Stephanie L. Shepherd

HWY 64. NE Arkansas

Another good reason to get a new passport...

Camped in a cave this weekend with my son's cubscout pack. I was a good mom and did not explain Karst processes except when asked. Also show caves are weird.

Maps! There is something about printed maps that is so much more powerful than looking at a computer screen (in my opinion).

Messing about in streams in the rain with a very energetic group of high school students! Hopefully they know a little bit more about Geoscience, urban streams, and the fun of field research.

Field season has commenced!

Beneath the Sea Floor: Unearthing the Bering Land Bridge ATMI youth producer Natalie Buttner gained a media internship on board the RV Sikuliaq, where scientists extracted core samples from the bottom of the Bering Sea…

Thanks at @seaicebeth.bsky.social for sharing such an amazing project - vimeo.com/1032126421?s... This is why we need the USGS, NPS, and NSF.

On my last day as AUTeach Co-Director I taught the last class in the Science Teaching Classroom in Haley Center. It was also the first semester I had the privilege of co-teaching a new class SCMH 3010: Inquiry Experiences for Science Teachers to the first graduating class of AUTeach students.

The same is true for NIH, btw, so when they cancel grants like mine bc they are no longer interested in promoting careers in biomedical research, they are violating their congressional mandate to diversify the field.

Exclusive: Trump team freezes new NSF awards — and could soon axe hundreds of grants The National Science Foundation is the latest US agency to be disrupted by Elon Musk’s DOGE.

AARGH! My poor postdoc who was hired and then almost not hired in January and now may be unhired again... And that is just a drop in the bucket of faculty, post docs, and students that are currently and will be impacted. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

WTF.... I just can't.

Teaching future science teachers is fun! Especially when you break out the bowling ball.

My geomorphology students discovered a new wonder on our field trip to Providence Canyon... Dung Beetles. We were stopped in our tracks more than once watching these amazingly industrious creatures.

Expecting storms tonight, hoping all our trees are healthy and strong.

I am pretty tired of this argument. Journal articles and books are sometimes not widely accessible (although some are), but academics speak much more often to the public now, through the media, op eds, trade books, and public lectures, than in the past and anti-intellectualism has grown.

Today is Rare Disease Day! I love and care for someone with a rare disease, CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder (CDD). CDD is a genetic epilepsy with no cure and current treatments only manage the symptoms. Most individuals with CDD have intractable epilepsy as well as intellectual and physical disabilities.

Not going to lie, one of the few reasons I haven't just laid on the floor moaning like Tina Belcher, is teaching. SCMH 3010 students running an experiment with pocket labs.

And the budget vote has me at...

Having trouble deciding which candle to light.

Stephanie's Life with Isobel (age 7) Podcast Episode · CDKL5 in Color · 02/21/2025 · 32m

I am an educator, a mentor, a geoscientist. I am also a caregiver and a mother. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

Our Medicaid Story Cuts to Medicaid will devastate poor and disabled people in America. Please call your representative THIS WEEK and tell them you oppose these cuts!

Please read, then call your legislators to demand they protect the most vulnerable in our society. Our daughter with complex medical needs (CDKL5) relies on the protections and supports provided by IDEA and Medicaid to preserve her quality of life. open.substack.com/pub/erinraff...

A screen capture of a social media post by Alt National Park Service

A group of people standing in front of a moss covered rock face. At the right a woman in a park service uniform stands facing the group.

I am a former NPS park ranger, many of my friends work for NPS, USGS, USDA, and so many of my former students work for federal agencies. So many folks were fired without cause yesterday. Things are bad and getting worse.

EM&T are now just stealing money rather than following the rule of law.

As I held my dying daughter's hand, what did I feel? Pride... My daughter Iona was born 32 years ago. She arrived at home, in such a rush to enter the world that my wife was unable to reach the nearby hospital.

I’m the proud parent and caregiver of a child with CDKL5. www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/artic...

And it isn't speculation which words are the "problem." Universities and agencies (NSF, USGS, etc.) are already doing the review. The president and his lackeys have been very clear that they want to stop anything with DEI in the mix. Both my federal grants have been flagged for review.

Yikes, but not surprised

If you or your students rely on federal data portals, you might download what you need asap. I worry that the chaos in DC will extend to shutting down access to data. Even a short term interruption can be devastating for a student that has only semesters to complete their research.

This is chilling.

except many of those will potentially be out of commission for the foreseeable future.