Derek Hennen, Ph.D.

Thanks for the tip. I've been working on figuring out Andrena to get through our backlog of specimens at Virginia Natural Heritage. Some of them make sense and others I'm putting off until later, but I'm enjoying the challenge.

Thanks Michael!

Thanks; mostly I'm looking for more info on recognizing A. arabis here in Virginia. Ribble's paper on Rhacandrena refers to this one for more info.

Me trying to sneak my way into the function.

"American innovation" now refers to making a kind of atrocity cronut by combining insider trading with war crimes.

2023: 63 cases. 2024: 283 cases. 2025: 2,279 cases. 2026: 1,111 cases (so far).

DENYING YOUR CHILD OF VACCINATION IS CHILD ABUSE.

This is data on measles cases in the USA by year.

there's a lot of specific overwhelming and massive crises happening at once and every single one has at its root elites who did crimes and never suffered consequences for it.

things every single republican president of your lifetime has done

- started a war in the middle east
- completely destroyed the economy

That atttenuated plumpness from front to back is very endearing

You sound like an unhinged person if you in plain words describe what’s happening, but the Trump admin demanded Anthropic’s AI be able to kill things for it w/out human approval and also do mass surveillance.

Anthropic said no, and now the admin is trying to destroy the company in retaliation.

Finally, some good news!!

I continue to be fascinated by the phenomenon whereby an expert engages with any of the LLMs on their field of expertise and is instantly horrified by the wrong answers, and then goes on to use it for things they are not experts in as though it won’t be just as bad for those.

I'm just finishing interpreting the DNA barcodes on my wasps, and now it turns out you can regularly have different barcodes in the same (sawfly) wasp! 😅

Nice work, and something to keep in mind when splitting wasps into species based on DNA.🧪

This push for AI at the NSF grant-making level is less discussed than other AI drives but is highly consequential because it creates incentives that change entire fields. People will pivot away from other research that isn’t being funded to this and many won’t come back.

Functionally, this is the end of foundational science research in many fields in the United States, the money taken away to subsidize already wealthy billionaires and their companies.

White House to pause $259M in Minnesota Medicaid dollars in fraud crackdown It’s the latest in a growing list of fraud-focused threats and probes from the Trump administration.

This is about political retribution.

Trump is weaponizing the federal government to punish states like Minnesota that didn’t vote for him — ripping away funds from pregnant women, seniors, and people with disabilities.

You don’t fight “fraud” by hurting the most vulnerable.

The boys’ club: How Epstein’s influence shaped the exclusion of women in STEM In one email, an AI researcher suggested it’s “hard to be brilliant if you are worrying if you look fat or why another woman hates you.”

There were so many of us, exactly when these emails were being written, expressly working to undo the harms of sexual harassment and sexual discrimination in science. And so many people refused to believe us that any of it was real. It was all real.

19thnews.org/2026/02/epst...

The Epstein files document what many women researchers have long experienced but rarely seen laid bare so starkly: exclusion operating behind closed doors, shaping who gets funded, invited, mentored, and taken seriously. How many of these networks, norms, and gatekeepers remain in place?

YouTube video by AsiaPopCentral Perfume Monochrome Effect

Okay here's a link to a playlist I was listening to yesterday www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwpA...

Hurricane Helene damage in a forest showing trees fallen down across a trail

Research biologist position at Clemson for work on forest wildlife/habitat recovery post-Hurricane Helene in western NC. Full time, multi-year position. Will be working with David Jachowski & myself, includes field work, analysis, writing.

**Apply by March 9**

Job posting bit.ly/cuhhftpos 🧪🌎

YouTube video by Adam Savage’s Tested Dragonfly Facts That STUNNED Adam Savage

It was so fun to chat with Adam Savage about #dragonflies! youtu.be/iWVt5yQNwrA?...

Also the people talking about pronouns too much are transphobes

Everyone else is just using them

I'll update with links after work!!

Sorry, I can't hear you because I'm listening to frutiger aero J-pop.

Are you an early career biologist seeking a position (Masters up to faculty)? I have talked to so many people who feel alone, like they don't have resources, or who are seeking community during this difficult time in the job market. I created a Discord community to help. discord.gg/nmktHJhUPH

When you put it like this, a $75 million bribe to Melania and gutting the Washington Post seems like a small price to pay.

A Fatal ICE Shooting Occurred in Texas Months Before Renee Good’s Killing

A Fatal ICE Shooting Occurred in Texas Months Before Renee Good’s Killing

A 23-year-old American was shot last March in South Padre Island. ICE’s involvement in the shooting was not disclosed until this week.

Molumbo next?? Cause I will fork over some cash for him