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Dr Ben Britton
@BMatB
Ass. Prof. dyslexic atomic sorcerer 
. Plays w/ metals used in energy & 
. Enjoys diffraction. Often hides on 
slopes. Group = . Views own.
. Plays w/ metals used in energy & . Enjoys diffraction. Often hides on slopes. Group = . Views own.Dr Ben Britton’s Tweets
Important article about the extra burden minoritized academics often bear in the form committees and service, important work that is rarely valued in promotions, problem that needs to change while greater care is taken to avoid overburdening.
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This is both interesting, and also not surprising:
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yup
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I don't understand why I have to grant ANY copyright to my papers to journals of conferences, let alone transfer all my rights. It's my paper and the only actual contributions are the reviewer comments.
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Thorough coverage of the literal demise of public higher ed.
’s report is PRELIMINARY. Our committee of member/scholars from outside FL is still investigating.
Florida has launched an “unparalleled” assault on higher education vox.com/policy/2023/6/ via
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Cleared a couple of major looming admin things (that very few people see, but are hugely complicated and time consuming) - now I have space to think again, and I also don't remember what I should be thinking about.
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Taika Waititi to Hollywood: “Stop asking us what to do, how to fix things alright? ….You f*cking broke it, you fix it” 🙌🏼
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Org: Thanks for your concern, and yay - we're keen to do an event to address something.
Me: That's cool, I'll help with the event.
Org: Oh - we'll throw lots of paperwork into this and not give you a view of the process involved, because...
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Throwback to this classic piece in Nature. In many (most?) cases, corporate/institutional pride events are external-facing things done "to be seen to be doing something". Real meaningful change can't be crammed into one month/year. #priDEMONth
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"Broad initiatives, such as workplaces celebrating Pride, didn’t necessarily translate into LGBT+ scientists feeling that colleagues understood the issues they face"
~Performative allyship does not equal support ~
nature.com/articles/d4158
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Ironically, the same folk who were rushing to decolonise while it was fashionable are now back in the extraction game so the field will reset itself moving forward. We can pretty much ignore most of what was published between 2020-2022.
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The post BLM “listening & learning” period is over &—speaking w/in academia—“whatsboutism” from scholars who want to “debate me bro” extraction, exploitation of knowledge production, & denial of our humanity is in full swing again. Unabashed, unashamed, self-centred questioning.
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I’m with Chisomo on this.
Maybe I’m becoming jaded, but I sensing less and less engagement from some supposed allies, principally because listening & learning is hard…
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The post BLM “listening & learning” period is over &—speaking w/in academia—“whatsboutism” from scholars who want to “debate me bro” extraction, exploitation of knowledge production, & denial of our humanity is in full swing again. Unabashed, unashamed, self-centred questioning.
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This is combined with the fact that I think I only know of 3 queer faculty members, amongst hundreds of those who are employed...
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Today I am thinking back to talking about the step change in the quality of interaction of this site, juxtaposed with reminding me about 's pivotal use of twitter to surface, connect, and sustain queer community
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Trolled in science: “Hundreds of hateful comments in a single day”.
@KHayhoe and me were interviewed as part of the @NatureCareers podcast series. We talk about race- and gender-based harassment, its impacts, and some possible solutions.
nature.com/articles/d4158Show this thread
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Trolled in science: “Hundreds of hateful comments in a single day”.
@KHayhoe and me were interviewed as part of the @NatureCareers podcast series. We talk about race- and gender-based harassment, its impacts, and some possible solutions.
nature.com/articles/d4158Show this thread
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Kathleen Stock resigned as a philosophy of literature lecturer at Sussex University - a fact continually reframed & reported as LOSING her job & being cancelled. There's a hullabaloo over her appearance tomorrow at the Oxford Union.
Here are some points I hope people consider:
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A serial sexual harasser is in no position to lecture us about collegiality and integrity, and the WSJ knew exactly who he was when they gave him this platform. It’s disgusting.
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By pandering to the loudest new minorities so that DEI bureaucrats can expand their definitions of inclusion, the NSF is erecting yet another barrier to scientific collegiality and integrity, writes @LKrauss1
on.wsj.com/3C1PyjZ
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Signed! #SupportOurScience
If you are in 🇨🇦 or a citizen abroad, please consider signing this petition to the House of Commons to increase funding for grad students and post docs. 500+ signatures = presented in the House & govt response required. Make sure to verify your email!
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Please sign the latest @OurCommons petition calling for increased federal funding for graduate students and postdocs through scholarships, fellowships & grants. Thank you @liberal_party MP @iamIqraKhalid for sponsoring! Sign here & RT: petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/De #SupportOurScience
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Occasionally I see the British Prime Minister's tweets on my feed, and then I am reminded of how fucked up "political debate" is in the UK right now.
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Remember Christian Cooper? Central Park Karen tried to tell 911 he was threatening her when all he was doing was birdwatching. Karen lost her job and Christian got a new job. He'll be the host for National Geographic's new show "Extraordinary Birder".
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important context for the Target Pride merch conversation:
the products that removed were made BY SMALL INDIE QUEER & TRANS CREATORS
this wasn’t just the Target design team slapping a rainbow on some stuff. they went looking for LGBTQ artists and then abandoned them
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Replying to
This is what we call performative allyship - the monetize on a community without putting in the work of being an ally. Being an ally is not meant to be comfortable and you should expect backlash; you are joining forces and amplifying minority voices...
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our country is being held hostage by a bunch of miserable freaks whose children don’t speak to them anymore
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These are always complicated stories - we are trying to turn the corner on the typical simple objective of make $ and not care about consequences/impact - but there also seems to be quite a bit of snake oil sales people out there...
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When a sustainability / circular economy / net zero project is pitched - what are your green and red flags?
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The way that Bud Light and Target are reacting to the far right angry at including LGBTQ+ people is EXACTLY why many of us have railed against corporate pride.
If your advocacy consists merely of rainbows that disappear at the first gust of fascist wind, it amounts to net harm.
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Plain and simple explanation: “We don't carry illegal content, you know, that is a line in the sand."
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Pride month has and continues to be a month of protest, at the heteronormative & cisnormative society that continues to oppress people.
There can (and should) be queer joy too - but the current strife reminds us that queer lives are not accepted, let alone welcomed, by society.
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If you are an academic, this is your regular reminder to (re-) read: "No, it’s not The Incentives—it’s you"
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ugh - I didn't realise/remember that the API cull from Twitter meant that it disconnected the research group account from our internal slack group - that's annoying...
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Many congratulations to Dr Max Emmanuel for winning the PhD Prize in Advanced Materials Characterisation Techniques for his thesis work on: "Study of grain boundary character in WC-Co." supervised by Prof Giuliani, Drs & Marquardt
imperial.ac.uk/news/244915/de
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Planned Parenthood is now cancelling appointments for ADULT hormone therapy in Florida.
I tried to tell people that this law would impact adult care and tried to sound the alarm.
80% of all adult trans care in Florida was just wiped out by DeSantis.
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Nearly 80% of all gender affirming care for trans ADULTS is provided by nurse practitioners and physicians assistants. Today, that care is now a crime to provide in Florida to adults. The news media continues to stay silent on this and gaslight everyone by saying it's just kids.
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Take 2: workshops on weekends. I get it, faculty have complex, immovable teaching obligations. But asking folks to give up a full weekend for a conference/mtg/workshop… feels like an even bigger justice issue. Thoughts?
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There is something quite strange about reading more about the operations of a core aspect of you university in the news, ahead of any internal briefings on the subject
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Organisations think a ‘neutral’ stance means they’re not endorsing events that are at odds with EDI commitments. But this image of ’s Hope will now always be associated with spreading the National Conservative’s message of inequality and hate. It’s used as endorsement.
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The Natural History Museum champions diversity, equality and inclusion of all people. We hire rooms in our building to hosts for a range of events but are clear that this is not an endorsement of their products, services or views.
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I heard about this last year. A real blow. And a completely unsuitable metric.
I've even heard of non-RG academic colleagues doing schools visits, to have the teacher follow up with a list of the RG unis doing that subject. 😵
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The deck is quite literally stacked against non-Russell Group universities.
I learn today that for 10 years the DfE has had all schools "report" how many of their students progress *only* to Rusells and Oxbridge. It's taken as a measure of attainment success.
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