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)
I very much encourage you to look at the symptoms of colorectal cancer and tell your primary care physician that you have at least three of them.
My mom had colon cancer at 45, but she really did have those symptoms and asked her doctor about it. She lived another 30 something years.
My mom had colon cancer at 45, but she really did have those symptoms and asked her doctor about it. She lived another 30 something years.
Chadwick Boseman and James van der Beek both died in their 40s of an illness that's treatable if a colonoscopy catches it but almost no insurer covers them for people under 45, this is what Engels meant by "social murder"
February 12, 2026 at 8:02 PM
I very much encourage you to look at the symptoms of colorectal cancer and tell your primary care physician that you have at least three of them.
My mom had colon cancer at 45, but she really did have those symptoms and asked her doctor about it. She lived another 30 something years.
My mom had colon cancer at 45, but she really did have those symptoms and asked her doctor about it. She lived another 30 something years.
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
75% of my students are future health professionals. Do you really want a physician or nurse or pharm. who has no critical reading/thinking skills, who cannot communicate worth a damn or knows enough to ask questions/problem-solve when something feels off? Would you put your life in the hands of AI?
Ill be clear about why I am so angry and critical about it: Im seeing a good portion of my students who have imbibed the notion that they dont have to read, think or write for themselves because ChatGPT/CoPilot will do their thinking for them, and its terrifying. It should scare all of us.
February 12, 2026 at 7:15 PM
75% of my students are future health professionals. Do you really want a physician or nurse or pharm. who has no critical reading/thinking skills, who cannot communicate worth a damn or knows enough to ask questions/problem-solve when something feels off? Would you put your life in the hands of AI?
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
If you want your poster to have a graphic novel look, use 💯 REAL comic fonts. Not the one that came with your preloaded with your operating system.
You can see the Unmasked BB font throughout the Better Posters book! Ready For Anything is also a good general purpose font!
You can see the Unmasked BB font throughout the Better Posters book! Ready For Anything is also a good general purpose font!
Blambot Valentine's Day sale! Save 10% on your orders with code IHEARTFONTS from February 12th to 15th 2026 at blambot.com
February 12, 2026 at 3:33 PM
If you want your poster to have a graphic novel look, use 💯 REAL comic fonts. Not the one that came with your preloaded with your operating system.
You can see the Unmasked BB font throughout the Better Posters book! Ready For Anything is also a good general purpose font!
You can see the Unmasked BB font throughout the Better Posters book! Ready For Anything is also a good general purpose font!
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
Gandalf really is heroic when you consider that there were originally five wizards and one of them turned evil, two of them fucked off and went out east to have orgies, and one is just super into talking to gophers. The one last hope of free peoples was the stoner and that crazy mfer did it.
February 12, 2026 at 4:24 AM
Gandalf really is heroic when you consider that there were originally five wizards and one of them turned evil, two of them fucked off and went out east to have orgies, and one is just super into talking to gophers. The one last hope of free peoples was the stoner and that crazy mfer did it.
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
Anybody want to buy a painting? They miss me at the post office 😢 #sciart artologica.etsy.com
February 12, 2026 at 3:22 PM
Anybody want to buy a painting? They miss me at the post office 😢 #sciart artologica.etsy.com
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
Few concepts continue to be misapplied so frequently and viciously as fairness.
February 12, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Few concepts continue to be misapplied so frequently and viciously as fairness.
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
Ominous bird valentines.
February 12, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Ominous bird valentines.
I came back from the bathroom and the dogs managed to find all the Caravaggio-ass lighting angles in the bedroom?
February 12, 2026 at 7:12 AM
I came back from the bathroom and the dogs managed to find all the Caravaggio-ass lighting angles in the bedroom?
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
An Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) card game created by an Indigenous designer right here in #Winnipeg.
Currently $4,110 pledged of $7,000 goal.
Currently $4,110 pledged of $7,000 goal.
Ataage Agindaasonan - An Ojibwe/Anishinaabemowin card game
A fun way to learn a language with access to audio translations and pronunciation breakdowns. Immerse yourself with the game phrases!
www.kickstarter.com
February 10, 2026 at 9:15 PM
An Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) card game created by an Indigenous designer right here in #Winnipeg.
Currently $4,110 pledged of $7,000 goal.
Currently $4,110 pledged of $7,000 goal.
Okay time to admit that the current flare-up of my depression isn't going to subside on its own, and I need to *sigh* find a therapist again
February 12, 2026 at 6:47 AM
Okay time to admit that the current flare-up of my depression isn't going to subside on its own, and I need to *sigh* find a therapist again
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
Hey definitely call your senators about this. Like seriously.
BREAKING: The House passed the so-called SAVE America Act which threatens to upend our freedom to vote.
The bill could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters by requiring documents like passports or birth certificates to register to vote and forcing voter roll purges. The Senate must reject it.
The bill could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters by requiring documents like passports or birth certificates to register to vote and forcing voter roll purges. The Senate must reject it.
February 12, 2026 at 3:29 AM
Hey definitely call your senators about this. Like seriously.
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
Just 20 more sales before I break even on creating these colour-changing pronoun pins!
Q: What do you get if you cross a mood ring with a pronoun pin?
A: My latest design at canopyrobin.etsy.com/listing/4376...
Please share!
A: My latest design at canopyrobin.etsy.com/listing/4376...
Please share!
February 10, 2026 at 10:21 AM
Just 20 more sales before I break even on creating these colour-changing pronoun pins!
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
What's so amazing about Jim Henson as a puppeteer is that he could literally be explaining that Kermit is made out of felt and ping pong balls and yet Kermit still feels alive the whole time he's doing it
February 11, 2026 at 10:03 PM
What's so amazing about Jim Henson as a puppeteer is that he could literally be explaining that Kermit is made out of felt and ping pong balls and yet Kermit still feels alive the whole time he's doing it
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
The prohibition on carrying things on Shabbos means you have to leave your emotional baggage at home. In this essay I will…
February 12, 2026 at 4:18 AM
The prohibition on carrying things on Shabbos means you have to leave your emotional baggage at home. In this essay I will…
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
FISH PEOPLE! Anyone know if Bay pipefish (Syngnathus leptorhynchus) exhibit any clear sexual dimorphism between males and females? Do females have ornaments? I'm having troubling finding this info in the primary literature.
February 12, 2026 at 12:54 AM
FISH PEOPLE! Anyone know if Bay pipefish (Syngnathus leptorhynchus) exhibit any clear sexual dimorphism between males and females? Do females have ornaments? I'm having troubling finding this info in the primary literature.
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
Students applying for NSF funding are having their applications “returned without review” for being “ineligible,” despite their proposed research falling squarely within the application guidelines. eos.org/research-and...
Graduate Students’ NSF Fellowship Applications Are Being “Returned Without Review” - Eos
Graduate students applying for NSF funding have had their applications returned without review—even though their proposed research appears to fall squarely within the fields of study outlined in the p...
eos.org
February 6, 2026 at 8:58 PM
Students applying for NSF funding are having their applications “returned without review” for being “ineligible,” despite their proposed research falling squarely within the application guidelines. eos.org/research-and...
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
yeah, it's fascinating how Christians seem to see Jesus as having "freed" people from the burden of observing Shabbat
but like, most Jews LIKE observing Shabbat? it's a day of rest
then Christians went and made blue laws and all kinds of oppressive rules about what you can't do on Sunday anyway
but like, most Jews LIKE observing Shabbat? it's a day of rest
then Christians went and made blue laws and all kinds of oppressive rules about what you can't do on Sunday anyway
(I don't have any particular gripe with this post)
The interesting thing is that it seems to be largely Christians who view Torah as an imposition, while Jews see it as a source of identity and a labor of love.
The interesting thing is that it seems to be largely Christians who view Torah as an imposition, while Jews see it as a source of identity and a labor of love.
This Sunday, our readings invite us to consider God’s laws and true wisdom. Our attitude may depend on whether we respond to God’s law of love, or see it only as a legal imposition.
buff.ly/3JtdBAb
buff.ly/3JtdBAb
February 11, 2026 at 9:56 PM
yeah, it's fascinating how Christians seem to see Jesus as having "freed" people from the burden of observing Shabbat
but like, most Jews LIKE observing Shabbat? it's a day of rest
then Christians went and made blue laws and all kinds of oppressive rules about what you can't do on Sunday anyway
but like, most Jews LIKE observing Shabbat? it's a day of rest
then Christians went and made blue laws and all kinds of oppressive rules about what you can't do on Sunday anyway
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
Doing a history careers panel with a teacher, financial planner, higher ed program director, and librarian for a state agency. All our alumni.
Once again I want to say historians get jobs and do interesting things.
Once again I want to say historians get jobs and do interesting things.
February 11, 2026 at 10:49 PM
Doing a history careers panel with a teacher, financial planner, higher ed program director, and librarian for a state agency. All our alumni.
Once again I want to say historians get jobs and do interesting things.
Once again I want to say historians get jobs and do interesting things.
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
Please consider helping my wonderful friend and her beautiful kitty. 🖤😢⬇️
My sweetheart cat, Zatanna, has been dx’d with a poorly differentiated cancer that is going to need radiation therapy to treat. The problem? It’s $12000, which is effectively our entire savings.
If you’re feeling generous, my venmo is bbwolfe. Please tag donations with a cute cat emoji! Thank you!!
If you’re feeling generous, my venmo is bbwolfe. Please tag donations with a cute cat emoji! Thank you!!
February 11, 2026 at 10:57 PM
Please consider helping my wonderful friend and her beautiful kitty. 🖤😢⬇️
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
Need to stress that, like the Pretti killing, this terrorism is happening in extremely mixed use residential neighborhoods. Cafes and restaurants just down the street. The St. Paul Curling Club that's put out so many Olympians competing *this week* is like two blocks away.
This is the aftermath of an ICE kidnapping a few blocks from my home in St. Paul—an hour ago. A quiet street full of broken glass and at least three wrecked cars. The target of the kidnapping was taken away by ambulance. He was on a stretcher and covered by a sheet, though a cop said he was alive.
February 11, 2026 at 5:21 PM
Need to stress that, like the Pretti killing, this terrorism is happening in extremely mixed use residential neighborhoods. Cafes and restaurants just down the street. The St. Paul Curling Club that's put out so many Olympians competing *this week* is like two blocks away.
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
Babe, wake up, new sarcastic but entirely worthwhile internet abbreviation just dropped
Over on threads someone just use ai;dr and we all need to adopt that right quick
February 11, 2026 at 11:16 PM
Babe, wake up, new sarcastic but entirely worthwhile internet abbreviation just dropped
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
the burden of proof is on the mother-fucker asserting something.
I understand why people are exhausted by AI hype, and why those of us squarely in the corner of "human dignity uber alles" see AI doomerism as self-serving hype, but I *really* think people on the left broadly need to start thinking seriously about the possibiltiy of the hype being...true.
February 11, 2026 at 7:48 PM
the burden of proof is on the mother-fucker asserting something.
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
I also don't love Jewish people pointing out blatant antisemitism and gentiles:
1. Responding with yet more blatant antisemitism
2. Bringing up Israel when Israel wasn't mentioned
3. Demanding proof of it being a trend
4. Downplaying it (i.e. "That account is a grifter, not a REAL liberal/leftist")
1. Responding with yet more blatant antisemitism
2. Bringing up Israel when Israel wasn't mentioned
3. Demanding proof of it being a trend
4. Downplaying it (i.e. "That account is a grifter, not a REAL liberal/leftist")
I have to say, I do not love this new trend of large liberal accounts with millions of followers identifying Jews.
February 11, 2026 at 4:41 AM
I also don't love Jewish people pointing out blatant antisemitism and gentiles:
1. Responding with yet more blatant antisemitism
2. Bringing up Israel when Israel wasn't mentioned
3. Demanding proof of it being a trend
4. Downplaying it (i.e. "That account is a grifter, not a REAL liberal/leftist")
1. Responding with yet more blatant antisemitism
2. Bringing up Israel when Israel wasn't mentioned
3. Demanding proof of it being a trend
4. Downplaying it (i.e. "That account is a grifter, not a REAL liberal/leftist")
Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)
This is the fourth consecutive Black History Month that I've been fundraising my part of the renaissance of Black midwifery in the US.
I would love if it was also the final month because the goal had been met.
Pretty worn out, but doing my best to lock in and do what I came to do.
I would love if it was also the final month because the goal had been met.
Pretty worn out, but doing my best to lock in and do what I came to do.
February 6, 2026 at 5:56 PM
This is the fourth consecutive Black History Month that I've been fundraising my part of the renaissance of Black midwifery in the US.
I would love if it was also the final month because the goal had been met.
Pretty worn out, but doing my best to lock in and do what I came to do.
I would love if it was also the final month because the goal had been met.
Pretty worn out, but doing my best to lock in and do what I came to do.