has gone blue for decades. I am so sick of this “if I pretend disasters only happen to red areas, it means I’m safe because I’m properly on the left!” No. You’re not safe. That’s why we save everybody.
Hundreds of residents signed up for FEMA buyouts after Hurricane Helene. Not one has been approved.
Hundreds of residents signed up for FEMA buyouts after Helene. Not one has been approved.
More than a year after applying for a federal buyout, many North Carolina homeowners have heard almost nothing definitive.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 27, 2025 at 9:05 PM
“Then they shouldn’t have voted for this!”
Bitch, Asheville is a blue college town and the county has gone blue for decades. I am so sick of this “if I pretend disasters only happen to red areas, it means I’m safe because I’m properly on the left!” No. You’re not safe. That’s why we save everybody.
Bitch, Asheville is a blue college town and the county has gone blue for decades. I am so sick of this “if I pretend disasters only happen to red areas, it means I’m safe because I’m properly on the left!” No. You’re not safe. That’s why we save everybody.
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
It's been a tremendous 2025 awards season for Solaris! Here's a compilation of all our winners! Which ones have you read?
Our award-winners include @rebeccaroanhorse.bsky.social @premeemohamed.com @vajra.me @aptshadow.bsky.social @maryrobinettekowal.com @deuceofgearsmusic.bsky.social & many more!
Our award-winners include @rebeccaroanhorse.bsky.social @premeemohamed.com @vajra.me @aptshadow.bsky.social @maryrobinettekowal.com @deuceofgearsmusic.bsky.social & many more!
December 27, 2025 at 7:39 PM
It's been a tremendous 2025 awards season for Solaris! Here's a compilation of all our winners! Which ones have you read?
Our award-winners include @rebeccaroanhorse.bsky.social @premeemohamed.com @vajra.me @aptshadow.bsky.social @maryrobinettekowal.com @deuceofgearsmusic.bsky.social & many more!
Our award-winners include @rebeccaroanhorse.bsky.social @premeemohamed.com @vajra.me @aptshadow.bsky.social @maryrobinettekowal.com @deuceofgearsmusic.bsky.social & many more!
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
Genre rules are only guidelines anyway!
Want some Dragons in your Western? A locked boat murder mystery in your sci-fantasy? GBBO in outer space? A Necromantic bildungsroman? Searing examinations of war with bonus military Pteranodons? A literal plot device?
We've got all that and more!
1/3
Want some Dragons in your Western? A locked boat murder mystery in your sci-fantasy? GBBO in outer space? A Necromantic bildungsroman? Searing examinations of war with bonus military Pteranodons? A literal plot device?
We've got all that and more!
1/3
December 27, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Genre rules are only guidelines anyway!
Want some Dragons in your Western? A locked boat murder mystery in your sci-fantasy? GBBO in outer space? A Necromantic bildungsroman? Searing examinations of war with bonus military Pteranodons? A literal plot device?
We've got all that and more!
1/3
Want some Dragons in your Western? A locked boat murder mystery in your sci-fantasy? GBBO in outer space? A Necromantic bildungsroman? Searing examinations of war with bonus military Pteranodons? A literal plot device?
We've got all that and more!
1/3
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
This thread makes me sad, not because the people in it made bad choices, but because the goal of the college class should be the learning in community along the way, not the result, not content acquisition. And professors can do things to encourage or discourage that.
I had a class on Joseph Conrad and on the first day the professor said that the only grade for the class would be the final, and that it would be passage identification. I never showed up to class again, read nine of the ten books the day before the final and aced the test.
I skipped out on a Music Theory class and showed up for the final, and passed it! Of course, that was just one grade for the semester, sooo.... 😆
I feel like if I can pass your final without showing up, I deserve the credit though. Cause isn't the point to prove I know the material? 😆
I feel like if I can pass your final without showing up, I deserve the credit though. Cause isn't the point to prove I know the material? 😆
December 27, 2025 at 5:52 PM
This thread makes me sad, not because the people in it made bad choices, but because the goal of the college class should be the learning in community along the way, not the result, not content acquisition. And professors can do things to encourage or discourage that.
Okay i feel like crap but I can get this last round of cleaning at the old place done today and then sleep for a week I swear 😅
December 27, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Okay i feel like crap but I can get this last round of cleaning at the old place done today and then sleep for a week I swear 😅
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
I feel this way about "van life" and "tiny houses."
Capitalism trying to transform the broken promises made to Millennials and younger into hip, fun lifestyles, instead of acknowledging *their* parents were homeowners at 25 and something terrible has changed that trajectory.
Capitalism trying to transform the broken promises made to Millennials and younger into hip, fun lifestyles, instead of acknowledging *their* parents were homeowners at 25 and something terrible has changed that trajectory.
December 27, 2025 at 3:49 AM
I feel this way about "van life" and "tiny houses."
Capitalism trying to transform the broken promises made to Millennials and younger into hip, fun lifestyles, instead of acknowledging *their* parents were homeowners at 25 and something terrible has changed that trajectory.
Capitalism trying to transform the broken promises made to Millennials and younger into hip, fun lifestyles, instead of acknowledging *their* parents were homeowners at 25 and something terrible has changed that trajectory.