Melanie Stegman, Ph.D.
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melzy.bsky.social
Melanie Stegman, Ph.D.
@melzy.bsky.social
540 followers 860 following 450 posts
Biochemist, game designer, life enthusiast, UU, supporter of others' dreams.
ScienceGameCenter.org

Always looking for work: Game design, science communication, evaluation.
Baltimore, USA + anywhere
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melzy.bsky.social
Baltimore City, in the beautiful Greenmount West neighborhood this morning.
November 18, 2025 at 4:15 AM
melzy.bsky.social
Catherine Croft, Melanie Stegman and Henry Kelly at the speaker's table in the background while Elizabeth Newbury takes a selfie!
November 15, 2025 at 10:09 PM
melzy.bsky.social
I'm moderating a panel with three thoughtful and experienced people who care about education and workforce development. Each have have created amazing experimental games. Nov 15th at 2 pm we'll discuss the future with games & AI. #gamedev game4good.gg Baltimore
Henry Kelly, technology policy advisor will be on a panel discussing games and AI for training and learning. Moderated by me, Melanie Stegman. Elizabeth Newbury, science and tech policy and researcher will be on a panel discussing games and AI for training and learning. Moderated by me, Melanie Stegman. Saturday 2pm Catherine Croft co-founder of CatLily Games will be on a panel discussing games and AI for training and learning. Moderated by me, Melanie Stegman.
October 28, 2025 at 4:14 PM
melzy.bsky.social
Today in Baltimore, on Howard Street, on the same block as Current Space and a few blocks from Lexington Market I had the best vegan ice cream at my favorite place, Cajou. Cajou is French for cashew!
Happy white girl eating vegan mango ice cream on a cocoa flavored cone... And yeah, said girl has a bunch of grey in her black hair, but age is a state of mind! Nobody is old at Cajou!!! And Baltimore is the best!!
September 8, 2025 at 1:49 AM
melzy.bsky.social
The 307 is a regular city bus, the 301 is a fancy coach bus with padded seats. No bathroom and neither bus has electricity to charge phone. But they all have free wifi. No eating/drinking on the 301.
This is the inside of the 301. No cushy seats but WiFi and you can eat. Pretty sure you can eat! I've got the Transit App and Google maps both actively tracking m. The Transit App is good enough, actually, I am very happy to see!!!! My view of the bus stop at Court Street and Cowgill St and the WaWa behind it. Some kind of utility truck is blocking our view. This is the 307 on its way back to Lewes.
July 31, 2025 at 3:42 PM
melzy.bsky.social
This is my transfer at Court Street and Cowgill. Chihuahua makes it work! There's no bench but there are trees that make shade! And friendly people!
I stood a bus stop in the sun for about a second before I retreated back to the shade Here is the 307 heading back to Lewis Transit center. The driver was happy to see me, since on my way out of the bus he made sure I knew I was going. He expected me to get out at the transit center and not the Wawa! Now he was happy to see me waiting in the right spot! While I was sitting here in the shade I was talking with a woman on her way to Walmart and she turned back and said the driver says the 301 is on his way! Everybody here super friendly, the truck drivers in the soccer moms at the Wawa and everybody waiting on the bus and the killer heat!!! Wide angle of view of the glorious bus stop here at Court Street and Cowgill!! Bring something to sit on and some water if it's hot!
July 31, 2025 at 3:24 PM
melzy.bsky.social
This is my transfer at Court Street and Cowgill. Chihuahua makes it work! There's no bench but there are trees that make shade! And friendly people!
I stood a bus stop in the sun for about a second before I retreated back to the shade Here is the 307 heading back to Lewis Transit center. The driver was happy to see me, since on my way out of the bus he made sure I knew I was going. He expected me to get out at the transit center and not the Wawa! Now he was happy to see me waiting in the right spot! While I was sitting here in the shade I was talking with a woman on her way to Walmart and she turned back and said the driver says the 301 is on his way! Everybody here super friendly, the truck drivers in the soccer moms at the Wawa and everybody waiting on the bus and the killer heat!!! Wide angle of view of the glorious bus stop here at Court Street and Cowgill!! Bring something to sit on and some water if it's hot!
July 31, 2025 at 3:23 PM
melzy.bsky.social
The DART pamphlet for the Beach Bus.
July 28, 2025 at 9:59 PM
melzy.bsky.social
Today in Baltimore Rules !! I'm here to brag that I am on my way to Lewes Beach, and I'm taking public transit the whole way!
Amtrak to Wilmington, DE $15.
305 DART bus, the special weekends only beach bus from Wilmington to Lewes Transit Center!
204 bus to Lewes Beach!
Here I am with my beach gear waiting on the track at Penn Station, Baltimore. A MARC commuter train is behind me.
July 27, 2025 at 2:27 PM
melzy.bsky.social
Baltimore rules!!!
Thunderstorm rolling in over MICA's campus. All you'd see in this pic is dark blue clouds and a streetlight with a MICA flag. Seems like a sunset as we look over the "rainbow bridge" but we're actually facing north, and a big old storm is rolling in from the West, leaving this patch of daytime sky in the north. Another view of the light post and the stormy clouds, but now you see the 5 story all glass building (MICA's Media Arts building where I work)... It's only 8:30 and there is lightening... I rode my bike back to Johnston Square, best neighborhood ever!!! Downtown Thursday evening. I saw the Palestinian flag and joined in. There were about 5 different local organizations all working together for peach and justice.
July 26, 2025 at 1:06 AM
melzy.bsky.social
Yay!! Bugs and art!! Here is my roommate's @erisranson.bsky.social praying mantis on our fridge! (Yeah, not *official sciart* but still beloved sciart!!!
An amazingly sophisticated crayon drawing of a young praying mantis.
June 28, 2025 at 8:11 PM
melzy.bsky.social
#charlesStreetPromenade
#YouWishYouWereHere
Baltimore!!!
A panorama of the scene on Charles Street The stage is blasting dance music, Gatsby bar has amazing new art and Trips nextdoor has a sweet outdoor table scene! Still shot of the amazing new art on the Gatsby cocktail bar I bet it's a dance club in there too Okay, I look ridiculous in this photo but Desmond this amazing photographer that I know from the neighborhood looks amazing and he took some pictures of me so I'm hoping with his fancy camera I might look better
June 14, 2025 at 10:34 PM
melzy.bsky.social
No Kings in the USA.

I'll be protesting in Baltimore, MD today. I could have been in DC, it's a 30 minute trip on a commuter train. But I don't want to celebrate any kind of military. I want the US border to be open to people who want to work. I want the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS to finally be real.
Johnny Cash, with guitar around his neck, behind a microphone, on stage but not singing, rather at this moment he is flipping the bird right at the camera and the look on his face is pure defiance. Why is Johnny Cash defying? Well, this is the song he wrote about what he cared about. (The photo is black and white, but his shirt, which is all you can see isn't black, it could be a dark grey 😁 He's my hero, nonetheless!) Man in Black by Johnny Cash Well, you wonder why I always dress in black Why you never see bright colors on my back And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town I wear it for the prisoner who is long paid for his crime But is there because he's a victim of the times I wear the black for those who've never read Or listened to the words that Jesus said About the road to happiness through love and charity Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back Up front there ought to be a man in black I wear it for the sick and lonely old For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been Each week we lose a hundred fine young men And I wear it for the thousands who have died Believin' that the Lord was on their side I wear it for another hundred-thousand who have died Believin' that we all were on their side Well, there's things that never will be right, I know And things need changin' everywhere you go But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right You'll never see me wear a suit of white Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day And tell the world that everything's okay But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back 'Til things are brighter, I'm the man in black
June 14, 2025 at 1:46 PM
melzy.bsky.social
Images of life in the Johnston Square neighborhood of Baltimore. First picture is Guilford Hall, then two of our majestic Amtrak station, and then another Guildford Hall. Astronomy on Tap ❤️🤓❤️
A really large beer hall full of a rowdy crowd of geeky people, about 100 somewhat diverse people are visible. :) this is intermission between astronomy talks, people are talking to each other Night time view of Penn Station, you can see the male female statue looking taller than the station and you can see the clock on the top of the station lots and lots of cars all around picking up people and a really bright street light This is a view of the back of Penn station, showing the newly renovated bridge and stairwell to one of the passenger tracks, and the cute little street lights lighting the tracks for people. It's very modern looking, like straight lines and simple architecture compared to the old majestic ornate style of the front of the Penn Station Here's a sign for astronomy on tap, it's a graphic art representation of thethe web telescope: a bunch of gold hexagons in the empty first floor of a industrial styled beer hall
February 1, 2025 at 10:42 PM
melzy.bsky.social
Scenes from the last 48 hours in Baltimore City. In Station North there is a brewery that attracts us science and tech folks! Guildford Hall hosted a robotics competition, astronomy on tap, my friend is doing improv Friday at BIG, and my Unitarian congregation is prepping for Lunar New Year !
Robotics competition in a big brick warehouse that is Guildford Hall Brewery now. CEO's from local tech companies battled each other with robots built by Baltimore students !! Tronster, shown here, won!! My friend is skilled and experienced at creating Lion heads for dancing out of cardboard boxes!!! What?? The lion looks really amazing, and I think it's all made out of just paper!! Construction paper that has really saturated colors, not cheap construction paper! In our Unitarian service on Sunday they announced that we would have lion dancing for Lunar New Year on Sunday Feb 2nd. Line dancing for Lunar New Year?? We were all confused. But when we saw this lion, all became clear! Heather Moyer t aches improv at Baltimore Improv Group on Charles Street just south of North. You can park cheap in a garage across the street and eat dinner in so many different beautiful restaurants.... Just go! Heather is a riot.free shows Thursdays, $10 shows Fri and Sat. Guildford Hall is packed again, AGAIN, for science!!! Astronomy on Tap is a slide show of images and experiments conducted by the scientists who run the Webb and Hubble Telescopes. Did you know they were controlled from Baltimore City??
January 31, 2025 at 1:49 AM
melzy.bsky.social
I hung out with the awesome folks at Baltimore Underground Science Space today! Soon I'll be doing PCR and determining diversity of organisms in the Harbor! #algae #bacteria #microbiology
Table cloth black with big white letters spelling out Baltimore Underground Science Space (BUGSS) A space for creative biology! Says @bugsslab is their social media but they aren't here yet. Just a poster I saw at BUGSS, It says no more plastic and it has a blue crab holding a bunch of plastic trash. And then it says visit www.bmorebeyond plastic.org to learn more about a new youth-led initiative to stop pollution in our city. Join Baltimore beyond plastic! This is another poster that has a bunch of microbiology plates, like agar and Peter dishes and they're all different colors and they're showing dilutions of probably bacteria growing on the plates and the poster says hidden beauty: exploring the aesthetics of medical science and it was a show at a gallery in October through December 2017!
January 18, 2025 at 11:34 PM
melzy.bsky.social
Erratum: the electric line is not 550-feet wide.
The Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project site says the towers have a much smaller footprint than older designs. corporate.pseg.com/aboutpseg/co...
It is 70 miles long and everyone with decision making power seems to agree "we need more electricity"
Picture of brown, um towers? They are electric towels holding up what looks like miles-long cables, but instead of 4 legs these towers have two. They are taller than the mature trees in the photo, and the grass under them has been mowed. Description of what the towers look like, according to the people being paid to build them, the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project. "The current proposed transmission line consists of H-frame structures made from “weathering steel,” a steel alloy that has been specially formulated to develop a protective, brown-colored patina layer without the need for paint. The H-Frame structures are an upgrade over the historic lattice towers, because H-Frames have a smaller footprint and can be farmed around. They are also around 40 to 50 feet shorter than a typical monopile structure."
January 16, 2025 at 2:49 AM
melzy.bsky.social
I didn't have a chance to go to DC to memorialize Jimmy Carter, my favorite president... But @tomapella.bsky.social and I did make a trip to Restore Baltimore, the second hand furniture store of @habitatforhumanity.bsky.social Thank you, Jimmy and Roslyn Carter, for making life on Earth easier.
Melanie and Tom getting their photo with rh employees of Baltimore Restore. One lovely employee is holding the camera to take the selfie, the Restore bulletin board is behind us. Vast white wall of a warehouse with Habitat for Humanity Restore painted across the top. With a truck dock and a trailer truck painted to say the same: Habitat for Humanity Restore. Two employees waving from inside the dock 😀
January 9, 2025 at 8:36 PM
melzy.bsky.social
Baltimore video artists or anyone would would like to make a video about themes usually portrayed in quilts: comfort, family history, inequality...

mdartplace.org/opportunitie...
Jan 11 deadline.

Submit a video to the Gallery 410 | Media Quilt project. See detail in images and alt text!
This large-scale participatory media project will utilize the concept of a traditional quilt through submissions and the lens of current video technology. Through this OPEN CALL (for Baltimore City and Baltimore County residents) Media Artist Mandy Morrison with Curator Aleem Allison, will select a collection of uploaded short videos that explore themes commonly portrayed in traditional quilts, such as comfort, friendship, love, gratitude, history, family, inequality, emotional and physical scarring, and loss. Using video mapping, these individual short videos will be organized into a large projected time-based "Media Quilt” to be projected in Gallery 410, a downtown (Bromo Arts District) gallery space with large street-facing windows. The installation is set to run from February 4 - April 6, 2025, with an opening on February 4, 6-8:30 PM. Then choose the 410 Lofts/Media Quilt project. Or email Deadline Jan 11 Feb 4 - April 6 exhibition
January 2, 2025 at 8:16 PM
melzy.bsky.social
I'm looking for an affordable, all-natural material sofa.
On Etsy, I see cushions filled with silicone balls.

Is silicon any better for the environment than plastic. And yeah, just like plastic, each piece I buy will be on the planet centuries longer than I. www.greenmatch.co.uk/blog/is-sili...
Silicone's production is not environmentally benign. It involves the use of hydrocarbons derived from petroleum, a non-renewable resource. The process requires high temperatures, which typically consume significant energy, often from fossil fuels. It may release siloxanes at temperatures above 300 °F, harming the environment. Furthermore, it is not biodegradable. While it is more durable and less likely to be discarded than plastic, it can persist in the environment for hundreds of years once it reaches the end of its life. Recycling silicone is technically possible but challenging, as it requires specialised facilities that are not widely available. Silicone's environmental footprint is multifaceted: Production Process: The creation of silicone relies on hydrocarbons derived from petroleum, a non-renewable resource. This process is energy-intensive and contributes to carbon emissions. Recyclability: Silicone is notoriously difficult to recycle. Most curbside recycling programs do not accept it, and only a few speciality recyclers handle silicone, limiting its end-of-life options. Biodegradability: Silicone is not biodegradable or compostable within a human lifetime. While it may break down into smaller pieces over time, it does not decompose fully, posing long-term environmental risks. What is the impact of silicone? The global silicone market was estimated at £ 17.06 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.0% from 2024 to 2030. This growth indicates an increasing production and use of silicone, which could exacerbate its environmental impact.
January 2, 2025 at 3:06 PM
melzy.bsky.social
I'm trying to write back something encouraging but every time I try, I have flashbacks to both times I had that virus! Both while traveling, once to an academic conference. :( ..... Aaaaaaaa Here is a cozy scene to take our minds off it!!
A Christmas cactus blooming with big, fucia (fucia is pink that is rudely impossible to ignore) with two plush gingerbread people, one on either side. Perfect Christmas/Winter decoration
December 29, 2024 at 3:41 AM
melzy.bsky.social
Akbar's Indian is open tonight and tomorrow!
maps.app.goo.gl/twxGkbQCpKyz...
That are great, too!
Screenshot from Google maps showing that Akbar officially changed their Christmas day hours to 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. . If a restaurant doesn't change their hours then Google maps just says hours may differ.
December 24, 2024 at 11:19 PM
melzy.bsky.social
Here's where I went to see the sunset. I'm standing at the yellow arrow looking in the direction of the arrow.... Winter solstice sun will be right between MLK and Chase.
I ❤️ Baltimore City.
Google satellite view of a 5-way intersection with a Blick art supply store, bar called Wet City, Dominoes pizza place and large Symphony Center apartment complex.
December 21, 2024 at 11:16 PM
melzy.bsky.social
Went searching for the solstice sunset in Baltimore City this evening and found the sun exactly between Martian Luther King Jr. and Chase Streets. #solstice

Happy Winter Solstice, to my northern hemisphere friends!! Happy Summer Solstice, my friends in Chilé!! The light will always come back. 🌟🌟🌟
A fiery sunset, bright yellow clouds reflecting a sun we can't actually see anymore, but there are rays visible and intense light between two busy streets and then a bright blue simple, cloudless sky everywhere else. This version is cleaner, no tree, making the blue sky seem much more simple and bright. The sunset looks like a fireplace, it's differently bright in each shot. A fiery sunset, bright yellow clouds reflecting a sun we can't actually see anymore, but there are rays visible and intense light between two busy streets and then a bright blue simple, cloudless sky everywhere else. Each sunset spot in the middle of the shot looks different from the others if you zoom in. Othereise this shot is the best view of the huge, five-way intersection of Park, MLK,Jr., and Chase St. A fiery sunset, bright yellow clouds reflecting a sun we can't actually see anymore, but there are rays visible and intense light between two busy streets and then a bright blue simple, cloudless sky everywhere else. I think this one is the fieriest. The tree is visible in this one. I'm trying to get a touch of nature in a clearly city scene. A fiery sunset, bright yellow clouds reflecting a sun we can't actually see anymore, but there are rays visible and intense light between two busy streets and then a bright blue simple, cloudless sky everywhere else. This version of the shot has a winter tree, walk signal and big crosswalks in the view.
December 21, 2024 at 11:11 PM
melzy.bsky.social
Backyard is a community farm! I fell in love with the farm, and the people in the community who support the farm and love it, too! When I saw a house that I could afford was available next to the farm I just completely blew up my life to get it!
View from a second story window showing a couple of blocks where row houses used to be. One section is parking and three sections are farm.... Behind the farm is a really old cemetery so you see nothing but trees.... On the left you can see the beginning of a building that is being used as a barn for the farm. This is a similar photo, looking out over the barn and a swing set and the rows of vegetables and flowers are clearly visible and again the cemetery and the distance.... It's a crazy sight for the middle of midtown Baltimore!
December 11, 2024 at 5:08 PM