A nasty side effect of the deluge of predatory journal emails: Email filters can't distinguish "please submit your spider thermal biology paper to our root vegetable special issue" from "important update about the article you actually submitted to a real journal"

Love the appreciation for Kim Petras, but she's not the first trans woman ever to win a Grammy, that's Wendy Carlos! Trans synth queen Carlos won 3 Grammys for "Switched-On-Bach" in 1969. She later went on to compose the soundtracks for The Shining and A Clockwork Orange.

If you're at APS, go see my supervisor's talk! She promises awesome pictures and awesome science. I wholeheartedly agree!

Sharing this again, because it's thesis/dissertation writing season. A little ditty I wrote to help make the writing process a little gentler, and reassure you that you're going to have a good (done) dissertation! erinbrandtphd.net/blog/surviving…

Aw, nuts :( #Eurovision2023

Let's say I've become rather attached to a paper wasp queen with a new nest near my door. If I talk to her and get her used to me, will she be friendly? Will the princesses be friendly too? Guard my tomatoes from squirrels? Will they require tributes of cold cuts? Turkey or ham?

Abstract submitted! Looking forward to attending the arachnid meetings in Ithaca later this month. It was where I gave my very first conference presentation back in 2011, and I can't wait to see my arachnid meeting pals again!

Adventures in Chicago apartment hunting Me: "Where's the laundry?" Agent: "I dunno, let's ask the current tenant" Tenant (hungover, bewildered at our presence in his home): "Oh, it's behind the trap doors under the porch." Added "laundry dungeon" to the pro/con apartment table.

Also! Check out this great article written by our excellent media relations specialist Jeff Renaud news.westernu.ca/2023/11/cricke…

Tree crickets sport baffles to increase the efficiency of their forewing mating calls. But most crickets don’t need baffles because the ground reflects sound upwards and enhances the insect’s acoustic energy. In PNAS: ow.ly/XlBV50Q8toV

En route to NYC to participate in this symposium! Looking forward to a day of excellent talks.