Just wrapped up a phenomenal ZooMu workshop at the Oklahoma City Zoo with folks from zoos and natural history collections across the US. I’m very excited about where this project is going!

Hell yeah, Halloween Season! 🎃👻🧛🏻🕷️

This Southern Carpenter Bee (?) just pollinated so hard she had to take a nap. Plenty more where that came from.

Any pollinators here on BlueSky? I’ve got some sweet Lemon Bee Balm in the Irish Channel, New Orleans for you. Bring your friends.

Headed home from a productive field conservation research trip in Costa Rica. One of the things that I love about this place is country is that it is wildlife- (and heavily frog-) themed. Here’s a giant frog sculpture in the airport, and even the airport carpet is printed with dart poison frogs.

A year ago I planted my avocado tree, Joey, who has thrived in this world of chaos.

And also this Eastern Box Turtle

And also this blond-tailed squirrel.

Went to watch birds in Audubon Park this morning. Found this blond-tailed squirrel.

Krewe de Vieux last night was a blast.

Took a walk around my neighborhood in SneauxLA. Just insane.

Also started ramping up urban wildlife monitoring around New Orleans with students from the University of New Orleans. Really excited to see what we find! 🦝🐀🐺🦫🦨🐿️🦡🐈‍⬛🦦

Had a long (but great) week in the field. Most of the week was working with endangered Dusky Gopher Frogs. As a kid, I loved catching tadpoles. I’m so lucky I get to do this as a grown-up, for science.

Interested in research with living collections in zoos and aquariums? We have an NSF Research Coordination Network grant to link science with living collections and science with preserved natural history collections. Our kick-off webinar is December 9th! Hope
To see you there!!

Hey lab nerds, quick question. I’m inheriting a commercial fridge/freezer for sample storage. Auto defrost (I presume) kicks freezer temps above 0C once a day or so. Should I be worried for long-term sample storage (DNA extracts, pathogen samples, whole blood in ethanol)? 🧪🐸🧬🥼