Tess Peterson
LightNews LightNews
banner
tesspeterson.bsky.social
Tess Peterson
@tesspeterson.bsky.social
1.3K followers 2.2K following 57 posts
Soil mycorrhizal mutualism, insect herbivory, and climate change in pine forests @ University of Houston
🐜🌲🍄.

Hobby gardener, crafter, and medievalist #SlowLife
🌈🌱🧵
Posts Replies Media Videos
tesspeterson.bsky.social
Antlions are everywhere in Austin right now. Thank you for your service protecting us from fire ants 🙌🏼
October 4, 2025 at 5:19 AM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
I haven't changed my starter word in a year. C'mon October 👻
NYT wordle game with the starter word 'ghoul'. All other lines are empty
October 2, 2025 at 4:10 AM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
As a general rule I only look respectfully at wildlife I'd love to cuddle, but this morning I got to add geckos to the list of Houstonians I've gently evicted from my apartment.

Anoles ✅
Skinks ✅
Geckos ✅
Snakes ❌
I'm holding a baby gecko that I scooped off the floor with a piece of promotional mail. It's about 2 inches long and translucent beige with spots.
July 6, 2025 at 3:45 PM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
Doomscroll break
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sweat bee on horsemint
May 20, 2025 at 4:49 PM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
Note to self: buy a shirt with pine trees on it so I can match my posters.

(I promise I'm having a good time in this picture)
A picture of me presenting a research poster. Part of the poster is in view. I look a little pissed off. The poster is white, blue, and green. My shirt is mauve with a pink print.
May 2, 2025 at 11:46 PM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
A liminal end-of-the-semester mood.
a screenshot of the bottom corner of the R console. A large dataset is processing and the loading bar shows it at 93% complete.
April 29, 2025 at 3:01 AM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
Happy last day of microbiology lab! 🎉

Good luck on finals, everyone 🫡
A selfie of microbiology students Delivrance (holding phone), Ivanna, and Adrian with myself in the back giving bunny ears to Ivanna and Adrian.
April 17, 2025 at 11:36 PM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
Drama in the bird community today.
April 17, 2025 at 2:03 AM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
I was invited to teach a fiber arts demo class in sericulture with the Society for Creative Anachronism at Sherwood faire last weekend. I had a great time combining my hobbies of living history with teaching, and sharing entomology and history facts.

#LookMomImUsingMyMastersDegree #mysca
An image of Tess sitting on the ground beneath some trees. They are winding silk onto a makeshift spinning wheel. The setting is medieval, with furniture and clothing representing the late 12th century. A selfie of Tess outside the faire in 12th century clothing. Tess wears a drab green dress with red and lime green trim, a white veil and a white straw hat. A closeup image of the reeled silk on the rolling pin. It's white and very lustrous.
April 7, 2025 at 4:41 AM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
Checking if my plants are still alive after spring break.
A close up picture of a seedling tray with baby pine trees in it which are about 3 inches tall. Directly behind the tray is my face looking over them. I have protective sunglasses on because the lights in the grow chamber (unseen) are very bright.
March 18, 2025 at 8:37 PM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
Yeah, that tracks.
A screenshot of my phone lock screen with a popup suggesting photo memories for me. The image it chose is a closeup of a dark grey silverfish arthropod on a white tile floor
January 24, 2025 at 11:49 PM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
Behold! the Christmas mystery bird
A white bird in profile walking across a grassy patch of snowy lawn. A white bird on a grassy patch of snowy lawn, the bird is strutting towards the camera
December 30, 2024 at 7:02 PM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
The bird is back but we still can't figure out what it is. Binoculars older than me offering little assistance.
A round picture taken by holding my phone up to a binocular lens. A white blob looking bird sits on the ground at the shore of a lake, facing away from the camera. The bird is sitting on a patch of dead grass but blends in well with snow patches nearby.
December 29, 2024 at 9:57 PM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
Am I too late to #GarWeek?

Inaugural sticker for my gar colored nalgene. Thanks @garlab.bsky.social 💚
A note of thanks for a monetary donation from The Gar Lab. In the image is my nalgene water bottle which is a drab grey green color. On the bottle I put my sparkly Florida Gar sticker the gar lab sent me in the mail
December 21, 2024 at 7:12 PM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
Context for Gen z and/or anyone allowed to have a game boy as a kid
The Interstate highway bingo card is a square cardboard card with 25 windows featuring common things to see on the interstate like a road repair sign, barn, or a police car. Each window has a red film you can slide over to fill in the space. The goal is to find all items or get a bingo faster than your sibling.
December 3, 2024 at 8:34 PM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
A very small very smooth friend just paid a visit to my front door
A close up photo of a tiny snake, about the size and appearance of a very large earthworm, on the pavement. A close up photo of a tiny snake, about the size and appearance of a very large earthworm, on the pavement.
November 27, 2024 at 12:52 AM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
Kids, they grow up so fast...

Our cane toad struggles with the size of hornworms and doesn't care for dried mealworms so we're trying out sericulture in place of box store feeders.

*Disclaimer that I don't condone exotic pets. We've become somewhat of a halfway home for abandoned animals.
A zoomed in photo of my hand. 5 silkworms are in my palm, each one about half an inch long. They are a mottled cream and dark grey color.
November 25, 2024 at 4:44 AM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
Flea beetle in the car park 📢
A picture of a flea beetle which has an orange head and black and yellow stripes down its back. It is very small and hanging out on the side of my car
November 24, 2024 at 6:22 PM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
Happy birthday to my best friend and the world's worst photographer @jarededwards.bsky.social
A collage of selfies featuring me and Jared. All photos are either blurry, cut off, or just ugly
November 21, 2024 at 4:40 PM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
Texas (and Oklahoma) roll call
#WhatWeDoOnTheWeekends #MySCA
Neese in their halloween costume as the reliquary bust of saint balbina. A gold colored dress with puffed sleeved and pearl and pink shell beading. The bust was carved in the Netherlands in the early 1500s.
November 17, 2024 at 12:46 AM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
Jared is here!!

When he's not studying brain tumors we use him as a volunteer field technician. What a guy 🙏🫡
November 16, 2024 at 12:52 AM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
Another last day of classes in the books. I'm looking forward to having more research time the next few months, but sometimes I think hanging out with the youths is the only thing keeping me grounded in weird times.
A basket on my desk with cards and candies given to me by students on the last day of class.
November 14, 2024 at 10:54 PM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
I need someone on the #art feed to tell me which exact Sharpie color this is. It's beaten every other color in the ~50ct variety box for ink flow and chemical/temperature durability and I'm scared to lose it or I'll have to use the runner up sharpie (Windows 95 default desktop background)
Thin sharpie with magenta colored tip. Blurred background is a laboratory bench top.
November 13, 2024 at 12:29 AM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
Welcome newcomers! I saw a new batch of myrmecologists just dropped 👀

Does anyone have experience (success and failure equally useful) with raising Atta texana colonies? My ladies weren't fertile last summer but I'm hoping to try again this year.
Low level microscope image of two queen ants tending eggs and fungus. A pink arrow points to a viable egg Three queen ants grooming each other with their heads together and butts outward.
November 12, 2024 at 9:40 PM
tesspeterson.bsky.social
Out searching for Texas leafcutter ants with the Nuñez-Dimarco lab.

Pic 1: Fransisco marking some colony entrances for the drone to check out
Pic 2: The closest you can get to a nest entrance without yo̶u̶r̶ ̶e̶y̶e̶b̶a̶l̶l̶s̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶t̶i̶n̶ ̶w̶e̶t̶ blowing away the ants
Lab member Fransisco Velasquez standing on a section of road and waving up at the sky. Immediately adjacent to the road is a sandy area with a variety of ant mounds. Image captured from a birds eye angle with a drone. A birds eye image of a primary leafcutter ant nest entrance surrounded by sand and pine cones. Ants are difficult to see.
April 20, 2024 at 1:33 AM