It's just about three years since I've been a freelance science writer. Over these years, I've realized I spend:

50% of my time on client work
25% of my time on admin tasks
25% of my time doing CAPTCHAs, two factor authentication, and trying to prove I am really me.

Being a staff scientist offers <em>C. elegans</em> researcher the perfect balance between research and mentorship Irini Topalidou, recipient of the 2026 GSA Mentorship Award, emphasizes the important role staff scientists play in academic research and mentoring.

Irini Topalidou received the GSA Mentorship Award for her contributions to mentoring in the C. elegans field. genestogenomes.org/being-a-staf...

Congratulations to all the awardees and stay tuned for more profiles of 2026 GSA award recipients!

A lifelong quest to understand how a cell becomes an organism Judith Kimble, the recipient of the 2026 Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal, discovered the first stem cell niche—a finding that sets a path for her lab's pioneering work in genetics.

Judith Kimble received the Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal for her work on discovering the first stem cell niche and lifetime achievement in genetics. genestogenomes.org/a-lifelong-q...

Building tools and a community: How a yeast geneticist transformed medical mycology research Aaron Mitchell, recipient of the 2026 George W. Beadle Award, built an entire career around developing and disseminating new tools to study pathogenic fungi and training the next generation of…

Aaron Mitchell received the George W. Beadle Award for his work in molecular mycology and developing and disseminating new tools to study C. albicans. genestogenomes.org/building-too...

It's been so great to write these scientist profiles for the Genetics Society of America over the last weeks for their various contributions and achievements in the field of genetics. ⬇️

Your periodic reminder that there are FREE stock photos of vaccination (many without needles!) available from SELF Magazine in collab with the American Academy of Pediatrics
www.self.com/story/vaccin...

I almost burst out laughing because he was so serious when he was talking about the snacks

My 3yo has been watching a video of the artemis launch everyday, and now that he knows they are coming back he says "the astronauts are coming back because they ran out of food and gas and water because they eat dinner, lunch, afternoon snack, morning snack"

This is my yogurt protocol if you're curious. I clearly need to update it because I started making Greek yogurt too. microbialmenagerie.com/a-microbiolo...

But seriously, I'll probably plan to do more experimenting with my yogurt protocol and write up a FAQ at some point. Drop your top yogurt questions below!

I have a microbiology blog and my most popular post is about yogurt. I've been getting an email or comment every few days from a random person asking me a really specific thing about yogurt. I honestly didn't imagine I'd be spending this much time answering yogurt questions when I wrote that. 😂

My lab at Pitt is looking for a Research Scientist to help us make phage therapy for patients with antibiotic-resistant infections. Please share and apply! cfopitt.taleo.net/careersectio...

"Sapiens": One page at a time I've been co-teaching a course for several years in which we read Sapiens . I think I've read it eight times, now. That explains the gumband...

I'm reviewing Sapiens, one page at a time!
It's a little bit fact-checking and a little-bit soul-searching combined into a lot of feelings...
ecodevoevo.blogspot.com/2026/03/sapi...

It was so fun to help @nautilus.bio with this (timely) blog post about doing omics in space. Working on this also inspired me to start reading the memoir from Scott Kelly, who spent one year in space.

NIH grant cuts hit women, early-career scientists the hardest: analysis Last year’s funding cuts at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) disproportionately impacted women and early-career researchers, according to a | Last year’s funding cuts at the National Institutes...

Grant terminations had deep impacts on all early career scientists, running counter to Bhattacharya’s stated interest in supporting them.

The terminations disproportionately harmed early career women.
www.fiercebiotech.com/research/nih...

Five Things I Learned From Reading Everything is Tuberculosis One of the things I love about reading science non-fiction books is that it’s never “just about the science.”  Rather, it’s about how science has shaped the world and h…

Seems like all I'm doing lately is reading microbiology books and writing about what I learned on my blog. I finished Everything is Tuberculosis and it was quite a fascinating read. microbialmenagerie.com/five-things-...

#ScienceBooks #TheMicrobialMenagerie #SciComm

😂😂😂 amazing, I remember when these types of retweet post were popular back in the good science twitter days.

I have a gut microbiome joke, but it's actually pretty shit.

Today I learned, I have been spelling "astronaut" completely wrong my entire life.

Okay haha I only glanced at the image at first and thought it was some sort of microscopy 😂😂😂

This is wild

a penguin with a bandana on his head says " don 't worry i 'm a doctor " in white letters ALT: a penguin with a bandana on his head says " don 't worry i 'm a doctor " in white letters

For the next 24h, drop any infectious disease and/or vaccine-related questions in response to this post, and I will do my best to answer them. Answers are for information only, NOT medical advice.
#AskAnIDDoc March 2026 edition.

Publisher demands $500 from impersonated author to retract paper Last year, we wrote about a Walsh Medical Media journal that refused to withdraw an author’s paper unless he paid a fee — even though he didn’t write or submit the article. For one reader, some det…

Lol. This is academic publishing taken to its logical end.

Wow! That's such a difference!

In the standard SEM image, aggregates of bacterial cells with no visible matrix sit on top of a network of collagen fibrils. In the cryo image, interconnected aggregates are covered with a smooth coat of matrix, and no collagen is visible - it is under the aggregates, and the only tissue structures visible are patches of elastin fibres.

If you check out my lab's recent work, you'll notice how much biofilm structure is destroyed by dehydration & vacuum during standard scanning electron microscopy. These are both images of P. aeruginosa PA14 #biofilm on pig lung tissue at 48h p.i: using cryoSEM retains the biofilm matrix. #MicroSky

Friday productivity hack: Go to the library to write so I can use the guilt of being on my phone or scrolling social while taking up a table to stop me from distractions

#Productivity #Focus #ProductivityHack

Ad for Postdoctoral Scientist Position in Burmeister Lab on Bacteria-Phage Coevolution. Full document available here: https://arburmeister.weebly.com/uploads/1/9/9/9/19990727/burmeister_lab_postdoc_position_2026.pdf

Postdoc position on phage-bacteria coevolution available in the @aburmeister.bsky.social lab at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee #phage #evosky #MicroSky #VirEvol 🦠 🔬 #microbiology

arburmeister.weebly.com/join-the-lab...

Also me: trying to get some work done during a naptime today (Sunday) because I don't want to get too behind!

My email autoreply is basically like "I'm not around for the next couple days, but I'm not sure how long exactly. Because I assume schools will be closed (for currently undetermined amount of time) and I'll be shoveling 2 ft of snow."

DOG AT THE OLYMPICS
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