Karen James
@kejames.bsky.social
Environmental geneticist & outdoorswoman into eDNA, botany, evolution, space, sci-comm, skiing, Outlander & kindness • auntie • cat mom • honorary dog mom (she/her)
📍Unceded Wabanaki land (aka Maine)
📍Unceded Wabanaki land (aka Maine)
Pinned
Karen James
@kejames.bsky.social
· Oct 20
Join me as I approach the summit of Connor’s Nubble in Acadia NP at peak fall foliage (1 min video).
Reposted by Karen James
I’ll have what she’s having
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
November 26, 2025 at 2:22 PM
I’ll have what she’s having
Reposted by Karen James
The NSF Bio Anthro Program DDRIG, Cultural Anthrpology DDRIG, and Archaeology DDRIG have all been archived (as of yesterday afternoon). Please speak with your grad students and plan accordingly. To say I am angry and depressed about this is an understatement.
November 26, 2025 at 3:25 PM
The NSF Bio Anthro Program DDRIG, Cultural Anthrpology DDRIG, and Archaeology DDRIG have all been archived (as of yesterday afternoon). Please speak with your grad students and plan accordingly. To say I am angry and depressed about this is an understatement.
If I never hear the phrase “disgraced financier” again it will be too soon.
November 26, 2025 at 2:49 PM
If I never hear the phrase “disgraced financier” again it will be too soon.
Reposted by Karen James
So this happened in Oslo yesterday. Four articulated buses got stuck in a roundabout.
November 25, 2025 at 8:23 AM
So this happened in Oslo yesterday. Four articulated buses got stuck in a roundabout.
Reposted by Karen James
A great intro to academic conferencing.
Not sure how I missed this one.
scienceforeveryone.science/getting-the-...
Not sure how I missed this one.
scienceforeveryone.science/getting-the-...
Getting the most of out a scientific conference
A slightly unconventional guide to your first time
scienceforeveryone.science
November 26, 2025 at 4:47 AM
A great intro to academic conferencing.
Not sure how I missed this one.
scienceforeveryone.science/getting-the-...
Not sure how I missed this one.
scienceforeveryone.science/getting-the-...
Reposted by Karen James
Every time a pop science article is like "50 million year old [creature] still [doing thing that creature does]", I like to imagine it's talking about the same individual creature for that entire span. Like one specific clam with a VERY well established daily routine.
November 25, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Every time a pop science article is like "50 million year old [creature] still [doing thing that creature does]", I like to imagine it's talking about the same individual creature for that entire span. Like one specific clam with a VERY well established daily routine.
Reposted by Karen James
If you want to help a family who has raised very little ❤️
I’m sharing a Palestinian account every day and today is Ahmed. Ahmed was a driver but he lost his car and his home. He is trying to take care of his four children. Fires who is in dental school, Mohammed who finished his final year of high school, Halal, a 7th grader and Bisan, a 5th grader.
November 25, 2025 at 2:46 PM
If you want to help a family who has raised very little ❤️
A compelling call for “early blogger energy” with bonus deconversion story by @elizabethspiers.bsky.social.
h/t @docfreeride.bsky.social, fellow early blogger :)
h/t @docfreeride.bsky.social, fellow early blogger :)
Requiem for Early Blogging. “I still look for people with early blogger energy, though — people willing to make an effort to understand the world and engage in a way that isn’t a performance, or trolling, or outright grifting.” [elizabethspiers.com]
Requiem for Early Blogging
As part of Talking Points Memo’s 25th anniversary, I wrote an essay on early blogging, and what I miss about it. Here it is, in its entirety: Whether I like it or not, the first line of my obituary will probably be that I was the founding editor of Gawker.
www.elizabethspiers.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:45 PM
A compelling call for “early blogger energy” with bonus deconversion story by @elizabethspiers.bsky.social.
h/t @docfreeride.bsky.social, fellow early blogger :)
h/t @docfreeride.bsky.social, fellow early blogger :)
There are several remarkable things about this interview, but the one that jumped out at me, as a space geek, was “built by the lowest bidder.”
Hoo-boy, this man is not afraid to speak truth to power. It’s inspiring.
Hoo-boy, this man is not afraid to speak truth to power. It’s inspiring.
Mark Kelly: "My wife, Gabby Giffords, meeting with her constituents, shot in the head. Six people killed around her, a horrific thing. She spent six months in the hospital. We know what political violence is and we know what causes it too, The statements that Donald Trump made incites others."
November 25, 2025 at 3:53 AM
There are several remarkable things about this interview, but the one that jumped out at me, as a space geek, was “built by the lowest bidder.”
Hoo-boy, this man is not afraid to speak truth to power. It’s inspiring.
Hoo-boy, this man is not afraid to speak truth to power. It’s inspiring.
Reposted by Karen James
Even the usually apolitical National Academy of Sciences has stepped up to call out the dangerous distortion of reality by RFK Jr.'s CDC on vaccines and autism.
www.nationalacademies.org/news/stateme...
www.nationalacademies.org/news/stateme...
National Academies - Statement on CDC’s Updated Vaccine Guidance
National Academies respond to CDC’s updated vaccine guidance, offering scientific context and clarity on vaccine safety.
www.nationalacademies.org
November 25, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Even the usually apolitical National Academy of Sciences has stepped up to call out the dangerous distortion of reality by RFK Jr.'s CDC on vaccines and autism.
www.nationalacademies.org/news/stateme...
www.nationalacademies.org/news/stateme...
Wowwwww
In reflection, these leaves fallen across a puddle, have found a way back into their parents’ arms.
November 25, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Wowwwww
Reposted by Karen James
November 24, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Toe bean timeline cleanse
November 25, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Toe bean timeline cleanse
Reposted by Karen James
Attn all human MRI/fMRI folks! The Dept of Psychology at Northeastern University is hiring a new Director of the NU Biomedical Imaging Center at the level of Associate or Full Professor. Bonus: you'll have the best Chair EVER 😉 Full ad here: northeastern.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/careers/job/...
Associate Professor/Professor and Director, Northeastern University Biomedical Imaging Center
About the Opportunity About Northeastern: Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research (R1) university and the recognized leader in experience-driven lifelong learning. Our world-renowned experi...
northeastern.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Attn all human MRI/fMRI folks! The Dept of Psychology at Northeastern University is hiring a new Director of the NU Biomedical Imaging Center at the level of Associate or Full Professor. Bonus: you'll have the best Chair EVER 😉 Full ad here: northeastern.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/careers/job/...
Reposted by Karen James
I’m not reading this. He’s an unqualified crackpot who the GOP empowered to destroy our public health infrastructure. His tenure will cause many Americans to be maimed and killed by preventable diseases. Shame on The Atlantic for legitimizing this eugenicist.
Over many interviews, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Michael Scherer about how he plans to remake America’s public-health system. Can he lead the scientific establishment he’s spent much of his life crusading against?
Read more in our new cover story: theatln.tc/q9hXxlbM
Read more in our new cover story: theatln.tc/q9hXxlbM
November 24, 2025 at 5:43 PM
I’m not reading this. He’s an unqualified crackpot who the GOP empowered to destroy our public health infrastructure. His tenure will cause many Americans to be maimed and killed by preventable diseases. Shame on The Atlantic for legitimizing this eugenicist.
Reposted by Karen James
Sen. Mark Kelly is facing a military investigation after clashing with Trump
Sen. Mark Kelly facing military investigation after clashing with Trump
A statement from the Pentagon said all service members have a "legal obligation" to "obey lawful orders and that orders are presumed to be lawful."
www.axios.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Sen. Mark Kelly is facing a military investigation after clashing with Trump
I can’t quite believe it’s been 16 years since we celebrated Origin’s 150th anniversary (and Darwin’s 200th birthday). One of these days I’ll make time to write about how my perspective has evolved since then (ba dum tsk), particularly around colonialism and the “great man of science” model.
24-Nov: On this day in 1859 was published Charles Darwin’s ‘On the Origin of Species‘. As revolutionary science books go, it’s a damn fine read. Here’s my retrospective review: friendsofdarwin.com/reviews/book... #histsci
Book review: ‘On the Origin of Species’ by Charles Darwin (1st ed., 1859)
…or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.
friendsofdarwin.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:09 PM
I can’t quite believe it’s been 16 years since we celebrated Origin’s 150th anniversary (and Darwin’s 200th birthday). One of these days I’ll make time to write about how my perspective has evolved since then (ba dum tsk), particularly around colonialism and the “great man of science” model.
Reposted by Karen James
This is…brilliant.
In Monrovia, California, protesters are purchasing 17¢ ICE scrapers from Home Depot and immediately returning them to create long lines and slow down the entire store. Their aim is to disrupt sales and convey a message opposing ICE raids occurring in their neighborhood.
November 23, 2025 at 5:50 PM
This is…brilliant.
Eagle Lake, Acadia NP, last night around 4pm
November 23, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Eagle Lake, Acadia NP, last night around 4pm
Reposted by Karen James
Used to hate cabbage as a child because we used to eat it ALL THE TIME but now one of my favourite foods. Cooking it in same way my mum (and countless other Bangladeshi mums) cooked it.
November 23, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Used to hate cabbage as a child because we used to eat it ALL THE TIME but now one of my favourite foods. Cooking it in same way my mum (and countless other Bangladeshi mums) cooked it.
This is my surprised face 😒
Actually I am kind of surprised… that they didn’t use VPNs.
Actually I am kind of surprised… that they didn’t use VPNs.
November 23, 2025 at 1:51 PM
This is my surprised face 😒
Actually I am kind of surprised… that they didn’t use VPNs.
Actually I am kind of surprised… that they didn’t use VPNs.
I started watching the Ken Burns documentary like this 🫣, worrying about accuracy and representation of Native and African American peoples, but it seems pretty good so far.
Still, I’ll withhold personal judgement until I’ve seen multiple reactions from those peoples’ descendants.
Still, I’ll withhold personal judgement until I’ve seen multiple reactions from those peoples’ descendants.
November 23, 2025 at 3:46 AM
I started watching the Ken Burns documentary like this 🫣, worrying about accuracy and representation of Native and African American peoples, but it seems pretty good so far.
Still, I’ll withhold personal judgement until I’ve seen multiple reactions from those peoples’ descendants.
Still, I’ll withhold personal judgement until I’ve seen multiple reactions from those peoples’ descendants.
Reposted by Karen James
The both/and here is so important
Please hear me when I say that
1) these anti-medical woo birth movements have been a primary feeder into anti-vaxx eugenic movements
2) they pre-date the age of social media
3) they exist because we have not addressed medical sexism and specifically obstetric violence
1) these anti-medical woo birth movements have been a primary feeder into anti-vaxx eugenic movements
2) they pre-date the age of social media
3) they exist because we have not addressed medical sexism and specifically obstetric violence
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
November 22, 2025 at 7:58 PM
The both/and here is so important
Well holy s***snacks, y’all, Marjorie Taylor Greene is resigning from the House! Is it just me or is this a very significant moment?
November 22, 2025 at 1:43 AM
Well holy s***snacks, y’all, Marjorie Taylor Greene is resigning from the House! Is it just me or is this a very significant moment?