Roxanne Prichard, PhD

In winter, I like taking pictures of tree branches that look like dendrites.

I'm about halfway through this nearer-than-I-want-it-to-be AI takes over medicine speculative fiction novel and loving it. As a sleep neuroscientist and pre-health advisor, I particularly appreciate Dr. Key's precision throughout regarding MedEd culture & science discovery. Thank you!

Das Swarm! The cetaceans abide!

(Also I woke up from a dream asking our branch librarian to find a Scalzi / Judy Blume cross over.)

Minnesota great & respiratory titan Jessie Diggins! Medaling in three Olympics, already the most decorated US Nordic skier of all time before this morning’s epic kick for Bronze with bruised ribs. A fierce sleep and mental health advocate who openly discusses her ED recovery. Thank you.

A row of sunrise alarm clock globes in a dark room.

Then she is probably a totally healthy active teen who needs 10 hours of sleep whose body says that sleep should optimally be between midnight and 10:30 AM. I’ll send over a few tricks that will help a bit, like these, set half an hour before wake up time.

If she falls asleep throughout the day, that’s definitely a sign you would want want to talk to a sleep clinician. If once she’s up, she has plenty of energy throughout the day that’s less concerning. Email me jrprichard at stthomas edu if you want, and I can send you some assessments.

I’m so sorry for the diagnosis delay.

Hi. I am a mother of adolescents and a sleep neuroscientist. This is totally normal, which is why there’s a Start School Later public health push. If it’s harder for her than most other teens, she might have delayed phase sleep disorder; disability accommodations means priority registration.

5 Sleep Habits to Steal From Winter Olympians

Free share: Great suggestions here!

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/w...

Veggie platter at an Ethiopian restaurant

Cuban coffee shop coffee and pastry

A group of white neighbors at St. Paul city hall with tape over their mouths representing people who don’t feel safe speaking.

A statement from Pope Leo supporting immigrant dignity surrounded by paper butterflies with stories of those held in prayer.

I’ve been supporting peace and democracy here in the Twin Cities through different avenues: education, legislative advocacy, mutual aid, coalition-building, but my favorite is delighting in immigrant-owned businesses.

Same. @naomialderman.bsky.social Four of us saw it together, and only my Jewish spouse enjoyed it. Reverse dog whistle, indeed. I think I went in with wrong expectations and completely wrong lenses. I appreciate it much more now having read your essay.

What the Fitbit Saw During That 4.4 Quake | KQED Smartphone apps and wearable activity trackers are providing more data for quake scientists.

Yep. There’s a lot of privacy given away when we click those biotrackers consent forms. They could release avg time and number of orgasms by metro area if they wanted. Tricky when this data is subpoenaed. www.kqed.org/futureofyou/...

@fitbit.bsky.social could release a report on this right now-- Twin Cities area increase in resting Heart Rate and decrease in HRV over January compared with other metro areas.

Same feelings, but also for all my favorite businesses: coffee shops, restaurants, gym, community center, hair salon.

Side note: I am terrified of the Kessler effect, and my conversation with Papal astronomer, Guy Consolmagno, about its likelihood did little to calm my fears.

It's the start of #BlackHistoryMonth and the new semester.

Today, I'm grateful for the educational legacies of

George Washington Carver
Pauli Murray
bell hooks
Octavia E. Butler
Charles R. Drew
Ronald E. McNair
James Baldwin

What about you?

I needed to make an extra sign for yesterday’s neighborhood first amendment activities here in St. Paul, MN.

Wildly and drunk.

In December, I shared my Top 10 Sleep Threats on @drchriswinter.bsky.social Sleep Unplugged podcast. Here in these occupied but resilient Twin Cities, I stand by those rankings, but might temporarily switch #1 & #2.

Here in the Twin Cities, I just shared some extra crafting supplies with this boss of Gen X grandma who’s mass resistance crafting safety vests. We all know our super powers and lanes of effectiveness here. Feeder, fighter, crafter, purple phallus thrower; we’ve got them all.

Hello from the besieged Twin Cities. We are t sleeping too well here. Thinking of this Angela Davis quote:

Candles at 7 pm tonight.

Snowy garden with large metal sculpture of a heart, framing a snowy field.

Mourning VA ICU nurse snd beloved community member, Alex Pretti, murdered by ICE this morning in Minneapolis.

This afternoon, the memorial sculpture, Let My Heart Be Open, by Gene Piersa at Normandale Community College calls to me.

Mourn the dead, protect the living.

#ICEOUT NOW

ICE just murdered another Minneapolis neighbor and observer. I am outraged and do not know how we can expect our students to learn in an environment of rampant state sponsored kidnapping and street executions. #ICEOUT NOW.

Protest still going

Grateful for the hundreds of clergy praying in -30 windchills and facing arrest for witnessing and protesting the human rights abuses. #ICEOUT

uscatholic.org/articles/202...

It’s bad here. I’m trying to make my spring syllabi now and think through all the contingencies for absences. K-12 closed for safety. Many of our Neuro students do the Denmark DIS study abroad program— now are worrying about attacks *from* the U.S. Makes it hard to think about data & grant renewal.

How Author Abby Jimenez Built a Book and Bakery Empire Before Abby Jimenez wrote bestsellers like Just for the Summer and her newest novel Say You’ll Remember Me, she built a baking empire from scratch—and picked up a Food Network title in the process.

Do you know this wonderful hometown hero cupcake arc? From VaGeode cakes to feminist romance bestselling author. www.eonline.com/news/1415266...

One of the things I love about being a sleep researcher is the spontaneous conversations that arise. I'm at an airport bar now and another customer (a CPAP user for 10 years who talked about how life-changing it is) & I just got our fantastic (and sleepy) barkeep signed up for a sleep apnea test.

Agreed. That plus an abrupt change in climate or ecological resources seems to be the nail in the coffin.