Any #Tooth Aficionados in the greater #Brisbane area are most welcome to join me for a Keynote Lecture at the #UQ School of Dentistry next Friday on The Secret Lives of Ancient Teeth: Development, Climate Change, and Human Evolution #WomenInSTEM #TalesTeethTell dentistry.uq.edu.au/event/sessio...

School of Dentistry Research Day 2026

dentistry.uq.edu.au

"Australia needs more frank discussion about what’s gone wrong, where, and which audacious ideas might raise excellence and impact." www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04...

The 'enshitification' of the system has left Australia's unis at a crossroad

A generation ago, studying in Australia opened doors. Today rising costs and falling satisfaction are making international students think twice, and locals feel sidelined.

abc.net.au

Supporters of the “degrowth” movement say that capitalism and consumerism have run their course.

Is this the moment to change the way we think about economic growth?

theconversation.com

🚨Do you have a new paper, a conference or workshop, a field school, a job posting, or anything else you’d like to share with the BAWMN audience? Please send us your news and we’ll post it on our socials! Fill out your info here: t.co/ymj6icuHfj

Australia's universities are spending $1.8 billion a year on external consultants and contractors, while slashing courses and jobs, with students, staff and taxpayers left shortchanged. Watch ABC Four Corners tonight. #HigherEducation #auspol #AcademicSky #HigherEd www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03...

As universities cut courses, spending on consultants and contractors nears $2b

Consultancies have been accused of infiltrating universities and wasting scarce public funds on questionable advice about cutting courses and jobs.

abc.net.au

Ok, so I knew it would be an anger-inducing and triggering watch, but OMG. Bravo ABC Four Corners, and the brave souls that spoke out on the show. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03...

Campus Chaos

Four Corners is the home of Australian investigative journalism.

abc.net.au

Rest in Power, Dr. Birute Galdikas: another ‘Difficult Woman’ who changed the world for us and for the #orangutan! theconversation.com/birute-galdi...

Birutė Galdikas: The last of the ‘angels’ in primatology’s most extraordinary chapter

With Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, Galdikas changed the face of science and opened the world’s eyes to how similar humans are to orangutans and other primates.

theconversation.com

Happening now @bioanth.org #AABA2026 - a diverse and dynamic celebration of 40 years of the @dentalanth.bsky.social ! Deep bow of thanks to Christina Nicholas for inviting me to share some #TalesTeethTell

Such great energy at the joint @bawmn.bsky.social COD-WIN Happy Hour last night at #AABA2026! Grateful to @bioanth.org for the many years of holding space for our small but mighty grassroots group + our generous donors! All are welcome to join the Steering Committee mtg Sat 7am in the hotel cafe.

Happening now at @bioanth.org #AABA2026 - COD-WIN + @bawmn.bsky.social co-sponsored event with on #Faculty hiring and #DEI

#AABA2026

Biological Anthropology Women's Mentoring Network@bawmn.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Get excited!! 👏👏 - The BAWMN has organized several events during the #AABAs2026! We hope to see you there! Below is information on the workshop, the World Cafe (registration required), and our popular Happy Hour:

There were so many of us, exactly when these emails were being written, expressly working to undo the harms of sexual harassment and sexual discrimination in science. And so many people refused to believe us that any of it was real. It was all real. 19thnews.org/2026/02/epst...

The boys’ club: How Epstein’s influence shaped the exclusion of women in STEM

In one email, an AI researcher suggested it’s “hard to be brilliant if you are worrying if you look fat or why another woman hates you.”

19thnews.org

Very excited to be #Co-Leading a World Cafe on Collective Action for @bawmn.bsky.social in Denver in one month - still time to register if you're going to #AABA2026 @bioanth.org! We're got an awesome program with a workshop, off-site luncheon, and on-site Happy Hour ~ more details here: bawmn.org

Biological Anthropology Women's Mentoring Network

Creating Connections and Supporting Women across Bioanthropology

bawmn.org

Excellent start to 2026 thanks to this outstanding study led by @jnavila.bsky.social TLDR: We can now distinguish diverse water sources used by ancient people in arid regions, as well as predicting drinking water chemistry & rainfall patterns thousands of years ago from #Teeth. tinyurl.com/pnvhhp4n

Seasonality and water source strategies in the Neolithic Near East (ca. 8,000–5,000 BCE): Insights from multi-proxy isotopic and elemental analyses

Previous studies have demonstrated that enamel oxygen isotope values (δ18O) reflect rainfall variability experienced by wild primates and ancient huma…

tinyurl.com

Diagnosis for profound scientific malaise: "Enshittification... is a systemic issue that threatens the value and development of academic publishing. Academia has become increasingly guided by metrics. As a result, research quality is judged more by where it is published than by its intrinsic worth."

The 5 stages of the ‘enshittification’ of academic publishing

Academic publishing now shows the same decline that has hit social media and online marketplaces.

theconversation.com

Very proud of @emmasudron.bsky.social who just gave a solid talk on detecting physiological #stress from #nitrogen #isotopes in #teeth at @aushumanbiology.bsky.social #ASHB2025! And a shout out to the incomparable @mammalssuck.bsky.social for integral support on #monkey #milk #illness and #stress. 😎

Great keynote by Zaneta Thayer @aushumanbiology.bsky.social #ASHB2025 — while early life environments and experiences shape health trajectories, they do not make poor (or good) health inevitable. Presented fascinating data on negative health aspects of by-passing natural labour processes in Brazil.

Every opportunity politicians provide for you to tell them about how chronic underfunding of research in Australia is affecting your particular fields, people, working conditions etc. is extremely important. Fill out the form here: lnkd.in/g8A_PAZG

A/Prof Sam Stehbens PhD (She/Her)@samstehbens.bsky.social · 8mo ago

@ginaravenscroft.bsky.social & #NARF are collecting impact statements from Australian researchers ‘ Please consider sharing your story about the impact of Australia's chronic underfunding of science and biomedical research.’ lnkd.in/g8A_PAZG 1/

Very proud of @emmasudron.bsky.social ~ who spent years mastering the Geomagic Micromill to sample #NitrogenIsotopes from #teeth at a very impressive resolution. She also obtained competitive @ansto.bsky.social funding to run highly sensitive elemental analyses of modern and archaeological samples!

Emma Sudron@emmasudron.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Stoked to share the first #paper from my PhD is out in @archaeometry.bsky.social. We used #highresolution dentine micromill sampling and #nitrogen #isotopes to reconstruct #nursing with greater isotopic variation than conventional sampling. doi-org.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/10.1111/arcm...

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...

Australia's top universities seek changes to key environmental reform

Australia's top universities have aligned themselves with oil and gas producers, miners and developers on a a key piece of environment legislation, drawing the ire of dozens of academics.

abc.net.au

#BREAKING: Former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers will immediately leave his role as an instructor at Harvard while the University investigates his ties to child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Dhruv T. Patel and Cam N. Srivastava report.

Summers Will Not Finish Semester of Teaching as Harvard Investigates Epstein Ties | News | The Harvard Crimson

Former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers will immediately leave his role as an instructor at Harvard while the University investigates his ties to child sex trafficker Jeffrey E. Epstein.

thecrimson.com

New #OpenAccess paper building on studies of #TraceElements in #Primate #Teeth just out in @archaeometry.bsky.social: Tace Element Patterns in Juvenile Wild #Chimpanzee Dentitions #TLDR version: metals are highly variable in wild chimpanzees and dietary sources appear to obscure nursing records

As an English speaking country (with nice beaches to boot) for the cost of a small tax on fossil fuel exports or high incomes Australia could invest in science, recruit researchers fleeing the US and become the knowledge powerhouse of the 21st Century. Instead we're doing this.

ARC Tracker@arc-tracker.bsky.social · 9mo ago

“CSIRO has announced it will slash up to 350 jobs as the national science agency grapples with long-term financial challenges … with current funding failing to keep pace with the rising costs of running a modern science agency.” Not “challenges”. They’re choices. 😡

MAJOR UNION WIN 🥳 The federal government will implement a new set of university governance principles to strengthen accountability, transparency and public trust following recommendations from the Expert Council on University Governance. Read more: nteu.info/majorwin @alisonbarnes.bsky.social

The Strategic Examination of Research and Development (SERD) issues papers have failed to address declining investment in fundamental research, instead implying research is only important if it can be commercialised by industry. Read our response: https://bit.ly/4hhDZZJ https://bit.ly/4nWaEXu

This week, Australian policymakers heard about the real and growing problem of climate misinformation. Stopping it would mean regulating the PR industry. 👉 theconversation.com/pr-firm...

RIP to Jane Goodall, who opened the world's eyes to our closest relatives. (Photo by NatGeo's Hugo Van Lawick)

New #SSRN #Preprint on #OxygenIsotopes and #TraceElements in Ancient #Teeth led by the amazing @jnavila.bsky.social and funded by @griffith.edu.au & #AustralianResearchCouncil #FutureFellowship. #ArchaeologicalScience #BiologicalAnthropology & #EarthScience for the win! dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn...

www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

#talesteethtell #biologicalanthropology #teeth | Tanya M. Smith

Looking forward to sharing some #TalesTeethTell next week for the Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research! All are welcome for a short and accessible introduction to #BiologicalAnthropology a...

linkedin.com

"I think the solution is going to come from the people, from us: community action, collective service, connection and empathy. What we do need are examples of people who understand the strength in empathy and the power of fair and even-keeled discussion." www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Opinion | Stephen Colbert just modeled how to take a political stance without anger

What we need right now are examples of people who understand the strength in empathy and the power of fair and even-keeled discussion.

msnbc.com