Karen James
@kejames.bsky.social
Environmental geneticist & outdoorswoman into eDNA, botany, evolution, space, sci-comm, skiing, Outlander & kindness • auntie • cat mom • honorary dog mom (she/her)
📍Unceded Wabanaki land (aka Maine)
📍Unceded Wabanaki land (aka Maine)
Pinned
Karen James
@kejames.bsky.social
· Oct 20
Join me as I approach the summit of Connor’s Nubble in Acadia NP at peak fall foliage (1 min video).
Reposted by Karen James
An Indian class 9 student (from Gujarat) emailed me asking for feedback on a story he's written. He's used genAI for the 'covers' of his work (& perhaps for the stories too). Can anyone recommend a 'genAI is bad' explainer/article for the arts that's okay for a 13/14 yo to grasp?
January 5, 2026 at 12:47 PM
An Indian class 9 student (from Gujarat) emailed me asking for feedback on a story he's written. He's used genAI for the 'covers' of his work (& perhaps for the stories too). Can anyone recommend a 'genAI is bad' explainer/article for the arts that's okay for a 13/14 yo to grasp?
Reposted by Karen James
This video, viewed millions of times on TikTok, Facebook and X, claims to show Venezuelans taking to the street to thank the US for detaining Maduro.
But the video is a combination of four AI-generated clips and was first posted on TikTok by a user who frequently shares AI videos. It's not real.
But the video is a combination of four AI-generated clips and was first posted on TikTok by a user who frequently shares AI videos. It's not real.
January 4, 2026 at 7:39 PM
This video, viewed millions of times on TikTok, Facebook and X, claims to show Venezuelans taking to the street to thank the US for detaining Maduro.
But the video is a combination of four AI-generated clips and was first posted on TikTok by a user who frequently shares AI videos. It's not real.
But the video is a combination of four AI-generated clips and was first posted on TikTok by a user who frequently shares AI videos. It's not real.
No idea if @paulisci.bsky.social takes thread suggestions but the list of lies the US has used to justify overt and covert operations in Latin America over the years is very long.
a man is carrying a large piece of paper in front of a group of people sitting in a lecture hall .
Alt: a man is unrolling a comically large piece of paper in front of a group of people sitting in a large chamber, all dressed in 18th century costume.
media.tenor.com
January 4, 2026 at 7:17 PM
No idea if @paulisci.bsky.social takes thread suggestions but the list of lies the US has used to justify overt and covert operations in Latin America over the years is very long.
Reposted by Karen James
worth noting that this neighborhood has a set up a coordinated response to ice/fascism on the ground in minneapolis. they are defending their neighborhoods and standing up for black and brown neighbors down the street and abroad.
south minneapolis stands up. proud and tall.
south minneapolis stands up. proud and tall.
January 4, 2026 at 1:09 AM
worth noting that this neighborhood has a set up a coordinated response to ice/fascism on the ground in minneapolis. they are defending their neighborhoods and standing up for black and brown neighbors down the street and abroad.
south minneapolis stands up. proud and tall.
south minneapolis stands up. proud and tall.
Y’all, please read this thread, follow and boost @jeymccreight.bsky.social, human geneticist, science communicator and activist as he takes this huge step to make the world a better place for trans people and all of us!
🧵 Big News:
Today was my last day at work. I resigned to completely dedicate my time to trans activism as long as it's financial feasible
I'll be writing a book debunking anti-trans attacks that falsely claim to be founded in "biology" and making educational resources at @beyondxandy.bsky.social
Today was my last day at work. I resigned to completely dedicate my time to trans activism as long as it's financial feasible
I'll be writing a book debunking anti-trans attacks that falsely claim to be founded in "biology" and making educational resources at @beyondxandy.bsky.social
January 4, 2026 at 3:40 AM
Y’all, please read this thread, follow and boost @jeymccreight.bsky.social, human geneticist, science communicator and activist as he takes this huge step to make the world a better place for trans people and all of us!
Reposted by Karen James
Don't forget folks: allowing yourself a vision of the future you'd want for our country and planet - not the one you'd settle for, not the one you fear, but the future of your dreams - isn't naive, it's a vital cognitive skill. That's how we articulate what we most value. What's worth fighting for.
Instead of whatever this is, we should have a government getting lots of new homes and apartments built, lots of clean energy built, lots of high speed rail and transit and bike lanes built, human rights for everyone, economic & healthcare opportunities for all, & innovation that leads the world.
January 4, 2026 at 2:34 AM
Don't forget folks: allowing yourself a vision of the future you'd want for our country and planet - not the one you'd settle for, not the one you fear, but the future of your dreams - isn't naive, it's a vital cognitive skill. That's how we articulate what we most value. What's worth fighting for.
Surprise surprise the mainstream media are all breathlessly recapping the operation to grab Maduro instead of doing a journalism 🙄🙄🙄🫠
January 4, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Surprise surprise the mainstream media are all breathlessly recapping the operation to grab Maduro instead of doing a journalism 🙄🙄🙄🫠
Shorter version: “Quiet. Quiet, piggy.”
Trump on María Corina Machado: "I think it'd be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn't have the support or the respect within the country. She's a very nice woman but she doesn't have the respect."
January 3, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Shorter version: “Quiet. Quiet, piggy.”
It is colonialism all the way down. 💔
January 3, 2026 at 6:37 PM
It is colonialism all the way down. 💔
I just learned the grant I submitted late last year will not be funded. It was to extend our K-12 environmental DNA outreach program and had a good chunk of my salary in it for 2026. Happy new year to me. :-/
tigger from winnie the pooh is standing in a forest with trees in the background and looking at the camera .
Alt: tigger from winnie the pooh is standing in a forest with trees in the background and a sad expression on his face
media.tenor.com
January 2, 2026 at 7:11 PM
I just learned the grant I submitted late last year will not be funded. It was to extend our K-12 environmental DNA outreach program and had a good chunk of my salary in it for 2026. Happy new year to me. :-/
Reposted by Karen James
What's the Heinlein ? book where she dies and he is medically inserted into her body, but she is still there and then when others die they capture their souls to all live in the same body??? Maybe. ? It also involves yoga and I think a sailing boat.
@whatgoodrnotebooks.bsky.social
@whatgoodrnotebooks.bsky.social
January 2, 2026 at 2:04 AM
What's the Heinlein ? book where she dies and he is medically inserted into her body, but she is still there and then when others die they capture their souls to all live in the same body??? Maybe. ? It also involves yoga and I think a sailing boat.
@whatgoodrnotebooks.bsky.social
@whatgoodrnotebooks.bsky.social
Reposted by Karen James
In 2026 I want to see more photos with wives putting their arms protectively and possessively around their husband‘s shoulders, instead of vice versa
January 1, 2026 at 12:11 PM
In 2026 I want to see more photos with wives putting their arms protectively and possessively around their husband‘s shoulders, instead of vice versa
Reposted by Karen James
Fantastic news for paleontology that the Paleontological Research Institute in Ithaca NY is staying open this year! Intensive fund-raising was successful & enough to pay off the mortgage for their building, helping to preserve this long-standing institution for national & international science. 🧪
Holy shit I'm so relieved I could cry. A very happy new year to PRI!!! www.priweb.org/blog-post/pr...
PRI's Wonderful Life — Paleontological Research Institution
By Dr. Warren Allmon , Director of the Paleontological Research Institution December 30, 2025 The holidays are a time for “Christmas movies” in my house, and one that is always on our list is&nbs...
www.priweb.org
January 1, 2026 at 3:26 PM
Fantastic news for paleontology that the Paleontological Research Institute in Ithaca NY is staying open this year! Intensive fund-raising was successful & enough to pay off the mortgage for their building, helping to preserve this long-standing institution for national & international science. 🧪
Reposted by Karen James
Every time someone says "I can't write X, editors will never buy it" an angel loses its wings
Those shining adamantine feathers, sharper than death, slice all creatures in their path to molecule-thin ribbons, blood raining down onto acres of land rendered poisonous for decades.
So maybe reconsider
Those shining adamantine feathers, sharper than death, slice all creatures in their path to molecule-thin ribbons, blood raining down onto acres of land rendered poisonous for decades.
So maybe reconsider
January 1, 2026 at 4:38 PM
Every time someone says "I can't write X, editors will never buy it" an angel loses its wings
Those shining adamantine feathers, sharper than death, slice all creatures in their path to molecule-thin ribbons, blood raining down onto acres of land rendered poisonous for decades.
So maybe reconsider
Those shining adamantine feathers, sharper than death, slice all creatures in their path to molecule-thin ribbons, blood raining down onto acres of land rendered poisonous for decades.
So maybe reconsider
Reposted by Karen James
smol reminder from my bubz
January 1, 2026 at 2:50 AM
smol reminder from my bubz
Reposted by Karen James
More music to make my heart sing...
If you haven't found Deep Sea Diver (Seattle locals!) yet, now is a good time. This is "Emergency" from their recent album
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xtP...
(Impossible Weight, from their first album, is incredible and what got my hooked)
If you haven't found Deep Sea Diver (Seattle locals!) yet, now is a good time. This is "Emergency" from their recent album
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xtP...
(Impossible Weight, from their first album, is incredible and what got my hooked)
Deep Sea Diver - Emergency (Live on KEXP)
YouTube video by KEXP
www.youtube.com
January 1, 2026 at 2:40 AM
More music to make my heart sing...
If you haven't found Deep Sea Diver (Seattle locals!) yet, now is a good time. This is "Emergency" from their recent album
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xtP...
(Impossible Weight, from their first album, is incredible and what got my hooked)
If you haven't found Deep Sea Diver (Seattle locals!) yet, now is a good time. This is "Emergency" from their recent album
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xtP...
(Impossible Weight, from their first album, is incredible and what got my hooked)
Anyone else out there planning to start watching When Harry Met Sally at 10:30:28pm, so that the new year rings in in the movie at the same time as in real life?
a close up of a woman 's face with the name dr pflaumisan on the bottom left
Alt: Meg Ryan as Sally Albright is wearing a robe, and starts out laughing, then it changes to crying
media.tenor.com
January 1, 2026 at 1:51 AM
Anyone else out there planning to start watching When Harry Met Sally at 10:30:28pm, so that the new year rings in in the movie at the same time as in real life?
Reposted by Karen James
Talking with people at a holiday gathering here in Toronto last night, and when it came up, most of us nodded that we likely won’t ever visit the United States again.
It’s a weird feeling, and weird to acknowledge in a group.
It’s a weird feeling, and weird to acknowledge in a group.
December 30, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Talking with people at a holiday gathering here in Toronto last night, and when it came up, most of us nodded that we likely won’t ever visit the United States again.
It’s a weird feeling, and weird to acknowledge in a group.
It’s a weird feeling, and weird to acknowledge in a group.
Could be a useful resource for anyone writing about these subjects.
Thanks to the folks at the Guardian for holding their noses and compiling this so others wouldn’t have to.
Thanks to the folks at the Guardian for holding their noses and compiling this so others wouldn’t have to.
Donald Trump in his own words – the year in racism and misogyny
Donald Trump in his own words – the year in racism and misogyny
The president has increased the amount of invective he’s spewed against women and people of color
www.theguardian.com
December 29, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Could be a useful resource for anyone writing about these subjects.
Thanks to the folks at the Guardian for holding their noses and compiling this so others wouldn’t have to.
Thanks to the folks at the Guardian for holding their noses and compiling this so others wouldn’t have to.
Reposted by Karen James
Reposted by Karen James
December 28, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Our Polish American friend gave us some *very* nice imported Polish sausage so I made “fasolka po bretońsku” using Rancho Gordo royal coronas (why yes I am a major bean geek) instead of butter beans and it was ah-maze-ing. So smoky. Highly recommend. Recipe in 3.. 2.. 1..
December 29, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Our Polish American friend gave us some *very* nice imported Polish sausage so I made “fasolka po bretońsku” using Rancho Gordo royal coronas (why yes I am a major bean geek) instead of butter beans and it was ah-maze-ing. So smoky. Highly recommend. Recipe in 3.. 2.. 1..
Reposted by Karen James
Fantastic piece this on one of the most painful things that has ever happened to me (yes, I know I've had a charmed life):
'It was like a bereavement': What happens when a choir boy's voice breaks
'The last few months before the voice changes is the most beautiful, purest and most heavenly kind of sound'
inews.co.uk
December 28, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Fantastic piece this on one of the most painful things that has ever happened to me (yes, I know I've had a charmed life):
Reposted by Karen James
I was anaemic when pregnant with Small Son and it left me feeling really unwell but I was surprised how easy it was to fix with the help of my midwife. Unforgivable what harms these deliberate and evil cuts are causing.
A third of the women in the maternity ward have life-threatening complications that could be treated simply with food.
They suffer from anemia and high blood pressure.
Their babies are born early, weighing too little and with underdeveloped lungs.
They suffer from anemia and high blood pressure.
Their babies are born early, weighing too little and with underdeveloped lungs.
The Summer of Starvation: Amid Trump’s Foreign Aid Cuts, a Mother Struggles to Keep Her Sons Alive
After the Trump administration cut off food from the third-largest refugee camp in the world, thousands of families faced impossible choices as their children starved.
www.propublica.org
December 27, 2025 at 5:03 PM
I was anaemic when pregnant with Small Son and it left me feeling really unwell but I was surprised how easy it was to fix with the help of my midwife. Unforgivable what harms these deliberate and evil cuts are causing.