Meredith Swett Walker
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meredithswalker.bsky.social
Meredith Swett Walker
@meredithswalker.bsky.social
I am an unrepentant proselytizer for science & nature and inept watercolorist. Got a Ph.D. in bird behavior & hormones then morphed into a mom, science communicator and non-profit aide-de-camp. She/Her
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
This is an incredibly powerful piece, impeccably researched, and everyone should take the time to read it. It clarifies a lot of things I’ve instinctually felt but haven’t quite had the words to describe.
We have a “poverty trap” and it’s driving the destruction of social cohesion.

The “poverty line” is’t 35,000, it’s $150,000, and making more than one, and less than the other is worse than being “poor”.

Which is why the rage.
www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-...
Part 1: My Life Is a Lie
How a Broken Benchmark Quietly Broke America
www.yesigiveafig.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
Can I interest you in some snoods, wattles, & caruncles? 🦃

This post is full of turktastic facts for the big day, as well as a wee bit of shameless self-promotion. But hey, I have some stuff to be thankful for! 🧪

jasonbittel.substack.com/p/here-have-...
Here, Have A Fancy-Ass Turkey
As Americans prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, a quick dive into turkey taxonomy and anatomy.
jasonbittel.substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
New paper alert!! Thanks to @tuttran.bsky.social for putting us all together for his first publication! It will be helpful to have much of this data in one place. Check it out: giw.utahgeology.org/giw/index.ph...
#NPSpaleo
November 24, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
Oh come ON little Oregon Junco!

If they didn't eat so much seed I'd think they were just fey creatures surviving on joy and rainbows.

Absolutely perfect birds!

#birds #becurious
November 20, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."

There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
🪶🌎🧪 2025 was a challenging year for many, including IBP. Read all about it and the great work we did despite the chaos in our newly released 2025 Annual Report → storymaps.arcgis.com...
November 20, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
I've had a missile blow up next to my airplane, been shot at dozens of times by anti-aircraft fire, and launched into orbit — all for my country. I never thought I'd see a President call for my execution.

Trump doesn’t understand the Constitution, and we're all less safe for it.
November 20, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
Earlier this morning, President Trump threatened me and a group of service and veteran Members of Congress with arrest, trial, and death by hanging.

Here’s my response:
November 20, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
Halted NIH Clinical Trials List Reveals Slashed Treatments for Cancer, COVID and Minority Health

www.scientificamerican.com/article/halt...

Sickle cell disease, sleep disorders and lung cancer & much more

A dive into the list of NIH's 383 shelved clinical trials, obtained by Scientific American
Halted NIH Clinical Trials List Reveals Slashed Treatments for Cancer, COVID and Minority Health
The National Institutes of Health has canceled funding for at least 383 clinical trials in the last year, affecting some 74,000 participants
www.scientificamerican.com
November 20, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
On #GISDay, we honor Dr. Gladys West, the genius mathematician whose 1970s–80s geodetic modeling of the Earth laid the foundation for GPS. Her work on SEASAT & GEOSAT gave us the precise geoid that makes every #geospatial app reliable today. #wow 😮 #WomenInSTEM

hiddenheroes.netguru.com/gladys-west
November 20, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
#Wisdom is back!
The world’s oldest known living banded bird, Mōlī (Laysan albatross) queen, has returned to Kuailhelani (Midway Atoll). #Birds
November 20, 2025 at 1:28 AM
I have found the best pigeon.
November 20, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
This is the first story I ever did that got more than a million views
November 19, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
This is my 1st time catching my pet archer fish, Legolas, spitting on camera. Archerfish use modified jaw and tongue bones to fire a jet of water to knock down bugs from over hanging vegetation. Here Legolas is shooting down a fruit fly 🪰 🐠🧪
September 30, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
For the Aussies, the zoologists and the architects out there.

💩🧊🧪

By @chazhutton.com
November 14, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
In an increasingly divided world, how do strangers become friends? Parakeets might have something to teach us! New paper on formation of affiliative relationships, led by Dr. Claire O’Connell doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
November 12, 2025 at 1:39 PM
November 12, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
“Previous negotiations did not address core issues. They either delayed them or worked around them, making do based on the circumstances of the time.” Good piece from Caitlin Ochs on the legal questions behind the Colorado River talks: www.hcn.org/articles/why...
Why Colorado River negotiations are so difficult - High Country News
Basin states have had 2 years to figure out how to share the shrinking river. Will they get there before the feds step in?
www.hcn.org
November 11, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
Baby pigeon mystery.
My pigeon book is here: www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/rosem...
November 11, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
Each year IBP holds a photo contest for our seasonal employees. This photo of a Brown Booby by Asch Nighthawk took 3rd place this year. Asch was a member of our Tropical MAPS crew, monitoring birds on the island of Rota, CNMI in the western Pacific. 🪶🌎🧪
November 11, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
What do you get when you cross a red-tailed hawk with a turkey vulture? 🪶
November 10, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
Seriously? 🪶
November 10, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
Chuck Schumer Helps Pull Democrats Back From Brink Of Courage
November 10, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
Word of the Day is ‘catchfart’ (17th century): an obsequious individual who sucks up to the boss and always follows the political wind.
November 7, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Reposted by Meredith Swett Walker
I was excited to share a write-up about my friend @nickantonson.bsky.social’s recent paper regardless, but especially once I saw this title! www.popsci.com/environment/...
Woodpeckers grunt like tennis players
‘They take the pecking that we see all birds doing and take it to the extreme.’
www.popsci.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:17 AM