marine biology is so scary because it’s such a small field. i was giving a talk on cetaceans and afterward a woman approached me with her husband and she said, “you did very well. [husband’s name] actually pioneered the research and published the first paper on that. We were very impressed by you.”

Which is such a scientific interpretation/public education win I will cherish forever but also for the rest of my life any time I give a talk I will be haunted by the knowledge that the world’s leading expert who literally discovered/invented the topic might be in the room,

which is like, the opposite of what you’re supposed to do for stage fright. In fact I never used to experience stage fright but now I will.

You should never have shame about your academic journey. It's a journey. You're growing and learning. You're going to face challenges alone for one of the first times in your life. Shit's hard. It's ok to struggle.

I haven't had a pretty journey at all. I'm graduating with a bachelor's degree at 25. I've been in college nonstop since I was 18. I've failed a lot of classes and had to go part time. So many things have happened. But I will have the degree. And that degree is worth the exact same as someone who got it in 3 years. The knowledge I have is mine to keep.

How I got here doesn't matter. I'm here. I am going to graduate in a few months. I have won this chapter of my life. And to those who try to shame me for how I got here and how long it took, I pray that you never experience the things I have that have made it take long. May you live a life of comfort and luxury and have hands soft as silk until you die. And hopefully I will get the same grace from the universe eventually.

dark academia isn’t just for the humanities: i bring you STEM academia.

observatories. stargazing. biographies of scientists. filling the board end to end with equations. hand-drawn anatomical diagrams. the hazy euphoria after finally finishing an assignment. oppenheimer & frankenstein. the uniformity of a circuit board; the chaos of a programming window. ibm’s a boy and his atom. event horizon telescope’s black hole photo. the wonder of studying anatomy and knowing that’s happening within you. sketching organic compounds that may as well be sigils. studying latin for medical terminology. doing problem sets to classical music.

Sorry I've been gone. Weddings, spring break, sickness, my anniversary, etc have been keeping me busy. Have a crab molt in a box :)

2 of my fav pics, tongue eating parasite found in a tuna can

We get pretty excited about the common siphonophore. What’s not to love?

We’re thrilled to be the first public aquarium in the world to culture and raise these delightful drifters. While these animals are incredibly fragile and difficult to see, they’re abundant and can be found throughout the ocean!

Siphonophores are colonies of tiny animals called “zooids”, and they play an important role in the oceanic food webs.

Thank you to our colleagues at @mbari-blog for the common siphonophore footage! Check out their website to learn more about these magnificent mysteries!

Studying for a test that's in 2 hours 🙃 time management has never been a good skill of mine. But coffee and fantasy music helps so much!!!

i like sailing myths and superstitions because most of them can be boiled down to "if the ocean doesn't like you it will chew you up and spit out your bones. and if it really loves you it will swallow you whole and never let you go. good luck 👍"

Here's a video of some live amphipods swimming around because they're cute

I hate that I’m always trying to find cool biology themed stuff to wear but all the “nature inspired” clothing companies just have like two crossed arrows or a minimalistic mountain on a sweatshirt. Fucking lame, that’s barely even nature-adjacent. Put the life cycle of a salamander on a jacket, put hyena skeleton patterns on leggings, put a damn field guide of birds of prey on a peacoat and THEN you can have my money. Do NOT give me a shirt with a leaf on it that says “stay wild” or some bullshit I would much prefer clothing that broadcasts to everyone around me how many teeth an adult Jaguar has or how some pitcher plants can catch and digest rats.

Today's plans:

Lunch while studying for a test in 30 minutes outside because it's finally warm enough to be outside (first photo)

The gym after the hour drive home

Laundry and more studying (refining notes for a test on Friday)

Date night :)

Green Grapes Sea Slug (Sacoproteus smaragdinus), family Limapontiidae, Tulamben, Bali, Indoneisa

photograph by Gede Ardha

pls reblog for sample size etc

How to be productive on vacation

We all need breaks and vacations! Does that mean your productivity should fall on the back burner though? Yes! 100% yes. Don't be productive on vacation. Vacation is for you to unwind and relax and do things for you, not to increase or maintain levels of productivity you keep up during work/study. You took time off work/school. They don't have more rights over your time than you do.

Your time belongs to you and you alone. You sell it to work in exchange for money. If you aren't getting money, they're not getting your time. And school is there to educate YOU. It's a resource you pay for to learn more things and get specialized training. They are exchanging their resources for your money. Taking time for you on a weekend can help you keep being productive better and longer. Taking time away from vacation to be productive won't help things in the long run. And babe, one bad test will not make you fail or ruin your whole future I promise. But those memories will stick your whole life. Don't sell your soul for a future that you can't learn to enjoy now. You've worked so hard to get here. Enjoy it a little.

it really is insane how waking up early will grant you access to some of the most beautiful sights and sensations in the world that will make you want to live forever, but only if you overcome the gauntlet of a thousand razors that is getting out of bed early. truly one of life's little saw traps.

Awwwwww ☺️ I've been absent for a bit and I am now back and seeing this message in my inbox just made my whole month omg.

You deserve to have a good day today and every day lovely. This was so amazing!!!! I literally can't express how much this made me smile and how happy it made me! 🥰💕