Don’t miss our
@Reddit
AMA with Nat Geo Explorer
@ScrapNaturalist
—today at 2:30pm ET/11:30am PT—for a discussion on carnivores, conservation, and human-wildlife interaction!
I just got rejected from my top postdoc choice. Total letdown for me.
I'm writing this tweet to prove we are all human and the things we post often skew positive instead of being realistic. Life is complicated. Hang in there, fam! 💙
Well, looks like I’m officially Dr. Wilkinson.
Thank you to everyone who supported me through this journey.
As a queer woman of color from little means & w/ a complicated relationship with family, I busted my a** to get thru grad school.
Ready to pull others up with me. ❤️
I'm a 1st-gen PhD candidate in conservation biology-- when I was a kid growing up in
#Queens
I considered myself to be a "scrappy naturalist" - always chasing after cockroaches, rats, cicadas, & raccoons in the city. Proud to be
#BlackInSTEM
#BlackInNature
now studying
#hyenas
My mom never took us hiking since she didn't have that opportunity growing up-- I now know she loved the outdoors even back then but that she felt out of place hiking. My first hike was when I was 18 and I never looked back!
#BlackHikersWeek
#Blackpeoplewhohike
#BlackinNature
Save The Date for Black Mammalogists Week, Sept 13-18! Got a dope planning crew and we've got tons of awesome themes coming. Share widely to whoever is interested in
#mammals
!
#BlackMammalogists
🐆🦬🐳
thx to
@penandpangolin
for the dope art in the shape of
#BlackPower
fist!
As a child, I was never, not once, taken camping or hiking.
I said this aloud the other day, and felt a profound sadness. How many of us from underrepresented or low socioeconomic backgrounds were never given these opportunities as kids?
Fortunate to now be
#BlackinNature
.
Today I honor my ancestors with
#BlackBirdersWeek
in the a.m. and
#BlackLivesMatter
#Oakland
march in the p.m. For
#PostABird
I give you this southern ground hornbill who spent a full hour destroying this camera trap at my field site in Kenya.
Y'all--- For my entire life, I've never lived in a house. On Friday, I'm moving into my first house ever. It'll be rented, but it's still a house. With a yard, and a fence, and no roommates, and no one above or below us. I can finally make a vegetable garden. I'm ecstatic 🥳🤩🥰
I was literally about to doze off for a nap but suddenly wide awake because I just found out I’ve been awarded the National Geographic Level II Grant!!!!
I am so excited and enormously grateful for this. feeling joyful 🥹🤩🥳
@InsideNatGeo
@NatGeo
Part of my current research funded by
@InsideNatGeo
involves looking at how wildlife navigate fences and other infrastructure. This is a classic example of what I like to call "downward-facing
#hyena
"!
#BlackInSTEM
#BlackInNature
i am 33. my mom just texted me out of the blue and asked me if i broke her [highly religious] rules and read Harry Potter when i was younger.
cat's finally outta the bag y'all.
Wow, 6,000 followers- time to reintroduce myself!
👋🏽I'm a carnivore ecologist with a specialty in human-wildlife conflict. I value working with *both* people & wildlife to achieve coexistence. I'm also a musician, educator, comedian, & aspiring nature show host.
#ScienceTwitter
Reintroducing myself for new followers-
I'm Dr. Christine Wilkinson- carnivore ecologist & human-wildlife interactions specialist. Spotted hyenas & coyotes are my current jam. For me it's important to integrate participatory & ecological methods for inclusive conservation. 1/
The apocalypse = Wearing an N95 for the wildfire smoke but getting trashy looks from people who think you’re wearing it to protect against a deadly virus that they don’t believe in. 🙄
Why do I keep seeing surveys and peer-reviewed papers that refer to the sex of animals/wildlife as "gender"? Sex does not equal gender, people! I thought we were better than this.
My absolute dream job is open for application. I am well qualified for it.
However, the location where it is based would feel unsafe for a queer person of color to live long-term.
Sad to say this is nearly the only thing holding me back from applying.
#ScienceTwitter
Trump paying $750 in taxes and then getting flown in a helicopter to receive experimental medical treatments “out of an abundance of caution” while 200,000 hardworking, tax-paying Americans die of Covid because of him. That is all.
Regardless of the election outcome, it's terrifying that millions of my fellow citizens either hate people like me, or, at best, are indifferent to our basic human rights.
Excited to share my piece published today in
@NatureEcoEvo
, "Public interest in individual study animals can bolster wildlife conservation". Inspired in part by P-22, I discuss the broader conservation benefits of naming & narrative.
pdf👉🏽
(
@bethpratt
!)
🤩I am so excited to share our newly published article "Review of the global research on Hyaenidae and implications for conservation and management", out today in
@Mammal_Society
Mammal Review. The result of TONS of work by some of us in
@HyaenaSG
. (1/n)
Hi friends- I'm excited to let y'all know that I've accepted an offer to become the new Statewide Human-Wildlife Conflict Specialist at
@CaliforniaDFW
starting in a few months! 🐾👣
Our Kenya work will continue as well! All good things, and I'm so incredibly grateful. 🤗
just remembering that time i got a $100,000 grant and a white professor said to me “that’s not a lot”. which like i understand in the grand scheme of things it’s not but it sure af is for a kid who grew up w/the heat off in winter & lights going out when bills weren’t paid
Hi Folks:
One month after hiring me, CDFW decided to cut CA's human-wildlife conflict program for the next fiscal year, to the immense detriment of myself, many staff, & Californians.
By accepting this job, I had declined other offers. I am now seeking alternatives. Thank you💙
Hi friends- I'm excited to let y'all know that I've accepted an offer to become the new Statewide Human-Wildlife Conflict Specialist at
@CaliforniaDFW
starting in a few months! 🐾👣
Our Kenya work will continue as well! All good things, and I'm so incredibly grateful. 🤗
Exciting announcement!😁
For my next adventure, I'll be joining
@cschell_canids
lab as a postdoc this fall!
I'll be investigating how human attitudes, culture, & landscape-level attributes of Californian metropolitan areas drive the ecology & behavior of urban carnivores.
YAY🥳
If you were calling BLM protestors "rioters" and "thugs" but you're silent now, you're part of the problem. Oh, and you're an antidemocratic hypocrite.
Hot take: Anyone who funds big cat conservation should also be funding hyena conservation.
Hyenas are in suborder Feliformia, so they are more related to cats than to dogs. Just sayin’.
Tired of all the misunderstandings & discrimination against Hyaenidae!🍪
#ScienceTwitter
I'm a vegetarian. Yet, I think I want to learn to bow hunt and give the meat to communities in need. Hunting funds a lot of conservation efforts in the USA, and I'd like to learn about sustenance hunting firsthand.
Weird take, but, that's how I feel. How to get started?
Laughing so hard at all of the posts on Nextdoor with Bay Area residents having no clue that the "mysterious terrifying loud noise" they experienced last night was just thunder 😂
Underlying all of the issues with *that* Nature Communications paper we're all talking about: the authors judge "success" based very heavily on publication impact.
When will success in
#academia
also be measured by outreach, teaching, & placing importance on equity?
There are more than two genders, just as there are more than two biological sexes. To name just a few, there are people who are XX, XY, XXY, XYY, XXXY, or XO, etc... and that's just at the chromosomal level! Science doesn't support your bigotry.
Either:
1. Trump did not have the virus, and this entire situation is a political stunt.
Or
2. Trump has it, received socialized medical care & experimental treatments, exposed secret service in a sealed vehicle, & is leaving early to put more ppl at risk.
Take your pick.
We have raised over $7,000 for this scholarship for
#Black
and
#Indigenous
scholars. HELP US OUT and share this. If there is one thing you do during
#BlackMammalogists
Week, it should be promoting this fundraiser to make a lasting change.
You ever meet someone who just deserves the absolute best in life? I want to give a shout-out to
@cschell_canids
for being an exceptionally supportive, understanding, and encouraging mentor. All on top of being a fantastic scientist, dad, & friend! hype him up
#ScienceTwitter
!
So excited to see the March issue of
@NatGeo
Magazine at
@BNBuzz
! thank you again
@cdellamore
&
@jenguyton
for involving me in the cover story. just so excited for hyenas to be getting the stardom they deserve! 😍🤩🍪
Yesterday I lost one of my most beloved friends. Merlin was a one of a kind, dog-loving, belly rub soliciting, bagel and pizza stealing, vocal angel who would have full on conversations with me. I am beyond devastated. Send us your good thoughts. 💙
Hi! I'm Christine & I'm a postdoctoral researcher at
@UCBerkeley
. My research centers around understanding how sociocultural, political, and ecological factors influence human-carnivore interactions and carnivore behavioral ecology.
#BlackInEnvironRollCall
@BlackInEnviron
Got my first postdoc interview (!!!) and I have to tell y'all, imposter syndrome is an ugly little gremlin.
On another note, anyone have advice on preparing an engaging postdoc interview seminar on my past/future research? Give me what u got! 🤞🏾🤗
i finally read
@lmillernpr
’s book and it is absolutely beautiful. it touched my heart in many ways. if you haven’t read it yet, run- don’t walk- to your local Black-owned bookstore (see below) and get a copy.
Hey
@RaeWynnGrant
&
@NatGeo
!Despite what this article says, there is more than one African-American female large carnivore ecologist in the world -I'm one! I'm sure there are more of us out there.Shall we make a hashtag to find the rest of us?
#BlackInSTEM
Hi folks! I'm a carnivore ecologist, human-wildlife interactions specialist, & science communicator currently based at
@UCBerkeley
&
@calacademy
. I use interdisciplinary & participatory methods to aim toward human-wildlife coexistence 🐾👣
@BlackInEnviron
#BlackInEnvironRollCall
If you release balloons to commemorate your loved one's passing/graduation/etc., you are essentially celebrating your loved one by killing the environment.
Don't release balloons.
My 4th PhD chapter is in review & I decided to take the journal up on their offer to post a preprint for me. Here's our social-ecological assessment of spotted hyena movement in a developing landscape (including tolerance by people in our movement models):
What an honor to be featured on
@NatGeo
Women of Impact’s “Pivotal Moment” for
#BlackMammalogists
Week.
W/o the opps & support I’ve received, my journey to wildlife conservation may have never happened.
Visit to donate to support
#BIPOC
scholars. ✊🏽🦁
One of my favorite
#ThreatenedMammals
is the endangered African wild dog. I've only seen them in the wild once (!!!), since most of my research is in very developed areas where wild dogs cannot thrive.
This was in the
#Tarangire
ecosystem in
#Tanzania
.
#BlackMammalogists
i was incredibly touched that a student, Sage Montañez, created this hyena piece based on my queer ecologies/identities lecture at UCSC earlier this year. and so glad they let me buy it from them! isn’t Sage so talented? 🥹😍🍪
Eric and Wendy Schmidt announce the 2022 Schmidt Science Fellows - 29 new Fellows will harness interdisciplinary science to make a positive impact on the world
@SchmidtFutures
@Rhodes_Trust
I'm tired of bigots telling me what is and isn't "natural" in humans.
So I'm starting a series called
#NaturalFacts
.
#NaturalFact
1: Mourning geckos are parthenogenic, meaning they don't need males for reproduction. There are few or NO known fertile males in this species.
These are the ashes of Carl, the famous coyote in SF who was lethally removed in 2021 because of his unusually bold, predatory behavior toward young children. These behaviors were linked to people illegally hand-feeding him for years. Poor Carl. 💙 Don’t feed wildlife, folks.
Aaaand here is the much needed follow up video to the one i posted yesterday with the coyote and the toddler.
Share widely for anyone who wants to learn about human-coyote interactions, human-carnivore coexistence science, and how we can live well with ‘yotes!
#ScienceTwitter
1/5 What do spotted hyenas do when a landscape is urbanizing? We used step selection & resource selection functions & interdisciplinary methods to explore how spotted
#hyenas
are navigating a changing landscape near Nakuru, Kenya.
#AnimBehav2023
@asab_tweets
@AnimBehSociety
Today I turned down a job offer that I REALLY really wanted. It was an extremely rough decision, but I think it was the right & ethical thing to do.
Send cute animal pics 🥲
Is there an app where I can just enter the foods I have in my kitchen and the app tells me what recipes I can make?
(Also, if this doesn't already exist, who wants to help me build it?)
comments on the recent video of the toddler and coyote in Woodland Hills…and what we can do to help prevent these dangerous bold behaviors in the future.
follow me on tiktok at TheScrappyNaturalist for more wildlife content
#ScienceTwitter
Per the request of some of my African
@InsideNatGeo
colleagues, I've created a living document of fellowships, scholarships, & grants for which African nationals are eligible. Please add to this document and share widely.
#ScienceTwitter
#funding
This photo by
@AdamWelz
perfectly encapsulates how unglamorous fieldwork can be. Caked in so much dust that I could hardly keep my eyes open. Through amazing effort w/KWS and conservancy field team, we were able to collar the famous hyena I’d been tracking all day: Smiley.
Happy
#BlackMammalogists
Week! It's
#ThreatenedMammals
Thursday - part of my work involves studying how carnivores (both threatened & non-threatened) move thru developed landscapes.
This
#leopard
took advantage of the tourist cars to stalk a nearby heard of Thomson's gazelles.