Every lab has an origin story. Ours involves a bat, a hallway, and a leap into interdisciplinary science.

9.24.19: A bat crash-landed into the immunology floor and changed everything. We call him Bat-tholemew, patron saint of feral science and chaos.

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The Washburn CHAOS Lab space is officially open for business!
#lab #labtransformation #beforeandafter

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The UK Office of Undergraduate Research is accepting submissions for the 61st annual Oswald Research and Creativity Competition.

The competition encourages undergraduate research and creative activities across all fields of study. The deadline to submit is Wednesday, Oct. 29.
https://bit.ly/4gHU5M7

A Nigerian scientist wanted to do research that was exciting. She found bats. Now, she and her husband are on a mission to protect the furry flying mammals of their home country.

buff.ly/XdeO07I

I presented at the KAMP-GIS conference on the Kentucky Microbiome Map.

Why map microbes? Because we already have maps for rocks, rivers, and roads—but the microbial world is just as important for understanding groundwater, health, and ecosystems.

Check the map out here: kgs.uky.edu/mbiome

The rock crushing lab is basically a geologist's rage room complete with such equipment as the rock hammer, jaw crusher, and shatter box. Great way to let out stress.

#rocks #geology #rageroom #feralscience #metalheadscientist

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Rodney Andrews leads a $20 million NSF-funded statewide research project — CLIMBS. The goal is to enhance the prediction of extreme weather events and build community-level disaster response.

Learn more: https://research.uky.edu/news/research-advancing-kentucky-andrews-effort-protect-communities

We're an interdisciplinary lab, so we often have to ask ourselves the question: Can I lick it? Today, we've got moonmilk from Jesse James Cave. Verdict: do not lick. It's full of carbonates and unidentified microbes. Basically crunchy cave yogurt that may ruin your day.

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Is this rock interesting? Fallen spheleothem fragment straight from a Kentucky cave (with permission) that somehow has fibrous calcite. Yeah, it's interesting.

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Is this rock interesting? Found it doing field work in the Guadalupe Mountains, oncoids. Yeah, we think it's interesting.

#coolscience #geology #coolrock #sciencecommunication #guadalupemountaind

Dr. Rachel Washburn, is giving a Rast-Holbrook seminar TODAY at UKY (4pm, MMRB 102). Lick Rocks, Save Lives: Geohealth at the Edge of Geology and Medicine.

We're diving into the wild world of geohealth, from subsurface contaminants to bioactive compound discovery and interdisciplinary science.

Is this rock interesting?

When people find out we're geologists, they like to give us rocks. Whether the rocks are interesting or not is another story...

We hit up Jesse James Cave to get all sorts of samples this weekend. Here's the walk though time lapse, sampling chaos to follow.

Geologists are known for licking specimens, but in the CHAOS Lab we span geology, chemistry, biology, and infectious disease. So we ask the real question: Can I lick it? Some things are harmless, some hazardous. Science is feral, but safety is non-negotiable.

It's Saturday, so naturally I was with my feral science squad deployed to the underworld for sample collection.

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Threw my hat in the ring for the BioRender Scientific Illustration Contest

When your research lives at the edge of geology, microbiology, and medicine, a clear figure can make the difference between “???” and “funded.”

Wish me luck, fellow science gremlins.

#BioRenderForGrants

🚨Breaking field update: I was on my way to Crystal Onyx Cave to science… and what do I see on the road?

Oscar Mayer Wienermobile.

That’s right. A giant hotdog on wheels blessed our geohealth expedition.

More science cave chaos coming soon.

#ScienceIsChaos #CHAOSLab #KGS #OscarMayerWienermobile

Do you like rocks? Check out the Mineral Collection at the Kentucky Geological Survey!

#scienceischaos #geologyrocks #metalafscience #minerals #rocks #KGS #CHAOSLab #feralscience

Alright Bluesky, we’re here. Welcome to the CHAOS Lab where geology, microbes, and questionable decisions collide into actual science. Expect caves, groundwater, sequencing to Slipknot, and the occasional glitter bomb. Geohealth isn’t just a buzzword—it’s rocks, bugs, medicine, and feral science.