Postdoc at the Natural History Museum studying microplastic pollution and looking for life on Mars. opinions are my own. he/him
also on
@jobium
.bsky.social
Iβve had quite a few people ask why my sexuality is relevant to being a scientist. Having a rainbow flag doesnβt make me better at spectroscopy, but being open about who I am makes me a happier person and I have more energy for my work.
I donβt have a soundcloud but I am part of a charity that aims to support and celebrate LGBT+ people in science, tech and engineering. Give them a follow!
@PrideinSTEM
Happy
#LGBTSTEMDay
to all my queer colleagues and our allies! Iβm proud to be a bisexual planetary scientist, part of
@PrideinSTEM
and working on the Mars2020 mission at
@NASAJPL
!
When someone says βitβs not relevant so donβt mention it!β that sounds an awful lot like βshut up!β If you donβt care what my sexuality is, it shouldnβt bother you that I mention it.
Fundamentally you have to ask yourself this: would you say the same thing to a heterosexual scientist if they mention their husband/wife? Should we all be banned from talking about our lives at work? No, of course not, so stop singling some of us out.
So please please fight discrimination where you can, use what power you have to stand up for yourself and others, and never let anyone think that someone is less than they are because of who they are.
There is a toxic environment in STEM that attacks people for speaking up if they donβt match the look of a stereotypical scientist/engineer. Because I am a cis white male, I am in a position of relative privilege and get less abuse when I talk about these things.
Some of us are lucky enough not to have experienced real discrimination, but we all know someone who has. Quitting is a rational response, but every person driven away from science is the loss of another unique perspective that might have solved the next big problem.
For women and PoC in STEM, being LGBT+ just adds another layer of discrimination on top of what they already get for not fitting the stereotype. Our identities can be used against us, to dismiss our concerns and our successes, because we must be the exception, not the rule.
My mentions for the past 24 hours: 50% are people saying it happens to them too, 20% telling me theyβre still proud of me, 20% explaining the equation to me, and 10% laughing at my name (itβs pronounced Joe-bee, fyi)
Happy
#LGBTSTEMDay
from this bisexual chemist/physicist/astrobiologist! I'm working on the next Mars mission at
@NASAJPL
ππ΄, and in my spare time I run
@LGBT_Physics
and support
@PrideinSTEM
π³οΈβπ. I also like to knit colourful things π§Ά
In 2021 my colleagues removed ~1400 pieces of plastic from the stomachs of 76 fledgling seabirds, and gave them to me to analyse at
@NHM_London
. It's hard to appreciate the scale of the problem, so I made these spirals to show how the plastics vary in size, shape, and colour.
Iβm taking a break from the depressing retweets, so hereβs a selfie instead. Iβve been feeling really good about my appearance lately, and I think the self-confidence shows.
Martians are about to enter MARS SOLAR CONJUNCTION! Mars hides behind the sun for a few days. This can interfere with our communications with our spacecraft, causing corrupted commands and unexpected behavior. So we give our robots a break and the humans on Earth take time off!
The Queue is objectively a bit silly but when I think about how quickly they came up with provisions to organise and support the people in it, it drives me a bit mad. Where was this money/energy for homeless people? Or hungry kids? Or for the sick? Or the cold?
Pleased to announce that I have accepted a Marie SkΕodowska-Curie fellowship with
@TheLabAndField
at the Natural History Museum, starting next year! Iβm going to be studying the interaction of birds and microplastics.
I came out to my friends as gay before I realised I was bi. At 15 I just assumed liking boys meant you were gay. My parents must have assumed the same thing and were very surprised when I got a girlfriend.
#NationalComingOutDay
#biandproud
My boyfriend Matt designed these cute little covid stress balls, and now can buy the pattern to knit one yourself! All proceeds go to the charity Age UK to help support the elderly during this crisis.
President Trump to sign executive order that will freeze new visas for foreign workers through the end of the year, White House says, citing the need to preserve jobs amid the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
My colleague and I spent 14 hours today turning a chaotic draft into a (hopefully) publishable paper. Taking my first step towards official astrobiologist status!
As part of a self care routine I have been barraging people with cute animal photos I find online. Which led me to this. Behold, the greatest photo of a raccoon ever taken.
My partner loves to come up with knitting patterns but is very sad that no one has downloaded his pattern for Crabitha and Clawde the crabs. Can we show them some love?
Letting infections run rampant in a partially vaccinated population is a great way to evolve a variant that evades the vaccine just in time for winter.
Things I miss about the UK:
1οΈβ£ generally high standard of tea
2οΈβ£ good chocolate
3οΈβ£ properly-sized pints
4οΈβ£ rain
5οΈβ£ University Challenge
6οΈβ£ did I mention tea βοΈ
I code in Python, my boyfriend codes in R. He's having to learn Python at the moment and is blaming me personally for everything he doesn't like about it
Itβs
#BiVisibilityDay
! Gaze on me, this one day of the year when I appear in my true form: a slightly nerdy planetary scientist who likes Raman spectroscopy and knitting. πππ
I canβt believe weβre having to explain to people once again that children arenβt born with an innate understanding that parents can only be 1 man and 1 woman. Tell them someone has two dads and most kids are like βcool, can I have ice cream?β rather than freaking out.
I hatehatehate talking positively about myself for job applications. Why canβt I just write βIβm a garbage person with no idea what Iβm doing or where Iβm going but so is everyone else so please give me this jobβ???
We can remotely pilot the Curiosity rover around on Mars from the safety of our homes without the cats accidentally killing it, Iβd like to think MPs are capable of voting remotely without incident.
Woooo Iβve been offered a 4th year postdoc at
@NASAJPL
, which means I will get to take part in surface operations for
@SHERLOC2020
and
@NASAPersevere
after it lands in February! Time to look for those organic biosignatures!
I guess it's time for another tedious round of the "real scientists work themselves to the bone" debate. Pro tip: you can't do world class science if you're physically exhausted or you've quit because of mental health problems.
I just saw a tweet that judgementally asked what your 8 year old self would think of your life now.
Iβm part of a NASA Mars mission and I walk past the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum to get to my office.
I reckon 8 year old Joby would be very pleased with that.
Iβm still traumatised by when I accidentally flooded the nitrogen glovebox with air. I once knocked over an open vial containing my entire stock of a very expensive polymer. I have dropped more fragile samples than I can count. Some days I just know I canβt do labwork.
Being bi is feeling super awkward about your gay friends making hetero/straight/breeder jokes because you're currently in a relationship with someone of a different gender
I am briefly resurfacing from grant proposal hell to say hello to
#LGBTQScience
ahead of
#LGBTSTEMinar20
tomorrow. Iβm a bisexual planetary scientist working on NASAβs next Mars rover! (I also knit and design stickers)
I maintain that Grindelwald should have been exactly as Colin Farrell portrayed Graves, a dangerously appealing authoritarian rather than Depp's evil clown. We need a reminder what happens when society starts cooing over smartly-dressed bigots.
On Tuesday, in one of the most important cases of its new term, the US Supreme Court will consider whether existing federal law forbids job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
- finished undergrad
- got a second masters degree
- completed a PhD
- took up Olympic style weightlifting, lifted my own bodyweight over my head
- started advocating for LGBT+ diversity in STEM
- moved from the UK to California
- started a job at NASA
- turned 30
- so very tired