Justin C Leavitt, PhD

Public Lands Sales on the Table as Congress Looks for Ways to Raise Revenue Americans could be locked out of thousands of acres of public lands if this proposal is signed into law

Great coverage from @sierramagazine.bsky.social on the budget reconciliation amendment that would authorize the sale of over 11,000 acres of public land in Utah.

SUWA Wildlands Director, Neal Clark is quoted.

Read the full article here: www.sierraclub.org/sierra/publi...

An image that reads: Friedrich Schiller University Jena: Preparing your application for a MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship hosted by the University of Jena. Invitation for a Master class.

A medium sized German city. On the right is a picteruesque river in the glowing daybreak. Around the city are gently rolling, green hills.

Are you interested in a postdoc in Germany on fungal pathogen biology, genomics, or antifungal resistance? My Uni (@uni-jena.de) is hosting a free two-day masterclass in June on preparing MSCA Postdoc Fellowships with it as host.

If you are interested in writing a fellowship with me, get in touch!

We are looking for a #postdoc to join the VEO Group @microverse.bsky.social @uni-jena.de and build an experimental research line into the dynamics and functioning of microbial communities: jobs.uni-jena.de/jobposting/1...

YouTube video by Green Raccoon Boric acid in methanol burning with a green flame. #chemistry #fire

youtube.com/shorts/yMT3O...

Something about green flames…

YouTube video by Green Raccoon Desert tortoise. Seen in Southern Utah at an elevation above 3700 feet.

I keep seeing desert tortoises at higher and higher elevations. This guy was at nearly 4000 feet. #climatechange #nature

youtube.com/shorts/IM-Me...

YouTube video by Green Raccoon Ducks having breakfast. #outdoors #birding #utah

Watching some ducks before getting to work. Pine Valley Reservoir, Utah USA, . #duck #birding

youtube.com/shorts/T8THk...

Here is a recording of the St George crisis broadcast! youtube.com/watch?v=Lr3jZq…

Let's get all the help we can on this!
Here are ways you can get involved: tinyurl.com/28fhclxj
account.venmo.com/u/Dinosaur-AhT���

YouTube video by Green Raccoon Cold brew coffee. Kyoto, Japan. #coffee #Japan #Kyoto #coldbrew

I had some awesome cold brew in Kyoto. I’ve tried to figure out how to make it as good at home, but it is harder than it looks. #coffee #Japan #coldbrew

youtube.com/shorts/O6Ktr...

YouTube video by Green Raccoon Big Horn Sheep, Zion National Park

Always nice to see Big Horn Sheep doing sheep stuff. #zion

youtube.com/shorts/BQ7VC...

Microbiome functional gene pathways predict cognitive performance in older adults with Alzheimers disease https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.06.641911v1

YouTube video by Green Raccoon The Roman Orgy. Louis Feuillade, 1911.

Not what you would think it is. Actually has kind of cool scene with lions. #SilentFilm #silentcinema #silentbsky

youtu.be/MdzCSidc4xI?...

YouTube video by Green Raccoon Walking the Moon Slots at night. Cathedral Gorge State Park.

Cathedral Gorge State Park, Nevada, USA (at night during a full moon) is one of the trippiest places on earth.

youtube.com/shorts/AWTMQ...

Where’s Waldo?: Originally depicted shirtless, Waldo was given his iconic red-and-white striped shirt to appease censors who took issue with the fugitive’s tattoos chronicling his murders for the Russian mob.

Brave New World: Bans on Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel set in an authoritarian near-future proliferated when George Orwell’s 1984, a later dystopian novel set in an authoritarian near-future, was found to be much more straightforward and digestible.

The Most Banned Books In The U.S.
theonion.com/the-most-ban...

New bills in CT and VT, bills advance in AZ and MO, and a NV resolution; Oregon psilocybin center wins permit appeal; and A bad trip case study Plus: Psychedelics advocates mount response to proposed amendments to Sentence Reform Act, and Hallucinogen hospitalizations and ER visits associated with higher mortality rates in Canada

The week's news in psychedelics: New bills in CT and VT, bills advance in AZ and MO, and a NV resolution; Oregon psilocybin center wins permit appeal; and A bad trip case study themicrodose.substack.com/p/new-bills-...

YouTube video by Green Raccoon A millipede in a mushroom farm

My hair is getting grey, but I still
like looking at bugs.

youtube.com/shorts/5D-yN...

YouTube video by Green Raccoon Wild Turkeys in Southern Utah.

Wild turkeys always cheer me up.

youtube.com/shorts/fKMI1...

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Dickson Despommier.

A brilliant scientist, storyteller, and friend, he shared his vast knowledge and infectious enthusiasm with all who listened.

We will miss him dearly. Our heartfelt condolences go out to all who knew and loved him.
#🧪

Interesting way to fatten a horse. The arsenic was presumably anti-parasitic?

From a the newspaper:
The Utah Pomologist, 1870.

Big horns, Zion National Park

Cesium step gradients are still my favorite way to purify phage. #phage

Peer review is (at best) a smell test for good/bad papers. Reviewers can be, and often are, fooled.

When I review a paper I ask 1) Does this have intellectual merit? 2) Is there anything obviously in error? I can’t guarantee a “perfect” review. I shouldn’t expect one from anyone else.

I just watched this old film, and it hit me in a different way. Under 15 minutes, and possibly one of the biggest jumps forward in movie history.

youtu.be/OrlHfHmyTWU?...

How one kind of virus “calls dibs” on a host cell, and excludes other viruses from infecting it. Fun times.

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Diversity of RNA viruses in declining Mediterranean forests https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.10.28.564537v1 Global change alters forestry habitats and facilitates the entry of new pathogens that do not share

Diversity of RNA viruses in declining Mediterranean forests https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.10.28.564537v1

I think I like this new-Twitter.

If you take all the land on earth and divide by the total global population, you get about 5 acres per person.

The fact that we can feed everyone is amazing. The idea that we can keep feeding everyone is dubious. Unsustainable is the word people use, I think “terrifying” is more accurate.