Alyssa F.
@slyssabits.bsky.social
Slyss (she/they) . Cambrian arthropod and weird marine invert enthusiast. Monash/UNE Paleo PhD candidate. Sci comm, SFF, cats. PFP by Karen (@liveinjusttoday on X). 🖖🌈🦐❤️🖤💜
Pinned
Alyssa F.
@slyssabits.bsky.social
· Aug 21
Greetings! My name is Alyssa, and I'm a Palaeontology PhD candidate here in Melbourne. My primary focus is funky Cambrian bugs, but I also have a strong interest in how we collect, manage and communicate data/research. Also known as @slyssabits on X.
New #fossilsandfiction episode featuring the extremely talented Mark Witton!
Mark had some fantastic insights into the ways paleo and pop culture intersect, especially for the very famous #TRex in his new book ‘King Tyrant’! 🦖
tinyurl.com/34aerxt4
Mark had some fantastic insights into the ways paleo and pop culture intersect, especially for the very famous #TRex in his new book ‘King Tyrant’! 🦖
tinyurl.com/34aerxt4
Mark Witton's Palaeoart Journey
Fossils and Fiction · Episode
open.spotify.com
June 12, 2025 at 1:46 PM
New #fossilsandfiction episode featuring the extremely talented Mark Witton!
Mark had some fantastic insights into the ways paleo and pop culture intersect, especially for the very famous #TRex in his new book ‘King Tyrant’! 🦖
tinyurl.com/34aerxt4
Mark had some fantastic insights into the ways paleo and pop culture intersect, especially for the very famous #TRex in his new book ‘King Tyrant’! 🦖
tinyurl.com/34aerxt4
Reposted by Alyssa F.
"AI images don’t succinctly or accurately communicate scientific concepts & could undermine public trust in science... inaccuracies wouldn’t fly if they were created by a person, “but for some reason, having this sheen of fake polish that comes with AI kind of erases all of those standards” 🧪#sciart
Illustrators call out journals and news sites for using AI art
Bot-made art undermines research and public trust in science, say illustrators frustrated by inaccurate and outlandish depictions.
www.nature.com
June 6, 2025 at 8:17 PM
"AI images don’t succinctly or accurately communicate scientific concepts & could undermine public trust in science... inaccuracies wouldn’t fly if they were created by a person, “but for some reason, having this sheen of fake polish that comes with AI kind of erases all of those standards” 🧪#sciart
Excellent showcase! I think it can be intimidating for new artists to show their pieces to researchers. Accuracy and anatomy are important elements of paleo art. But we’re people, too! Most people appreciate it when you engage with their work. I personally adore any art of my buggy bois.
So for this Fossil(andfiction) Friday here’s a few pics relating to one of the questions that came up from @slyssabits.bsky.social during our chat about how actual palaeontologists and Palaeoartists respond to the things I get up to 😅
Podcast link below
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/f...
Podcast link below
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/f...
May 24, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Excellent showcase! I think it can be intimidating for new artists to show their pieces to researchers. Accuracy and anatomy are important elements of paleo art. But we’re people, too! Most people appreciate it when you engage with their work. I personally adore any art of my buggy bois.
Reposted by Alyssa F.
Had a great time presenting at #pintofscience2025 with @slyssabits.bsky.social and @sharkslikejazz.bsky.social. Thanks to all the organisers for giving me the chance to talk about seals 🦭
May 23, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Had a great time presenting at #pintofscience2025 with @slyssabits.bsky.social and @sharkslikejazz.bsky.social. Thanks to all the organisers for giving me the chance to talk about seals 🦭
Had so much fun presenting at #PintofScience2025 last night with @palaeo-jrule.bsky.social and @sharkslikejazz.bsky.social ! Thank you both for so many awesome secret sea-crit facts, and thanks to the organizers at Pint of Science Australia!
May 22, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Had so much fun presenting at #PintofScience2025 last night with @palaeo-jrule.bsky.social and @sharkslikejazz.bsky.social ! Thank you both for so many awesome secret sea-crit facts, and thanks to the organizers at Pint of Science Australia!
This was such a fun chat, and lots of great info for up and coming artists in our space! Have a listen :)
My chat with with the lovely @slyssabits.bsky.social and @travish.co has just dropped, talking Palaeoart, Lyme Regis, Luis Rey, & the importance of outreach so if you want to hear a poetic and piratical welsh rogue talk with wonderful people give it a listen! 🏴☠️🖤
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/f...
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/f...
T. rex: the Asian king?
Podcast Episode · Fossils and Fiction · 21/05/2025 · 55m
podcasts.apple.com
May 21, 2025 at 7:52 AM
This was such a fun chat, and lots of great info for up and coming artists in our space! Have a listen :)
Hey folks! Another awesome Karim event is coming up soon. If you weren’t at the first virtual extinct fine art gallery for paleo artists this year, you missed a real treat.
But don’t worry- Karim is bringing this and more art events to our community in the coming months!
But don’t worry- Karim is bringing this and more art events to our community in the coming months!
Can a networking event have a line-up?
It sure can! The next virtual #paleoart exhibition starts with an online event and "Show and Tell" sessions.
With
@kakapojay.bsky.social
@stygisk.bsky.social
@ppaleoartist.bsky.social
@babbletrish.bsky.social
Victoria Grabowski
Get your (free) ticket below⬇️
It sure can! The next virtual #paleoart exhibition starts with an online event and "Show and Tell" sessions.
With
@kakapojay.bsky.social
@stygisk.bsky.social
@ppaleoartist.bsky.social
@babbletrish.bsky.social
Victoria Grabowski
Get your (free) ticket below⬇️
April 28, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Hey folks! Another awesome Karim event is coming up soon. If you weren’t at the first virtual extinct fine art gallery for paleo artists this year, you missed a real treat.
But don’t worry- Karim is bringing this and more art events to our community in the coming months!
But don’t worry- Karim is bringing this and more art events to our community in the coming months!
Total treat meeting James and chatting about all things paleo creativity! James outs so much thought into all his work. Cannot wait to share all you had to say with listeners (including some of my students ☺️!). Thanks for joining us!
Absolutely wonderful morning chatting with @fossilsfiction.co @slyssabits.bsky.social @travish.co about Lyme Regis Fossil Festival, Luis Rey, being kind and welcoming, in palaeo, non academic routes into SciComm, 3D printing, not being an “artist” and making people smile. Hope I did ok 🖤😅🏴☠️
April 21, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Total treat meeting James and chatting about all things paleo creativity! James outs so much thought into all his work. Cannot wait to share all you had to say with listeners (including some of my students ☺️!). Thanks for joining us!
Awesome short explainer on the whole dire wolf situation.
Even if you’re fine with “modified grey wolves”, should a company that misleads the public and investors keep getting access to resources, materials and funding to make them? esp when it’s a method that won’t/can’t produce real dire wolves?
Even if you’re fine with “modified grey wolves”, should a company that misleads the public and investors keep getting access to resources, materials and funding to make them? esp when it’s a method that won’t/can’t produce real dire wolves?
April 11, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Awesome short explainer on the whole dire wolf situation.
Even if you’re fine with “modified grey wolves”, should a company that misleads the public and investors keep getting access to resources, materials and funding to make them? esp when it’s a method that won’t/can’t produce real dire wolves?
Even if you’re fine with “modified grey wolves”, should a company that misleads the public and investors keep getting access to resources, materials and funding to make them? esp when it’s a method that won’t/can’t produce real dire wolves?
Reposted by Alyssa F.
March 27, 2025 at 10:52 AM
THE BUG IS LOOSE 🦐!
2020-2021, a team of Cambrian workers completed a massive transect (the BUG) through the Flinders Ranges looking at a highly complete series of early Cambrian stratigraphic units.
Today, the story of BUG begins, with Steph Richter-Stretton’s new paper: tinyurl.com/33b6a8ke
2020-2021, a team of Cambrian workers completed a massive transect (the BUG) through the Flinders Ranges looking at a highly complete series of early Cambrian stratigraphic units.
Today, the story of BUG begins, with Steph Richter-Stretton’s new paper: tinyurl.com/33b6a8ke
March 14, 2025 at 3:14 AM
THE BUG IS LOOSE 🦐!
2020-2021, a team of Cambrian workers completed a massive transect (the BUG) through the Flinders Ranges looking at a highly complete series of early Cambrian stratigraphic units.
Today, the story of BUG begins, with Steph Richter-Stretton’s new paper: tinyurl.com/33b6a8ke
2020-2021, a team of Cambrian workers completed a massive transect (the BUG) through the Flinders Ranges looking at a highly complete series of early Cambrian stratigraphic units.
Today, the story of BUG begins, with Steph Richter-Stretton’s new paper: tinyurl.com/33b6a8ke
Thinking about the amazing women in my field on #internationalwomensday. Anne Holmes, Amy Brock-Hon and Bret Buskirk were some of the first to help me fall in love with fossils, while folks like these have nurtured the field here in Aus! So lucky to know so many kickass ladies 💚!
What a blast, being on the inaugural Women in Palaeontology panel in Inverloch this past week! Thank you again to Sally Hurst for leading the panel. And thank you to co-panelists Adele Pentland, Pat Vickers-Rich, and Doris Seegets-Villiers for being kickass #womeninSTEM 🌟
📸: R. Duncan, A. Pentland
📸: R. Duncan, A. Pentland
March 8, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Thinking about the amazing women in my field on #internationalwomensday. Anne Holmes, Amy Brock-Hon and Bret Buskirk were some of the first to help me fall in love with fossils, while folks like these have nurtured the field here in Aus! So lucky to know so many kickass ladies 💚!
This was such a fun interview! Thank you again to Dr. Phoebe McInerney for schooling me on Genyornis, the swamp-dwelling giant, flightless bird from Australia’s not-so-distant past!
It's a beautiful day in the pleistocene and you are a horrible gigagoose...
Episode 41: You Are a Horrible Gigagoose
www.fossilsfiction.co
February 26, 2025 at 5:11 AM
This was such a fun interview! Thank you again to Dr. Phoebe McInerney for schooling me on Genyornis, the swamp-dwelling giant, flightless bird from Australia’s not-so-distant past!
Reposted by Alyssa F.
Unite! 💪
"Conflicts btw faculty & administrators ... should be set aside to focus attention on this ruthless takedown of academia. All disciplines will be affected by these cuts, not just science.
This is a moment to unite."
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... by @holdenthorp.bsky.social
"Conflicts btw faculty & administrators ... should be set aside to focus attention on this ruthless takedown of academia. All disciplines will be affected by these cuts, not just science.
This is a moment to unite."
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... by @holdenthorp.bsky.social
A direct hit
Earlier this month, the Trump administration set off a frenzy in the US scientific community when the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that indirect cost reimbursement for federally funde...
www.science.org
February 20, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Unite! 💪
"Conflicts btw faculty & administrators ... should be set aside to focus attention on this ruthless takedown of academia. All disciplines will be affected by these cuts, not just science.
This is a moment to unite."
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... by @holdenthorp.bsky.social
"Conflicts btw faculty & administrators ... should be set aside to focus attention on this ruthless takedown of academia. All disciplines will be affected by these cuts, not just science.
This is a moment to unite."
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... by @holdenthorp.bsky.social
Reposted by Alyssa F.
They’ve only waited 120Ma.
A new glimpse into theropod diversity from Early Cretaceous Australia: megaraptorids, an unenlagiine, and for the first time, carcharodontosaurians.
Read it here: tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Artwork by Jonathan Metzger.
1/10
A new glimpse into theropod diversity from Early Cretaceous Australia: megaraptorids, an unenlagiine, and for the first time, carcharodontosaurians.
Read it here: tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Artwork by Jonathan Metzger.
1/10
February 19, 2025 at 7:51 PM
They’ve only waited 120Ma.
A new glimpse into theropod diversity from Early Cretaceous Australia: megaraptorids, an unenlagiine, and for the first time, carcharodontosaurians.
Read it here: tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Artwork by Jonathan Metzger.
1/10
A new glimpse into theropod diversity from Early Cretaceous Australia: megaraptorids, an unenlagiine, and for the first time, carcharodontosaurians.
Read it here: tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Artwork by Jonathan Metzger.
1/10
What a blast, being on the inaugural Women in Palaeontology panel in Inverloch this past week! Thank you again to Sally Hurst for leading the panel. And thank you to co-panelists Adele Pentland, Pat Vickers-Rich, and Doris Seegets-Villiers for being kickass #womeninSTEM 🌟
📸: R. Duncan, A. Pentland
📸: R. Duncan, A. Pentland
February 15, 2025 at 8:53 AM
What a blast, being on the inaugural Women in Palaeontology panel in Inverloch this past week! Thank you again to Sally Hurst for leading the panel. And thank you to co-panelists Adele Pentland, Pat Vickers-Rich, and Doris Seegets-Villiers for being kickass #womeninSTEM 🌟
📸: R. Duncan, A. Pentland
📸: R. Duncan, A. Pentland
Reposted by Alyssa F.
Happy Valentine’s Day- Show your friends that your feelings will NEVER go extinct with some cambrian critters.
February 13, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Happy Valentine’s Day- Show your friends that your feelings will NEVER go extinct with some cambrian critters.
Reposted by Alyssa F.
Episode 40: Feasts and Beasts
Episode 40: Feasts and Beasts
www.fossilsfiction.co
February 11, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Episode 40: Feasts and Beasts
Happy #internationaldayofwomenandgirlsinSTEM (what a mouthful)! Greetings from beautiful Inverloch VIC, where the Cretaceous bone animal hunt continues. Love Dino Dreaming!
February 11, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Happy #internationaldayofwomenandgirlsinSTEM (what a mouthful)! Greetings from beautiful Inverloch VIC, where the Cretaceous bone animal hunt continues. Love Dino Dreaming!
Thanks Karim! This was my first ever panel and I feel very honored!
How to start "International day of women in science" better than with this panel discussion!
If you have 90minutes now(!), hear Pat Vicker-Rich, Doris Seegets-Villiers, Adele Pentland, and @slyssabits.bsky.social!
Unfortunately, just on Facebook, no account needed:
www.facebook.com/foundafossil...
If you have 90minutes now(!), hear Pat Vicker-Rich, Doris Seegets-Villiers, Adele Pentland, and @slyssabits.bsky.social!
Unfortunately, just on Facebook, no account needed:
www.facebook.com/foundafossil...
February 11, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Thanks Karim! This was my first ever panel and I feel very honored!
Reposted by Alyssa F.
Listen and chat - more about the online event!
I had to repost this as I have an amazing announcement: @extinctmonsters.bsky.social, exhibition developer at the Chicago Field Museum, will give a presentation!
After short welcome you are invited to chat and network.
You can still join!
more below
I had to repost this as I have an amazing announcement: @extinctmonsters.bsky.social, exhibition developer at the Chicago Field Museum, will give a presentation!
After short welcome you are invited to chat and network.
You can still join!
more below
February 6, 2025 at 7:14 AM
Listen and chat - more about the online event!
I had to repost this as I have an amazing announcement: @extinctmonsters.bsky.social, exhibition developer at the Chicago Field Museum, will give a presentation!
After short welcome you are invited to chat and network.
You can still join!
more below
I had to repost this as I have an amazing announcement: @extinctmonsters.bsky.social, exhibition developer at the Chicago Field Museum, will give a presentation!
After short welcome you are invited to chat and network.
You can still join!
more below
Reposted by Alyssa F.
We'll be having the online launch for Palaeontology in Public on Tue 18 Feb 18:00-19:30 UK-time
It will feature comments from Mike Benton, Riley Black, Natalia Jagielska and Alison Laurence, & discussion with some of the chapter authors
More info & signup link here: forms.office.com/e/gpWburvZPk
It will feature comments from Mike Benton, Riley Black, Natalia Jagielska and Alison Laurence, & discussion with some of the chapter authors
More info & signup link here: forms.office.com/e/gpWburvZPk
January 28, 2025 at 4:16 PM
We'll be having the online launch for Palaeontology in Public on Tue 18 Feb 18:00-19:30 UK-time
It will feature comments from Mike Benton, Riley Black, Natalia Jagielska and Alison Laurence, & discussion with some of the chapter authors
More info & signup link here: forms.office.com/e/gpWburvZPk
It will feature comments from Mike Benton, Riley Black, Natalia Jagielska and Alison Laurence, & discussion with some of the chapter authors
More info & signup link here: forms.office.com/e/gpWburvZPk
Some amazingly talented folks have helped put together this Virtual Art Gallery!
I am also here 🙃. This my first time ever participating in a gallery or any kind of art show (outside grade school), and my one contribution is pretty amateur. But it’s nice trying to get out there more to improve!
I am also here 🙃. This my first time ever participating in a gallery or any kind of art show (outside grade school), and my one contribution is pretty amateur. But it’s nice trying to get out there more to improve!
If you enjoy art and/or paleontology - this exhibition is for you!
You can explore stunning artwork from amazing artists no matter where you are. You can visit from any place with a stable internet connection!
Starting February 8, 2025
(artist profiles in comments)
You can explore stunning artwork from amazing artists no matter where you are. You can visit from any place with a stable internet connection!
Starting February 8, 2025
(artist profiles in comments)
January 29, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Some amazingly talented folks have helped put together this Virtual Art Gallery!
I am also here 🙃. This my first time ever participating in a gallery or any kind of art show (outside grade school), and my one contribution is pretty amateur. But it’s nice trying to get out there more to improve!
I am also here 🙃. This my first time ever participating in a gallery or any kind of art show (outside grade school), and my one contribution is pretty amateur. But it’s nice trying to get out there more to improve!
Reposted by Alyssa F.
Seeking scientist volunteers for this spring! Want to practice science communication and help author a ✨comic✨ about your research? Learn more & sign up here by 1/30: bit.ly/comicscollabspring2025
January 16, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Seeking scientist volunteers for this spring! Want to practice science communication and help author a ✨comic✨ about your research? Learn more & sign up here by 1/30: bit.ly/comicscollabspring2025