Dr. Steven Whitfield
@stevenwhitfield.bsky.social
Conservation | Science | Education. Pro: environment, animals, nature, students, diversity. Anti: extinction, ignorance. He/him/él. 🐸🐢🦎
Good story covering the basics of how folks can help monarchs, and the concerns with planting non-native Tropical Milkweed.
For years, planting milkweed was the go-to way to help monarchs. Now, scientists say it may be fueling a parasite that’s devastating Gulf Coast butterflies.
This plant was supposed to save monarch butterflies. It may be killing them in Louisiana.
For years, planting milkweed was the go-to way to help monarchs. Now, scientists say it may be fueling a parasite that’s devastating Gulf Coast butterflies.
bit.ly
October 28, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Good story covering the basics of how folks can help monarchs, and the concerns with planting non-native Tropical Milkweed.
Just wrapped up a phenomenal ZooMu workshop at the Oklahoma City Zoo with folks from zoos and natural history collections across the US. I’m very excited about where this project is going!
October 10, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Just wrapped up a phenomenal ZooMu workshop at the Oklahoma City Zoo with folks from zoos and natural history collections across the US. I’m very excited about where this project is going!
Hell yeah, Halloween Season! 🎃👻🧛🏻🕷️
September 3, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Hell yeah, Halloween Season! 🎃👻🧛🏻🕷️
🚨Important herpetology information ⬇️🐸🐸
Possibly my favourite Norwegian word ever is their word for a tadpole, rumpetroll, which I’d translate as “butt troll.”
August 23, 2025 at 9:47 AM
🚨Important herpetology information ⬇️🐸🐸
Reposted by Dr. Steven Whitfield
Karen Deville usually looks forward to rainy days — but not just because it waters her plants.
Why you shouldn't take box turtles home to become your pets
Karen Deville usually looks forward to rainy days — but not just because it waters her plants.
bit.ly
August 2, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Karen Deville usually looks forward to rainy days — but not just because it waters her plants.
The United States was founded to overthrow a king. What a good point to reflect on today.
July 4, 2025 at 10:09 PM
The United States was founded to overthrow a king. What a good point to reflect on today.
A whole bunch of young birds in my neighborhood fledged this week. What did you accomplish, and is it better than learning to literally f***ing fly?!?!?!
June 26, 2025 at 10:43 PM
A whole bunch of young birds in my neighborhood fledged this week. What did you accomplish, and is it better than learning to literally f***ing fly?!?!?!
The Blue Jay is a pretty awesome reptile.
June 26, 2025 at 10:41 PM
The Blue Jay is a pretty awesome reptile.
Any pollinators here on BlueSky? I’ve got some sweet Lemon Bee Balm in the Irish Channel, New Orleans for you. Bring your friends.
June 7, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Any pollinators here on BlueSky? I’ve got some sweet Lemon Bee Balm in the Irish Channel, New Orleans for you. Bring your friends.
Super proud of Audubon Zoo’s Herpetology, Hospital, and Communications teams for this work with Gopher Tortoise Conservation. These tortoises are really special to me, and great to see this work moving forward!
Audubon Zoo is one step closer to releasing two tortoises back into the wild
The Audubon Zoo recently made significant progress towards releasing two of their tortoises back home into the wild
www.wbrz.com
June 4, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Super proud of Audubon Zoo’s Herpetology, Hospital, and Communications teams for this work with Gopher Tortoise Conservation. These tortoises are really special to me, and great to see this work moving forward!
Headed home from a productive field conservation research trip in Costa Rica. One of the things that I love about this place is country is that it is wildlife- (and heavily frog-) themed. Here’s a giant frog sculpture in the airport, and even the airport carpet is printed with dart poison frogs.
June 3, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Headed home from a productive field conservation research trip in Costa Rica. One of the things that I love about this place is country is that it is wildlife- (and heavily frog-) themed. Here’s a giant frog sculpture in the airport, and even the airport carpet is printed with dart poison frogs.
Reposted by Dr. Steven Whitfield
something that stands out about this is just how cheap it is for us to have world-leading scientific capacity
we spent ~6.75 trillion last year, and the combined budgets for NIH, NSF and NASA are barely more than 1% of that
what an incredible waste to lose it all for a drop in the bucket
we spent ~6.75 trillion last year, and the combined budgets for NIH, NSF and NASA are barely more than 1% of that
what an incredible waste to lose it all for a drop in the bucket
There are 2 previous historical cases of countries destroying their science and universities, crippling them for decades: Lysenkoism in the USSR and Nazi Germany. The Trump administration will be the 3rd.
It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.
It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.
May 31, 2025 at 4:19 PM
something that stands out about this is just how cheap it is for us to have world-leading scientific capacity
we spent ~6.75 trillion last year, and the combined budgets for NIH, NSF and NASA are barely more than 1% of that
what an incredible waste to lose it all for a drop in the bucket
we spent ~6.75 trillion last year, and the combined budgets for NIH, NSF and NASA are barely more than 1% of that
what an incredible waste to lose it all for a drop in the bucket
Reposted by Dr. Steven Whitfield
There are 2 previous historical cases of countries destroying their science and universities, crippling them for decades: Lysenkoism in the USSR and Nazi Germany. The Trump administration will be the 3rd.
It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.
It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.
May 31, 2025 at 4:43 AM
There are 2 previous historical cases of countries destroying their science and universities, crippling them for decades: Lysenkoism in the USSR and Nazi Germany. The Trump administration will be the 3rd.
It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.
It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.
Reposted by Dr. Steven Whitfield
"The ‘silent’ half: diversity, function and the critical knowledge gap on female frog vocalizations" –Such cool work! Super proud of these three #HERpers latinas🇨🇴🇧🇷! 🎵🐸🎶
doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
May 28, 2025 at 4:37 PM
"The ‘silent’ half: diversity, function and the critical knowledge gap on female frog vocalizations" –Such cool work! Super proud of these three #HERpers latinas🇨🇴🇧🇷! 🎵🐸🎶
doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
If only people could replace their brains…
Hell of a quote from the author in defense of his bill in this story: “We can replace our teeth… I don’t think we can replace our thyroid or pineal gland.”
A proposal to end the addition of fluoride from public drinking water in Louisiana failed Wednesday in the legislature following passionate testimony from health care and dental professionals, @eplunk.bsky.social reports #lalege #lagov
May 28, 2025 at 9:26 PM
If only people could replace their brains…
Saw this Tropical Milkweed in a pasture in Costa Rica. It’s so strange for me to see this species (a common ornamental in the US) in its native range. In the US, this species causes major problems for Monarch Butterflies.
tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica)
tropical milkweed from Calle San Rafael Sur, San Carlos, Alajuela, CR on May 24, 2025 at 09:09 AM by Steven Whitfield
www.inaturalist.org
May 26, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Saw this Tropical Milkweed in a pasture in Costa Rica. It’s so strange for me to see this species (a common ornamental in the US) in its native range. In the US, this species causes major problems for Monarch Butterflies.
No Mow Millenium!!
Bored with manicured lawns, some homeowners adopt No Mow May all year long
Bored with manicured lawns, some homeowners adopt No Mow May all year long
Homeowners are finding more ways to adopt a low mow lifestyle instead of keeping up with short, manicured lawns.
www.fox8live.com
May 24, 2025 at 3:49 PM
No Mow Millenium!!
Reposted by Dr. Steven Whitfield
Bored with manicured lawns, some homeowners adopt No Mow May all year long
Bored with manicured lawns, some homeowners adopt No Mow May all year long
Homeowners are finding more ways to adopt a low mow lifestyle instead of keeping up with short, manicured lawns.
www.fox8live.com
May 24, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Bored with manicured lawns, some homeowners adopt No Mow May all year long
Reposted by Dr. Steven Whitfield
New pub: now open access!
More and more we are recognizing the importance of social science in conservation. As we work to incorporate social science at our fish & wildlife agencies, we wanted to ask: how's it going? Check out our survey findings!
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
More and more we are recognizing the importance of social science in conservation. As we work to incorporate social science at our fish & wildlife agencies, we wanted to ask: how's it going? Check out our survey findings!
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Social science integration at state and federal fish and wildlife organizations in the United States
Increasingly, conservation professionals and scholars recognize the need for more holistic integration of social science in fish and wildlife management. This call is often framed around the complexi...
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
May 23, 2025 at 12:18 PM
New pub: now open access!
More and more we are recognizing the importance of social science in conservation. As we work to incorporate social science at our fish & wildlife agencies, we wanted to ask: how's it going? Check out our survey findings!
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
More and more we are recognizing the importance of social science in conservation. As we work to incorporate social science at our fish & wildlife agencies, we wanted to ask: how's it going? Check out our survey findings!
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Seems like I’ve spent a lot my adult life looking for frog eggs and most humans just don’t know what they’re missing out on.
May 24, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Seems like I’ve spent a lot my adult life looking for frog eggs and most humans just don’t know what they’re missing out on.
Reposted by Dr. Steven Whitfield
📣🧪 #NSF is deferring implementation of the 15% indirect cap on all new awards and subawards to institutes of higher education through June 13, when a hearing is scheduled to occur in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Association of American Universities v. NSF
May 21, 2025 at 12:43 PM
📣🧪 #NSF is deferring implementation of the 15% indirect cap on all new awards and subawards to institutes of higher education through June 13, when a hearing is scheduled to occur in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Association of American Universities v. NSF
I had the pleasure of speaking with NPR this week about how weird flamingos are. Filter feeding isn’t that complicated but flamingos have to *completely overdo everything,* including their morphology and behavior.
Scientists have figured out why flamingos are such weird eaters
Flamingos look silly when they eat, but new research suggests they're actually being smart.
www.npr.org
May 16, 2025 at 4:52 PM
I had the pleasure of speaking with NPR this week about how weird flamingos are. Filter feeding isn’t that complicated but flamingos have to *completely overdo everything,* including their morphology and behavior.
Reposted by Dr. Steven Whitfield
🧵5 Top Free Alternatives to BioRender for Scientific Illustrations!
These five websites offer free scientific illustrations for biologists. Great for presentations, research papers and other research communication needs.
Save and share the post!
These five websites offer free scientific illustrations for biologists. Great for presentations, research papers and other research communication needs.
Save and share the post!
May 13, 2025 at 7:55 PM
🧵5 Top Free Alternatives to BioRender for Scientific Illustrations!
These five websites offer free scientific illustrations for biologists. Great for presentations, research papers and other research communication needs.
Save and share the post!
These five websites offer free scientific illustrations for biologists. Great for presentations, research papers and other research communication needs.
Save and share the post!
Ocelots, one of the world’s coolest cat species, have just a toehold in the US in south Texas. It is estimates only 120 live in the US. It is so great to see some conservation attention for this species.
This rare feline is making a comeback in South Texas
Endangered ocelots are on the rise at the Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge in South Texas.
www.chron.com
April 29, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Ocelots, one of the world’s coolest cat species, have just a toehold in the US in south Texas. It is estimates only 120 live in the US. It is so great to see some conservation attention for this species.
A year ago I planted my avocado tree, Joey, who has thrived in this world of chaos.
April 25, 2025 at 12:03 PM
A year ago I planted my avocado tree, Joey, who has thrived in this world of chaos.