Mary Towner
@mctowner.bsky.social
Human behavioral ecologist at OSU where I get to have fun teaching human anatomy. Research in historical demography (fertility, migration), cultural evolution, and quantitative methods. Just a bit obsessed with genealogy.
Pinned
Mary Towner
@mctowner.bsky.social
· Nov 18
"The above deaths were all of measles." This includes my 4th great grandfather, Peter Smith, who was under 30 and left behind a widow and five young children. The Crawfordsville Record, Montgomery County, Indiana, 12 Mar 1836.
Reposted by Mary Towner
EVEN THOUGH I HAD OTHER THINGS I WANTED TO DO THIS HOLIDAY WEEKEND.
mammalssuck.blogspot.com/2025/11/if-y...
If you like milk science...
<dusts off the ol’ blog> On Thanksgiving, a Facebook “human interest story pages” dropped an essay about mother’s milk and me as a milk rese...
mammalssuck.blogspot.com
November 30, 2025 at 5:40 PM
EVEN THOUGH I HAD OTHER THINGS I WANTED TO DO THIS HOLIDAY WEEKEND.
mammalssuck.blogspot.com/2025/11/if-y...
Reposted by Mary Towner
And another.
And now, Ryan Walters, the Oklahoma school superintendent who (among other morality-boosting moves) wanted to put Trump bibles into every classroom. But he failed, apparently, to close an, erm, browser window during a board meeting
kfor.com/video/invest...
kfor.com/video/invest...
Investigation inquiry underway after reports of naked women on Ryan Walters office TV
Investigation inquiry underway after reports of naked women on Ryan Walters office TV
kfor.com
July 26, 2025 at 3:58 PM
And another.
Reposted by Mary Towner
Last February, I led a proposal submission that encompassed six months, hundreds of hours, four institutions, a massive team, and and 256 pages. NSF just informed us that the entire Biology Integration Institute program was archived and our proposal would not even be reviewed.
With a form email.
With a form email.
June 16, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Last February, I led a proposal submission that encompassed six months, hundreds of hours, four institutions, a massive team, and and 256 pages. NSF just informed us that the entire Biology Integration Institute program was archived and our proposal would not even be reviewed.
With a form email.
With a form email.
Reposted by Mary Towner
From Colossals. Including novel bones like the "Scapila" and the "Metacarpul bones". Also the patella on the back of the knee. And not ONLY "tail vertebrae" but ALSO "cadual vertebrae".
$millions and they didn't think to copy edit...
$millions and they didn't think to copy edit...
April 9, 2025 at 7:43 PM
From Colossals. Including novel bones like the "Scapila" and the "Metacarpul bones". Also the patella on the back of the knee. And not ONLY "tail vertebrae" but ALSO "cadual vertebrae".
$millions and they didn't think to copy edit...
$millions and they didn't think to copy edit...
Reposted by Mary Towner
The gravestones are up at Granary
April 5, 2025 at 3:18 PM
The gravestones are up at Granary
Reposted by Mary Towner
The final stage of tetanus when the nerves fire continuously and the body contorts into an agonizing posture known as opisthotonus. The mastication muscles also clamp down to form the hallmark of the disease, lockjaw. This 19th-century painting is on display @surgeonshall.bsky.social. #vaccineswork
March 3, 2025 at 4:30 PM
The final stage of tetanus when the nerves fire continuously and the body contorts into an agonizing posture known as opisthotonus. The mastication muscles also clamp down to form the hallmark of the disease, lockjaw. This 19th-century painting is on display @surgeonshall.bsky.social. #vaccineswork
Reposted by Mary Towner
#genealogy people, do you have examples like this in your family history?
March 3, 2025 at 3:00 AM
#genealogy people, do you have examples like this in your family history?
Reposted by Mary Towner
Thinking of all those American families, including mine, who sent a loved one to fight in WWII. Many never came back.
Today was a vile desecration of their memories and legacies.
Today was a vile desecration of their memories and legacies.
February 28, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Thinking of all those American families, including mine, who sent a loved one to fight in WWII. Many never came back.
Today was a vile desecration of their memories and legacies.
Today was a vile desecration of their memories and legacies.
Reposted by Mary Towner
Along with all the other signs of fascism seems we are doing eugenics (openly) again. I am so angry that we have to engage in the same terrible fights over and over again.
A senior US government official has called for “lower quality humans” to be sterilised en masse.
It’s disgusting & terrifying. And America has been here before.
It’s disgusting & terrifying. And America has been here before.
The US is talking about mass sterilisation – again
A senior US government official has called for “lower quality humans” to be sterilised en masse – his country has been here before
yorkshirebylines.co.uk
February 26, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Along with all the other signs of fascism seems we are doing eugenics (openly) again. I am so angry that we have to engage in the same terrible fights over and over again.
Reposted by Mary Towner
🚨 New publication!
We found rising temperatures are reducing daily breastfeeding time allocation among Shodagor women.
Thanks to @kstark8.bsky.social & @haleyrags.bsky.social for leading this analysis.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
We found rising temperatures are reducing daily breastfeeding time allocation among Shodagor women.
Thanks to @kstark8.bsky.social & @haleyrags.bsky.social for leading this analysis.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
High wet-bulb temperatures, time allocation, and diurnal patterns of breastfeeding in Bangladeshi fisher-traders
Climate change is a growing threat to population health, with dangerous combinations of heat and humidity increasing in frequency, particularly in South Asia. Evidence suggests that high temperatur...
www.tandfonline.com
February 25, 2025 at 1:37 PM
🚨 New publication!
We found rising temperatures are reducing daily breastfeeding time allocation among Shodagor women.
Thanks to @kstark8.bsky.social & @haleyrags.bsky.social for leading this analysis.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
We found rising temperatures are reducing daily breastfeeding time allocation among Shodagor women.
Thanks to @kstark8.bsky.social & @haleyrags.bsky.social for leading this analysis.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Mary Towner
Self-portrait of Bolognese anatomist, lecturer, and wax modeler Anna Morandi Manzolini (1714-1774) dissecting a human brain, 1755 (Museo di Palazzo Poggi, Università di Bologna) #earlymodern #18thc
February 21, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Self-portrait of Bolognese anatomist, lecturer, and wax modeler Anna Morandi Manzolini (1714-1774) dissecting a human brain, 1755 (Museo di Palazzo Poggi, Università di Bologna) #earlymodern #18thc
Reposted by Mary Towner
Upon learning that yesterday would be my last day as a program officer at the National Science Foundation, I shared this parting message with my colleagues. The next few months will be frenetic and stressful for them. Here are some things that you can do to help them with the mission ahead. (1)
February 19, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Upon learning that yesterday would be my last day as a program officer at the National Science Foundation, I shared this parting message with my colleagues. The next few months will be frenetic and stressful for them. Here are some things that you can do to help them with the mission ahead. (1)
Reposted by Mary Towner
Just in case you thought that removing DEI criteria would mean that everyone is competing equally: NIH is removing grad students from underrepresented backgrounds from the applicant pool altogether. Their applications will not be considered. Other students, not from these backgrounds, will be.
February 6, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Just in case you thought that removing DEI criteria would mean that everyone is competing equally: NIH is removing grad students from underrepresented backgrounds from the applicant pool altogether. Their applications will not be considered. Other students, not from these backgrounds, will be.
Reposted by Mary Towner
Reposted by Mary Towner
NEW: We obtained the directions NSF program officers are following to review all grants for compliance with the Trump EOs and the turmoil it has created in an agency mandated to broaden STEM participation. Our story: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Exclusive: how NSF is scouring research grants for violations of Trump’s orders
The US National Science Foundation has unfrozen grant funding, but it continues to scrutinize research projects, sowing turmoil.
www.nature.com
February 3, 2025 at 11:05 PM
NEW: We obtained the directions NSF program officers are following to review all grants for compliance with the Trump EOs and the turmoil it has created in an agency mandated to broaden STEM participation. Our story: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Mary Towner
✨PLEASE SHARE! CDC GUIDELINE ARCHIVES✨
▶️STI GUIDELINES
buff.ly/4jReLT4
buff.ly/3EmjR9B
▶️Medical Eligibility Criteria (MEC) for Contraceptives buff.ly/3PZzQNf
buff.ly/4aKMEko
▶️VACCINE VIS buff.ly/4jJ1603
▶️Others from @jessicavalenti.bsky.social
LGBTQ CDCGuidelines.com
#medsky #pedsky #IDsky 🛟🧪
▶️STI GUIDELINES
buff.ly/4jReLT4
buff.ly/3EmjR9B
▶️Medical Eligibility Criteria (MEC) for Contraceptives buff.ly/3PZzQNf
buff.ly/4aKMEko
▶️VACCINE VIS buff.ly/4jJ1603
▶️Others from @jessicavalenti.bsky.social
LGBTQ CDCGuidelines.com
#medsky #pedsky #IDsky 🛟🧪
February 1, 2025 at 10:16 PM
✨PLEASE SHARE! CDC GUIDELINE ARCHIVES✨
▶️STI GUIDELINES
buff.ly/4jReLT4
buff.ly/3EmjR9B
▶️Medical Eligibility Criteria (MEC) for Contraceptives buff.ly/3PZzQNf
buff.ly/4aKMEko
▶️VACCINE VIS buff.ly/4jJ1603
▶️Others from @jessicavalenti.bsky.social
LGBTQ CDCGuidelines.com
#medsky #pedsky #IDsky 🛟🧪
▶️STI GUIDELINES
buff.ly/4jReLT4
buff.ly/3EmjR9B
▶️Medical Eligibility Criteria (MEC) for Contraceptives buff.ly/3PZzQNf
buff.ly/4aKMEko
▶️VACCINE VIS buff.ly/4jJ1603
▶️Others from @jessicavalenti.bsky.social
LGBTQ CDCGuidelines.com
#medsky #pedsky #IDsky 🛟🧪
Reposted by Mary Towner
"The above deaths were all of measles." This includes my 4th great grandfather, Peter Smith, who was under 30 and left behind a widow and five young children. The Crawfordsville Record, Montgomery County, Indiana, 12 Mar 1836.
November 18, 2024 at 10:46 PM
"The above deaths were all of measles." This includes my 4th great grandfather, Peter Smith, who was under 30 and left behind a widow and five young children. The Crawfordsville Record, Montgomery County, Indiana, 12 Mar 1836.
Reposted by Mary Towner
As RFK Jr. and Jay Bhattacharya threaten to dismantle our best national defense against infectious disease, It seems like a good time to re-up this post from this past summer.
bsky.app/profile/juem...
bsky.app/profile/juem...
This is so troubling. Measles, in particular, is no joke. There's a reason schools require the (safe & effective) measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine for entering students. (1/11)
My god. My god.
January 26, 2025 at 5:54 PM
As RFK Jr. and Jay Bhattacharya threaten to dismantle our best national defense against infectious disease, It seems like a good time to re-up this post from this past summer.
bsky.app/profile/juem...
bsky.app/profile/juem...
Reposted by Mary Towner
CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) has provided real-time data and analysis about disease outbreaks and emerging health threats without a break every week since 1960.
Until today.
Until today.
January 23, 2025 at 6:38 PM
CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) has provided real-time data and analysis about disease outbreaks and emerging health threats without a break every week since 1960.
Until today.
Until today.
Reposted by Mary Towner
Today the Trump admin abruptly and indefinitely terminated many of the activities of the National Institutes of Health, the $50B/year collection of agencies that power the US biotech and health ecosystems. Even if these orders were lifted tomorrow, the disruption would be enormous.
Why care? 🧵
Why care? 🧵
Why should the public care about the freeze on the NIH? Aside from the need for scientific pursuits to make our society better…
-For every dollar we invest in NIH research, there is a $2.5 return.
-Research dollars help fund universities that employ non-academics. (1/)
-For every dollar we invest in NIH research, there is a $2.5 return.
-Research dollars help fund universities that employ non-academics. (1/)
January 23, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Today the Trump admin abruptly and indefinitely terminated many of the activities of the National Institutes of Health, the $50B/year collection of agencies that power the US biotech and health ecosystems. Even if these orders were lifted tomorrow, the disruption would be enormous.
Why care? 🧵
Why care? 🧵
Reposted by Mary Towner
Our universities are so good that our adversaries send their children to be educated here. We’re dismantling that unbelievable strategic advantage, hurting our own children and our own health in the process.
Shutting down medical research — not just within NIH, but everywhere that’s funded by NIH — will have long-term effects on medicine & short-term effects on state, higher education & hospital budgets. This affects all of us, not just researchers.
The assault on NIH is a test for how the national media covers the Trump admin: Trump is shutting down medical research!
That is easy to communicate. Will they treat it as a 5 alarm fire in a way that forces the government to respond, or will they downplay & caveat it?
That is easy to communicate. Will they treat it as a 5 alarm fire in a way that forces the government to respond, or will they downplay & caveat it?
January 23, 2025 at 2:01 AM
Our universities are so good that our adversaries send their children to be educated here. We’re dismantling that unbelievable strategic advantage, hurting our own children and our own health in the process.
Reposted by Mary Towner
"This is a story about human connection, acts of solidarity and care between Indigenous people and communities, and the possibility of repair within anthropology."
#Indigisky #Pasifika #anthropology #Vanuatu
www.sapiens.org/culture/inte...
#Indigisky #Pasifika #anthropology #Vanuatu
www.sapiens.org/culture/inte...
Home-Carrying—A Repatriation Trip to Vanuatu 100 Years in the Making
An anthropologist and poet reflects on a journey about human connection, acts of Indigenous solidarity, and the potential for repair.
www.sapiens.org
January 9, 2025 at 10:19 PM
"This is a story about human connection, acts of solidarity and care between Indigenous people and communities, and the possibility of repair within anthropology."
#Indigisky #Pasifika #anthropology #Vanuatu
www.sapiens.org/culture/inte...
#Indigisky #Pasifika #anthropology #Vanuatu
www.sapiens.org/culture/inte...
Reposted by Mary Towner
“For women, cousin marriages are often “marrying down” financially, keeping women’s wealth in the family” onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
<em>Population and Development Review</em> | Population Council Journal | Wiley Online Library
Pakistan has the highest rates of consanguinity in the world, with nearly two-thirds marrying cousins. To understand this pattern, we adopt the theoretical framework of intensive and extensive kinshi...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 24, 2024 at 4:14 PM
“For women, cousin marriages are often “marrying down” financially, keeping women’s wealth in the family” onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Mary Towner
It's Grace Hopper's Birthday! This amazing woman was responsible for COBOL, and many computing innovations. She also discovered a "bug" in her work, which is documented in this page from her notebook. The term bug in the system predates her , but she may have coined "debugging" 🧪🦋😀
December 9, 2024 at 2:10 PM
It's Grace Hopper's Birthday! This amazing woman was responsible for COBOL, and many computing innovations. She also discovered a "bug" in her work, which is documented in this page from her notebook. The term bug in the system predates her , but she may have coined "debugging" 🧪🦋😀
Reposted by Mary Towner
🚨 New paper out in Population and Development Review by Dr Mary Shenk and colleagues! “Intensive Kinship, Development, and Demography: Why Pakistan has the Highest Rates of Cousin Marriage in the World.” 🔗 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
December 7, 2024 at 6:47 PM
🚨 New paper out in Population and Development Review by Dr Mary Shenk and colleagues! “Intensive Kinship, Development, and Demography: Why Pakistan has the Highest Rates of Cousin Marriage in the World.” 🔗 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....