ABOVE: © SHUTTERSTOCK, SATTALAT PHUKKUM

At some level, I made a choice that I don’t want to support, personally, his ecosystem.

—Astronomer Mark McCaughrean of the European Space Agency, speaking to Science about his decision to start using a different social media platform after Elon Musk purchased Twitter in October (November 4)

[This period in science is] by no means just a return to business as usual. There is much more interest in academe in training researchers in public engagement, very much including training in communication.

—Mary Woolley, president of Research! America, speaking with Inside Higher Ed about an Elsevier report she contributed to on the pandemic-era research environment (November 8)

Currently, avian flu outbreaks have been limited in humans because the virus doesn’t spread easily between us. But this is a ticking timebomb. A mutation that makes this virus circulate more easily between humans is possible.

—Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, in a recent story in The Guardian about the ongoing bird flu epidemic (November 9)

There should be a unified response, where everybody realizes that the enemy is the virus, not each other. We need to do everything we can to protect ourselves and protect each other.

—Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), speaking with Wired about his experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, in advance of his retirement at the end of the year (November 8)

I think, inside baseball, many doctors of academic centers are aware that he’s on the Columbia faculty and feel angry about it.

—New York University bioethicist Arthur Caplan, speaking with The Eye about cardiothoracic surgeon Mehmet Oz. Oz, who last month lost a bid for the US Senate, has drawn fire for years for promoting what critics say is pseudoscience. (November 2)

I was looking forward to a robust discussion on the topic of backlash against public health officials. Unfortunately, there are some people who have made their wishes known that they oppose such crucial civil discourse.

—Public health expert Leana Wen in a statement explaining why she would not participate in a panel at the American Public Health Association after threats were made on her safety (November 8)