Tara Chestnut, PhD

Screenshot of a website called reptileshub.com Two lines are highlighted in purple “Washington is home to four native turtle species”, “North American river otter” Narrator: A turtle is a reptile. A river otter is a mammal. Also, sea turtles occur in Washington’s marine waters.

A river otter live mount that is posed sitting on its haunches, back tall, with front paws curled in, ready to cut a B. It’s fur is silvery brown, eyes and nose are black. Judgmental Otter is perched high on a shelf, looking down, judging you. And you. And you.

Tell me this website’s content is generative AI without telling me it’s generative AI 🙄😭 First return for a Google search for turtle species that are legal pets in Washington State. Judgmental Otter has some thoughts and would probably poo all over your house if it was your pet 🐢🦦

Photo of Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology (SNVB) Leadership award being presented. The “award” is a repurposed soccer ball piñata, where the black parts of the ball have been turned into anatomically correct SARS-COV-2 viruses showing protein structures. SNVB stickers are placed in the white space of the soccer ball. The piñata is filled with Nerds candy and salty chips.

Today, I had the honor of presenting Dr Tiffany Garcia @oregonstate.edu FWCS a Leadership award for her leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic She applied her knowledge in aquatic ecology & study design to help the City of Corvallis monitor wastewater so public health response was scaled & targeted

2026 KEY DETAILS VIDEO posted #2026MMM
youtu.be/jo7p1Cm-Jz0?...

So what I hear is we’re completely restructuring the Farm Bill to subsidize local fruit, vegetable and legume growers instead of soy, corn and meat producers, and establishing infrastructure for local distribution? And paid healthcare, childcare and family/parental leave? Did I hear that right?

What an amazing response to our #Animordle Sneak Peak on Darwin Day! Already, 674 have played our special puzzle. Share the Wordle Game with Animal Names with colleagues, friends, and students. Daily puzzles start March 1st, but you can play archived puzzles now. www.animordle.com #2026MMM

Image array of 3 MMM-themed, science-based Valentines with an Eagle Owl, Asian Elephant, & Lynx. Screen-reader valentines also available at the LibGuide. We got you, Boo.

You know what's better than science-themed March Mammal Madness Valentines of #2026MMM Combatants!?!

Science-themed March Mammal Madness Valentines of combatants that carry ear-worms. They're INFECTIOUS!

Download in color or greyscale at the LibGuide libguides.asu.edu/MarchMammalM...

The first time I saw a ruby crowned kinglet skin in ornithology lab I was gobsmacked by how vibrant the color was! Made me so excited to learn banding so I could see it in the hand!!

If you live in Washington state like me, you can tell you senator to please vote in favor of SB6045 to allow farmworker collective bargaining in WA state. This bill is critical for WA farm workers who have been fighting to get a contract Thank you! app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?...

We were so bummed!! We had a whole obstacle course planned with different sized balls, frisbees (maybe even a human tribute). I still chortle when I remember the look on people’s faces as the net poured to the ground. Good times! Thanks for letting me remember again!

When I started my job at Mount Rainier I discovered a CO2 net gun in my office for animals fox to grouse sized. I’d never used such a tool so I brought it home one weekend to practice. I set up a course w/ camp chairs. The net spilled out like flaccid ramen noodles. The seals were blown 1/10⭐️

Davis Summer Population Genomics Program Want to learn population genetics? Please fill out this form to indicate your potential interest in a 2-week intensive online summer population genetics course taught by Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra and Graham...

Fun news! @gcbias.bsky.social and I are teaching a 2-week online population genetics workshop this summer to raise money for the Center for Population Biology at UC Davis. We're trying to gauge interest -- please fill this out if you might be interested! And please share broadly!

I was rollerskating on a trail in Alaska and encountered a baby moose with no mama in sight. I’ve never backwards skated so fast! I needed to get around it so I gave it WIDE berth and clumsily bushwhacked through the willows tiptoeing on my toe stops. Never saw mama. Had to replace my muddy bearings

We’re looking at YOU librarians #heroes #2026MMM

We’re looking at YOU educators! #2026MMM

This can’t be its seed in the actual tree of life, can it?

I’M SO EXCITED!!! #2026MMM

The Worm Dance GIF Alt: An awesome dancer does The Worm Dance on top of a bookshelf in the stacks of a library

In honor of 10 tournaments of the March Mammal Madness LibGuide at ASU Library, #2026MMM Celebrates LIBRARIES!

More than books, and definitely more than admonishments to shush, libraries are incredible collections of human knowledge, information, imagination, & creativity @mmmletsgo.bsky.social

🎵 It’s the most wonderful time of the year! 🎶 #2026MMM

So good!

Who am I to put my community at risk when there are safe options to prevent suffering?

When I worked for the USGS (US Dept of Interior) I was given similar direction to cease contact with collaborators from Russia and Cuba. We were studying amphibian diseases, which was considered a biosecurity threat. We still got the papers out, w/ serious delay www.researchgate.net/profile/Luis...

Hear ye! Hear ye! We discovered that the link to scholarship application guidelines was broken so it’s been extended to Feb 9! Do you work with vertebrates in the west? Are you a student at a university in the west? We would love to learn about your research!! thesnvb.org/scholarship-...

Fun facts about me! I’m a wildlife ecologist, my birthday is on the most sacred of mammal holidays, Groundhog Day, when I caught a habituated marmot & worked w/ @nwtrek.bsky.social to make him an ambassador animal rather than euthanizing, they named him Chestnut ❤️🦫🌰 🎂 www.nwtrek.org/marmot-finds...

Scholarship - The Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology

Are you an undergrad or grad student at a Pacific Northwest university studying wildlife? “PNW” loosely defined as North America west of the Great Plains and north of the Mojave Desert. Scholarship application deadline is this Monday! thesnvb.org/scholarship/

I nominate Truth or Consequences (NM)

I grew up catholic so I must confess. Please absolve me of my sin… As much as I adore flycatchers, at MAPS stations, my least favorite thing is to get an Empidonax in the net. I curse them on super busy days.

Yeah, the Smithfield closed a while ago and def had an interesting toilet situation. In my memory they were facing each other but your pic made me wonder if my memory was slightly off. Either way, I suppose the arrangement could be quite useful for a parent with a little working on toilet training 😂

Was this the Smithfield Cafe? I feel like I remember this from the Smithfield Cafe lol

This is me 😂 I have one rod that’s rated to 30 pounds and used to just change the weight of my line. I got such funny looks at our local fishing hole! I finally got an ugly stick that’s been super versatile

a cartoon of snoopy wearing a chef 's hat cooking Alt: A cartoon of snoopy wearing a chef 's hat cooking popcorn on the stovetop. He is wearing a red apron, standing on a green stool. When to popcorn starts lifting the lid of the pot, he turns and dumps it into a bowl

Me, prepping for tonight’s city council meeting. Based on the posted agenda, it was sure to be a spicy one. The mayor did a good job of bringing the temperature down in the room while I ate my popcorn in the back. I encourage you all to get involved with local politics!! It’s fun plus snacks!