Sydney McDermott
@sydneymcdermott.bsky.social
Deep-sea ecology, McClain Lab phd student, M.S. from Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, crab enthusiast, 🏳️🌈
Reposted by Sydney McDermott
Be ungovernable
November 14, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Be ungovernable
Reposted by Sydney McDermott
Brittle star swimming! Love this movement.
October 27, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Brittle star swimming! Love this movement.
Despite everything we still live in a world where it is possible to see shooting stars and flying fish at the same time and I think that's wonderful (also I need everyone to know I just saw shooting stars and flying fish at the same time)
October 22, 2025 at 5:31 AM
Despite everything we still live in a world where it is possible to see shooting stars and flying fish at the same time and I think that's wonderful (also I need everyone to know I just saw shooting stars and flying fish at the same time)
Usually, I'm outside a tank looking in at snails. Today, the snails were outside the lab, looking in at me
June 19, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Usually, I'm outside a tank looking in at snails. Today, the snails were outside the lab, looking in at me
Reposted by Sydney McDermott
🧵New paper + open database drop!
The Marine Organismal Body Size ( #MOBS ) Database is now live—85,000+ marine species, from plankton to whales, with standardized size data.
A huge leap for biodiversity, conservation, and climate science. #science #marinelife onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The Marine Organismal Body Size ( #MOBS ) Database is now live—85,000+ marine species, from plankton to whales, with standardized size data.
A huge leap for biodiversity, conservation, and climate science. #science #marinelife onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
MOBS 1.0: A Database of Interspecific Variation in Marine Organismal Body Sizes
Motivation Body size is a fundamental trait influencing an organism's life history, ecology, physiology and evolutionary dynamics. While extensive body-size databases exist for terrestrial vertebrat...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
June 5, 2025 at 1:45 PM
🧵New paper + open database drop!
The Marine Organismal Body Size ( #MOBS ) Database is now live—85,000+ marine species, from plankton to whales, with standardized size data.
A huge leap for biodiversity, conservation, and climate science. #science #marinelife onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The Marine Organismal Body Size ( #MOBS ) Database is now live—85,000+ marine species, from plankton to whales, with standardized size data.
A huge leap for biodiversity, conservation, and climate science. #science #marinelife onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Dissertation chapter 1 with
@drcraigmc.bsky.social ✅️
Here is a first look at the wreckage of the Deepwater Horizon as artificial hard substrate, which hosts a unique community of organisms compared to two other shipwrecks in the Gulf
of Mexico.
doi.org/10.3354/meps...
@drcraigmc.bsky.social ✅️
Here is a first look at the wreckage of the Deepwater Horizon as artificial hard substrate, which hosts a unique community of organisms compared to two other shipwrecks in the Gulf
of Mexico.
doi.org/10.3354/meps...
doi.org
May 15, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Dissertation chapter 1 with
@drcraigmc.bsky.social ✅️
Here is a first look at the wreckage of the Deepwater Horizon as artificial hard substrate, which hosts a unique community of organisms compared to two other shipwrecks in the Gulf
of Mexico.
doi.org/10.3354/meps...
@drcraigmc.bsky.social ✅️
Here is a first look at the wreckage of the Deepwater Horizon as artificial hard substrate, which hosts a unique community of organisms compared to two other shipwrecks in the Gulf
of Mexico.
doi.org/10.3354/meps...
Reposted by Sydney McDermott
breaking news, white steam emerges from the Autoclave
May 8, 2025 at 4:23 PM
breaking news, white steam emerges from the Autoclave
In honor of #invertefest, here are four of my whiteboard drawings from the invertebrate zoology lab this semester
April 30, 2025 at 4:04 PM
In honor of #invertefest, here are four of my whiteboard drawings from the invertebrate zoology lab this semester
Reposted by Sydney McDermott
On the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, we thought we'd answer a question that's often asked,
"If they raised the Mary Rose, why not raise the Titanic?"
Allow our scaled diagram to explain...
"If they raised the Mary Rose, why not raise the Titanic?"
Allow our scaled diagram to explain...
April 15, 2025 at 8:21 AM
On the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, we thought we'd answer a question that's often asked,
"If they raised the Mary Rose, why not raise the Titanic?"
Allow our scaled diagram to explain...
"If they raised the Mary Rose, why not raise the Titanic?"
Allow our scaled diagram to explain...
I love #SkypeAScientist!!! Nothing brings me more joy than showing a bunch of high schoolers a giant isopod and seeing them lose it over how big they get
April 8, 2025 at 11:24 PM
I love #SkypeAScientist!!! Nothing brings me more joy than showing a bunch of high schoolers a giant isopod and seeing them lose it over how big they get
In the immortal words of Sabrina Carpenter: I can do a lot in 15 minutes. Thanks to everyone who came to my talk at the Benthic Ecology Meeting!
April 3, 2025 at 7:18 PM
In the immortal words of Sabrina Carpenter: I can do a lot in 15 minutes. Thanks to everyone who came to my talk at the Benthic Ecology Meeting!
People are so ready to help you when they think you're opening a metaphorical can of worms, but when I show up with annelid specimens for class that I can't get open suddenly I'm the weird one
March 19, 2025 at 5:46 PM
People are so ready to help you when they think you're opening a metaphorical can of worms, but when I show up with annelid specimens for class that I can't get open suddenly I'm the weird one
Reposted by Sydney McDermott
🌳➡️🌊 Deep-sea wood falls aren’t just debris—they’re entire ecosystems! Endemic species, weird food webs, and nutrient cycling all depend on them. But natural observations are rare. What’s hiding in the abyss? Our new paper dives in. #DeepSea #MarineBiology onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
The Hidden Forests Below: A Review of the Ecology and Evolution of Wood Falls on the Deep Seafloor
Wood falls—parcels of wood that sink to the deep-sea floor—represent unique and dynamic ecosystems that support a highly diverse and evolutionarily distinct assemblage of faunal communities. The faun...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
March 18, 2025 at 4:56 PM
🌳➡️🌊 Deep-sea wood falls aren’t just debris—they’re entire ecosystems! Endemic species, weird food webs, and nutrient cycling all depend on them. But natural observations are rare. What’s hiding in the abyss? Our new paper dives in. #DeepSea #MarineBiology onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Sydney McDermott
Party tip: When throwing a deep sea tea party, it's generally recommended that you invite the colossal squid.
March 11, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Party tip: When throwing a deep sea tea party, it's generally recommended that you invite the colossal squid.
I didn't know about them either, but now that I do, I love them
February 24, 2025 at 6:33 PM
I didn't know about them either, but now that I do, I love them
I highly recommend judging a science fair. These kids with their enthusiasm and trifold boards made being a scientist under the current administration SO much more bearable today
February 22, 2025 at 4:56 PM
I highly recommend judging a science fair. These kids with their enthusiasm and trifold boards made being a scientist under the current administration SO much more bearable today
Reposted by Sydney McDermott
I have not seen a crisis of this magnitude since yesterday
February 8, 2025 at 12:53 AM
I have not seen a crisis of this magnitude since yesterday
Do you think people can tell that I'm teaching #cnidarians today
February 5, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Do you think people can tell that I'm teaching #cnidarians today
Reposted by Sydney McDermott
how your email finds me
February 4, 2025 at 6:03 PM
how your email finds me
Reposted by Sydney McDermott
Today is Retraction Day, when we observe the anniversary of the retraction (Feb. 2, 2010) of the fraudulent paper that purported to show a link between vaccines and autism. 🧪#medsky
![This is the front page of a fraudulent research article that purported to show a link between vaccines and autism. The word "RETRACTED" is written across it in large red letters.
Wikipedia: On 28th February 1998, a fraudulent research paper by physician Andrew Wakefield and twelve coauthors, titled "Ileal-Lymphoid-Nodular Hyperplasia, Non-Specific Colitis, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder in Children", was published in the British medical journal The Lancet.[1] The paper falsely claimed causative links between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and colitis and between colitis and autism. The fraud involved data selection, data manipulation, and two undisclosed conflicts of interest.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:sox6xar4qdc3ujhi5h4whtlh/bafkreiazjyxk6foryp6lzxcqbls62uaokwhjrjmnzg5uqpdimg77xrt26a@jpeg)
February 2, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Today is Retraction Day, when we observe the anniversary of the retraction (Feb. 2, 2010) of the fraudulent paper that purported to show a link between vaccines and autism. 🧪#medsky
Reposted by Sydney McDermott
Just making sure that everyone is aware of this crab that NOAA scientists found
January 19, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Just making sure that everyone is aware of this crab that NOAA scientists found
I don't, but maybe I should! They're easy if you want to make them yourself, I use printer safe shrink plastic and print whatever it is I want as an earring, cut it out, then pop them in the oven on a baking sheet at 325f to shrink. Then it's just getting creative with how I get them on my ears!
January 19, 2025 at 2:04 AM
I don't, but maybe I should! They're easy if you want to make them yourself, I use printer safe shrink plastic and print whatever it is I want as an earring, cut it out, then pop them in the oven on a baking sheet at 325f to shrink. Then it's just getting creative with how I get them on my ears!
Lesson planning, aka making sure I have earrings for every phylum I will be teaching in my invertebrate zoology lab this semester
January 16, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Lesson planning, aka making sure I have earrings for every phylum I will be teaching in my invertebrate zoology lab this semester
The aromatherapy candle I bought because it promised peace and relaxation just exploded at midnight the night before the new semester begins. An omen of only good things, I'm sure.
January 15, 2025 at 6:16 AM
The aromatherapy candle I bought because it promised peace and relaxation just exploded at midnight the night before the new semester begins. An omen of only good things, I'm sure.
Reposted by Sydney McDermott
Occasional reminder that there’s no, “it’s too late, its over” for anthropogenic climate change. Every molecule of CO2 that doesn’t go into the atmosphere makes a difference. Preventing 0.1 degree of warming makes a difference. Every bit of climate resilience we build together makes a difference.
January 9, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Occasional reminder that there’s no, “it’s too late, its over” for anthropogenic climate change. Every molecule of CO2 that doesn’t go into the atmosphere makes a difference. Preventing 0.1 degree of warming makes a difference. Every bit of climate resilience we build together makes a difference.