Heather Kopsco, Ph.D. (she/her)

Virtual Rally to Save the Cornerstone of Conservation Science · National Wildlife Federation We need YOU as we rally in support of critical federal government services at risk of being lost forever. The U.S. Geological Survey Ecosystems Mission Area is responsible for many of the programs tha...

I'm attending National Wildlife Federation's event, “Virtual Rally to Save the Cornerstone of Conservation Science” - sign up now to join me! www.mobilize.us/nwf/event/79...

Peter Marks from the FDA resigns

"it has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary [RFK Jr regarding vaccines], but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies."

#medsky 🛟😷🧪

I’m very glad that @joshuajfriedman.com got the full quote here, because it was pretty wild. Boasberg was not happy.

I am sickened by this overreach.

This thread on federal firings 🔥🔥🔥

#ElbowsUp
Feel free to use this regardless of where in world you are. Currently, we are all Canadian, not only protecting Canada from US bullying, but also trying to save the dream of the US - encouraging US to save itself from itself

@altspaceforce.altgov.info @iampoliticsgirl.bsky.social

RFK says most vaccine advisers have conflicts of interest. A report shows they don't The Health Secretary's assertion inaccurately characterizes the 2009 government report he cites, according to an NPR review and interviews with former committee members.

Here's the source link. As usual, RFK Jr is lying. And I suspect his intent to repopulate the ACIP with anti-vaxxers is the reason why.

www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/2025-03-11/r...

NIH to terminate or limit grants related to vaccine hesitancy and uptake The order covers more than 40 awards to researchers around the country seeking to understand why vaccine acceptance has declined.

In case RFK Jr convinced you that he is not anti-vax, but merely "skeptical" & concerned about vaccine safety...look here

NIH is terminating awards to obtain reliable data on vaccine hesitancy & ways to improve uptake. This is an explicitly anti-vax policy.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Kennedy Links Measles Outbreak to Poor Diet and Health, Citing Fringe Theories In a recent interview, the health secretary also suggested that the measles vaccine had harmed children in West Texas, center of an outbreak.

Moron Mondays: Bobby Jr Opens His Mouth

The Princeling has once again doned his Fisher-Price stethoscope and gifted us with some stools of wisdom. Since we are repeating ourselves we will keep this short.

This. Universities, this is not going away. The Trump administration is going to continue to attack academia and higher education. You have to fight. For your lives.

RFK Jr. warns vaccinating poultry for bird flu could backfire Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. warned vaccines could turn "birds into mutant factories."

RFK Jr is not a trustworthy source about vaccine efficacy or zoonosis, particularly for H5N1 in chickens.

His claim that poultry vaccination will "turn those birds into mutant factories" is incorrect & I've got receipts 👇

Article by @alexander-a-tin.bsky.social
www.cbsnews.com/news/rfk-jr-...

😑😑😑

🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯
I feel this 🧵 and comments so much!

Why March for Science? Because when it is attacked, only the elite benefit Lucky Tran When politicians smear science, real people get hurt.

I wrote this ahead of the March for Science in 2017 & the same is true today: When politicians are left alone to attack science with impunity, it serves only the most elite, & real people get hurt, particularly our most vulnerable and marginalized communities. @standupforscience.bsky.social

He did it very efficiently though.

#Gaza: On March 2, a Palestinian man was shot next to the entrance of the Doctors Without Borders-supported Al-Shaboura clinic, in #Rafah.

This was then followed by a round of bullets shot near the facility, leading our team to take shelter inside the clinic. A bullet hit the building.

Trump Administration Told to Reinstate Nearly 6,000 USDA Workers The fired employees were on probationary status, swept up in the administration’s push to rapidly reduce the size of the federal work force in part by targeting those types of workers.

Thousands of Agriculture Department employees who were fired last month must be reinstated in their old positions for at least 45 days, a board that handles federal worker disputes ordered on Wednesday.

The competitive authoritarian playbook - make vague, illiberal proclamations and try to intimidate people with the possibility of selective prosecution or other forms of punishment

Oh good!

Wishing you luck! All of our study sections were cancelled 😩.

We could’ve had a pittie mix as First Dog 😩😩😩. I hate this timeline.

DOGE's savings page fixed old mistakes — and added new ones An NPR review of new data added to DOGE's "wall of receipts" finds the group quietly changed previous errors, added new ones and still has little verified savings to show for its work.

An NPR review of new data added to DOGE's "wall of receipts" finds the group quietly changed previous errors, added new ones and still has little verified savings to show for its work.

They Worked to Prevent Death. The Trump Administration Fired Them. Public health teams are being gutted, imperiling efforts to safeguard organ donation and prevent maternal and infant death. Many workers expressed fear at what would happen to the work they left…

Hundreds of workers at the CDC. More than 1,000 at the NIH. Scores of staffers at the FDA.

Trump’s purge of federal employees includes those doing lifesaving work. Many of them expressed fear at what would happen to the projects they left behind.

By @anniewaldman.bsky.social & @deldeib.bsky.social

F.D.A. Cancels Meeting of Vaccine Experts Scheduled to Advise on Flu Shots The cancellation plays into fears among scientists who worry that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will use his position as health secretary to sow doubts about vaccines.

First, they said postponed; now the meeting is canceled. That means no flu shots next year.

“'It’s a six-month production cycle,' Dr. Offit said. 'So one can only assume that we’re not picking flu strains this year.'"

Fundamentally, that's a form of mass murder.

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/u...

Trump officials start dismantling civil rights offices, as part of DOGE’s secret plan Legal experts said that unwinding a civil rights-era bulwark designed to safeguard employees’ rights removes a crucial check on institutional power.

This is not an effort to roll back "DEI"

It's an effort to roll back civil rights

"Agencies across the federal government are dismantling offices that enforce civil rights and antidiscrimination laws...weakening the government’s ability to deliver on legal obligations to protect workers’ rights"

Bird Flu Outbreak Fueled By Wind Highly pathogenic avian influenza can be transmitted among farms by wind, according to a recent study that found air-intake systems spread H5N1 in the Czech Republic.

Yikes.

www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...

Excellent read on what’s still needed for H5N1 to become transmissible between humans.

threadreaderapp.com/thread/18950...

BIG: Federal Board Agrees With OSC Order to Halt Firings We mentioned on Monday that the Office of Special Counsel had found...

BREAKING: Federal Board Agrees With OSC Order to Halt Firings; Ruling Will Likely Apply to Many DOGE-Fired Workers talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/big-f...

#AltGov: the secret network of federal workers resisting Doge from the inside Government employees fight the Trump administration’s chaos by organizing and publishing information on Bluesky

A rare moment of good in this week's news.
When gov works with the people instead of against them, great things can be done. Thank you all for your support. Together is how we get through this. 🫶

No, University Endowments Can’t Replace Federal Science Funding How Endowments Actually Work

There are so many reasons university endowments can't make up for the dramatic cuts the Trump administration has planned for science.

Here are a few. Thanks to @donmoyn.bsky.social for the platform.