Gina Baucom
@gbaucom.bsky.social
UMich professor who studies resistance and persistence (in plants)
The new #OMB rules would transform funding decisions. I don't know where I would be without #NSF funding. Thanks @agu.org for providing a way to submit comments about the latest set of disastrous OMB rule changes. Deadline Aug 24th #resist agu.quorum.us/campaign/dvw...
Submit your comment now to help stop NSF from implementing harmful grantmaking changes
A new proposed rule would rewrite the terms of U.S. science at NSF. Submit a comment today to fight back.
agu.quorum.us
The way this line of inquiry was hammered out of academic fields, despite its self-evident role in political life, is downright anti- intellectual.
My comment on NSF-2026-OTR-0001, NSF's obsequious gutting of their own procedures, replacing them with OMB's proposed rules undermining federal grantmaking with their ideological agenda. Need guidance on commenting? @standupforscience.net has you covered: fight2win.standupforscience.net #NSF
If you have an NIH or NSF program officer, post a comment!
I-270, Exit 1@i270exit1.bsky.social · 3d ago🚨🚨 FEDS and everyone else 🚨🚨 🧵Tomorrow is the last day to comment on the Office of Personnel Management rule, “Promoting Employee Accountability" at www.regulations.gov/commenton/OP... This rule eliminates employee protections and rights, and hastens the firing process. Specifically, it... 1/4
Q's on Senate Dem leadership embrace of CR. Why now? Why let GOP senators go home for recess taking credit for a bipartisan deal? Why does it run until Dec. 11? Why give a lame duck GOP Congress a final bite at the apple with ability to pressure Dems with threat of pre-Xmas shut down?
Yaaas! Good news on a Sunday! The senate moves to temporarily ban the OMB proposal that would allow political appointees in charge of approving federal grants, especially #NIH grants. Recall that the OMB rule yielded 500k comments, 95% of them against it. 🧪 www.politico.com/news/2026/08...
Senate finalizes funding patch that would block Trump’s grant overhaul
Language is included to delay the president’s move to put political appointees in charge of grant approval.
politico.com
"When the first of August came round, the Professor realized he had pleasantly trifled away nearly two months at a task which should have taken little more than a week." -Willa Cather (from The Professor's House, 1925)
Pls share. Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences - Genetics/Genomics at Smith College. apply.interfolio.com/190342
I do seem to see where I said women are affected, too. But maybe I’m crazy. Yes, one group is categorically socialized to doubt their feelings and to predict others intentions. That group has a core skill set for reflexivity that does not necessarily have.
Tired while Black@hurtthisday.blacksky.app · 4d agoI think it’s an addictive technology and it affects women too. We aren’t immune from propaganda to a higher degree than men.
Because the 1st is a Saturday, “How is it August already?!” will be observed today, Friday, July 31, 2026. Please panic accordingly.
From the abstract: “promoting a woman to Associate Professor increases female faculty by 1.5 members after 15 years, leads to six additional female PhD graduates over the following decade, and raises the number who subsequently remain in academia and reach tenured positions”
Physgal ⚛️@physgal.bsky.social · last wk.Fascinating paper on the progression of women in academia. 👩🏻🔬 ⚛️ 🧪 #AcademicSky docs.iza.org/dp18477.pdf?... Here's an excerpt from the conclusion:
I am sick of some media uncritically repeating Rand Paul's misrepresentation of Fauci's journal about the Huanan market. In late Jan 2020, it was a common commentary that the market may not be the origin of the outbreak, b/c of a Lancet paper on early cases ▫️1/6 www.paul.senate.gov/wp-content/u...
A question for my #Drosophila #TEsky friends: any clues as to why copia (doi.org/10.1101/SQB....) is called copia? copious amounts of RNA? copia as in 'plenty'?
Repeated Gene Families in Drosophila melanogaster
Detailed reviews describing work presented at the annual Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology
doi.org
Really remarkable plant sex allocation study here: hermaphroditic avocado plants alternate sex roles twice daily and hence generate balanced sex allocation- controlled by ancient trans-species polymorphism. Heard a bit about this jaw-dropping work at UC Davis last year - great to see it out!
Jeff Groh@jeffgroh.bsky.social · last wk.Avocados come in 2 varieties - A-types start each day female and switch to male midday. B-types do the reverse. In work just published from the last chapter of my PhD, we show this system evolved 40+million yrs ago and is regulated by alleles of 1 transcription factor www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
More context on Dr. Morteza Mahmoudi's launch of the Academic Parity Movement: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Bullied in science: I quit my job and launched an advocacy non-profit
Ahead of the Academic Parity Movement’s annual conference, co-founder Morteza Mahmoudi describes how it supports whistle-blowers.
nature.com
Gina Baucom@gbaucom.bsky.social · 2w agoWhat is academic bullying, and how do you know when criticism has crossed the line into harassment? In the newest Evolution Exchange, I talk with Dr. Morteza Mahmoudi (Academic Parity Movement) and Dr. Aaron Roussell about bullying, mobbing, and doxxing. A long but 🌶️ convo! tinyurl.com/87nyfbzk
Super interesting conversation.
Gina Baucom@gbaucom.bsky.social · 2w agoWhat is academic bullying, and how do you know when criticism has crossed the line into harassment? In the newest Evolution Exchange, I talk with Dr. Morteza Mahmoudi (Academic Parity Movement) and Dr. Aaron Roussell about bullying, mobbing, and doxxing. A long but 🌶️ convo! tinyurl.com/87nyfbzk
Seems like the previous link didn't work. Here is the updated link: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Funding opportunities.xlsx
docs.google.com
4/4 This is a living resource, and we'd love your help! Know of a grant, fellowship, or job board we should include? DM @prothamamanna.bsky.social or email prothamamanna@gmail.com. Every contribution helps our community.
3/4 Our graduate funding database was compiled by @prothamamanna.bsky.social. The postdoctoral funding & job board resources were originally compiled by @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy and are shared with permission.
1/4 In today's funding climate, every grant and fellowship matters. Based on feedback from our GSAC Community Check-In Survey, we're building a growing hub of graduate & postdoctoral funding opportunities and job boards to make them easier to find. 🧵
"Writers have been using me long before AI. I am the punctuation equivalent of a cardigan—beloved by MFA grads, used by editors when it’s actually cold, and worn year-round by screenwriters. I am not new here. I am not novel. I’m the cigarette you keep saying you’ll quit."
The Em Dash Responds to the AI Allegations
“Writers have been using me long before the advent of AI. I am the punctuation equivalent of a cardigan—beloved by MFA grads, used by editors when it’s actua...
buff.ly
Everyone says AI will accelerate science. I don't think it will -- at least not in biology, and at least not soon. New post where I explain why, and how the productivity paradox can be resolved: blekhman.substack.com/p/why-ai-wil...
Why AI will not speed up science (yet)
You can see AI everywhere except in the productivity statistics
blekhman.substack.com
Wikler is a rare capital-O Organizer who has a national profile. I hope a ton of precinct captains and Indivisibles are reading this. The real talk about the efficacy of canvassing, especially during presidential elections, is welcome.
Aaron Strauss@aaronstrauss.bsky.social · last wk.If you have time this Sunday morning, I recommend my friend @benwikler.bsky.social's book This Is The Plan. It came out Tuesday, and while I usually skim books, I read this cover-to-cover. I most appreciate the book's actionable optimism for those of us trying to save the Republic. Some highlights:
I saw St. Vincent with the Detroit Opera Orchestra last night - it was amazing - and was reminded how much I loved this song. Such a talent youtu.be/n-zbjcaQo_w?...
The Strangers
YouTube video by St. Vincent - Topic
youtu.be
Have you ever wondered if you are being bullied? There is a scale for that -- mentioned in this episode! What's the most common form of bullying in academia? PI to subordinates, senior to junior PI, ie when power imbalances are misused What is contra-power bullying? That's also a thing! Watch 👇👇👇
Gina Baucom@gbaucom.bsky.social · 2w agoWhat is academic bullying, and how do you know when criticism has crossed the line into harassment? In the newest Evolution Exchange, I talk with Dr. Morteza Mahmoudi (Academic Parity Movement) and Dr. Aaron Roussell about bullying, mobbing, and doxxing. A long but 🌶️ convo! tinyurl.com/87nyfbzk
Hot diarrhea summer continues unabated.
Stone Cold Jane Austen@abbyhiggs.bsky.social · 2w agoNew contamination just dropped
