Erika

@elevatedmn

Groundwater, hydrogeology, public utilities for the public. Probably too much manganese. Just Give People All The Things! Also love books, Judaica, and cats. she/her. #QueerInSTEM

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Bluesky

¿Es tu perfil?Reclámalo y elevatedmn.dirty.social es tuyo.Reclamar perfil

Erika @elevatedmn· 14d

a smooth-headed yellow and black salamander peeks out from behind a rock. it's looking at the camera and seems to look questioning. the overlaid meme text says HI U GOT BUGS?

Erika @elevatedmn· 19d

I do love a goofy looking aircraft. It’s rectangular! #skcards

Skycards screenshot of a kaman HH-43B Huskie. It’s a large yellow rectangle with two vertical fins as a tail.

Erika @elevatedmn· Jul 15

Oh it got worse. :(

A cloudy grey yellow sky full of smoke over a shopping plaza.

Erika @elevatedmn· Jul 15

Breathing is gross today. It’s hot and humid out and there is no breeze. The smoke smell is apparent and the air has a taste.

Photo of the sky, showing a dim orange sun covered in murky yellow ish grey haze. The colors of the trees framing the shot are a dull green.

Erika @elevatedmn· Jul 12

If there is one thing this cat loves it’s being a long long baby.

A little black cat lying on a piles of blankets, but in an extended form with limbs tucked under it.

Erika @elevatedmn· Jul 9

A special place to me.

Scenic view from a hilltop out over a river valley surrounded by ridges. The landscape is deeply green and purpling a bit in the pre-sunset light.

Erika @elevatedmn· Jun 29

Dont talk to me or my sons ever again

A Chinese stone lion with a paw wrapped protectively around two small babyish stone lions. The big lion’s head is turned away from the viewer.

Erika @elevatedmn· Jun 25

Hastings!

Erika @elevatedmn· Jun 11

Okay so I adore all of @chrishallbeck.bsky.social’s Baby Monster video series but one in particular yielded the best encapsulation of what my childhood (and let’s be real, my ongoing adulthood too) was like as a future geologist. 😅

Black and white drawing of a cute fuzzy monster with a single giant eye and a cute pointed-tooth grin smiling down at a pile of rocks between its feet, which are sticking out in front of it. It’s wearing a big sun hat.

Erika @elevatedmn· Jun 11

It’s the time of year when for some asinine ego reason people like to claim it’s “not that hot” here in the northeast. Please see this screenshot of the OSHA heat app to see what my staff are working in today and kindly go take your opinion and stuff it. This is risky heat by any reasonable measure.

Screenshot of the OSHA heat app showing a temperature of 89F and a humidity of 59 percent, resulting in a heat index of 97F. The app indicates this is dangerous heat for outdoor workers.

Erika @elevatedmn· May 26

Caught an Ercoupe in SkyCards! A neat little plane known for not having rudder pedals, being the plane of choice for armless pilot Jessica Cox, and also being the “star” of the hilaribad dead on arrival show San Francisco International.

Erika @elevatedmn· May 12

This jobby! Very cool powered gliders!

Skycards card for the Stemme S-6 powered glider airplane.

Erika @elevatedmn· May 3

My other show buy was this new-to-me gorgeous pink mineral, the cyclosillicate Eudialyte found in alkaline igneous rocks. I just love pink minerals so this was a must-have. I always set myself a strict cash-only budget for this excursion and I came in $2 under my limit this year, very pleased!

Fist-sized chunk of rock composed of deep magenta colored minerals in a field of white feldspar and grey quartz. The magenta mineral varies in appearance from a duller sugary texture to a deeper shinier texture. It resembles raspberry filling in a cake.

Erika @elevatedmn· May 3

Beautiful slab of Roxbury Conglomerate (puddingstone) I picked up yesterday at the show. It’s going to be a great teaching tool on future field trips!

Shiny side of a slab of rock - it’s a conglomerate with about five different kinds of rock type clasts in colors ranging from tan to purple. They vary in size from a half inch to several inches. They’re all set in a fine-grained matrix that’s a greyish color.

Dull side of a slab of rock - it’s a conglomerate with about five different kinds of rock type clasts in colors ranging from tan to purple. They vary in size from a half inch to several inches. They’re all set in a fine-grained matrix that’s a greyish color.

Erika @elevatedmn· Apr 30

Up late finishing some direly overdue work that I was too crushed to attempt yesterday. I have a small furry companion, lending me no help whatsoever but being adorable. 😻

Small black cat curled into a sleeping ball shape, seen from the back with little triangle ears sticking out.

Erika @elevatedmn· Apr 18

Why is he so loooooong.

Small black cat loafing in a pile of blankets with one front arm stretched out straight in front of him, appearing to be improbably long.

Erika @elevatedmn· Mar 22

Great CT sedimentary basins field trip today at #NEGSA2026, led by Paul Olsen. Saw some turbidities and ash beds and tried (and failed) to find fish fossils. Started at Dinosaur State Park where I’d not been before, and encountered this fish who is a Whole Mood!

A fossilized fish, who dies and was preserved folded in half, and looks like it’s slumping over in exhausted defeat.

Erika @elevatedmn· Feb 18

HAH someone threw some fish food in the tank!! Here's mine.

The view of a woman from behind, wearing black bike shorts and a black sports bra. On the booty of the shorts are two no evil eye emojis and between them is the lips emoji.

Erika @elevatedmn· Feb 17

A small black cat sitting on a rolled towel in a mesh laundry hamper on its side.

Erika @elevatedmn· Feb 8

Phenomenal offering from @appalachianweird.bsky.social with all proceeds going to Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. If you're not familiar with this botanical wonder, it is a thermogenic plant which generates its own heat to melt snow around it and get growing early. www.etsy.com/listing/4454...

A sticker with an opening skunk cabbage bloom, surrounded by melting nice and the words below it, we can melt ICE.

Erika @elevatedmn· Jan 29

Erika @elevatedmn· Jan 21

The people have spoken and they don’t want hand dryers. Not sure where this TP was liberated from but I appreciate it.

A bathroom hand dryer with a roll of toilet paper sitting on top of it that has wet marks showing people have been using it to dry their hands.

Erika @elevatedmn· Jan 16

Been saving this all week for you. It’s time for #FridayFold and here’s an appealing cobble from the Nashoba Formation. Old arc-complex multiply deformed metamorphic rocks with lots of iron-containing minerals which are giving it the rusty look here as they weather in our temperate climate.

A greyish rock with white squiggly bands of a white mineral across it.

A greyish rock with large blobby bands of a white mineral across it.

Erika @elevatedmn· Jan 14

A dog came to work today and he had the same name as one of my besties and his human had him do a few tricks for me. 😄😄😄😄

A Shiba Inu dog sitting on the floor of an office, looking attentively at the camera. He’s wearing a harness and a leash.

Erika @elevatedmn· Jan 14

I simply cannot. My soul shrivels. I’ve forged my own office style over time that keeps me from going insane. Today’s pops:

Black leather flat loafers with cute grey socks with little pink flowers on them worn with denim stretch trousers.

Brightly patterned button down with a pink and purple paisley pattern and contrasting blue and white stripes cuffs.

Erika @elevatedmn· Jan 1

Small black snuggled into the part of an armchair where the back and the seat meet. He is looking up at the humans with wide eyes and seems slightly forlorn, though his body posture implies he is cozy and safe.

Erika @elevatedmn· Dec 28

Few critters are as relaxed as a cat who has taken over the human’s heated mat for nap purposes.

A small black cat who is in a very long shape, pressed against the seat crack of an armchair covered by a blanket. The cat looks incredibly sleepy.

Erika @elevatedmn· Dec 20

I need to share this adorable critter my elder care lady crocheted for me! I love my fabulously festive stuffed friend.

Side view of a small crocheted capybara wearing a Santa hat and draped in crocheted multicolor Christmas lights.

Front view of a small crocheted capybara wearing a Santa hat and draped in crocheted multicolor Christmas lights, you can clearly see the adorable stuffed snout.

Erika @elevatedmn· Dec 18

These are so tasty! Just replenished my stash this morning.

Erika @elevatedmn· Dec 11

I am so over everything today. Can I just quit my job and be a cat?? He has zero problems.