Leonardo Pacciani-Mori @LeoPaccianiMori@qoto.org

I'm really happy to share that this year I'm helping the graduate division of oSTEM at UCSD to organize SQUAD, a series of online seminars that highlight the research and experiences of queer scientist! 🌈🧑‍🔬 By sharing these stories and journeys we hope to build community and showcase examples of how LGBTQ+ individuals persevere and thrive in their respective fields.
🎙️The inaugural talk of this year's cycle is next Monday Jan 29th at 4pm PT: "Tiny green algae and a rainbow community" by
Maria Hamilton, postdoc at the University of Georgia 🦠
If you want to attend you can find the zoom link and information on future talks on our website! http://gradostem.ucsd.edu/events/squad
There are also recordings of some of the past talks! #diversity #inclusion #academia #STEM 🌈🔬

Does anybody know any good science podcast? Any topic/field is ok, as long as the episodes are <30mins. I have a list of podcasts I generally listen to, but I'd like to hear other people's recommendations!

Proud to have contributed to this, and grateful for the opportunity!
---
RT @jlw_ecoevo
Check out our guidance on how to make your microbiology conference more queer- and trans-inclusive!
https://doi.org/10.32942/X2601V
https://twitter.com/jlw_ecoevo/status/1653799997849362432

Just read the email: with 89.4% of YES votes, postdocs at UC have agreed to ratify the tentative agreement for the new contract!
It's definitely not the *perfect* contract (it's the result of a compromise, after all) but it's a **big** improvement over the status quo. Now I wish to see similar results for my grad student colleagues!
I'm glad I was (a small) part of this strike, and I hope this will lead the way for other institutions and ultimately bring *real* change to the system!
#fairUCnow #AcademicWorkers #AcademicStrike #UCstrike #postdoc

Week 3 of #strike at #UCSD and across all #UC campuses, with still very strong participation. The #postdoc bargaining team has already received several serious proposals from the University that go in the right direction. Hopefully the same will happen soon for grad students!

"The outcome in California, experts say, could shape a new model for higher education across the country."
https://time.com/6237230/uc-strike-higher-education-implications/

When workers organize they have power ✊🏼
#fairUCnow

So, from this week 48k academic workers (like grad students and postdocs) across all the Univeristy of California system are on #strike, including here in San Diego.

The #union that represents us is trying to bargain a new contract after ~18 months of delays and procrastination from the University. We are fighting for (among many other things) fair wages that actually reflect the exhorbitant cost of living in California.

This is the largest #strike ever held at an academic institution in the history of the US, and the first *ever* for postdocs. It has already inspired people in many other institutions across the US to form new unions and to fight for fair working conditions.
I really hope this brings **some** change to the whole system. We **really** need it.

[NYT article](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/us/university-of-california-strike-pay.html)

[Another NYT article](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/15/us/uc-workers-strike.html)

[LA Times article](https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-11-09/la-ed-potential-strike-by-academic-workers-tarnishes-prestigious-university-system)

[Inside Higher Ed article](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/11/15/48000-u-california-student-workers-researchers-strike)

More information [here](https://www.fairucnow.org/)
#FairUCNow

Video from the first day of strike at UCSD

#introduction

Theoretical physicist by training but I work on biological problems, in particular regarding microbes and their ecology. I would ultimately like to understand the relationship between the physiology of individual bacterial species and the ecology of whole communities.

I started as a pure theoretician, but after my PhD I switched to also doing experiments so now I can repeatedly bang my head on something different than my laptop.

If I'm not in the lab I'm probably trying out new restaurants, walking my dalmatian Bruno or bingeing some show on Netflix.

Here goes!
I'm migrating from Twitter, let's see how this goes. Hopefully a good community of scientists will form also here on Mastodon!

Introduction toot coming soon