Jehannine (J9) Austin
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j9austin.bsky.social
Jehannine (J9) Austin
@j9austin.bsky.social
4.5K followers 700 following 1K posts
Genetic Counselor, Professor/Dept. Head at the University of British Columbia. Editor in Chief: Journal of Genetic Counseling. Prez of International Society of Psychiatric Genetics. Unceded Coast Salish Territories.
They/them
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j9austin.bsky.social
Finally, my chance to post this pic! Look at this stunner, who I met in Italy last year… 🐌❤️
A beautiful shiny snail, warm brown striped shell, beigey head and foot, walking around on a wet grey rock. Theres some bright green moss in the lower left corner that makes the whole thing pop!
November 9, 2025 at 1:28 PM
j9austin.bsky.social
Here’s about 80% of the genetic counselor contingent thats here at #WCPG2025 … so great to see people! @lucasrichter.bsky.social
4 people of varying heights standing in a row and smiling with conference name tags hanging around their necks 😊
October 22, 2025 at 8:02 PM
j9austin.bsky.social
This one is my fave 😍
Fluorescently coloured something tiny with high magnification … beautiful!
October 18, 2025 at 2:24 AM
j9austin.bsky.social
So this just happened 😭 again 😭

I called trying to get a vaccine in September (which is when we need them really at the latest) and was told none till mid October.

So here I am. Feeling furious and resentful that this is just how we seem to have to live now. And everything hurts.
A positive covid test sitting on a marble bathroom counter top. Ugh 😩
October 7, 2025 at 12:28 AM
j9austin.bsky.social
It’s (IMO) the best season of the year 😍🎃
A stunning array of pumpkins and gourds in greens oranges yellows and whites and a whole variety of shapes and sizes. I haven’t counted but there must be hundreds in the picture - the whole frame is full. They are all on top of each other and there are no gaps visible.
October 4, 2025 at 2:18 PM
j9austin.bsky.social
Oh, you know… no, not doing much here… just reading Philip Pullman’s “the secret commonwealth” for escapism reasons and coming across this section and bawling 😭
"It all changed then to what we got now-a government what dun't trust the people, and a people that's…” (see alt text of next page) …afraid of the government, each side spying on the other. The CCD faction can't arrest as many people as hate it, and the people en't got the organization to move agin the CCD. Sort of a stalemate. But it's worse'n that. The other side's got an energy that our side en't got. Comes from their certainty about being right. If you got that certainty, you'll be willing to do anything to bring about the end you want. It's the oldest human problem, Lyra, an' it's the difference between good and evil. Evil can be unscrupulous, and good can't. Evil has nothing to stop it doing what it wants, while good has one hand tied behind its back. To do the things it needs to do to win, it'd have to become evil to do 'em."
September 19, 2025 at 3:08 AM
j9austin.bsky.social
I did not know the quote @kiraculous.net was referring to so I looked it up. Its perfect - as pointed out - for all bigotry....and it gives articulate expression to my infuriated yelling about how "words do in fact mean actual things, we cant just use them willy-nilly for whatever we feel like"
Never believe that anti-semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge, But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly since he believes in words. The anti-semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument, but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past" - Jean-Paul Sartre
August 8, 2025 at 2:59 PM
j9austin.bsky.social
Hi Canadian friends, want something to do about Gaza? Here's a petition... www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en...
The screenshot details the terms of the petition
August 5, 2025 at 12:20 AM
j9austin.bsky.social
When I said yes, he told me that a lecture series (minimed school 2016) I led at @bcchresearch.bsky.social that he had attended when he was a high school student had made a positive difference to him, that led to him going to med school, where he is currently an MD/PhD student 🥲 2/2
Me and Tony Guo standing in a bright university hallway, smiling broadly. Tony has his arm around my shoulder.
July 25, 2025 at 6:50 PM
j9austin.bsky.social
It’s my quarterly blood donation appointment again today - I always try to post as a prompt to others who may be eligible and due ❤️😊
Me! Short bleached blond hair and black t shirt with some gauze on my left arm - mid blood donation.
July 15, 2025 at 3:25 PM
j9austin.bsky.social
I went back and it’s GONE!!! 😭😭😭😭
I also found that another one I had enjoyed every time I passed by has been hacked off at the ankles.. I know it’s a small thing in the grand scheme of whats happening, and I tell myself someone was probably in need/desperate….But we need art. It matters. Im sad 😭
A sad bare spot on a concrete pillar where previously a lovely piece of art had been installed. I describe it in the alt text of the quoted post below.
July 15, 2025 at 1:31 AM
j9austin.bsky.social
Everything sucks. But the frogs 🐸 were having an awesome time calling to each other today at beaver lake in Stanley park. So theres that.
Green frog (I think) sitting at a gravel/small-green-weedy interface at the side of a path. It’s side on, facing to the right looking beautifully bumpy and shiny. All it’s front toes are splayed out 🥰 A green frog (I think) like actually literally really truly sitting on a Lilly pad. As frogs should but rarely do! Photo is from above so you can see a top down shot of the whole frog! 🐸 Another green frog this time sitting half on a lily pad, half in the water. It has a beautiful yellow throat. The shot is front on from above so you get a really nice view of it ANOTHER green frog..this time a bit further away in the water surrounded by green stems and lily pads. It is half submerged with just its head and beautiful yellow throat sticking out
June 22, 2025 at 11:59 PM
j9austin.bsky.social
Anyone else living in #vancouver noticed any of these lovely sculptures around the city 😍? This is the 4th I’ve seen, they’re signed “Oxide” and all make sense in the context of their environments. This one is on the sea wall by science world. Have you seen them? Where? Let’s map them!
A sculpture that is probably about 10 inches tall, made of green painted(?) metal bolts, nuts, screws and washers. It’s two figures - one female form, one male - sitting on the base of a concrete pillar staring out across the grassy park area towards false creek. The female form is on the left leaning back, propped up on her hands. The male form on the right is leaning forwards with his elbows on his knees. They look contemplative relaxed and companionable.
June 7, 2025 at 7:26 PM
j9austin.bsky.social
Here’s a group of some of the members of the editorial board of the Journal of Genetic Counseling who are present here at #Eshg2025 - we should have an editorial board meeting here next time! #GeneChat
Some of the members of the editorial board of the Journal of Genetic Counseling, standing in a row and smiling at the camera. Left to right: Alison McEwen (special issue guest editor), Bianca Rousseau, Ramona Moldovan, J9 Austin, Andra Ciuca, Tasha Weinstein- also here but not in pic: Tara Clancy, Christophe cordier, Jodie Inglis.
May 26, 2025 at 9:24 AM
j9austin.bsky.social
Im at #ESHG2025 and on today’s agenda, I’ll be interviewed for the ESHG podcast - I think it’s open for people to come - join us if you wanna?
Screen shot of the conference app showing the details of the podcast Im participating in today - it’s at 12:15 in Brown 3
May 24, 2025 at 4:47 AM
j9austin.bsky.social
Im still reading/havent finished @carelesspeople.bsky.social yet, but if you are wondering whether continuing to use meta products is ethical, please read…

Also, as a genetic counselor I was moved by this bit:
Empathy and support *has to be* the core of our practice #GeneChat #LynchSyndrome
My doctors send me to a "genetic counselor" who says that it appears I have something called Lynch syndrome. I'll need some more tests to confirm but I'm told that if they don't remove my bowel, I'll get bowel cancer. I'm given pamphlets that start, A diagnosis of cancer raises complex emotions and questions. Among these are questions such as "What caused my cancer? Will I have to face cancer again? Are my family members at increased risk of cancer?" The way the specialists speak SO casually of the likelihood of cancer makes living without health insurance inconceivable, especially with two children.
May 2, 2025 at 12:49 PM
j9austin.bsky.social
Hey @neillewisjr.bsky.social I wanted to let you know that we quoted your posts from here in an editorial for our journal.
So grateful for your words 🙏🙏Thank you! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
Highlighted text citing Bluesky posts from an editorial: “in the words of Dr. Neil Lewis Jr., to please "keep doing your work. It matters in and of itself. [...] Institutions of learning [...] create and share knowledge that improves the lives of people around them. They are responsible for *making* the kinds of citizens that make democracy flourish [...]. This is why tyrants [...] are trying to destroy them. The knowledge that is created and shared, and the methods for creating and sharing that knowledge pose existential threats to tyrannical rule”
March 25, 2025 at 2:00 AM
j9austin.bsky.social
It’s that time again for me - blood donation! Posting as a reminder for anyone else who may be eligible and due 🙂
A person with short brown hair in a sleeveless white shirt and a black n95 with a blood pressure cuff around their left arm, in the process of making a blood donation. The caption says “ proud to be part of #canadasLifeline”
March 4, 2025 at 4:22 PM
j9austin.bsky.social
Thank you for the nice mushrooms, I am repaying you with some nice mushrooms 🍄‍🟫
A small brown stump in the snow that is Covered with beautiful brown mini conk-like mushrooms. They have orange edges it’s beautiful
February 23, 2025 at 7:03 PM
j9austin.bsky.social
Went for a walk in the forest today and found these quotes written on wood and hung on trees. Im grateful to whoever did this… I needed it, sharing in case you need it too.
I’d not seen the Emily Dickinson thing before today, but someone posted it here earlier, and then it was in the forest too 🧐
A Douglas fir in a mossy temperate rainforest setting with a piece of wood with writing hung on it from a nail with a chain. It reads: Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. on a quiet day, I can hear her breathing. - Arundati Roy A western red cedar in a mossy temperate rainforest setting with a piece of wood with writing hung on it from a nail with a chain. It reads: “hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul. And sings the tune without the words And never stops at all Emily Dickinson” Uncertain about this tree from just the bark tbh, but again it’s in a temperate rainforest setting with green ferns growing at the base. Again it’s hung with a piece of wood from a nail and chain, and it has writing on it that reads: There are days when I can't live in this country, Not the Whole thing of once, including the hateful parts, the misogyny, the brute disregard of the powerful for the powerless. Sometimes I can only be a citizen of these trees, this rainy day, the family i can hold safe. The garden I can grow. A fire that refuses to go out” Barbara Kingsolver Another tree with some lovely green moss on its trunk, same temperate rainforest background, hung with a piece of wood with writing on it. It reads: “you have to sniff out the joy. Keep your nose to the joy trail. Buffy Ste Marie “
February 15, 2025 at 10:46 PM
j9austin.bsky.social
Okay finally remembered I have a contribution to make to the Superb Owl celebration this year! #SuperbOwl
A beautiful owl sitting on a stick just on the surface of some very still water. The owl is looking at the water considering having a bath (which happened just shortly after!) The same lovely owl sitting on a mossy sunlit branch with green trees in the background. It’s now had it’s bath and is drying off 😍
February 10, 2025 at 1:24 AM
j9austin.bsky.social
Another important piece of writing for #AcademicSky 🧪
I’ve cut and pasted pics of some of the text below - one bit that documents key harms already done, and another is a great quote from @holdenthorp.bsky.social
• The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has shut down its Inclusive Excellence 3 programme, saying to recipients that 'no further payments will be made' • NASA has removed the word 'inclusion' from the core values it represents and has instructed employees to remove all personal pronouns from work communications. • The US National Science Foundation is scouring grants for keywords (equality, minority, trauma) that could lead to funding being stopped. • The National Institutes of Health have said that applications from graduate students from underrepresented backgrounds under their diversity scheme have been removed from the applicant pool. • The American Society of Microbiology Society censored an article on women in the development of antimicrobials to remove words such as 'marginalised', 'equity', and 'diversity', without telling the author. Holden Thorp, editor in chief of the Science journals, has wisely said that resistance does not have to be overt: 'It also means understanding the situation, caring for the people under their charge who are affected, helping them grieve for what is being lost and leading a conversation about how higher education is going to adapt to the new realities without sacrificing our values.
February 7, 2025 at 11:53 PM
j9austin.bsky.social
I met a friend of your “tree” …this one has a smug smirk, two very large horns and a lovely big curved tail to the right and behind it (to me anyway, do you see it??)
Picture of a tree, pale blue sky with small fluffy white clouds… the tree is very dark and the trunk takes up about 1/3 of the frame. Branches and marks on its bark give it the appearance described in the post!
February 5, 2025 at 1:39 PM
j9austin.bsky.social
The first day of Black History month feels like a great time to pay my respects/express my gratitude to Maya Angelou. Im sharing a few of her quotes here that are like compasses to me. My true north.
Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. Maya Angelou @ quoteloncy Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. Maya Angelou Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it. Maya Angelou When someone shows you who they are believe them; the first time. Maya Angelou
February 1, 2025 at 3:17 PM
j9austin.bsky.social
For … reasons… this poem came to mind. It’s called “try to praise the mutilated world”
Its by Adam Zagajewsky, translated from Polish by Clare Cavanagh

It’s devastating/beautiful.
It’s from here: www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57095/...
POETRY FOUNDATION Try to praise the mutilated world. Remember June's long days, and wild strawberries, drops of rosé wine. The nettles that methodically overgrow the abandoned homesteads of exiles. You must praise the mutilated world. You watched the stylish yachts and ships; one of them had a long trip ahead of it, while salty oblivion awaited others. You've seen the refugees going nowhere, you've heard the executioners sing joyfully. You should praise the mutilated world. Remember the moments when we were together in a white room and the curtain fluttered. Return in thought to the concert where music flared. You gathered acorns in the park in autumn and leaves eddied over the earth's scars. Praise the mutilated world and the gray feather a thrush lost, and the gentle light that strays and vanishes and returns.
January 22, 2025 at 4:03 AM