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tide bite

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The last installment of our Black in STEM series features my good friend, fellow University of Washington graduate student and super cool marine ecologist: Mo Turner!

Who’s hungry for some junk food? These sea stars certainly are. Mo studies all things sea stars and is a champion of who-eats-who in the intertidal. Learn more in today’s comic: tide bite.

Learn more about Mo’s research and check out some previous comics that have featured projects Mo has been a part of: urchin searchin and scan all stars

I’ll be taking another short break after this series but, like always, you can keep the invertebrate fun going with the full comic collection!

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hot date

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We’re continuing our Black in STEM series this week with Dr. Renae Brodie, Professor at Mount Holyoke College, who studies fiddler crab behavior.

Is all this isolation getting to you? The fiddler crabs feel you. Warm temperatures cause fiddler crabs to retreat into their burrows and miss opportunities to find a mate. Learn more in today’s comic: hot date.

Learn more about Dr. Brodie and read her recent co-authored paper that inspired today’s comic. Also, five of the seven undergraduates who co-authored this study are also Black in STEM! So, definitely check it out!

And check out The Crab Lab in action:

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salty sea stars

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We’re continuing our Black in STEM series with Dr. Sophie George, professor at Georgia Southern University, who studies baby marine invertebrates and how they respond to changing ocean salinity.

Why so salty? Baby sea stars are good swimmers but their skills can change depending on ocean salinity. Learn more in today’s comic: salty sea stars

Learn more about Dr. George and check out a paper or two of hers that inspired today’s comic.

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shell style

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Next up in our Black in STEM series is Dr. Andrew David, Assistant Professor at Clarkson University, who studies oysters and the parasites they harbor!

Sometimes looking cool comes at a cost. Nobody knows this better than the oysters in today’s comic: shell style. Check it out!

Learn more about Dr. David here and check out his recent article that inspired today’s comic!

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frequent fliers

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We’re continuing our Black in STEM series with Dr. Jessica Ware, entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History who studies the evolution and ecology of dragonflies and other cool insects!

Do you like to travel? Sorry, but these dragonflies definitely have more wanderlust than you. Genetic analyses done by Dr. Ware and lab show that dragonflies of the species Pantala flavescens frequently travel extremely long distances such that there is only one single interconnected global population! Learn more in today’s comic: frequent fliers

Learn more about Dr. Ware, and about the dragonfly study or go ahead and check out the actual scientific paper for yourself!

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reef rhythm

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We’re back and starting off our Black In STEM series strong with my good friend, fellow grad student and kick-ass oceanographer Isaiah Bolden!

Do you need to relax? Try taking some pointers from corals. Isaiah Bolden (graduate student, University of Washington School of Oceanography) studies how corals control the chemistry on coral reefs by collectively “inhaling” and “exhaling” as they photosynthesize and respire. Learn more in today’s comic: reef rhythm

Learn more about Isaiah here, and if you are feeling fancy check out his recent scientific paper.

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…and we’re back!

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Hello again, folks. It’s been only a few short (…long) months since my last comic. We are still enduring a pandemic and have seen racial injustices reach what will hopefully be a much-needed watershed moment. I hope many of you have been following other science communication outlets over the past few weeks, like Black Birders Week, which have both celebrated Black ecologists and naturalists, and highlighted struggles and the very real need for diversity in science. I’ve been very inspired by these initiatives and acknowledge that is necessary for each of us to do our part to affect change in the avenues of influence that are available to us. While it may not be groundbreaking, this webcomic is the broadest platform I have available to lend support. So, I’ll be bringing back new comics again starting this Wednesday to exclusively amplify the research of Black invertebrate scientists over the next several weeks. As a Latina in science myself, I understand the value and power of representation in STEM, and I am excited to promote and amplify the science of some awesome Black scientists. Get ready invertebrate nerds!

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Taking a break!

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Hey folks! After publishing science comics for 126 weeks straight, I’m going to take a short break from drawing new weekly comics. But fear not, you can revisit the entire collection to feed your invertebrate enthusiasm. interviews with invertebrates originally grew out of a class project I did for a zooplankton ecology course in 2016. Check out the original comic…we’ve come a long way, haven’t we?

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