Dr. Abigail M Hayes
@ArthropodAbbey
Followers
1,865
Following
1,427
Media
591
Statuses
3,402
Studying why & how Arthropods look like they do 🦗🪲| BS @Stmarysca ⏩ PhD @WSUEntomology ⏩ NSF Postdoc @UConnEEB ⏩ Postdoc @UVABio | Outreach & DEI ♿🏳️🌈
Joined January 2020
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
Trump
• 4640822 Tweets
Kamala
• 3788667 Tweets
Biden
• 1237471 Tweets
Moderators
• 902915 Tweets
Ohio
• 654240 Tweets
Haitian
• 648839 Tweets
Springfield
• 569342 Tweets
Yunes
• 351983 Tweets
ABC News
• 235517 Tweets
JD Vance
• 214031 Tweets
Project 2025
• 212099 Tweets
Biased
• 192775 Tweets
David Muir
• 178399 Tweets
Traidor
• 172895 Tweets
Taliban
• 154360 Tweets
Charlottesville
• 149499 Tweets
Concepts of a Plan
• 137572 Tweets
PS5pro
• 109566 Tweets
THEY'RE EATING THE DOGS
• 106206 Tweets
Marxist
• 87716 Tweets
Fox News
• 83470 Tweets
Paraguay
• 78962 Tweets
Abdul
• 75260 Tweets
Childless Cat Lady
• 69790 Tweets
トランプ
• 51295 Tweets
Chris Wallace
• 35044 Tweets
Alfaro
• 27466 Tweets
Obamacare
• 26177 Tweets
John McCain
• 23633 Tweets
Lindsey
• 23105 Tweets
ドジャース
• 22270 Tweets
ゲーミングPC
• 22117 Tweets
Victor Orban
• 19325 Tweets
Central Park 5
• 19004 Tweets
श्री राधा
• 18985 Tweets
Megyn
• 17168 Tweets
山本由伸
• 12331 Tweets
#صباح_الخير_والحب_والسلام
• 10195 Tweets
Pinned Tweet
It's me 🥰🎉
Meet Abigail (Abbey) M. Hayes (
@ArthropodAbbey
), postdoc at Univ. of Virginia and subject of our next "Standout Early Career Professionals" feature.
@ECP_Entsoc
🔗 The Entomologist Who Almost Wasn't: A Tale on the Importance of Inclusive K-12 Education
1
17
78
2
0
24
Older academics on Twitter this last week be like "just move around for postdoc positions like I did and stop complaining"; Here are some of my experiences in today's world as a prestigiously NSF-funded postdoc; a 🧵
31
303
2K
cryptic caterpillars are what made me become an Entomologist 🤓🥰 how can you not be fascinated by something that looks like that?? 👇
El paradigma de la evolución del camuflaje...
Nature is awesome.
36
619
3K
18
272
2K
sooo
@Nike
had an amazing men's shirt I couldn't resist. 10/10 on the quality of the arthropod illustrations and the shirt itself!
#entofashion
31
47
1K
(7🧵)This whole "move around and suffer bc I did" narrative is
#ableist
, it's
#classist
, and it makes you look out of touch.
#AcademicTwitter
#AcademicChatter
#PhD
#phdchat
#postdocposition
#phdjourney
@DisabledStem
@DisInGradSchool
@DisabledAcadem
@DisInHigherEd
7
67
1K
(3🧵) I am externally funded on a prestigious fellowship (
#NSFPRFB
) and as a
#disabledscientist
had to go months without insurance and almost ran out of my life-saving medications. I am not included in our postdoctoral union and thus can't access certain on campus resources
1
19
464
(4🧵) I have had to hire an accountant because NSF doesn't count me as an employee, nor does Uconn, I am an independent contractor who has to pay taxes quarterly. And guess what? The $15,000 PRFB "research allowance"? My health insurance is also out of that same pool of money.
4
5
415
(6🧵) I am assuming this system works well if you're able-bodied and don't need quality (expensive) insurance, you have more research money! However this is the reality of
#postdoc
life as a disabled person.
5
8
418
I've been having some incredible bug sightings since moving to VA - JUST CHECK OUT THIS WHEEL BUG 🤯 As a lifelong west coaster I've never been blessed with seeing a live one before so this was a really magical find for me 🥰😍
14
55
404
(5🧵) not only am I sending back most of that "research money" in taxes and to pay my accountant, I then have to pay ~$6,000 of it per year to access health insurance as a disabled person and foot the out of pocket expenses for medications and testing.
3
3
399
I hate how long ticks walk around after being placed in ethanol, makes them even creepier to me
22
14
381
(2 🧵) First of all; housing! I moved across the country sight unseen. This is the state of trying to rent near
@UConn
- now imagine doing this from far away during the pandemic like I did. I luckily found a place and now commute 1.5 hours 7 days a week for my research
5
7
364
I didn't expect this to blow up! I want to say I'm thankful for my funding even if there are issues with how it's distributed & also to my partner
@forrest_holt
for leaving a journalism job to move. Postdoc life sucks but mentoring students and neat bugs get me thru the bad days
4
4
352
as I travel from California ⏩ CT, I figured I would share my first Orthopteran of the year: a Stenopelmatid! Called "potato bugs" here in California but known in other regions as Jerusalem Crickets or Children of the Earth - What's the common name where you live?
#entomology
18
54
297
Reminder it's illegal to ask someone what their disability is in an interview. I got asked this during a Post Doc interview right after the
#PI
bragged about
#DEI
in their program, I still feel demoralized and wish I hadn't answered
@chron_ac
@DisabledStem
@AcademicChatter
2
29
159
absolutely wild to me that I used to look like this, 2016 -> now. Happy
#TransDayOfVisibility
everyone!
5
1
155
AN AMAZING THING HAPPENED TONIGHT ‼️😍
I was out helping a labmate w fieldwork this evening and I saw something out of the corner of my eye on a mossy rock - A SNOW SCORPION FLY (Boreidae) 🎉🥳. 2nd Mecopteran for me ever, both since moving to Connecticut - definitely a lifer!!!
3
5
117
Can you tell I love mushrooms??
Shirt by
@morningwitchy
Fanny pack by
@SipseyW
Chicken of the Woods Haul by nature
1
2
118
Next up from the
@calacademy
#InverteFest
tour - the Venom exhibit! First, a very cool bumblebee display hive
2
11
90
I finally got back to CT to open my
#secretpisaurid
gift and WOW. I am so stoked to have a
@TBrosuis
original and know the story behind the mitts. I can already tell I will wear these on my drive to work!
8
6
85
first on campus faculty interview 🥳 couldn't ask for a more scenic location
13
0
85
I have a Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder + Fibro so as a scientist long days of microdissections, microinjections, & pipetting can get painful. Stoked about the compression gloves + wrist braces I got from
@bibipins
- they even fit under gloves!
#disabledinSTEM
#deinfluencing
3
12
82
found some pretty cool bug-themed graffiti in a bar bathroom last night 🪲✍️ looks like a rhino beetle to me!
1
14
75
I absolutely love how queer-inclusive
#entsoc22
is 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🎉🎊 Pronoun explanations around the center, an LGBTQIA2s+ mixer, a bug themed drag show and I even spy a
@500QueerSci
sticker with my little eyes 🤩👀
#queerscience
#LGBTQIA
1
9
73
wanting to hire someone due to their identity and the clout their "diversity" brings without infrastructure to support them = harmful tokenism. Recruitment means nothing without retention
0
16
66
Updates: This weekend I graduated with a PhD from
@WSUEntomology
in the lab of
@WazzuDrLaura
, I am happy to announce I will be accepting an
#NSF
#PRFB
and moving to the
@uconneeb
to work with Dr. Elizabeth Jockusch.
6
4
61
can't ever have enough
#entofashion
or would this be
#arachnofashion
?
regardless, I'm stoked on these boots!
5
13
57
today was big - I submitted my first TT Faculty App! 🥰 Even if I don't get an interview I'm proud of myself for getting my packet together and for everything I've accomplished since I started down this path ~10 years ago. Shout out to
@ArthropodQueen
for sharing materials 🎉🥰
4
1
58
Got a full dissection kit from
@BioQuip
to remember them by for the rest of my career. Excited to use these tools for years to come and to take them with me through my future career stages.
1
3
58
8 🧵 had a very productive meeting with a Uconn Dean today who heard me out & is taking my concerns to HR to begin the process to create an orientation packet including stuff like who to email to get health insurance or help with your VISA 🎉✊
Advocate for yourself and others
1
1
58
Entomology decor enthusiasts RUN to Joanne's for the spring collection 🥰🪲🍄 I know the hashtag
#Entofashion
is a thing... is
#Entodecor
a thing??? 🐌🐛🐝🐞🦋
1
3
55
Just gonna share this here since I certainly have mutuals with Dr Quintanilla that deserve to know they are in the midst of a transphobe. Pay attention Entomologists and Nematologists - lots of bigots like to come out of the closet during pride month.
@USDA
Food production is one of the most important activities since we depend on food for survival. Please stick to supporting research and extension in food production. Promoting pseudoscience (gender ideology) is not becoming and will reduce support for the USDA.
40
1
27
6
5
56
If you're at
@EB_Entsoc
#EB_entsoc23
and see me come say hi 🙋 this is what I will look like
#entofashion
4
1
55
Pleased to announce that I will be serving as the
@EB_Entsoc
representative on the
@ECP_Entsoc
committee as part of my continued participation in
@EntsocAmerica
- catch me at the EB meeting in Providence, RI next month!
3
4
55
@biorankings
you seem to love to find tweets about tangible ways people are trying to make academia a better place and ask bad faith questions/imply the way it works is just and adequate as is. You did it on my thread last week and now I see you on doing the same thing, maybe try listening?
0
1
53
I've been incredibly disappointed with the masking rates at
#entsoc22
- as a disabled Entomologist I do not feel my identity or safety is being respected by my professional society
@EntsocAmerica
. I gave both talks & judged debates fully masked in an N95 😷
I don't mean to shame anyone as many of my closest collabs & colleagues attended but this is what you get when a society "strongly recommends" masks instead of requiring them. So many folks are being excluded b/c conferences like this are dangerous for them & their families.
8
13
121
1
9
51
so proud to announce that I was honored yesterday at the
@EB_Entsoc
awards luncheon for my contributions to our field in the areas of teaching and mentorship 🥰🥺🎉
8
0
53
After many planner brands and 10+ years of college experience (hi PhD, lookin at you) I have finally figured out the system that works best for my neurodivergent noggin🧠♾️ (see 🧵👇 for deets)
1
7
51
I'm Abbey (they/she) an Entomologist who works on understanding why insects look the way they do + also has a lot of passion for DEI and inclusive teaching/outreach
I love to forage and garden in my free time. A fun fact about me is that I had Scarlet Fever when I was 10!
Yearly Pride Month call out for science twitter! Reply with the following information:
- Name and Pronouns
- Field
- A picture of yourself
- Hobbies outside of science
- A random Fact about yourself
Follow each other and find new interesting people and tag others!
141
110
593
0
6
49
Zoom interview time 🎉
today was big - I submitted my first TT Faculty App! 🥰 Even if I don't get an interview I'm proud of myself for getting my packet together and for everything I've accomplished since I started down this path ~10 years ago. Shout out to
@ArthropodQueen
for sharing materials 🎉🥰
4
1
58
5
0
50
spent my weekend cleaning up my tarantula room. After 3 years of living here I finally moved my office in here 😆🥳
9
2
46
skipping
#bugfactfriday
to bring you an
#entofashion
Friday. I was finally able to get my hands on a
@fossilforager
beanie or two. Can you tell I love beetles?
#beetle
#bug
#biology
#wearyourscience
#coleoptera
#Entomology
@entofashion
1
1
48
I am absolutely stoked to announce that this Fall I'll be starting my second postdoc - moving to Virginia to work with
@BerglandAlan
and join
@uvabio
.
Just call me a fly guy now😎🪰
Though I will miss ya
@uconneeb
I am jazzed about this next chapter 🎉
10
2
50
Such a nice feeling to see all my extractions working well - I've even become an expert on extracting from insect eyes 😅🪲👀
3
1
49
3
2
47
Welp. I caught an illness at
#Entsoc22
- still testing neg for COVID but with RSV also making the rounds and no tests available I've had to cancel my Thanksgiving plans to meet my in laws and infant nephew. This is the price I pay for being an immunocompromised Entomologist.
10
3
47
and now, on this eighth consecutive day of conferencing between
#TAGC24
and EBESA, I am finally on my way home 😴 so ready to nap
coat by
@morningwitchy
and hat by
@fossilforager
for the perfect bug fit to end my bug conferences on a high note 🦟🐛🐜🐝🐞🦋🦗🪲
0
3
48
Finally booked my tattoo appt to celebrate my PhD 🎉🥳🎊 - only 1.5 years late. It'll be my first and ofc it's bug themed. Any guesses as to what species? Hint: the insect that made me become an Entomologist. I'll reveal it when I get it done 12/22 🦟🐛🐜🐝🐞🦋🦗🪲
3
0
46
RIP to
@WSUEntomology
's William (Bill) Turner. Bill was a Dipterist who came into work well into his Emeritus years to help with insect collections and to grill prelim takers on taxonomy. I will forever hang the Bristly Millipede picture he brought to mine in my office 🐛♥️
4
6
44
Quick thread on using social media as a femme presenting scientist 🧵👩🔬
This week a late career Herpetologist contacted my PI to "ask what was wrong with [me]" and how she could hire "such a sloppy "postdoc"" - all because I spelled a salamander genus wrong (see image, +🧵👇)
10
13
44
@SarahMackAttack
@zookeeperjake
@biologistimo
my ex was a big cat researcher trying to get hair from jaguars for pop gen stuff - they deployed cat scratchers with a toy on top equipped with both catnip oil and Calvin Klein's Obsession cologne (which apparently has been shown to be very attractive to big cats in a study)
2
1
44
A grad student told me my outfits are always cool and asked me to take them shopping today 🥰🥺 honestly made my week
Hat by
@BreeLundberg
Shirt by
@Sulkypup
fanny pack by
@SipseyW
2
1
42
About to teach my first class as Dr Hayes. Tarantulas in tow of course!
#workfromhome
#PhDone
3
1
41
shout out to fellow Entomologist
@cmtribull
for posting about
@morningwitchy
- not only are these shirts super high quality and providing lots of gender non conforming euphoria, many have bugs on them =
#entofashion
- stoked to rock my new moth button down today 🦋
#wearyourtaxa
3
5
39
@Aphanotus
@alisonborealis
@UConn
I started a postdoc society across EEB, PNB and MCB here and have a meeting tomorrow with a Grad School Dean to discuss how Uconn can better support postdocs, hoping to let them know how they can better support postdocs. I appreciate the solidarity Dave!
2
0
39
📣 next week I'm giving a talk to grad students on how to get and survive postdoc positions [in biology] 👨🎓what's something you wish you knew before you became a postdoc? please RT 🙏
@PostdocVoice
@academicvoices
@AcademicChatter
#postdocjobs
#postdocposition
#AcademicChatter
13
7
36
#firstdayofschool
for this 22nd grader! Postdoctoral Fellowship at
@uconneeb
officially in progress! Stay tuned for updates about how insects evolved wings 🦋🐞🐝🦗🪲
3
2
37
a 🧵 on how I became an Entomologist / my tattoo - When I was an undergrad I researched Taricha torosa 🦎 diet which involved long lab hours identifying macroinverts 🦟🐌🐜🐝 one day when I was leaving lab after hours of scope work (👇)
2
0
36
The
#Entofashion
cardigan I ordered finally showed up. Can I call myself Cardi[gan] B[ee] now?
4
0
36
Went to DC Pride yesterday and was overjoyed to see
@AmerChemSociety
representing with an amazing float.
@EntsocAmerica
I would love to see a bug-themed pride float 😜🏳️🌈🎉🐛 More science/scientists in Pride please!
2
0
36
Casually crawling out onto logs dangling over streams to bring you this content
#Hemiptera
#scaleinsect
#entomology
#bugs
#ants
#insect
2
5
34
tootling around
@calacademy
to see the bug exhibit today and was stoked to see
@JessicaLWareLab
's book in the gift shop!
2
5
33
#bugfactfriday
check out this Tipula sp. I found. This crane
#fly
makes it easy to see why flies are in the order
#Diptera
("two wings" in latin) - over evolutionary time the hind wings have been modified into drumstick-like structures (halteres)
#entomology
#evolution
#biology
0
7
33
gaaaahhhh tropical bugs have some wild forms
Happy dude finding a tree with several specimens of Zanna nobilis, the saw-tooth lantern bug.
17
317
3K
0
1
35
My pet roaches 🪳 and I are so excited for UConn's second annual Queer Science conference today! We bring queer youth 🌈🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ from across Connecticut to meet queer scientists at
@UConn
(like me!) and be in community for a day.
@UConnRainbowCtr
@OUTinSTEM
#Pride
1
6
35
I am always slightly obsessed with Archaeognathans
Slightly obsessed with Jumping Bristletails (Archaeognatha) at the moment. Every time I look at them I spot a new feature. Notice under the abdomen, each segment has a pair of short appendages called styli, which help support the abdomen.
4
47
418
2
5
33
VERY excited about this piece. Honestly I think the rainbow bug art might be one of the best things about June
0
1
33
ending my 2023 [and
#InverteFest
] with some
#Entofashion
[from my trip to
@calacademy
] and an almost healed tattoo. My goal for 2023 🥳🎉🥂 is to stop putting my life on hold for my job, it's time to improve my work life balance - what is your goal?
2
2
32
Not even mad I'm leaving at 7:30pm on a friday! Because a) back to teaching undergrads and b) did 2 first time RNAi injections in 2 species that have never had RNAi done on them - has me feeling so invigorated. Science is so cool 💉🪲
0
0
32
Final boss mode Arthropod Abbey for sure 🤩😂
This net belongs to the great
@CicadaScience
whom I am borrowing it from for the Queer Science event - I never knew special cicada nets existed and now I'm utterly enamored
1
1
32
for my first day of
#Entofashion
at
#ECN2023
+
#ESA2023
I accidentally matched with the whole
@ecologysupplies
table. People with good tastes over here 🤣🥰
0
3
30
lmao just bought this shirt 😜 (H&M)
2
3
31
had an absolute blast today at day 1 of
#entsoc22
- felt great to share my dissertation work at an ESA after finishing during the pandemic. Yes, that is Ms Frizzle pictured on one slide + a cricket funeral pictured on another 😂. Sure wish more attendees would mask up though! 😷
2
3
30
Today I present my dissertation work in the
@WSUEntomology
Hyde Seminar series! I will defend in April and for the first time the end is feeling tangible! The road of being
#disabledinstem
has been long, but here we are!
#AlmostPhDone
#AcademicChatter
5
2
30
Starting my
#PrideMonth
off by hearing transphobic rhetoric while waiting for my egg & cheese this morning 🥯 I'll spare y'all the hateful details but ya best believe I *very pointedly* wished them a happy pride on my way out whilst wearing my overtly queer coat 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
#Pride2023
6
1
29
Absolutely PACKED LGBTQIA2s+ mixer. HUMONGOUS THANKS to
@ArachnologyNerd
,
@500QueerSci
,
@EntsocAmerica
for making this happen. Cannot wait for the drag show 😍🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🎉
#EntSoc22
0
3
30
First molecular work in my new lab was a resounding success - just look at that giant DNA pellet 🥳🎉
2
1
29
Gordon Lawshe is a disgusting. This child was engaging in environmental activism and science only to have a bigot call the cops on them. This man needs to be held accountable for endangering a child's life by reporting her as a "black woman in a hoodie...suspicious" 😡
A 9yo Black child clearly into science identified a problem harming her neighborhood, researched, found a safe solution, and was testing it. Her white neighbor (who knew her!) called police on her saying a “small Black woman wearing a hoodie” was doing things and scaring him.
363
26K
87K
1
5
29
#PhDone
so proud to be Dr. Hayes! ❤️
Congratulations Dr. Hayes
@ArthropodAbbey
Very proud of you! It’s been a great, interesting, crazy 5 years! It’s fitting we are posing with the actual Washington log where the murder hornets were found! Go Cougs!
@WSUEntomology
5
2
44
4
2
30
#gradschool
tip - get a bunch of supportive friends also in academia, even if the relationships are totally virtual!
@The_Bug_Girl
,
@FieldingBugs
,
@BombusChristy
,
@Evantomology
, and I have never been in the same room but they're a support network I value❤️🥰
@AcademicChatter
2
6
27
Today is the day 🎉 2 years ago today I became Dr Hayes 👨🎓 and it was declared I was
#PhDone
- today I submit a manuscript that has been in my life for 5 years. Also a reminder of how good this sweater vest + a figure I liked so much I made it my background 🦗
#entofashion
1
1
29
Tierney out here being an entofashion icon per usual 😍 One of my goals for the year is to get more crafty 🤔
Project completed. Off the rack button down shirt upgraded with beaded beetles and antique buttons.
#entomology
#entofashion
6
5
135
1
2
29
Killing things with fire is a dangerous idea, putting the tick safely in a jar of alcohol is much less risky and has much lower potential to harm you or the environment. Please consider the risk level before trying to burn any arthropods, it's simply not worth it
0
0
29
I didn't realize I wasn't cis until grad school when all of a sudden it clicked - whatever time is your time is the right time ♥️
I started transitioning in 2018. I was 56 years old. I knew I couldn’t live that lie a day longer. It was the scariest thing I’d ever done and the hardest.
And also the best.
Keep going. ❤️
162
1K
26K
1
0
28
Giving my first departmental seminar as a full-fledged Doctor of Entomology on Monday (thanks for the invite
@FieldingBugs
and
@IowaStateU
)🎉 Gotta go through and add my PhD to my various cover slides now 🤣
1
1
26
Starting my trek to
#Entsoc22
✈️- rocking my
@fossilforager
beanie for a little
#entofashion
in transit. Catch me perfecting my talks during my 7 hour layover in Chicago 😂 see you soon
@Evantomology
and
@The_Bug_Girl
3
1
27
@Mossworm1
"Behaviorally, earwigs are thigmotactic, nocturnal, and subsocial, in a system whereby the female parent broods, grooms, and defends eggs and young nymphs." -
1
0
26
🎶 I got a cart, got a cart of bug time / I got a cart and I know that it's all mine, oh, oh-oh" 🎶 - Natasha Bedingfield if she was an Entomologist, probably
1
3
27
I got to help rescue a baby painted turtle trying to cross the street today, pretty sure this was a doctoraversary gift from the universe 🥹😍
Today is the day 🎉 2 years ago today I became Dr Hayes 👨🎓 and it was declared I was
#PhDone
- today I submit a manuscript that has been in my life for 5 years. Also a reminder of how good this sweater vest + a figure I liked so much I made it my background 🦗
#entofashion
1
1
29
1
1
26
such an inspiring opening plenary conversation about diversity. I am very thankful to
@JessicaLWareLab
@swannegordon
@redmakeda
and
@WidowWeb
for being vulnerable and sharing their experiences.
#entsoc22
0
3
27
⚠️📣
@EntsocAmerica
don't forget to vote in section elections!
Shameless plug - I am running for the rep to
@ECP_Entsoc
from the
@EB_Entsoc
- check out my candidate statements & let me know if you have questions! Shout out to
@WSUEntomology
,
@uconneeb
and
@WazzuDrLaura
in my bio
1
5
26
OK BUT WOW LOOK AT THIS TINGID TATTOO
0
3
25