Catherine Sheard

@[email protected]
291 Followers
200 Following
205 Posts

I'm an evolutionary biologist at the University of Aberdeen, working on the macroevolution of birds, mammals, languages, etc.

Also: tea, D&D, EDI, other random musings. #QueerInSTEM #DisabledInSTEM

pronounsshe/her
Twitterhttps://twitter.com/sheardcat
websitehttps://catherinesheard.weebly.com/
Google Scholarhttps://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wr5x09kAAAAJ&hl=en
Catherine SheardNov 20
Hao YeNov 20

Every IT security training ever: [Hackers] may send you an email message with a link that will direct you to a webpage that looks real to enter your username and password.

Yeah, how do you think I navigated to this IT training in the first place.

Show threadCatherine SheardNov 20
Around about this time of year I often do a professional year in review? But I'm at that career stage where you're just desperately trying to put out fires and forward momentum is often minimal, so, instead, I shall continue to marvel at how much time I spent on night trains.
Catherine SheardNov 20

By the end of December, I will have this year spent 2 nights on planes, 2 nights on a boat, and a whopping 7 nights on a train, whoops. I'll also have been to 7 countries (plus the Amsterdam airport), *six* of which I drove in, which is a little wild given my relationship with cars.

I have no clue how many miles I walked, but it's a bigger number than recent years, which is definitely to the good.

Show threadCatherine SheardOct 31

Do I have a point? I don't think I have a point. I was hoping I would find a point by writing this out, but, alas, we do not always get what we want. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, both in my own life and in, sadly, the wider world.

Anyway, back to staring at maps of Ireland.

Catherine SheardOct 31
David N. FisherOct 27
New paper on cockroach behaviour: social network metrics are correlated within groups of 10, but these do not correlate with either a lone or group measure of exploration: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10164-025-00870-8
Cockroach social network position does not influence exploration tendency

Show threadCatherine SheardOct 31

This past year I've been travelling a bunch, including a road trip in northern Finland & Norway. It was amazing, 10/10 highly recommend Sápmi.

I took some Finnish classes in preparation for that trip -- it was fun, and even basic words/phrases made navigating a whole lot easier. I should have studied more Norwegian, as that part of Norway doesn't believe in English road signs (except along the Russian border, eep).

I'm currently between-languages, basically out of decision paralysis.

Show threadCatherine SheardOct 31

I'm somehow co-chair of BES Macro and a senior editor at GEB. Dunno how that happened. Dunno if this is a good use of my time or not, though both jobs require skills that I enjoy using.

I've also done a lot of, well, adult levelling up in the past two years? I got citizenship, bought a flat, got serious about driving, started cooking more, started hiking again.

Show threadCatherine SheardOct 31

I am somehow two full years into this PI gig. It feels like no time at all. I still have no idea what's going on, ever, and my lab is in a fledgling stage.

I'm slowly working on papers, building my teaching portfolio, applying for grants that I mostly do not receive, and mentoring students. It's a lot. Usually fun. But still a lot.

Catherine SheardOct 31

Wow, Mastodon. It has been a HOT MINUTE since I've been on here.

I often use October for annual introspection, and I guess Oct 31st is as good a time as any?

(A thread that I'm multitasking this with trying to figure out how scary it will be to drive in Ireland at night. I'm guessing very scary. I probably should try to minimise that.)

Catherine SheardOct 17, 2024
Bluesky's down, so I'm checking in here for the first time in...a while, wow. What's up, Mastodon?