Dr. Theresa Davenport
@estuareefecology.bsky.social
I never grew out of wanting to be a marine biologist as a kid. There’s more math than expected. 🤩
Mostly academic, sometimes policy-driven, always excited to improve habitat restoration in estuaries.
Science and nature are for everyone.
Mostly academic, sometimes policy-driven, always excited to improve habitat restoration in estuaries.
Science and nature are for everyone.
More of this, science people! 👏🏻
The name "Popular Science" doesn't mean we shift our coverage depending on public opinion. It means we cover relevant subjects that are rigorously researched, reliable, and grounded in reality.
And trans lives are grounded in reality.
We see y'all. No matter what.
www.popsci.com/science/tran...
And trans lives are grounded in reality.
We see y'all. No matter what.
www.popsci.com/science/tran...
First-of-a-kind study shows encouraging data for trans kids who socially transition
Ninety-four percent of participants in a new study stood firm in their trans identity after five years, and "detransitioning" is rare.
www.popsci.com
December 18, 2025 at 11:31 PM
More of this, science people! 👏🏻
Reposted by Dr. Theresa Davenport
My husband and I were running numbers and JUST TO BE CLEAR for the “universal healthcare will jack up our taxes!” Crowd—the estimated tax increase for universal healthcare would be *significantly less* than the cost of an ACA plan for 2 adults and a child next year.
Thanks for coming to my tedtalk.
Thanks for coming to my tedtalk.
December 14, 2025 at 5:04 PM
My husband and I were running numbers and JUST TO BE CLEAR for the “universal healthcare will jack up our taxes!” Crowd—the estimated tax increase for universal healthcare would be *significantly less* than the cost of an ACA plan for 2 adults and a child next year.
Thanks for coming to my tedtalk.
Thanks for coming to my tedtalk.
Renewing a career goal: make good trouble that supports women in STEM to advance our careers and achieve gender equity.
(Note: not a commentary on Sasha Banks)
(Note: not a commentary on Sasha Banks)
Sasha Banks Wwe GIF
Alt: Sasha Banks Wwe GIF: woman with pink hair weaving a bright blue cutout shoulder top, with sparkly sunglasses on her head waves her hand while saying “I’m back. I’m better than ever. I’ve proven that I’m the women’s champion”
media.tenor.com
December 12, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Renewing a career goal: make good trouble that supports women in STEM to advance our careers and achieve gender equity.
(Note: not a commentary on Sasha Banks)
(Note: not a commentary on Sasha Banks)
Anyone know why fishes aren’t code named in a standard fashion for research ease like birds are?! E.g.: www.birdpop.org/docs/misc/Al...
Clearly species have standard scientific nomenclature. But the short codes are so practical.
Clearly species have standard scientific nomenclature. But the short codes are so practical.
www.birdpop.org
December 5, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Anyone know why fishes aren’t code named in a standard fashion for research ease like birds are?! E.g.: www.birdpop.org/docs/misc/Al...
Clearly species have standard scientific nomenclature. But the short codes are so practical.
Clearly species have standard scientific nomenclature. But the short codes are so practical.
Reposted by Dr. Theresa Davenport
I'm an "A.i." abolitionist.
No consumer-facing LLMs or generative "A.i." in anything.
Sure, machine learning in science and a few other limited applications is fine.
But consumer-facing LLMs and generative "A.i." that are based on theft, push disinfo, and can be manipulated by billionaires?
No.
No consumer-facing LLMs or generative "A.i." in anything.
Sure, machine learning in science and a few other limited applications is fine.
But consumer-facing LLMs and generative "A.i." that are based on theft, push disinfo, and can be manipulated by billionaires?
No.
July 8, 2025 at 11:53 PM
I'm an "A.i." abolitionist.
No consumer-facing LLMs or generative "A.i." in anything.
Sure, machine learning in science and a few other limited applications is fine.
But consumer-facing LLMs and generative "A.i." that are based on theft, push disinfo, and can be manipulated by billionaires?
No.
No consumer-facing LLMs or generative "A.i." in anything.
Sure, machine learning in science and a few other limited applications is fine.
But consumer-facing LLMs and generative "A.i." that are based on theft, push disinfo, and can be manipulated by billionaires?
No.
Can you help sweet baby Soso?
November 3, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Can you help sweet baby Soso?
Having an opinion doesn’t mean you should have unfettered access to spreading misinformation and propaganda, especially to vulnerable populations 👏🏻
China is apparently rolling out a law that requires influencers to have a degree to talk about important subjects like finance, health and law by the way. Given the amount of twats with podcasts single handedly spreading misinformation and destroying society, I don’t think this is a bad plan.
October 28, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Having an opinion doesn’t mean you should have unfettered access to spreading misinformation and propaganda, especially to vulnerable populations 👏🏻
Reposted by Dr. Theresa Davenport
China is apparently rolling out a law that requires influencers to have a degree to talk about important subjects like finance, health and law by the way. Given the amount of twats with podcasts single handedly spreading misinformation and destroying society, I don’t think this is a bad plan.
October 28, 2025 at 2:04 PM
China is apparently rolling out a law that requires influencers to have a degree to talk about important subjects like finance, health and law by the way. Given the amount of twats with podcasts single handedly spreading misinformation and destroying society, I don’t think this is a bad plan.
Whewwwwww 👀
To have no concept of history and be constantly making **** up must be exhausting…
To have no concept of history and be constantly making **** up must be exhausting…
lol “find your own instead of stealing” in defense of columbus day
October 13, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Whewwwwww 👀
To have no concept of history and be constantly making **** up must be exhausting…
To have no concept of history and be constantly making **** up must be exhausting…
Reposted by Dr. Theresa Davenport
Reading Rainbow… is back! 🥹
This LeVar Burton/Reading Rainbow raised human is feeling all of the library joy. We hope your kids believe they belong in books, just like you ✨
Take a look, it’s in a book 📚🌈🦋🌌
youtu.be/gHAIjSkmnYI?...
This LeVar Burton/Reading Rainbow raised human is feeling all of the library joy. We hope your kids believe they belong in books, just like you ✨
Take a look, it’s in a book 📚🌈🦋🌌
youtu.be/gHAIjSkmnYI?...
No Cats In The Library 🐱📚 | Reading Rainbow 📖 🌈 | Full Episode | @Kidzuko
YouTube video by Kidzuko
youtu.be
October 4, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Reading Rainbow… is back! 🥹
This LeVar Burton/Reading Rainbow raised human is feeling all of the library joy. We hope your kids believe they belong in books, just like you ✨
Take a look, it’s in a book 📚🌈🦋🌌
youtu.be/gHAIjSkmnYI?...
This LeVar Burton/Reading Rainbow raised human is feeling all of the library joy. We hope your kids believe they belong in books, just like you ✨
Take a look, it’s in a book 📚🌈🦋🌌
youtu.be/gHAIjSkmnYI?...
I hear:
“Estamos en la lucha” (we are in the fight),
“!¡Trump, escucha!” (Listen up, Trump!)
“Estamos en la lucha” (we are in the fight),
“!¡Trump, escucha!” (Listen up, Trump!)
September 10, 2025 at 4:00 PM
I hear:
“Estamos en la lucha” (we are in the fight),
“!¡Trump, escucha!” (Listen up, Trump!)
“Estamos en la lucha” (we are in the fight),
“!¡Trump, escucha!” (Listen up, Trump!)
Reposted by Dr. Theresa Davenport
Hi authors! Please remember to file a claim!
AI advocates have warned that if every author in the class action filed a claim, it would "financially ruin" the entire industry.
Authors celebrate “historic” settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action
Advocates fear such settlements will “financially ruin” the AI industry.
arstechnica.com
August 27, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Hi authors! Please remember to file a claim!
Reposted by Dr. Theresa Davenport
The only prayer that matters when it comes to the regular and repeated murder of American children while they are at school is the kind of prayer that is taking action, the kind of prayer that materially fights for the living, the kind of prayer that says "never again" and means it, from MN to Gaza.
August 27, 2025 at 4:36 PM
The only prayer that matters when it comes to the regular and repeated murder of American children while they are at school is the kind of prayer that is taking action, the kind of prayer that materially fights for the living, the kind of prayer that says "never again" and means it, from MN to Gaza.
Reposted by Dr. Theresa Davenport
As one can imagine, I have some thoughts. Here’s a thread no one asked for:
1. SCIENCE IN THE US IS POLITICAL. No matter how much you want to ignore that fact, it is supported by taxpayer dollars and is therefore, political by nature.
2. BUT it has had bipartisan support for decades, which…
1. SCIENCE IN THE US IS POLITICAL. No matter how much you want to ignore that fact, it is supported by taxpayer dollars and is therefore, political by nature.
2. BUT it has had bipartisan support for decades, which…
For some scientists fighting partisan attacks, the goal is to defend their work from political interference. But in retaliating, @katherinejwu.com reports, they also run the risk of advancing the narrative that they want to fight.
Scientists Are Caught in a Political Trap
Fighting back against the Trump administration means they start to look more like activists.
bit.ly
August 23, 2025 at 4:15 PM
As one can imagine, I have some thoughts. Here’s a thread no one asked for:
1. SCIENCE IN THE US IS POLITICAL. No matter how much you want to ignore that fact, it is supported by taxpayer dollars and is therefore, political by nature.
2. BUT it has had bipartisan support for decades, which…
1. SCIENCE IN THE US IS POLITICAL. No matter how much you want to ignore that fact, it is supported by taxpayer dollars and is therefore, political by nature.
2. BUT it has had bipartisan support for decades, which…
Hmm. I wonder which communities will predominantly bear the burden of these power plants and data centers?
Sure is funny how the supporters of this are happy to spend the public’s money on transmission lines to support their damaging and unpopular pet project. And yet they state no actual benefits.
Sure is funny how the supporters of this are happy to spend the public’s money on transmission lines to support their damaging and unpopular pet project. And yet they state no actual benefits.
Louisiana has to build three new natural gas power plants to accommodate the "AI" data center that Meta just crammed through because said center will use *Three Times* as much electricity (and, thus, attendant resources) as the *Entire City Of New Orleans*, every year.
Y'all this isn't sustainable.
Y'all this isn't sustainable.
La. regulators approve Entergy power plants for Meta’s AI data center
Louisiana Public Service Commissioners voted four to one to approve Entergy’s three new gas plants to power Meta’s largest-ever data center.
www.kplctv.com
August 22, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Hmm. I wonder which communities will predominantly bear the burden of these power plants and data centers?
Sure is funny how the supporters of this are happy to spend the public’s money on transmission lines to support their damaging and unpopular pet project. And yet they state no actual benefits.
Sure is funny how the supporters of this are happy to spend the public’s money on transmission lines to support their damaging and unpopular pet project. And yet they state no actual benefits.
Yes all of this.
(And also, As a fish ecologist currently working with models on computers instead of real fish… 👀 ☠️ )
(And also, As a fish ecologist currently working with models on computers instead of real fish… 👀 ☠️ )
looked up the clip just because sometimes people change his words for captions that end up innocently reshared, but upon finding it decided to share the video because hearing him say it makes it 1000% more definitely true and everyone will listen/believe more than reading it written out
August 22, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Yes all of this.
(And also, As a fish ecologist currently working with models on computers instead of real fish… 👀 ☠️ )
(And also, As a fish ecologist currently working with models on computers instead of real fish… 👀 ☠️ )
I’m cooked.
in retaliation to the US trade tariffs australia is going to embargo all imports of "bluey" to mainland america
August 22, 2025 at 5:02 PM
I’m cooked.
Reposted by Dr. Theresa Davenport
Support your public library. Defend your public library. Slay the enemies of your public library.
August 19, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Support your public library. Defend your public library. Slay the enemies of your public library.
Reposted by Dr. Theresa Davenport
Last week, Boston received a letter from AG Bondi threatening to prosecute officials and withhold funds unless we cooperate with carrying out mass deportations.
The US Attorney General asked for a response by today, so here it is: stop attacking our cities to hide your administration’s failures.
The US Attorney General asked for a response by today, so here it is: stop attacking our cities to hide your administration’s failures.
August 19, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Last week, Boston received a letter from AG Bondi threatening to prosecute officials and withhold funds unless we cooperate with carrying out mass deportations.
The US Attorney General asked for a response by today, so here it is: stop attacking our cities to hide your administration’s failures.
The US Attorney General asked for a response by today, so here it is: stop attacking our cities to hide your administration’s failures.
What if feds filled these out and send them to OMB anyway?
I’m a little bummed about the cancellation of the annual Fed Employee Viewpoint Survey this year. I was looking forward to cutting loose with my ratings & my comments. I feel like this is borderline adverse employee action, denying me the right to have fun.
federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/20...
federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/20...
After months of postponing, OPM opts to fully cancel 2025 FEVS
The cancellation comes after OPM indefinitely delayed FEVS earlier this year, due to the Trump administration’s “urgent” changes for federal employees.
federalnewsnetwork.com
August 17, 2025 at 9:25 PM
What if feds filled these out and send them to OMB anyway?
Reposted by Dr. Theresa Davenport
Kurt Vonnegut’s definition of what makes something “art” is one of my favorites I’ve seen - from a letter to his brother in 1995.
August 15, 2025 at 7:27 AM
Kurt Vonnegut’s definition of what makes something “art” is one of my favorites I’ve seen - from a letter to his brother in 1995.
Reposted by Dr. Theresa Davenport
Something that I have been thinking about with attribution of "PhD level intelligence" or "PhD level expertise" to a machine is that it reflects an increasing trend among these AI bros and their sycophants to want the products of highly skilled training without actually doing any of the work.
August 9, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Something that I have been thinking about with attribution of "PhD level intelligence" or "PhD level expertise" to a machine is that it reflects an increasing trend among these AI bros and their sycophants to want the products of highly skilled training without actually doing any of the work.
Reposted by Dr. Theresa Davenport
The Dunning-Kruger effect isn’t “not smart enough to know you’re not smart”. It’s overestimating your skills in a particular area, because you lack the domain knowledge to the degree that you cannot accurately judge your skills.
Eg. A Stanford dropout might claim their LLM has PhD level expertise.
Eg. A Stanford dropout might claim their LLM has PhD level expertise.
August 8, 2025 at 8:59 AM
The Dunning-Kruger effect isn’t “not smart enough to know you’re not smart”. It’s overestimating your skills in a particular area, because you lack the domain knowledge to the degree that you cannot accurately judge your skills.
Eg. A Stanford dropout might claim their LLM has PhD level expertise.
Eg. A Stanford dropout might claim their LLM has PhD level expertise.