@katelynjbutler
Instructional professor & plant pathologist committed to inclusive, evidence-based teaching. Also mom to the best F1s (n=2), easily distracted by mosses & lichens, overly competitive at board games & always up for a little treat. (she/her)
I talked about dilution plating as a way to quantify bacteria to a student designing a research project, and he suggested that it was "primitive" and wanted a more "modern method"
I'm not a dinosaur, right? People still do this?
First day back working on campus and already mistaken for a student even though I dressed up today.
Then I met a new faculty 6 years younger than me and remembered this is my 8th year teaching.
So, I’m confused.
Well, my three year old asked if the specks on the outside of the strawberry were seeds. Time for a botany lesson. 🍓
Nothing has made me think before I speak more than having a 3 year old.
And not just because I don’t want them to cheat (I don’t) but because I DO want them to think and more and more seems like I have to facilitate the space for them to do that.
I keep moving more and more to in class - like a final proposal they used to write in their own, I had them write in class during finals. but that’s impossible with everything in the current structure - like genetics problem sets I want them to think deeply about and puzzle through.
So fun!
My son’s exact reaction when I told him to put his shoes on this morning.
(We’ve been in a Frog and Toad phase, I love it)
I also almost didn’t know about it because I’m on maternity leave and only checked my work email to find a gift card some friends sent.
I won a teaching award on campus. It’s student nominated AND for my teaching in the core curriculum (so, nonmajors) which just feels special. 🥺
college.uchicago.edu/news/uchicag...
Is there a German word for choosing an inanimate object (mug, spoon, pair of socks) that you haven’t used in a while to make sure its feelings don’t get hurt?
Is there a German word for choosing an inanimate object (mug, spoon, pair of socks) that you haven’t used in a while to make sure its feelings don’t get hurt?
a small green damselfly sits on a stick on a bed of moss on the forest floor
Forget touching grass, try touching some forest moss.
Food or store gift cards (like for diapers). We just had our second and that’s what’s been most useful. I found getting more stuff to be overwhelming.
My toddler learned giraffes have purple tongues at daycare and so we spent all of lunch looking up animal tongue colors.
Do any of you have some good animal tongues I can share with him?
I just checked my Field Museum volunteer discord for the first time in weeks and bummed I missed out on so many good “dire wolf” memes back when they were relevant.
In grad school I participated in a potato taste test for potato breeders and there was one potato that distinctly tasted like stinky shoes.
🥔
😞 thought we had it there for a minute. Feeling adrift in a sea of defeat (get it?) #TeamAutotrophForLife #2025MMM
Plant induced carnage! Love to see it. 🌱 #TeamAutotrophAndFriends #2025MMM
Can we please get books with picture inserts to use Figure References so we know to go look at the picture at the right time and see them in context?
I sold 10 books to the local bookstore today and only came home with 4. This feels like a victory. 📕
Are those arteries and veins coming out of the tronk? Revolutionary, if true.
Exciting news, ECPS members!
The ASPB ECPS Travel Award applications are OPEN for #PlantBio2025, July 26–30, 2025 in Milwaukee! Get up to $500 to present, network & grow!
Deadline: April 4, 2025, 11:59 PM PT
Apply now! 👉
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
#PlantScience #TravelAward #ASPB
They had them in the kids?! I got mine from the men’s. I need to find one for my kiddo so we can be the photosynthesis phamily.
I have that shirt! And I made my husband get a matching one. ☀️ 🌱
#2025MMM
SEED Sixteen? Sweet SEED-teen?
Either way, an exciting victory for #TeamAutotroph #AndFriends
I’ve got my 2.5 year old calling his fingers and toes phalanges and this just feels like win. 🦴
I have my students read this chapter in my class and they love it!
A DREAM TEAM! 🍄 🌳
#TeamAutotroph #BetterTogether #2025MMM