Jan 102013
 

Yesterday Scientific American published “Men and Women of (Limited) Letters: Must-Follow Twitter Accounts of 2013“, a list of the Top 20 science-related Twitter accounts which they think everyone should follow. It’s a great list and I 100% recommend following everyone on it if you use Twitter (and if you don’t yet, then it’s a great place to start), but I noticed a heavy bias towards the physical sciences, and a distinct lack of biologists among the recommendations.

Seeing as biology is the best, I figured I’d put together my own Top 15 list1 (in no particular order) of Tweeting Biologists who will undoubtedly make 2013 a fun, educational and most-definitely squishy year!

Dr. Jonathan Eisen is a professor at UC Davis, and tweets about all the little things in life. Literally — he’s interested in the diversity of microbes and how they affect our lives.

Dr. Jacquelyn Gill is a Paleo-ecologist who studies the effects of climate change on plants and animals, and is a big believer in science communication.

BBC Nature is responsible for the mind-blowing nature documentaries narrated by Sir David, and they routinely share bonus footage, photos and cool new biology news on their Twitter feed.

David Quammen, one of my favourite science writers (his ‘Song of the Dodo‘ should be required reading for humanity in my opinion), only recently joined Twitter, but has provided some excellent stories from his new book ‘Spillover’, as well as tales from the plains of Africa as he researches a new project.

Dr. Kate Clancy is a biological anthropologist who specializes in ‘ladybusiness’ evolution, but who also strongly believes that life in academia should actually include, you know, a life.

Dr. Alex Wild is an entomologist who has a thing for ants, puns and cats, and who also happens to be one of the best insect photographers out there.

Dr. Carin Bondar is a Canadian “Biologist with a twist”, and does a lot of work with science outreach through TV and educational videos, like her awesome new Wild Sex web series.

Dr. Malcolm Campbell may be a University of Toronto professor by day, but I think he’s practicing to become a headline writer with his daily roundup of the coolest science news.

The Your Wild Life Team is doing a great job sharing the biodiversity in our daily lives, and routinely ask for belly button, armpit or forehead samples from the public, all in the name of Science!

David Shiffman is a conservation biology PhD student who’s passion for sharks is infectious.

Sci curious is a neuroscience Post-Doc who finds & shares the weirdest research published each week, while also providing a hilarious commentary on life in academia.

Tom Houslay, when not wanking off crickets for his PhD research, can be found tweeting about other animals having sex, and the evolutionary mechanisms that lead to the various ways in which they do the deed.

The Bug Chicks are a couple of my favourite people as they bring insects & entomology to the public in a way that gets everyone excited about creepy crawlies.

Dr. Joshua Drew is a conservation/marine biologist at Columbia University who has a lot of good advice for grad students.

Bug Girl is, well, Bug Girl. Not really sure what else to say other than you’ll have a lot of fun learning about insects and you won’t regret following her. Most of the time.

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  1. Of course I love all the people I follow, and can heartily recommend each and every one of them!

  3 Responses to “Must-Follow Twitter Biologists of 2013”

Comments (3)
  1. And yet, nothing to do with agriculture … enjouy your practical biology.

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