Andy Farke

@andyfarke

Paleontologist, educator, museum person, open science person, homebrewer, spouse, parent. Homebrewing blog at he/him

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Andy Farke@andyfarke· 13d

The latest batch of spicy brown mustard is in the jar and ready to sit for a day or two while it mellows. It's going to go great with some brats on the grill later this week!

yellowish-brown speckled mustard in a mason jar with a metal ring and metal lid, sitting on a white surface

Andy Farke@andyfarke· 13d

Happy #HomeFermentationDay! To celebrate the fun of fermentation beyond just beer, I started a lacto-ferment for some heirloom beets from the garden. They are all covered in brine and waiting for some microbial magic to turn them into pickled beets.

clear glass mason jar with green silicone lid held in place by metal band. Inside the jar are white and red striped beet slices, covered in clear liquid

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Jul 8

On Monday, I gave a presentation about paleontology, sponsored by the public library at my hometown in rural South Dakota (population 698). It was a blast, and I am glad to have had the privilege to speak about my journey. <thread>

person in Aquilops t-shirt talking in front of room of people

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Jul 3

Back where my love of museums started! Who would have thought it would end up as a career? The Douglas County (South Dakota) museum complex is a small-town gem, complete with two-headed calf and a bunch of local memorabilia from the history of the area.

Man in maroon t-shirt standing in front of brick building's door, with the sign "Museum" over the entrance

old fashioned doctor's bag, with picture of doctor in front of it

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Jun 5

Absolutely magical to spot this bobcat during my walk home tonight. I am so privileged to be able to live in a place where these are my neighbors!

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Jun 2

Absolutely *amazing* microCT scan of a little croc skull chunk from the "Mesaverde" Formation of Park Co., Wyoming. (short thread) 🧪🐊🦴

grayscale microCT scan of croc braincase region in coronal section, with light gray bone and dark gray rock occupying the internal space

Andy Farke@andyfarke· May 26

I'm proud of this label that I designed for one of my recent homebrews! Making beer is such an enjoyable and creative hobby, and it's fun to flex my brain in ways that the rest of life doesn't. Details on the beer itself at my blog: andybrews.com/2026/05/26/a...

A circular graphic, rimmed by a gold circle. At the bottom, a moonscape from a distance forms a half-visible globe. Text at top in large gold letters says, "Artemis Amber Ale." Below that is a large graphic of a hop cone, floating over the surface of the moon. Text below the hop cone says, "Ad astra per zymurgiam." At the very bottom, text says, "Farke Brewing, Claremont, California"

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Apr 25

One of the biggest joys of museum collections is the fact that the fossils are preserved for the future. During a recent collection visit to the SDSMT Museum of Geology, I ran across some boxes of specimens that I helped ID and curate nearly a quarter of a century ago! 🦖🦕🧪

Brown cardboard box with handwriting that says Ceratopsian #3110 frill pieces

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Apr 21

Stunning view of a monarch caterpillar outside the museum today.

Striped monarch caterpillar feeding on plant

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Mar 23

Found this cute little tyrannosaur premaxillary tooth in matrix from the "Mesaverde" Formation of Wyoming (#blmpaleo permit, accessioned @alfpaleo.bsky.social) - another datapoint for our research! 🧪🦖

dark brown, nearly black, triangular tooth, held between fingertips

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Mar 19

Hey look, it's our state bird! A nice sighting on the evening walk.

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Mar 12

Today is #GivingDay for my museum, @alfpaleo.bsky.social - if you are interested and able to support our research, collections, education, and outreach programs, head on over to www.webb.org/gd26 and designate "Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology" as the destination!

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Mar 11

I just got really, really, really excited by this fossil! Museum preparator Andrew has been working on this bit of skull from the "Mesaverde" Fm. of Wyoming (BLM permit, accessioned @alfpaleo.bsky.social). Turns out to be most of the back part of a croc skull - a VERY important specimen! 🧪🐊

White and brown bone in rock, next to scale bar. The bone is around 4 cm wide.

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Feb 25

That feeling when you notice that you're the human scale bar in multiple figures from the latest tyrannosaur paper that's receiving a ton of media attention. Cool work by Boeye & colleagues! Link: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article...

Size comparison between T. rex and several extant terrestrial vertebrates. Silhouettes of Tyrannosaurus, polar bear, human, and ostrich, to scale, with Tyrannosaurus largest. Silhouettes are sourced from Phylopic (Phylopic.org). Tyrannosaurus rex, credit to Matt Dempsey; Struthio camelus, credit to Ferran Seyol; Ursus maritimus, Margot Michaud; Homo sapiens, Andrew Farke. Silhouettes are scaled relative to one another and recoloured for the purposes of comparison. Links to the original image repository are provided in the electronic supplementary material, S1.

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Feb 21

Are they raisins, or are they snails? No one will ever know.

Breakfast pastry in plastic wrapper with the label "raisin snails"

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Feb 19

***CRESTING INTENSIFIES***

veiled chameleon skull, with bones colored in different colors

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Feb 19

Spinosaurus = Discount Saurolophus? At least in lateral view. (more seriously, the new Spinosaurus material is really cool)

image of Spinosaurus skull with crest, above image of Saurolophus hadrosaur skull with crest

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Feb 10

My latest homebrewing project, using "Mars Malt" from Gambrinus, to make a SMaSH American amber ale. Details at the blog: andybrews.com/2026/02/09/t... #beer #homebrewing #homebrew #amberale

A glass of reddish amber beer with a foamy ivory-colored head, sitting on a stone surface surrounded by leaves.

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Feb 2

Gorgeous wildflowers spotted on my short hike this afternoon! Blue dicks, a native plant also sometimes called "wild hyacinth"

a cluster of purplish flowers, at the end of a single stem

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Feb 1

I needed a distraction, so drafted a new label/logo for my Munich dunkle recipe. Yes, it includes a bad paleontological pun. Recipe and tasting notes at my blog: andybrews.com/2026/02/01/d...

Silhouette of scuba diver being followed by the large prehistoric fish Dunkleosteus, underwater. The text of the label says "Dunkel-Osteus: A Dark Lager in the Munich Tradition" and "Farke Brewing, Claremont, California." It also includes the image credits, CC-BY; human silhouette by Gabriela Palomo-Munoz; Dunkleosteus by Russell Engelman

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Jan 27

It's #TinyToothTuesday! One of the students found this little partial mammal tooth in matrix from the "Mesaverde" Formation of Wyoming. It is the 4th for this particular locality! Fossils collected under permit from #BLMPaleo and accessioned at @alfpaleo.bsky.social 🧪🦷

tiny black mammal tooth in glass vial, held between fingertips

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Jan 21

A legitimately amazing sunrise this morning.

red sunrise over mountains with clouds brilliantly lit, with trees silhouetted in the foreground

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Jan 15

Welcome home, astronauts! #crew11 #iss #spaceflight

Orangish streak of light across the night sky

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Dec 15

Gaudete!

An Advent wreath of wood, with two blue candles lit and a pink candle lit, in a darkened room

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Dec 12

A gorgeous little metatherian mammal molar from our "MegaMicro" site in the "Mesaverde" Formation of Wyoming. Around ~79 Ma; the square in the background is 10 mm; collected under #BLMPaleo permit, accessioned at @alfpaleo.bsky.social Happy #FossilFriday! 🧪🦕

dark brown mammal tooth with roots in side view on a white plastic background, with pieces of rock at the periphery of the image

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Dec 8

Sadly, I have now lost Whamageddon. Luckily, I continue to evade the Mariahpocalypse.

people sitting around a table with candles and festive clothes, with the text "I got Whammed!"

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Dec 1

First Sunday of Advent!

a single lit blue candle in the darkness, with an unlit candle in the background behind it

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Nov 8

I got some stellar views of a great egret this afternoon! It's been hanging around our area, and was totally fun to observe.

tall white bird with long neck and yellow bill and gray legs, standing in a flower bed

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Oct 30

Excellent thread (speaking also as now ?mature stage of former teenage dino nerd)! I'll also, somewhat grumpily, say that many of us professionals also fan the flames of dino fandom, engage in meme-ing and fanbase engagement, and then are suddenly surprised when a fandom behaves like a fandom.

Andy Farke@andyfarke· Oct 12

Over 200 turkey vultures just passed overhead. Totally not a sign of the apocalypse.