Stephen Heard
@stephenbheard.bsky.social
Evolutionary ecologist & Boggle aficionado. Author: The Scientist's Guide to Writing; Charles Darwin's Barnacle and David Bowie's Spider. He/him.
Blog and book links: scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com
Blog and book links: scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com
Great take. Thank you!
November 12, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Great take. Thank you!
Probably pink earth lichen, Dibaeis baeomyces.
The species name is from 1782, coined by Carl Linnaeus the Younger (son of you-know-who). Is this the oldest occurrence of "bae"?
The species name is from 1782, coined by Carl Linnaeus the Younger (son of you-know-who). Is this the oldest occurrence of "bae"?
November 11, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Probably pink earth lichen, Dibaeis baeomyces.
The species name is from 1782, coined by Carl Linnaeus the Younger (son of you-know-who). Is this the oldest occurrence of "bae"?
The species name is from 1782, coined by Carl Linnaeus the Younger (son of you-know-who). Is this the oldest occurrence of "bae"?
Field work keeps us busy but there's always time to look around.
Look down at your toes; look very closely - these adorable fruiting bodies (of the fungal component of the foreground crustose lichen) are only 2-3 mm tall.
Look down at your toes; look very closely - these adorable fruiting bodies (of the fungal component of the foreground crustose lichen) are only 2-3 mm tall.
November 11, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Field work keeps us busy but there's always time to look around.
Look down at your toes; look very closely - these adorable fruiting bodies (of the fungal component of the foreground crustose lichen) are only 2-3 mm tall.
Look down at your toes; look very closely - these adorable fruiting bodies (of the fungal component of the foreground crustose lichen) are only 2-3 mm tall.
OK, I was wrong, highest point in Chic-Chocs is 1268 m. So maybe "Chic-Choc Junior Mountains".
November 9, 2025 at 11:12 PM
OK, I was wrong, highest point in Chic-Chocs is 1268 m. So maybe "Chic-Choc Junior Mountains".
It's 4:15 p.m. and we're working by headlamps... here at the very eastern edge of a time zone, winter approaching, dark comes EARLY!
November 9, 2025 at 11:02 PM
It's 4:15 p.m. and we're working by headlamps... here at the very eastern edge of a time zone, winter approaching, dark comes EARLY!
The area where we're working. Chic Choc Mountains (OK, <1000 m, let's say Chic Choc Really Big Hills), Gaspesie, Quebec. Not a bad view from the "office".
November 9, 2025 at 10:59 PM
The area where we're working. Chic Choc Mountains (OK, <1000 m, let's say Chic Choc Really Big Hills), Gaspesie, Quebec. Not a bad view from the "office".
Yup, pretty snowy at the northern/high elevation sites. There's a buried datalogger in there somewhere...
November 9, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Yup, pretty snowy at the northern/high elevation sites. There's a buried datalogger in there somewhere...
Near, at our northernmost sites, but a bit eastwards towards Murdochville. Watersheds scattered over a good area!
November 9, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Near, at our northernmost sites, but a bit eastwards towards Murdochville. Watersheds scattered over a good area!
Oh gosh. Preprints. Predatory journals. LLMs. Online supplements. So much!
And yet the core storytelling focus of the book is evergreen. It's a great book.
And yet the core storytelling focus of the book is evergreen. It's a great book.
November 7, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Oh gosh. Preprints. Predatory journals. LLMs. Online supplements. So much!
And yet the core storytelling focus of the book is evergreen. It's a great book.
And yet the core storytelling focus of the book is evergreen. It's a great book.
Gonna talk to the publisher about catnip-infused cover ink for marketing purposes🤣
Josh's book has been around a while, and I wish he'd do a new edition - last I talked to him, he wasn't interested. But especially on storytelling, much of the content is evergreen!
Josh's book has been around a while, and I wish he'd do a new edition - last I talked to him, he wasn't interested. But especially on storytelling, much of the content is evergreen!
November 6, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Gonna talk to the publisher about catnip-infused cover ink for marketing purposes🤣
Josh's book has been around a while, and I wish he'd do a new edition - last I talked to him, he wasn't interested. But especially on storytelling, much of the content is evergreen!
Josh's book has been around a while, and I wish he'd do a new edition - last I talked to him, he wasn't interested. But especially on storytelling, much of the content is evergreen!
He's just trying to lick his way through it to get to Schimel underneath! Some folks (and cats) like it better, and that's ok, it's pretty good too 🙂
November 6, 2025 at 11:02 PM
He's just trying to lick his way through it to get to Schimel underneath! Some folks (and cats) like it better, and that's ok, it's pretty good too 🙂
That is much better!
November 5, 2025 at 3:36 PM
That is much better!
None of them look that weird to me? I guess I can see your bumblebee critique if I look really closely - doesn't bother me as an entomologist one bit!
November 5, 2025 at 1:41 PM
None of them look that weird to me? I guess I can see your bumblebee critique if I look really closely - doesn't bother me as an entomologist one bit!
By the way, you can't copyright titles. So Kolbert's book shares its title with this 1968 book by Howard Ensign Evans https://amzn.to/47H5GGW. Also well worth reading - but the cover. Oh, the cover. Maybe in 1968 this was chef's kiss? I don't want to think so...
November 5, 2025 at 12:47 PM
By the way, you can't copyright titles. So Kolbert's book shares its title with this 1968 book by Howard Ensign Evans https://amzn.to/47H5GGW. Also well worth reading - but the cover. Oh, the cover. Maybe in 1968 this was chef's kiss? I don't want to think so...
Playlist! My book in one ear, your remixes in the other?
November 4, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Playlist! My book in one ear, your remixes in the other?
Obligatory link to the book's webpage, for those who aren't yet super tired of me posting it:
Charles Darwin’s Barnacle and David Bowie’s Spider
Charles Darwin’s Barnacle and David Bowie’s Spider is my second book (after The Scientist’s Guide to Writing) and my first for a general audience. Ever since Carl Linnaeus’ 18th-century inven…
scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com
November 4, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Obligatory link to the book's webpage, for those who aren't yet super tired of me posting it: