Who are your favorite scholars and scientists on Twitter?
November 12, 2020 12:56 AM   Subscribe

In stressful times I like to take a moment to decompress by reading smart people discussing their areas of expertise. With that in mind, please recommend me your favorite Twitter accounts from academics and researchers around the globe who tweet frequently and enthusiastically about interesting topics that they've made their life's work. Let’s assume my Twitter squad is already well-enough populated with virologists, epidemiologists, and infectious disease experts.

I'm not looking for any particular subject matter, but I do have interests in public policy, history, historical and human geography, urban history, archaeology, linguistics, and absolutely any of the natural sciences (especially Earth sciences, astronomy, and physics). English-language would be preferable, French & Spanish are ok too. Sarah Parcak and Surprised Eel Historian, PhD are two good examples who often try to relate their work to current events, but that's not a necessary quality for my purposes.
posted by theory to Computers & Internet (12 answers total) 20 users marked this as a favorite
 
I follow Phil Plait a.k.a the Bad Astronomer (@BadAstronomer). Lots of astronomy content obviously but other interesting stuff too.

Also Matt Henderson (@matthen2) who's a mathematician - he posts cool animated visualisations of geometry & other maths stuff.

For history - try @WhoresofYore, which you could already guess is usually nsfw but I have learned a _lot_
posted by rd45 at 1:37 AM on November 12, 2020 [1 favorite]


Sarah Taber - agriculture, crop science, industrial safety
Kate Raworth - economics, sustainability
Ann Helen Petersen - culture studies, social science

Another vote for WhoresofYore - very educational!
posted by sohalt at 1:58 AM on November 12, 2020 [2 favorites]


Also:

Emily Wilson - classicist, translations
posted by sohalt at 2:00 AM on November 12, 2020


@neiltyson - Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Mostly astronomy and physics, with other great stuff thrown in on occasion.
posted by Roger Pittman at 4:44 AM on November 12, 2020


I like Steven Pinker.
posted by alex1965 at 5:03 AM on November 12, 2020


Sarah McAnulty Squid Biologist.
posted by shibori at 5:29 AM on November 12, 2020 [1 favorite]


From my twitter list, some people who tweet a lot and mostly interesting stuff generally in the realm of science (although everyone is tweeting about politics these days) but not necessarily laser-focused on their speciality.

Some astro folks:

Katie Mack @AstroKatie
Phil Plait @BadAstronomer
Sarah Hörst @PlanetDr

The Eisen brothers @mbeisen and @phylogenomics (genomics)

Meghan Duffy @duffy_ma (aquatic ecologist)

Sarah Parcack @indyfromspace (archaeologist)

Oops the baby is awake, gotta stop there.
posted by quaking fajita at 5:32 AM on November 12, 2020 [2 favorites]


Earyn McGee (@Afro_Herper) is a herpetologist who studies lizards, runs a #FindThatLizard game every week, and is vocal about race and equity in science.

Danielle Lee (@DNLee5) is a wildlife biologist who specializes in the African Pouched Rat, and is generally excited about mammalogy and science equity.

Zuleyka Zevallos (@OtherSociology) is a Peruvian-Australian sociologist who writes about a variety of things from a sociological perspective.

Michael Rivera (@RiveraMichael) is a biological anthropologist and archaeologist who hosts a great podcast on all the different facets of biological anthropology.

David Shiffman (@WhySharksMatter) is a marine biologist who studies shark biology and consevation.

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein (@Ibjiyongi) studies astrophysics. She writes a lot about the history of science, in addition to particle/astrophysics.
posted by ChuraChura at 6:04 AM on November 12, 2020 [2 favorites]


Geography, maps, and some other stuff - Simon Kuestenmacher
@simongerman600

Geology Page, @GeologyPage, is good for, well, geology stuff

And old colleague of mine, Chris Jackson, for geology, and his work in #blackingeoscience
@seis_matters
he's also one of the scientists giving the royal institute christmas lecture this year in the uk
https://www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures

Dr Anjana Khatwa - @jurassicg1rl on cool geological and diversity/sci comms. Great videos especially for kids
posted by sedimentary_deer at 6:27 AM on November 12, 2020


Corina Newsome (@hood_naturalist): Equity + Wildlife Conservation.

Jen Gunter (@DrJenGunter): sexuality and science

Nikole Hannah-Jones (@nhannahjones): journalist focusing on race

Peter Sokolowski (@PeterSokolowski): Lexicographer
posted by wicked_sassy at 6:58 AM on November 12, 2020 [1 favorite]


Katie O'Reilly @drkatfish (stream, and wetland ecology, Great Lakes coastal ecosystems)

Dr. Glaucomflecken - @DGlaucomflecken (opthalmology...and comedy)

David Juurlink - @DavidJuurlink (Internal Medicine, Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology)
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 3:12 PM on November 12, 2020


The first two to come to mind for me were sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom (@tressiemcphd) and historian Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse).
posted by mustard seeds at 6:16 PM on November 12, 2020


« Older Don’t wish me happy Veterans Day   |   Pretty sure I'm not the only one with WFH sleep... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.