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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️

@skwinnicki.bsky.social

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · Feb 12

Hi new followers, I’m SK!

Do you know that trope where a character is eaten alive by a dark secret and is forced to publicly confess it? That’s how I feel about every cool fact I learn, and until I can get back to teaching again they’re all coming out here, so buckle up!

Thread of fave posts:

Picture of SK, a pale person with blond hair in a messy braid—a poorly constructed braid not an intentionally messy one, hidden below a ballcap and sunglasses reflecting the Allegheny Plateau forest around me. I'm dressed in a tie-dyed tshirt that says Konza Crew 2017, from my Master's work on grassland sparrows; the shirt includes outlines of a Grasshopper Sparrow, Dickcissel, and Eastern Meadowlark that I drew. I am holding a towhee, a large species of sparrow, in my hand before the bird was released back into the forest. It is hard to tell in the photo but the bird is possibly a bilateral gynandromorph, with black male-type plumage on one side of the body, and brown female-type plumage on the other side of the body.

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Reposted by SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 44m

Republicans try to weaken 50-year-old law protecting whales, seals and polar bears - ABC News

Republicans try to weaken 50-year-old law protecting whales, seals and polar bears

One of the U.S.’s longest standing pieces of environmental legislation, credited with helping save rare whales from extinction, is the subject of an effort for cutbacks from Republican lawmakers who…

abcnews.go.com

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 44m

Perhaps most critically, I taught my parents that having a PhD and a stellar record doesn't guarantee you get a postdoc, let alone a tenure-track job right now. So if my sisters struggle too they won't have to hear how disappointing they are (hopefully!).

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 44m

While neither of my parents have graduate degrees, my youngest sister is so clearly benefiting from having three older siblings with graduate degrees.

I'm helping her with her GRFP application. We helped her troubleshoot PCR last week. She graduated almost debt-free due to scholarship tricks.

"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 1h

It's always striking seeing other academics talk about their academic parents and be reminded that close to a quarter of all tenure-line academics have at least one PhD parent.

That's not a critique, but I always wonder how different it would be to have a parent who already understood academia.

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Reposted by SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️

Dr. Jen M @awesomebiota.bsky.social · 1h

A *very* interesting thread about the level of lead found in protein supplements (more in a single serving than is safe to consume in an entire day). Most interesting to me: more in plant-based protein powers. Like...significantly more lead.

paris martineau @paris.nyc · 1h

my latest investigation for @consumerreports.org is based on months of reporting and 60+ lab tests of leading protein supplements

we found that most protein powders and shakes have more lead in one serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day (🧵)

www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein...

Protein Powders and Shakes Contain High Levels of Lead - Consumer Reports

CR tests of 23 popular protein powders and shakes found that most contain high levels of lead.

www.consumerreports.org

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 12h

That was a shot at the Black-eyed Peas, the rest of these have all been on my playlists over the years.

SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 12h

Amazing how you can remember every word to a song you’re not sure you’ve ever listened to intentionally and that’s comforting somehow.

www.vice.com/en/article/4...

4 Recession Pop Songs That Will Literally Never Go Out Of Style

Thinking about recession pop all by yourself, handsome? Here are four songs to really get you lost in the nostalgia sauce.

www.vice.com

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 12h

The existence of this article is obviously an uncomfortable recession indicator.

But also sinking into 2008-2010 radio pop is like getting into a comforting bubble bath for me (a high schooler then), so there’s that.

Vice article titled 4 Recession Pop Songs That Will Literally Never Go Out Of Style with a picture of Lady Gaga.

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 17h

Or very late at night, my choir practices end at 9:30PM on a work night and I’m too old for that.

SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 17h

Funny how many comments are about DnD, as I was just thinking today how much it acts like a pleasant pyramid scheme. You try it out with one friend group, you get into it enough you offer to DM a campaign for another friend group, they get into it and the cycle repeats…

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 17h

The first time I ever played, the DM ran her own unique campaign in the Humblewood world (bird people) and ever since I can’t shake the impulse to want to play different types of species.

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 17h

That seems like a super good deal! I force myself to join a choir wherever I move; regular socializing and singing with other people calms me down.

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 17h

Oooo this is a cool idea!

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 17h

It sounds very cool! That’s my worry, that once I commit it’ll be all-consuming in a way that wrecks all my other side projects.

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 17h

I have friends who would play if I DM but I just don’t think I have the brain space right now. I may cave eventually and use a pre-formed book or something.

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 17h

When I was in my Unemployment Era my mother dragged me along to her library craft and cooking clubs and it was so pleasant! Her cooking club did a theme each month (like “Paris” or “corn”) then all made dishes to share and exchanged recipes and chatted. Sad I had to move away!

SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 17h

Maybe this message is just a cry for help from me, a person who desperately needs to stop listening to DnD podcasts and just find a local group who’ll let me play.

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 17h

Related: more access to recreational sports leagues for adults. Having fun, burning off nervous energy, building community.

Of course, we’d need more leisure time, hard to come by in an economy where you need multiple jobs just to pay the bills.

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 17h

In my opinion we literally do need more clubs for adults. Secret handshakes, inside jokes, excuses to hang out with pals, do charity work.

Especially as so many people are eschewing organized religion, moving away from family— we need goofy clubs that foster a sense of belonging, community.

✨️Angel Facts✨️ @angelic.style · 17h

the illuminati, the freemasons, the rosicrucians those are all so 18th century. we need something fresh, something that appeals to millenials and gen z

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 18h

There’s just so much more phenotypic variation than birds have!

SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 19h

I've been trying to write mine as jargon-free as possible to make them more accessible, if not in a popular science structure given journal requirements.

Just had to cut 40% of the text in one to meet a page limit (complicated experiment), having to go back to jargon to cut words was such a bummer

Reposted by SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️

The Institute for Bird Populations @instbirdpop.bsky.social · 19h

🪶 In the Ojibwe language, the word for chickadee is gijigijigaaneshiinh. To hear it pronounced (it sounds really cool) visit ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/m...

Photo of a Black-capped Chickadee by Chad Hordewel. A speech bubble from the bird's mouth says "Hi, I'm gijigijigaaneshiinh"

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Reposted by SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️

Dr. Sarah Parcak @indyfromspace.bsky.social · 19h

Academic articles can be written in a popular science writing style

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 1d

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 19h

Yeah I think if I had an e-reader I'd have to have one where I could write with a stylus, I remember things much better if I write them out by hand vs. typing them.

SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 19h

I can't do highlighter because I find it jarring, but I started with pencil underlines that I could easily erase. When I got used to that I moved to my more comfortable pens.

But this political situation has me actually journaling, going through a blank notebook a month, so I may just be breaking.

SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 19h

That's adorable! My mother wrote all her recipes down on notecards and has them filed away, so at least I'll have her personal take on recipes but not relative to their source. My sister digitized them all and put them on a website so we stopped texting each other for the same recipes over and over

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