Stephen Riffle, Ph.D.

A brown and tan great horned owl stands on a minor stump that jets out from an oak tree's trunk where a thick branch once grew. The owl's feet are clearly visible on the tree and its left wing is partially raised in the air, the bird having just landed from flight.

Stuck the landing! 10.0 on execution which will combine with a meager 4.0 on difficulty to give a respectable 14. Not the highest score in this owlympic games, but for a competitor of their age (>1) and with an injury, they should be very proud.
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🐡🌿 🌎🪶 San Francisco, CA
📸 300mm, F5.6, 1/1600

Relieved to hear it!

A great horned owl flys towards the camera, its wings paused midway through an upbeat, splayed out with the white and black feathers backlight by the sun. Its yellow eyes gaze behind the camera. The background is a mottled mixture of oak-tree branches and nebulous green leaves.

A lucky moment in GGP with this Great Horned Owl. I'm not so familiar with bird injuries, but its right eyebrow ain't looking too good. Anyone seen this before?
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🐡🌿 🌎🪶 San Francisco, CA
📸 300mm, F5.6, 1/1600

tbd on if assembly was even done at this point, this might just be what fell out of the box

Fully support this. One should always rewatch Young Fronkenstein

A coyote pup is seen laying on its back with its paws in the air and it's tail slightly arched upward. Its face is curled back towards its tail, maw open in a playful attempt to bite the tail.

A coyote pup, having a roll, roll, roll in z hay
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🐡🌿🦊 🌎 Tahoe, CA
📸 300mm, F5.6, 1/1600

Bounding into a field of tall brown and green grass, a coyote pup can be seen with its back to us, its little butt clearly visible as the rest of it disappears into the grass.

Pup butt. After meandering away from the group, this one came bounding back into the grass to start stalking up on its littermates (off-camera in the upper left background).
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🐡🌿🦊 🌎 Tahoe, CA
📸 300mm, F5.6, 1/1600

A close up image of four coyote pups, each looking engaged and playful as they run alongside one another, tongues out and eyes alight with youthful joy.

A group of four coyote pups can be seen running in a close pack out from tall grass, their ears perked up and mouths open as they nip and play with one another mid-run.

Same general description as the previous picture, however now more of the pups' faces can be seen, tongues out and flopping as they run.

The group is now blurry as they begin to tumble and fall into the tall grass.

Smiles all around as these pups came tumbling out of the tall grass.
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🐡🌿🦊 🌎 Tahoe, CA
📸 300mm, F5.6, 1/1600

A coyote pup's head can be seen poking up out of some tall grass in a meadow of brown and green grass.

mischief is a foot (a floof?)
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🐡🌿🦊 🌎 Tahoe, CA
📸 300mm, F5.6, 1/1600

Three coyote pups can be seen in a brightly lit meadow. Two are standing next to each other having just been wrestling. The third is running away from the group towards the lower right corner of the picture, its ears tucked back and mouth open. The running pup seems to be having a great time.

A joyful coyote pup zoomie
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🐡🌿🦊 🌎 Tahoe, CA
📸 300mm, F5.6, 1/1600

Three coyote pups stand in a meadow surrounded by tall grasses. Two of the pups are wrestling, one is standing with its head cocked looking back over its shoulder. In the background is an area of dark shaded undergrowth beneath Pine trees.

In a stroke of dumb luck, I got to watch a gaggle of coyote pups playing in a meadow while passing through Tahoe. It. Was. Magical lol The pics aren't stellar. But, it'll give you a little preview into the unfettered joy of pups playing in a meadow 😍

🐡🌿🦊 🌎 Tahoe, CA
📸 300mm, F5.6, 1/1600

Wild pig-like animals are tearing up an Arizona golf course. The internet is delighted Unstoppable javelinas love coyote pee like it’s “bacon bits in their salad.” Here's why golf courses are peeved

@fishsqueezer.bsky.social -- idk why this occurred to me so late, but here's an example of another writer putting some strong snarkiness into an article to GREAT effect. Pure gold. www.salon.com/2023/10/27/w...

Ha, that's the joy of freelance. Some people want that snark, so you can bring your style to the projects that want it. I think a certain level of excitement and snark is pretty valuable. Too stilted and the reader will disengage (imo).

hahahaha I completely overlooked that part of it, didn't even cross my mind but that makes sense

My shtick is that I deep dive on the science and prioritize scientific accuracy - so they tell me a subject or topic, then I go do a lit search and learn up on it and insist on a scientific reviewer. My goal is to write accurate, interesting stuff that helps people learn or feel intrigued.

Other times its simply that the listed author doesn't have time to do the writing and story crafting. So they may give bullet points to a writer who then turns it into a draft. Then the author edits and molds it into the final article.

...They want the expert's name out there and they want people to read what they have to say. But the expert may be a great scientist, but less than stellar story teller. If you can't keep people's attention, it's a lot harder to be known as a thought leader.

Nah, I'm unattributed author (= ghost writer) for various reasons. Often companies want the writing to be associated just with them, so they're listed as the author. Other times its because the company wants to build up their own folks as subject matter experts. So....

Saving the Right Whale Through Better Marine Technology — bedrockocean.com Explore the history of right whale and how advances in AUV tech may play an important role in helping conserve this important marine species.

www.bedrockocean.com/insights/rig...

An algorithm to triage breast cancer surgery Analysis of biomarkers in biopsies helps identify breast cancer patients in need of urgent surgery or chemotherapy during COVID-19 pandemic.

www.nature.com/articles/d42...

A Molecular Portrait of ALS and FTD ALS and FTD are closely related diseases, both showing protein aggregation and axon degeneration. This blog covers similarities between the two diseases.

Here's a few examples:

www.bit.bio/blog/molecul...

I've also helped write published papers because the listed authors needed a first draft, and have helped others write up website copy for their personal or laboratory pages. I think its just the sweet spot of understanding the material, having dedicated time to writing, and adding story flare.

That's where I come in. I read up on the topic, learn from the researchers there, then try to tell a story with it. My audience is usually "researchers on their coffee break." Often pieces authored by thought leaders or CEOs were written by a 👻 too and then (maybe) edited by the listed author.

Yea good q. It mostly comes down to the need for good story telling & accurate, nuanced descriptions of research. Biotechs, hospitals, non-profits -- all want to write about their work, but rarely have ppl who can do both (or have the time to do both)...

Science Stories: What Do You Look For? Survey Web survey powered by SurveyMonkey.com. Create your own online survey now with SurveyMonkey's expert certified FREE templates.

Hey Ya'll,

Some of you may know that I work as a scientific ghost writer (😎). If you work in science (🧪🔬🌿) and have about 10 minutes, I could use your help with a little informal survey. Please share it far and wide -- a higher N is always better.

Thanks!
www.surveymonkey.com/r/SZ23SQR

Ohhh Burn GIF ALT: Ohhh Burn GIF

Damn, didn't know that! Brutal but amazing.

A coyote walks away from the man, having altered course when it got too close to the man feeding squirrels. No squirrels can be seen.

*Thread* 3/3

Here, a pair of coyotes spotted the squirrelly commotion and began to hunt. I fear that this kind of event, while not directly feeding the coyotes, sets a precedent that humans can be accompanied by little furry snacks. 

🐡🌿🦊 🌎🪶 San Francisco, CA
📸 135mm, F5.6, 1/400

A coyote walks on a path not 10 feet from the man feeding squirrels. No squirrels can be seen.

*Thread* 2/3

While I don't condone this practice, I understand there's a lot of psychological nuances involved. Still, there can be knock on effects when you encourage prey species to swarm. 

🐡🌿🦊 🌎🪶 San Francisco, CA
📸 135mm, F5.6, 1/400

A pair of coyotes stand blurry in the foreground, their backs to the camera as they look on into the background. There, a man can be seen—partially obscured by the coyote—looking down into his backpack (where an unseen big bag of peanuts sat).

*Thread* 1/3

Sometimes, feeding coyotes isn't obvious or intended. Here, a person was feeding squirrels.

🐡🌿🦊 🌎 San Francisco, CA
📸 300mm, F5.6, 1/250