I found a photo of a snake eating a fish on my instagram a while ago.

Something about this photo stood out to me. For one thing, I know I’ve always thought it was cool that snakes sometimes eat fish - trying to imagine how that would play out conjures imagery of wingless dragons shimmying through lakes and streams. Additionally, I could tell by the similarity in size between this snake and it’s prey that it didn’t seem particularly well-equipped for a meal this big. So that interested me too; imagining a snake pursuing something totally beyond the scale (ha) of what they typically eat. Did the snake perceive itself to be larger than it actually is? How do snakes interpret their own size relative to their differently sized neighbors?

One ecologist in New Jersey has spent a lot of time asking questions like these about the species of snake in that photo. This species is apparently a good proxy (like an example to base more general theories on) for what city life is like for reptiles.

His research falls under a subset of ecology called urban ecology, which applies the same methods of studying forest ecosystems or wetland ecosystems to city ecosystems. Urban ecology essentially asks the question: how does life interact in a city?

To be more specific, he writes papers about topics like whether or not living in a city has changed how these snakes eat, what kinds of places they like to inhabit within a city, and subtle differences in physical appearance based on what part of the city they’re found in.

I think urban ecology is a really beautiful concept! This guy really just goes out and looks for snakes, describes them in extreme detail, maybe checks to see how they’ve been eating, keeps track of all of that information, and in doing so, is helping to provide us all with a more accurate sense of what happens to the little critters out there eating fish bigger than their heads when a new coffee shop gets built down the road. The narratives that ecological research follows can be so much fun.

A different ecologist wrote a 1.5-page paper that just gets really, really specific about every living organism he’s observed interacting with this brown snake. The paper is honestly super cute. Some examples of the associations (such a cute, science-y way to say ‘interaction’) that he writes about include: ants sharing nests with snakes, ants crawling on snakes, millipedes eating snakeskins, slugs being eaten by snakes, slug goop protecting snakes from predators, and, omg, earthworms using snakeskins as doors for their burrows. It’s like a fairytale where all of the characters are different kinds of animals and they drink tea together under a log, except it’s scientific research.

Here are some photos that he includes in this paper:

I recently listened to an episode of the podcast, Ologies, featuring an ecologist that has written several books of poetry about scientific inquiry as a way to approach big life questions. Her name is Dr. Madhur Anand and she is super cool. Her research focuses on how ecological communities shift in response to global climate change by developing statistical models to make predictions about the future (this is called theoretical ecology).

In this podcast episode, she mentions that she applies the concept of found poetry (scrapping together poems from sections of books or other materials) to scientific research. She explains that the writing in research papers is often really striking when approached from a poet’s perspective.

Hearing her say that was a really exciting moment for me because I could not agree more. I love reading science textbooks mostly because they are so full of poetry. I love taking research out of the bland context of simply passing along information and into the realm of art and emotion. It seems so beautiful to try to understand how literal energy is passed between the different pieces of a landscape, many of which are living, many of which roam around according to their individual instincts, all of which have evolved to ensure they will continue their roaming based on millennia of trial and error. So many paintings could be made about that, you know?

Speaking of paintings, I have some updates from my life to share with you before I wind this email down!

Back in June, some friends of mine set up an event called Mural Fest at Science Works, a science museum here in Ashland, where a handful of local artists painted murals over a two-day period. I didn’t paint a mural, but I was invited to sell some art on the sidelines! I recently upgraded my home art printing setup (I’ll be updating my website with some new pieces in the next month or so) and this was a great opportunity to share some higher quality work. It went really well! If you’re reading this because you met me there and signed up for this newsletter at my booth, hello again!!!

Here’s a peek at an oil painting I’ve been working on since April. It’s not ready yet, but I’m really stoked about how that nose is looking so far!

Lastly, unrelated to painting but still under the umbrella of recent creative work, I’ve been having lots of fun doing the graphic design for Acid Castles Vintage, a new vintage clothing store opening up in Ashland later this month. The grand opening is Saturday August 31st - there’ll be exciting giveaways, live techno/rock music from my band, Blood Jacuzzi, and of course, vintage clothing! If you live in Southern Oregon, or if you’ve been wanting to plan a visit, definitely don’t miss it!

Thanks for opening your email! Enjoy your ecosystem this weekend! Bye!

- Mickey

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·:*⊹.•*○˚.⋆ˑ mickeyfishback.com ୭`✦ˑ˚○◦ ✧･ﾟ

The art below features my paintings combined with photos of nine species of wildflowers I found on a walk a few weeks ago, back when the wildflowers were still in full force.

Have you ever wondered why people get so excited about wildflowers? I have!

As an artist, I know wildflowers are awesome because they spill bright colors across the landscape with the passing of the time, and because their fascinating shapes and patterns make tiny worlds in their inflorescences (scientific term for the flower part of the plant).

As a scientist, I wanted to know ‘why’ they are awesome, ecologically speaking. So I Googled: ‘Why are wildflowers important?’

Wildflowers are important (and awesome) for many reasons, with the main reason being that they are a super valuable part of our ecosystems. They are especially important for pollinators, and pollinators are obviously very important (and awesome*). Wildflowers provide food, habitat, philosophical awakening, and much more to the bugs that notice them.

Some pollinators have really excellent self-awareness and only go for specific kinds of wildflowers that they really like. Most pollinators prefer wildflowers that are native to their environment. Ultimately, as usual, more biodiversity (having lots of different kinds of stuff) is better.

Without all those blissed out bugs thriving on the good vibes that wildflowers deliver, the higher trophic levels (aka the food chain) would go hungry. Wildflowers make bugs happy, and lots of things eat bugs. Wildflower roots also help stabilize and maintain healthy, wealthy soil that supports lots of life.

Lastly, it’s also just really fun to know the names of plants that you see outside. I think that’s a big part of why wildflowers are so beloved - it’s like unexpectedly running into an elusive old friend. I definitely gained a much higher level of appreciation for flowers once I took a botany class and learned what the different petal structures are called, because I was then able to notice the incredible variation in form between different species that all have very similar basic functions. Here are the names of all the wildflowers I found on that walk:

***awesome pollinators? I made a zine about that! For only $4 I’ll ship a little book of handmade drawings and information about how bees do what they do straight to your front door. Go to mickeyfishbackshop.com to check it out.

Another cool thing that happened since I last emailed you was that my pet shrimp had some shrimp babies! Now there’s approximately 10-20 more teeny blue shrimp in my house. It’s always nice when that happens, because it means I have created a little ecosystem that is healthy enough to be deemed suitable habitat by the shrimp for them to go forward with expanding their colony.

Even though the Spring wildflowers are mostly gone by now, I hope you find some cool flowers popping up around you soon! Summer starts on Thursday, so happy Summer! Enjoy the sunshine! Bye!

- Mickey

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·:*⊹.•*○˚.⋆ˑ mickeyfishback.com ୭`✦ˑ˚○◦ ✧･ﾟ

I was the substitute teacher for a high school science class on their field trip to a local lake last week. There was another teacher there too, so my job mostly consisted of making sure everyone was having as much fun as possible. I was walking along a trail through the lovely native shrubs and wildflowers, enjoying the spring sunshine, when the path was suddenly submerged in a massive puddle. Bam! Perfect opportunity to look at some very pretty moss. I took some photos (featured below) and did some reading to get a better sense of the little aquatic realm I found.

They’re everywhere! Teeming with eggs, detritus, mud, starwort (fantastic name for a plant), tadpoles, bubbles, life, life, life. How could you not be obsessed with them?

Vernal pools are temporary aquatic habitats formed by spring rain. Described in 1885 by naturalist Charles Orcutt as ‘miniature lagoons’ and ‘little lakes’ before the modern term was used by botanist Willis Linn Jepson in 1925, vernal pools are the sparkly and elusive intermediary between more permanent bodies of water and dry land.

Landscape painter / California’s first female professional ecologist / absolute icon Edith Purer published the first official study on the ecology of vernal pools in 1935. Edith was a really impressive person, given that there were hardly any women publishing ecological research when she came onto the scene. And she was a fantastic artist.

Scientists call the plants and animals that we tend to find in these mud puddles ‘vernal pool specialists,’ which I love, because it’s nice to think about specializing in one’s own locale. There are lots of species that are only found in very specific vernal pools (species found only in one specific place = endemic species). That’s kind of fascinating, because vernal pools are temporary. They bubble up for a couple seasons, then dry up until the following year’s rain. So why so many rare species?

One of the biggest reasons that rare species have evolved to life in the (miniature) lagoons is that there are fewer predators than there are in other aquatic situations. Because the pool is temporary, it’s literally too hard to find before it’s gone. Ecologists came to that conclusion after noticing that there are more predators (usually bugs) around the longer the duration, or hydroperiod, of the pool. In exchange for having fewer predators, vernal critters just have to cope with the extreme variability of their spot, because it could dry up or re-flood any time. So brave of them! Just emerging blindly and hoping for the best, acting quickly, so little to be scared of, surrounded by big ginormous blades of grass and bugs and stuff. I saw a water beetle get wiped out by a bubble while I was staring at this vernal pool:

Stunning.

Here’s a painting I did earlier this year inspired by the special magic quality little pools and ponds seem to have:

And speaking of my art…

Prints (and more!) are available for $4 - $15 at mickeyfishbackshop.com.

I hope your mid-May progress through your vernal season, whatever it looks like for you, is as bubbly and alive as that puddle I found! Bye!

- Mickey

𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆟 𓆞

·:*⊹.•*○˚.⋆ˑ mickeyfishback.com ୭`✦ˑ˚○◦ ✧･ﾟ

But first, a very quick review of NITROGEN FIXATION

So there’s lots of nitrogen gas in our air (air = 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.04% carbon dioxide, 0.96% miscellaneous other gases). Nitrogen doesn’t interact with much as it is, but nitrogenous stuff is in lots of living things (like soil, lots of food, coal, also DNA).

Nitrogen is hard to break down. Nitrogen fixation (the process of turning it into forms that can be used) only occurs from lightning, ultraviolet rays, or little teeny bacteria that live in the roots of plants (usually beans).

Those bacteria are one of the only ways nitrogen fixation can occur. As a reminder, bacteria are relatively simple critters made of prokaryotic cells with no internal organelles, while animals (such as you), plants, and fungi are all made of eukaryotic cells with lots of organelles. Just this month, scientists have observed one of those nitrogen fixing bacteria existing as an organelle inside a eukaryotic cell. In other words, team eukaryote just scored a new organelle, babyy!!

The first time that one cell was engulfed by another and became a functioning part of the cell instead of just being eaten was when mitochondria formed 1.45 billion years ago. The mitochondria becoming a part of the cell is what initiated the evolution of all animals, plants, and fungi as distinct from bacteria. It was one of the biggest moments in our origin story. This newly observed engulfment is the fourth time!

(To clarify, the nitroplast likely started forming about 100 million years ago, but was only very recently discovered, which is the exciting part)

This discovery was made possible by decades (decades!) of work by scientists from around the world. Two papers were published this month that gave conclusive evidence that the nitroplast really truly seriously is a real part of the host cell:

1. The growth rate of the nitrogen-fixing bacteria matches the growth rate of the host cell, which shows that their metabolisms are connected

2. The nitrogen-fixing bacteria imports proteins from the host cell, which shows that the bacteria genome is getting smaller as it is depending more and more on the host cell for genetic information

click the underlined text ⬆️ to check out the papers themselves

Here’s a cool short film with more details from the research group at UC Santa Cruz that made this discovery ✨

Last year, I made a little guide to the different organelles in eukaryotic cells. They’re six pages long and filled with drawings I did to try to capture the essence of the eukaryotic cell:

Available for $4!

I also set up the option to buy all three zines I’ve made in a smaller size:

Available for $6!

I’d like to start experimenting with some new ways of printing my art, so I am hoping to clear out my current inventory. Large prints are now only $15, medium prints are now $10, and small prints are still $7. You can see the prints I have available here:

Discounted Prints!

One third of the profits I earn from online sales are donated to humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Have a great day!

- Mickey

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

.*･｡ﾟWebsite .𖥔 ݁ ˖ Instagram .*･｡ﾟShop .𖥔 ݁ ˖

Here are a couple oil paintings I finished a few months ago.

I flew to LA at the beginning of the month for my birthday. My mom had a business trip down there around the same time, and I love the sun and the beach and LA in general, so it worked out nicely. I jumped into the ocean at exactly midnight as I turned 25. Woohoo!!!!!

While I was there, I attended a beautiful book talk and panel at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, featuring Portland-based author Erica Berry. Her book, ‘Wolfish,’ explores both the status of wolves in our modern world and how we can learn about ourselves by reflecting on our relationships with wolves. Wolves have always been one of my favorite animals, so this was pretty magical for me.

I flew from LA to Reno to attend some friends’ annual Oscars party (hi Chris and Alex!) because they truly make it worth the trip every year. Visiting them is always a good reminder to invite your friends over and celebrate every chance you get! Why not!

This past weekend, some friends and I rented an airbnb on the McKenzie River, near where I went to college. The forest in that area had a massive wildfire back in 2020 and now looks totally different from the last time I drove through. There were still some green treetops among the tall charred and branchless trunks, but it was mostly barren. Just before we left, we saw a bald eagle hunting a duck that was floating down the river. The duck kept diving down below the surface to hide while the eagle circled several times. Eventually, the eagle landed on a branch for a moment, then flew away. The duck silhouette is hard to see in this video - you have the best chance of catching a glimpse of it around 4 seconds in.

As a reminder,

You can buy prints of my work online!

35% of profits from sales are donated to various humanitarian aid groups in Palestine.

More Past Work:

I found this photo of a painting (of a photo) I did in college. I remember being frustrated I couldn’t figure out how to make it even more realistic. Now that I look at it, I think I’d like to make more paintings just like this one.

Have a great day!

- Mickey

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝

.*･｡ﾟWebsite .𖥔 ݁ ˖ Instagram .*･｡ﾟShop .𖥔 ݁ ˖

I started this painting of a bat embryo last week. I haven’t finished it yet because I have been extremely busy learning how to DJ in preparation for a gig DJ-ing the local high school dance this weekend. The dance was postponed last minute due to several inches of snow falling overnight. So back to bat embryos for me!

I was drawn to this pose of this bat because it seems so emotional. After a long week of, say, trying to figure out why DJ-ing is so complicated, just as a random example, I can totally relate to this bat.

After I made this drawing, I did some research into how bat embryos form. I learned about how different molecules being released at specific times will trigger the extension of hand bones that eventually form the bat wing. I learned that the funny looking bat nose is actually called the ‘nose leaf’. It forms before the wing. The nose leaf helps increase the difference between sounds reflected from peripheral objects and objects that are directly in front of the bat. A couple weeks ago I saw a clip of one of my fave comedians, Chris Fleming, talking about how bats scream to get around.

Fun stuff.

So anyway, I have huge news!

You can now buy my art online!

I am so, so, so excited about this.

I’ve finally finished building an online shop for the prints I sell at local art fairs! Plus, I’ve been looking for a way to raise some funds to support the victims of the genocide taking place in Palestine. I’ll be donating 35% of profits from sales to various humanitarian aid groups. I have more information about that here.

Recent Daily Drawings:

Science Communication I’ve Been Admiring:

All this thinking about bats has reminded me of a philosophy paper I was assigned in college. It is a fun, though super dense, exploration of the idea that our experiences shape our perspectives. Here is a good article breaking down what he’s getting at.

“We can imagine what it might be like to be nocturnal, to have webbing on our arms, to be able to fly, to have poor vision and perceive the world through high frequency sound signals, and to spend our time hanging upside down.”

“But even if we can imagine all of these things, it only tells us what it is like for me to be a bat, or for me to behave as a bat behaves. It does not tell us what it is like for a bat to be a bat.”

On a totally separate note, I also learned about this sea slug that uses chlorophyll (the green stuff in plants) to photosynthesize (eat sunlight). Like, what?

Have a great day!

- Mickey

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝

.*･｡ﾟWebsite .𖥔 ݁ ˖ Instagram .*･｡ﾟShop .𖥔 ݁ ˖

A couple of weeks ago, I opened up an old textbook on microbial biology. It was published in 2003 and has ‘$1.50’ written in pencil on the inside of the cover. I read through the opening chapter and it’s summary of what is meant by a ‘cell’. It is a thing with a nucleoid, where information is kept; a membrane, a barrier isolating it from it’s environment; and a cytoplasm, the gooey space that stores the important machinery. A cell is an open system that is constantly acquiring new materials and incorporating them into itself while also discarding byproducts. Somehow, I found myself identifying with this simple description. In many ways, we are all our own little ideas and important machines and walls to keep us safe. We trade things in and out of our lives. So with that realization, I made the above painting of a cell. I also painted brief depictions of the six traits that scientists use to identify something as alive. I related to these, too. I had lots of fun.

Recent Daily Drawings:

Science Communication I’ve Been Admiring:

Kristian Brevik - incredible sculptural artist, science educator, illustrator, and PhD in insect ecology

The Joy of Science - a conversation between journalists and physicist Jim Al-Khalili on the ways that science is culturally represented and understood (hard facts, clean-cut answers) compared with how it actually is (guided by curiosity, openness to being wrong, ongoing revision)

Artists I’ve Been Loving:

Have a great day!

- Mickey

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞

.*･｡ﾟWebsite .𖥔 ݁ ˖ Instagram .*･｡ﾟ

I’ve tried making art on a daily basis several times at different points in my life, but it hasn’t ever worked out for me.

Until! About a month ago, I cut a square out of a piece of cardboard in my recycling bin, then used that to trace 4”x4” frames in a mostly blank sketchbook I had lying around. Rather than spending lots of time deciding what to draw (usually a huge dilemma), I looked for interesting subjects on either my Instagram feed or the front page of a science newsletter like Science Daily or Earth.org. Badabing badaboom, daily drawings. I missed a few days at the end of January, but I decided to just forget about them and keep going. Forward momentum > strict rules.

It’s been great practicing so regularly without worrying about what to draw, knowing I’ll have another opportunity to try something else the next day. It’s also been fun going back to drawing from references instead of coming up with something new each time. Lately I’ve been slowly dipping my toe back into my usual, more abstract style of drawing, too. Woohoo!