a large, fruit-eating bat.

About Me

Hello! I am Laura, a very nerdy ecologist person with a huge soft spot for both chiropterans (bats) and cephalopods (octopus, squid, nautilus, & cuttlefish). I’m entering my second and final year of graduate studies to complete my Master’s degree in Biology. My thesis focuses on northeastern U.S. bat population dynamics in the face of the depressingly fatal white-nose syndrome. I really love all living organisms and am fascinated by ecological theory; my idea of fun is sitting in a comfy nest reading tons of peer-reviewed journals with a big mug of coffee (I am very addicted to coffee, you see).

I am agender and my preferred pronouns are singular they, but since many people in meatspace still refer to me with she/her, I probably won’t mind that either (unless I am in a particularly grumpy mood). I date a really lovely trans man, whom I also live with, whom is also a pretty fly ecologist himself.

I’m an anarchist (for lack of a better word) and believe in the destruction of hierarchy, violence, and oppression of living beings. I dislike civilization, love reading up on social justice issues, and participate in a lot of meatspace activism involved with the preservation of the environment and promotion of sustainable and livable ecosystems. I think it is incredibly important for scientists to make science accessible to EVERYONE, so I try to use this blog as a way to communicate science in a better way. If you ever want me to parse through a peer-reviewed article, don’t hesitate to drop a request in my ask box!

I also suffer from an incurable autoimmune disorder called systemic lupus erythematosus. It’s essentially my immune system trying to kill me constantly, so I have to take a ton of medications (including heavy-duty pain medications) to function. This disease gives me chronic pain and fatigue along with a lifetime of doctor’s visits, hospital stays, more blood tests than anyone would ever want, and some hefty medical bills (due to the U.S.’s awesomely shitty health insurance system!).

I’m also a survivor of emotional and physical abuse, which I allude to sometimes but I always try to use proper trigger warnings (also for anything else that may be triggering too).

I have fandoms! My most prominent one being The Mountain Goats; a folk/indie band with a repertoire of over 500 songs. The frontman, John Darnielle, is my personal hero and his lyrics and music has helped me through many of the more hard times in my life. Other fandoms I enjoy: Harry Potter, Doctor Who, H.P. Lovecraft mythos, Pokemon, and some others I am probably forgetting.

I try really hard to caption all of the images I post with an image description below it or in the alt text. Sometimes I do not have the spoons and I am sorry. I also try very hard to provide transcripts for videos too. I want to be accessible!

Here are some common tags I use!: #the mountain goats, #research (usually about my own), #personal, #lupus (about my experiences with my disease), #science (for, y’know, science), #gpoy (pictures of me, as I am sometimes vain). I’m trying to get better with tagging my posts.

DISCLAIMER FOR MY POSTS INVOLVING VEGANISM (because whenever I actually write about it, I get tons of hate messages!): I believe wholeheartedly in destroying industrial agriculture (this includes of both plant and animal agriculture) because 1) it is unsustainable and 2) it promotes the active oppression of living beings. I am not a vegan and if you try to tell me that my activism or empathy for animals/living organisms is somehow less because of that, then we probably won’t get along. If you are going to try to shame other people for not being vegan or you cite bad science about why it’s good to be vegan, expect me to call you out (that doesn’t mean I hate veganism: I think it’s great. However, I dislike when lies are told in order to further someone’s agenda, no matter how noble that agenda may be).