Episode 111
A conversation with Kelsey J.R.P. Byers
AGENDER, ASEXUAL, DISABLED, NEURODIVERGENT, QUEER
54 mins • 7 August 2025 (recorded 20 June 2025).
Kelsey uses any/all pronouns, but they get a little frisson of gender-validation/euphoria when people don’t use she/her. They are agender, asexual, disabled, neurodivergent, and queer. Find out what that means to Kelsey in this episode.
We also talk about the link between gender and neurodivergence, shared experiences, assumptions and stereotyping about disability and sexuality, split attraction, the nuance of asexuality, desire, and physical responses, the superpower and shadow sides of neurodivergence, how to have consensual conversations about personal subjects, and the importance of just listening.
“There is this stereotype that folks who are gender non-conforming are identifiable instantly… but actually the external expression and the internal experience are two separate things.”
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TRANSCRIPT [expand to read] – COMING SOON
About Kelsey
Dr. Kelsey J.R.P. Byers (any/all pronouns) is an evolutionary geneticist and chemical ecologist by day and a birder, knitter, and lover of all things nature by night! Originally from the USA, Kelsey did their undergraduate degree in biology and their PhD in evolutionary genetics and chemical ecology before moving to Switzerland to do post-PhD training and then settling in the UK, where they are a Group Leader (similar to a Lecturer or Assistant Professor). Kelsey is a multiply-disabled (Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, POTS, ADHD, autism, other stuff), multiply-queer (agender, asexual) individual. They tirelessly advocate (though they are always very tired!) for accessibility and inclusion of minoritized groups in academia, especially in natural sciences fieldwork and conferences.
In their spare time, Kelsey enjoys birding, knitting, drawing, and photographing and identifying insects, plants, and birds. Kelsey is a majority-time wheelchair user who also enjoys taking restorative walks in nature when they’re able to do so. They live in Norwich, UK with their cat – originally from Panama! – and their partner, also originally from the USA. In addition to their day job, Kelsey also does additional work promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in STEM and beyond.
You can find Kelsey on their website plantpollinator.org and on Bluesky @plantpollinator.bsky.social.