Amanda Heidt
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scattercushion.bsky.social
Amanda Heidt
@scattercushion.bsky.social
1.6K followers 950 following 360 posts
🏜️Southwest National Parks Editor, SFGate |✨Freelance Science Journalist |👩‍🔬 Once-Upon-A-Time Scientist | 📰 Clips in Nature, Science, The New York Times, Nat Geo, NPR, et al. | Signal: aheidt.16 | She/Her 🏳️‍🌈 | amandaheidt.com
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scattercushion.bsky.social
Amanda Heidt @scattercushion.bsky.social · Nov 18
👋 Excited to see so many faces, new and old, joining us here! To (re)introduce myself:
- I'm a freelance science journalist based in Utah🏜️;
- I love backpacking, rock climbing, SCUBA, & mountaineering🧗‍♀️;
- I have a dog (Goose) & an axolotl (Lenjamin)🐕;
- Let's chat GBBO, romantasy, & gardening🥧.
A selfie of a woman set against a snowy backdrop with a mountain peak (Mt. Baker) in the background. She is wearing a blue sunshirt with a hood underneath a wind shirt with colorful lines. She has a gray hat on and her sunglasses are pulled down to the end of her nose. A dog (half labrador, half golden retriever) wearing a red backpack sits in the foreground, panting. Behind him, the rocky summit of a peak stretches into a lovely view of the redrock desert outside Moab, Utah. A pink axolotl floats in her tank against a green background. Her body is light pink, and her gills are dark pink. Her unblinking stare is unnerving yet endearing. A recent view from Moab, Utah, including a bend in the Colorado river in the foreground, a series of stone fins in the midground, and the snowy La Sal mountains in the background. The sky is blue with loose, fluff clouds.
Reposted by Amanda Heidt
whysharksmatter.bsky.social
Every year around Thanksgiving, I see tons of grad students post heartbreaking messages on social media about how their loved ones don’t understand or support their decision to study what seems like something pointless or silly.

Perhaps my American Scientist essay can help!

🧪🌎🦑 #SciComm
“Why Are We Funding This?”
Long-standing myths about “silly science” have contributed to the reckless slashing of government-supported research.
www.americanscientist.org
November 25, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Reposted by Amanda Heidt
jael.bsky.social
breaking news: COP30 talks have been evacuated after a massive fire broke out inside the venue in brazil
COP30 evacuated after fire breaks out
Thousands of people are attending the UN climate talks in Brazil.
www.bbc.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:49 PM
scattercushion.bsky.social
I keep a particular meme shortcutted for responding to lengthy criticisms about my work. (Which is NOT to say I won't engage with legitimate concerns. I'm 👀 at you, guy who argued I was being funded by woke leftists b/c I used the word "diversity" too much in a story about the Cambrian Explosion.)
November 18, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Reposted by Amanda Heidt
prideinstem.bsky.social
Happy International Day of LGBTQIA+ People In STEM!

How are you celebrating it?

#LGBTQSTEMDay #PrideInSTEM
The logo for LGBTQ+STEM Day, with the hashtags below and the date 18 of November, over a rainbow background
November 18, 2025 at 8:30 AM
scattercushion.bsky.social
🏜️ The lesser-visited side of the Grand Canyon is closing two weeks earlier than planned due to winter weather and lingering damage from the Dragon Bravo fire.

www.sfgate.com/national-par...
Grand Canyon National Park's North Rim closed until 2026
The park is still recovering from a wildfire on the North Rim earlier this year.
www.sfgate.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Reposted by Amanda Heidt
usha.bsky.social
Science/health/environmental journalists: Join us for an amazing year at MIT. 🔭🧪2026 applications are open! Deadline is Jan. 9. Please share widely. ksj.mit.edu/news/2025/11...
KSJ Opens Application Cycle for 2026-27 Fellowships
Applications for KSJ's Academic-Year Fellowship and the Africa and Middle East Fellowship will open November 15 and close January 9.
ksj.mit.edu
November 15, 2025 at 3:50 PM
scattercushion.bsky.social
My first byline in my new role for @sfgate.com, and I got to go report in my own backyard! I promise the next one will be more uplifting.
November 13, 2025 at 10:05 PM
scattercushion.bsky.social
Aurora over Moab tonight. I've been waiting my whole life to see this. 🌌
November 12, 2025 at 2:38 AM
scattercushion.bsky.social
🧪Fun #sourcerequest: Have you, a scientist, read the book Microbe Hunters, and if so, did it leave a lasting impact on you? This book--perhaps the first popular science text--is turning 100 next year, and I'm covering it for @nautil.us! Also interested in speaking with medical or science historians.
November 4, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Reposted by Amanda Heidt
virginiagewin.bsky.social
"Science is being destroyed across many agencies" say federal researchers.

For my latest @nature.com piece, I spoke to 19 different scientists across EPA, NOAA, NIH, NASA, and USGS to document how science is being dismantled across US federal agencies.
Dismantling of US federal agencies will ‘destroy science’
From NASA to the National Institutes of Health, federal agencies conduct research that universities cannot. Agency scientists speak out about the irreplaceable facilities, institutional knowledge and ...
www.nature.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:58 PM
scattercushion.bsky.social
🏜️Today is the day! I have officially started at @sfgate.com and am on the hunt for stories about our southwest national parks. If you've got a tip, know of an iconic local in your town, or otherwise wanna chat public lands, I'm at [email protected].
A vertical image of a cave in southeast Utah with four arches shown in the frame. A landscape photo of the mouth of a cave, looking down a long redrock canyon towards the Colorado River. The sky looks gloomy, as though it will soon rain. A vertical shot of a granite peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. An interior shot of an old and abandoned log cabin, with a deer skull hanging over an old hearth.
November 3, 2025 at 9:10 PM
scattercushion.bsky.social
🧪I've been doing a lot of reporting on cancer recently, and the first to run is this feature for @nature.com on the intersection between nanorobotics and oncology. Read on to learn about biohybrid robots (a sperm cell that delivers cancer drugs!?) and what we can expect in the coming years.
How nanobots are accelerating cancer-targeting therapies
The near-invisible robots have yet to make it to a clinical trial, but scientists are already using them as a way to diagnose and treat various cancers.
www.nature.com
October 29, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Reposted by Amanda Heidt
beebrookshire.bsky.social
Look at this point if Richard Dawkins thinks you've got good ideas about how science needs to be run, you...should look hard in the mirror and reconsider your ideas.

www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
Nature journal accused of abandoning science for social justice
The publisher has defended its efforts to boost the diversity of researchers after it came under attack from Richard Dawkins and other academics
www.thetimes.com
October 28, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Reposted by Amanda Heidt
jbenmenachem.com
Wow. Harvard nuking its PhD programs

- Science PhD admissions reduced by more than 75%
- Arts & Humanities reduced by about 60%
- Social Sciences by 50–70%
- History by 60%
- Biology by 75%
- The German department will lose all PhD seats
- Sociology from six PhD students to zero
Harvard FAS Cuts Ph.D. Seats By More Than Half Across Next Two Admissions Cycles | News | The Harvard Crimson
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences slashed the number of Ph.D. student admissions slots for the Science division by more than 75 percent and for the Arts & Humanities division by about 60 percent for th...
www.thecrimson.com
October 21, 2025 at 5:11 PM
scattercushion.bsky.social
I’ve long said that the staff job that could pull me away from freelancing probably doesn't exist. Happy to be proven half wrong, at least. Excited to announce that I'll soon be starting a new role as the Southwest National Parks Editor @sfgate.com, covering public lands in the four corners region.
National Parks | Latest News and Travel Information
Get the latest news, maps, travel guides, park information and tips about the West Coast's national, state and county parks.
www.sfgate.com
October 17, 2025 at 6:12 PM
scattercushion.bsky.social
Since I've gotten a bit more traffic on my page recently, I'm still seeking sources for this story.
scattercushion.bsky.social Amanda Heidt @scattercushion.bsky.social · Oct 13
🧪Hello friends! I'm working on a piece about putting together the best tenure/promotion package, and I'd love to hear from STEM folks who have recently done this or have experience evaluating these types of proposals. Please RT for reach, and feel free to reach out with any Qs!
October 15, 2025 at 4:04 PM
scattercushion.bsky.social
🧪Did I really have time for this story? No, I did not, for reasons I'll be sharing soon. Did I absolutely feel compelled to write it anyways? You know I did! A viral mystery solved by science. Read on @sciencenews.bsky.social

Also, I have a new to-do for my trip to Chicago for #SciWri25 next month!
The viral Chicago ‘Rat Hole’ almost certainly wasn't made by a rat
Researchers used methods from paleontology to analyze the quirky local landmark, created when a rodent of a certain size fell into wet concrete.
www.sciencenews.org
October 15, 2025 at 12:45 AM
scattercushion.bsky.social
🧪Hello friends! I'm working on a piece about putting together the best tenure/promotion package, and I'd love to hear from STEM folks who have recently done this or have experience evaluating these types of proposals. Please RT for reach, and feel free to reach out with any Qs!
October 13, 2025 at 8:16 PM
scattercushion.bsky.social
🧪New from me for @nature.com: Nearly every model organism used in research has it's own database, called a MOD. These resources underpin decades of discovery, but they're collectively struggling amid funding cuts.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Model organism databases face budget cuts and closures
Beyond the crucial data they contain, these digital archives have provided an important space for academic communities to exchange ideas and resources.
www.nature.com
October 2, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Reposted by Amanda Heidt
vgwschutte.bsky.social
UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH has anyone been on a .gov website yet today?

How many of them are like this??
A screenshot of hud.gov, with the screen dimmed and a popup that says "The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands. The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people." with a close button at the bottom. A screenshot of hud.gov after clicking the close button on that popup, and it has a giant red banner at the top with white text on it that says "The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands. The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people."
September 30, 2025 at 4:15 PM
scattercushion.bsky.social
🧪Hearing about Myasthenia Gravis for the first time? I was too, but turns out there's lots to learn about this surprisingly common rare disease. So read on, in my latest for BioSpace.

www.biospace.com/drug-develop...
Rush of Targeted Myasthenia Gravis Therapies Hit Once Sparse Market
After decades without much movement, a handful of new treatments for this rare autoimmune disease are now approved, and several companies, including argenx and Regeneron, have recently released promis...
www.biospace.com
September 15, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Reposted by Amanda Heidt
monscience.bsky.social
The CDC has released the agenda for this week’s vaccine advisory meeting. The first item of business: MMR vaccines. 👀👀👀

www.cdc.gov/acip/meeting...
Draft agenda for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, scheduled for Thursday, September 18, 2025. The meeting begins at 10:00 AM with welcome and roll call by Dr. Martin Kulldorff (ACIP Chair) and Dr. Mina Zadeh (CDC). At 10:30 AM, Dr. Kulldorff provides work group updates. At 11:00 AM, the committee discusses measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccines, with presentations by Dr. Arjun Srinivasan and Dr. John Su, followed by proposed recommendations. Lunch is at 1:00 PM. At 1:30 PM, Hepatitis B vaccine discussions begin, including presentations by Dr. Adam Langer and Dr. John Su. After a 4:00 PM break, agency updates from CDC, CMS, FDA, HRSA, IHS, and NIH start at 4:15 PM, followed by public comment at 4:30 PM. At 5:00 PM, votes are held on MMRV and Hepatitis B vaccines and Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, with Dr. Jeanne Santoli joining Dr. Kulldorff. The meeting adjourns at 5:30 PM.
September 15, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Reposted by Amanda Heidt
icy-pete.bsky.social
NSF: The vessel [US Antarctic research vessel NB Palmer] is planned to be returned to the operator after a final cruise in October 2025.  
www.nsf.gov/geo/opp/upda... @carlosmoffat.com
Update on Nathaniel B. Palmer
www.nsf.gov
September 11, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Amanda Heidt
hanaatameez.bsky.social
This story — which asks what happened to all of those newsroom DEI jobs, committees, and promises from 2020 — is the hardest one I've ever worked on. I hope you'll spend some time with it today.

www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/from...
From reckoning to retreat: Journalism’s DEI efforts are in decline
Diversity-related newsroom jobs haven't totally disappeared — but they also haven't stuck.
www.niemanlab.org
September 11, 2025 at 2:41 PM
scattercushion.bsky.social
I'm sorry, they do what now!? This is reaffirming my longstanding belief that myrmecologist are unhinged.
alexwild.bsky.social Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · Sep 10
The new XKCD has to be a reference to the ant paper where ants just casually lay eggs of a different species, yes? Maybe? There are so many weird bugs its hard to know.
Line drawing of a two story institutional building with a sign in front, "Welcome to the BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT. It has been 3 days since we discovered something existentially horrifying about abugs that make you question your whole reality."
September 10, 2025 at 5:42 PM