Stephanie L. Shepherd
@stephlshep.bsky.social
Working to change STEM education, Geomorphologist, Advocate
Unpaid protestor doing my democratic duty. 400-500 folks lined a main artery into Auburn, AL to catch gameday traffic. We received far more honks and waves than birds.
October 19, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Unpaid protestor doing my democratic duty. 400-500 folks lined a main artery into Auburn, AL to catch gameday traffic. We received far more honks and waves than birds.
Capturing the morning sun beams
September 21, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Capturing the morning sun beams
An important part of our American history that must be remembered. www.facebook.com/share/p/1BBS...
Redirecting...
www.facebook.com
September 15, 2025 at 3:28 PM
An important part of our American history that must be remembered. www.facebook.com/share/p/1BBS...
Check on your friends (students, faculty, staff) at all these universities that have had "hoax" active shooter lock downs in the past 2 weeks. Their experiences were real and they are possibly not okay.
August 28, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Check on your friends (students, faculty, staff) at all these universities that have had "hoax" active shooter lock downs in the past 2 weeks. Their experiences were real and they are possibly not okay.
I spent a long time appreciating the engineering feats of spiders this morning before I was able to face my hectic Wednesday workday.
August 27, 2025 at 8:35 PM
I spent a long time appreciating the engineering feats of spiders this morning before I was able to face my hectic Wednesday workday.
Another paper is out from my Buffalo River colleagues. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Two million years of climate-driven cave-sediment aggradation and valley incision in the southern Ozark Plateau from Fitton Cave, northern Arkansas, USA | Quaternary Research | Cambridge Core
Two million years of climate-driven cave-sediment aggradation and valley incision in the southern Ozark Plateau from Fitton Cave, northern Arkansas, USA
www.cambridge.org
August 24, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Another paper is out from my Buffalo River colleagues. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
A new short paper about our work developing the curriculum for AUTeach is out!
doi.org/10.32674/k53...
doi.org/10.32674/k53...
How science teacher educators reconceptualize writing within their curriculum: A self-study
| American Journal of STEM Education
doi.org
August 20, 2025 at 10:40 PM
A new short paper about our work developing the curriculum for AUTeach is out!
doi.org/10.32674/k53...
doi.org/10.32674/k53...
HWY 64. NE Arkansas
August 1, 2025 at 5:10 PM
HWY 64. NE Arkansas
Camped in a cave this weekend with my son's cubscout pack. I was a good mom and did not explain Karst processes except when asked. Also show caves are weird.
June 23, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Camped in a cave this weekend with my son's cubscout pack. I was a good mom and did not explain Karst processes except when asked. Also show caves are weird.
Maps! There is something about printed maps that is so much more powerful than looking at a computer screen (in my opinion).
June 10, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Maps! There is something about printed maps that is so much more powerful than looking at a computer screen (in my opinion).
Messing about in streams in the rain with a very energetic group of high school students! Hopefully they know a little bit more about Geoscience, urban streams, and the fun of field research.
June 5, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Messing about in streams in the rain with a very energetic group of high school students! Hopefully they know a little bit more about Geoscience, urban streams, and the fun of field research.
Field season has commenced!
May 29, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Field season has commenced!
Thanks at @seaicebeth.bsky.social for sharing such an amazing project - vimeo.com/1032126421?s... This is why we need the USGS, NPS, and NSF.
Beneath the Sea Floor: Unearthing the Bering Land Bridge
ATMI youth producer Natalie Buttner gained a media internship on board the RV Sikuliaq, where scientists extracted core samples from the bottom of the Bering Sea…
vimeo.com
May 16, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Thanks at @seaicebeth.bsky.social for sharing such an amazing project - vimeo.com/1032126421?s... This is why we need the USGS, NPS, and NSF.
On my last day as AUTeach Co-Director I taught the last class in the Science Teaching Classroom in Haley Center. It was also the first semester I had the privilege of co-teaching a new class SCMH 3010: Inquiry Experiences for Science Teachers to the first graduating class of AUTeach students.
May 1, 2025 at 12:27 PM
On my last day as AUTeach Co-Director I taught the last class in the Science Teaching Classroom in Haley Center. It was also the first semester I had the privilege of co-teaching a new class SCMH 3010: Inquiry Experiences for Science Teachers to the first graduating class of AUTeach students.
Reposted by Stephanie L. Shepherd
The same is true for NIH, btw, so when they cancel grants like mine bc they are no longer interested in promoting careers in biomedical research, they are violating their congressional mandate to diversify the field.
A reminder that NSF is explicitly breaking the law if/when they attempt to cancel grants that focus on promoting participation in science by underrepresented groups on that basis, incl women in science programs like NSF ADVANCE. Congress expressly directs the NSF to grant funds for this purpose. 🧪
LAWLESS NSF:
Every NSF employee who is following the director on this funding freeze and fishing expedition is in violation of US code.
per the post below, this language has been reauthorized twice, most recently by Biden in 2022 as the CHIPS Act.
www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/...
🧪
Every NSF employee who is following the director on this funding freeze and fishing expedition is in violation of US code.
per the post below, this language has been reauthorized twice, most recently by Biden in 2022 as the CHIPS Act.
www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/...
🧪
April 19, 2025 at 4:37 AM
The same is true for NIH, btw, so when they cancel grants like mine bc they are no longer interested in promoting careers in biomedical research, they are violating their congressional mandate to diversify the field.
AARGH! My poor postdoc who was hired and then almost not hired in January and now may be unhired again... And that is just a drop in the bucket of faculty, post docs, and students that are currently and will be impacted. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Exclusive: Trump team freezes new NSF awards — and could soon axe hundreds of grants
The National Science Foundation is the latest US agency to be disrupted by Elon Musk’s DOGE.
www.nature.com
April 18, 2025 at 10:26 PM
AARGH! My poor postdoc who was hired and then almost not hired in January and now may be unhired again... And that is just a drop in the bucket of faculty, post docs, and students that are currently and will be impacted. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
WTF.... I just can't.
Let's be clear: Ed Martin has no power here.
The government has no business demanding information about a journal's editorial decisions or its positions on "misinformation."
CHEST should let Ed Martin know that the cavity he should stick it in is not within their remit.
The government has no business demanding information about a journal's editorial decisions or its positions on "misinformation."
CHEST should let Ed Martin know that the cavity he should stick it in is not within their remit.
April 17, 2025 at 9:23 PM
WTF.... I just can't.
Teaching future science teachers is fun! Especially when you break out the bowling ball.
April 16, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Teaching future science teachers is fun! Especially when you break out the bowling ball.
My geomorphology students discovered a new wonder on our field trip to Providence Canyon... Dung Beetles. We were stopped in our tracks more than once watching these amazingly industrious creatures.
April 7, 2025 at 5:47 PM
My geomorphology students discovered a new wonder on our field trip to Providence Canyon... Dung Beetles. We were stopped in our tracks more than once watching these amazingly industrious creatures.
Expecting storms tonight, hoping all our trees are healthy and strong.
March 15, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Expecting storms tonight, hoping all our trees are healthy and strong.
Reposted by Stephanie L. Shepherd
I am pretty tired of this argument. Journal articles and books are sometimes not widely accessible (although some are), but academics speak much more often to the public now, through the media, op eds, trade books, and public lectures, than in the past and anti-intellectualism has grown.
The failure of academia to explain things in layperson terms (up until some efforts recently) is one of the reasons for anti-intellectualism.
When you make science inaccessible, people will opt for those who sell easier solutions.
When you make science inaccessible, people will opt for those who sell easier solutions.
March 1, 2025 at 2:26 PM
I am pretty tired of this argument. Journal articles and books are sometimes not widely accessible (although some are), but academics speak much more often to the public now, through the media, op eds, trade books, and public lectures, than in the past and anti-intellectualism has grown.
Today is Rare Disease Day! I love and care for someone with a rare disease, CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder (CDD). CDD is a genetic epilepsy with no cure and current treatments only manage the symptoms. Most individuals with CDD have intractable epilepsy as well as intellectual and physical disabilities.
February 28, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Today is Rare Disease Day! I love and care for someone with a rare disease, CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder (CDD). CDD is a genetic epilepsy with no cure and current treatments only manage the symptoms. Most individuals with CDD have intractable epilepsy as well as intellectual and physical disabilities.
Not going to lie, one of the few reasons I haven't just laid on the floor moaning like Tina Belcher, is teaching. SCMH 3010 students running an experiment with pocket labs.
February 27, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Not going to lie, one of the few reasons I haven't just laid on the floor moaning like Tina Belcher, is teaching. SCMH 3010 students running an experiment with pocket labs.
Having trouble deciding which candle to light.
February 25, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Having trouble deciding which candle to light.