Katherine Dawes (KD-eval)

The Consumer Product Safety Commission would not be established until 1972.

Trying to be on the American Evaluation Association evaluation policy townhall while also running errands.
#AwkwardEvaluatorMoments

Seeds for the Future: Closing Thoughts from BHL’s Wikimedian-in-Residence In November 2024, I embarked on a dream job as the Wikimedian-in-Residence at the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), aiming to enrich Wikimedia’s platforms with BHL’s incredible biodiversity coll…

New on the #BHLblog: "Seeds for the Future" by @tiagolubiana.bsky.social. Tiago has done incredible work connecting BHL with the #Wikimedia ecosystem – building tools, enriching metadata & dramatically increasing the visibility of BHL’s image collections: blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2025/07/seed...

Drop your favorite gentle flute song.

YouTube video by James Galway - Topic The Pachelbel Canon

Well, I'm nothing if not predictable...
youtu.be/A9fJuybJjDo?...

I love fossils that tell a story. This little horn coral, Heliophyllum halli, from the Hungry Hollow Mb. of Ontario shows rebudding. The main coral head was damaged or buried and grew 2 new buds. It found a way to survive.

#FossilFriday

EvalCat chilling in the sunny window.

Enjoy the #Caturday

... oh boy teaching is going to be fun* this year.

*really I mean very new and rather terrifying

All of the purrs, every day! EvalCat approves. Thanks, @catcarenetworkiowa.bsky.social

I'm just now learning about #CatboxSunday and very disappointed that y'all didn't tell me sooner.😒 tsk tsk tsk
Well I'm on to you now. lol Enjoy! 😸

Cat - gray striped and white - hard at sleep on the home office couch.

EvalCat assisting with the home office reorg and cleanup project:

Well, I took 20 minutes to scroll the headlines on the skyline this AM, and I'm just exhausted. Off to make more coffee. ☕️

Higher CO2 levels leading plants to contribute to warmer temperatures One of the elevated dangers of global climate change is discoveries outside the boundaries of expected changes – whether temperature, sea level and other predicted results of higher atmospheric carbon...

Some interesting findings from colleagues at UGA

franklin.uga.edu/news/stories...

Welp, since I'm still scheduled to "professor," I'm going to have to learn about AI in the classroom, aren't I?
Smh.
Wish me luck.

Why Flooding In New York and New Jersey Were So Bad A weather primer on what caused major flooding in New Jersey, New York and other parts of the Northeast.

My thoughts (weather and climate) on flooding in New York, New Jersey and Washington DC
www.forbes.com/sites/marsha...

Research and Evaluation Conference on Self-Sufficiency (RECS) Research and Evaluation Conference on Self-Sufficiency (RECS)

Call for Proposals for the Research and Evaluation Conference on Self-Sufficiency (RECS) 2026 is open. RECS 2026 will be May 20-22, 2026 in Washington, DC. OPRE invites proposals for full conference sessions, individual presentations, roundtables, Emerging Scholars posters.
acf.gov/opre/researc...

Doing a slow* catchup on all things program evaluation and performance data.

(*Like, really slow.)

It's sad because it can't protect you.

Happy MLK Day.

analytics.usa.gov | The US government's web traffic. Official data on web traffic to thousands of US federal government websites. Published by the Digital Analytics Program.

Data nerds - do you know about analytics.usa.gov? You can see website data across many US government websites including ours!

analytics.usa.gov/consumer-pro...

A portrait of Quinn the Safety Fox with Handsome Ron the European Robin sitting on their shoulder. It is very red. The text reads: Report unsafe products on SaferProducts.gov.

A kid looking out their back yard window. There is a guy mowing the lawn and a giant mosquito the size of a building standing over them. The text reads: Sometimes it’s OK for kids to stay inside. Always clear your lawn of objects and bystanders before mowing. Always look behind you when backing up your mower.

Three figures in dark robes stand before a castle as the moon rises. The castle is on fire! The first figure has a face made out of a space heater. The next figure has a face made out of an extension cord. The third figure has a face made out of a power strip. The text reads: Home safety traitors. Always plug your space heater directly into the wall, never a power strip. Keep it at least 3ft away from flammable items. Turn it off before you leave a room or go to sleep.

A gingerbread house burning down. Obviously animated flames burst through the windows and cover the ceiling. The text reads: The house is on fire. Someone plugged a space heater into a power strip! Always plug your space heater directly into the wall. Turn it off before you leave a room or go to sleep. Keep it at least 3 feet away from anything flammable.

Honorable mentions. Thanks for not falling in love with us - 17 statutes and just under 500 civil servants dedicated to protecting the American people from unsafe consumer products. We love this job, we love all [most] of you, and we'll see you on the other side.

Two eagles the size of people bursting into someone's home. It is the Safety Eagles! One eagle carries a Pride flag made out of NASA satellite images in its beak. The text reads: Safety eagles. Human-sized eagles do not work for CPSC. We cannot send them to your home to spread joy and consumer product safety information. However, there are two eagles in our logo and that is pretty good too. Search for recalls and report unsafe products on SaferProducts.gov.

#BestOf2024 - Safety Eagles (with Pride)

My occasional science post. It's always important to keep an eye on local data:

I occasionally post on LinkedIn.

I know it's weird to see an account without posts, so that's why I'm posting *something.*

FYSA - I rarely use social media professionally. I'm here to follow news and science.