You probably heard the US admin is threatening to break up the National Center for Atmospheric Research: but did you know they already froze funding for the 9 regional Climate Science Adaptation Centers? From tracking invasives to helping tribes with drought, here's why the CASCs matter ⬇️

In just the first three months of his second term, Trump has destabilized eight decades of government support for science. His administration has fired thousands of government scientists, bringing large swathes of the country’s research to a standstill and halting many clinical trials. #News

A belt broke in my dads car and the engine may be toast. So while he waits for parts/to see if it can be fixed I dropped off my extra car to him. He had the nerve to look at the odometer and say “this has 175K miles?!”. Yes, this is why I will loan it out! It’s a 2012, just broke it in.

Thanks to Jim Moylan, who pulled a borrowed car into a filling station on the wrong side on a rainy day & vowed to protect the rest of us from that annoying fate. What are some of your favorite inventions that make life just a smidge better?

God I love this.

Read this. Merry Christmas indeed

Your brain must move so fast to be able to make the words come out of your mouth at that speed. 😜

Went shopping for christmas eve dinner.... Neglected to realize I should make dinner tonight also.... I think I'll order pizza.

Even at research intensive (R1) universities in the US, "tenure density" is already below 50%.

Universities are combining departments, eliminating programs, pushing AI, buying out tenured profs and moving from cheap labor to the cheapest most exploited labor imaginable

Announcing our next #NSFfunded workshop on "Telling Stories Through Data", co-lead by myself + @vgwschutte.bsky.social! It’s half bioinformatics data viz & half #SciComm - this year’s focus is host-associated microbiome datasets. Apply here to join us (form closes 1/10) bit.ly/TSTD2026 #symbiosky

ICYMI - applications now open for our FREE #SciComm and #DataViz virtual workshop. Targeted towards grad students & postdocs!

Abstract portal is open for ASM Microbe 2026. New meeting format, same great science. Hope to see you in DC!

Key findings on vitamins and dementia everyone needs to know This just published large-scale review suggests that vitamin B complex and C could help prevent cognitive decline. The world needs personalized nutrition in dementia prevention. ht*tps://buff.ly/GYWjL8X

For those of us warning about democracy's potential disintegration, the decision by CBS to pull an exhaustively researched 60 Minutes piece, critical of Trump, is another red alert moment. When truth disappears as the media gets coopted by the regime, there's little left.

I love the fact that some of the seemingly mundane observations you record as part of your job might prove to be useful for someone else someday in the future

The rate of return here is crazy: for a few hundred thousand dollars, this lab produces literally billions of oysters and supports a seafood industry worth hundreds of millions. And the Trump administration is just like "fuck all that, it's wasteful spending, you're fired"

Multidisciplinary training, over time, produces the highest impact people www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Our first direct hit. Oddly our oyster work is the most popular thing we do. Great return on investment for taxpayers funding bay restoration. cambridgespy.substack.com/p/horn-point...

Happy solstice peeps!

Dang it. There go all my self citations.

Preprint now, submit to journal in January

More #eldercare issues of late. Dad is feeling his age more and more so in past 3 weeks we’ve toured independent living apartments. Live in apt but access common meals. Cost is $3K to $7K. Most are like cruise ships on land. Now to make decisions.

🚨 Postdoctoral Opportunity for Female Scientists🚨 The University of Vienna is awarding at least 20 fully funded 4 year postdoctoral positions to outstanding female scientists Interested? Get in touch via direct message careers.univie.ac.at/en/postdoc/e... #MicroSky 🧪 #PostDoc @univie.ac.at

For the past few years, a good friend and I have written "very honest Christmas letters" about our lives and shared them with each other. I just wrote mine and fuck.... I need a nap. 2024-5 have been a total doozy for me.

My colleague is getting email harassed by a student regarding their grade. Students - this isn't helping you. Write a draft and sit on it if needed. Wait a day between emails. Sending 6 within an hour isn't helping your case. And now colleague thinks she has to lock herself in office for safety.

"The response on this community makes one thing clear we are not facing this moment alone. In just 24 hours, our members have sent over 7,000 emails and counting." AGU President Brandon Jones. Join us here: agu.quorum.us/campaign/151...

David Brooks, who wrote in the NYT last month, "The Epstein Story? Count Me Out" is... in the latest Epstein photo dump published by @oversightdemocrats.house.gov. He should absolutely be fired by NYT for this. Major conflict of interest that he didn't disclose.

Very honored that the UD Women's Caucus has recognized me for my efforts in supporting women and equality on campus: www.udel.edu/udaily/2025/...

Must read gift article below for my fellow AI luddites. These same companies want AI involved in healthcare 😵‍💫

Check it out! @treevaughn.bsky.social made the holiday video from @udelaware.bsky.social - check it 15 sec in: www.udel.edu/about/leader...

Yes! Just yesterday I was thinking how this was done to please some internally, certainly not customers.

AGU has a Congressional email and call script up on NCAR:

NCAR is quite literally our global mothership. Everyone who works in climate and weather has passed through its doors and benefited from its incredible resources. Dismantling NCAR is like taking a sledgehammer to the keystone holding up our scientific understanding of the planet. Unbelievable.

They’re stealing from us. They are stealing from us and we have to put a stop to this. This cannot stand.

Timeline cleanser. I made really good soup. Broth from scratch and everything.

Attendance at US-based science conferences is bouncing around this year but generally down. #AGU25 has ~10k fewer this year! I explored these trends for @nature.com — including solutions to keep conferences local & productive: www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪

I’ll likely have to take cough breaks to sip my tea & blow my nose, as the plague & I are @agu.org but I hope you’ll join me at 1030 Wednesday for my lecture. I’ll talk about Carson’s impact on science & my career, subseafloor life, microbial ecosystem services, & science storytelling! #AGU25

Looking for a faculty job at one of the world's great research stations? We're looking for a marine invertebrate biologist at UW's Friday Harbor Labs. apply.interfolio.com/178804

Each summer, I lead a week-long creative retreat for environmental researchers & academics on Catalina Island. We develop your most ambitious project ideas. It's truly life-changing. Applications for the 2026 Storymakers fellowship are now open! Deadline is Feb 1. dornsife.usc.edu/wrigley/enga...

Except, sadly, it is believable. Today I offer you a spinach-based insight from the research / writing / academia meme stash. #highered #academicchatter #academicsky #PhDchat #resdev #resdevmemes

@isme-microbes.bsky.social offers a great opportunity to publish uncultured microbes via #SeqCode using #genomes as type material. A fantastic step toward embracing the true diversity of microbes! But isolates are also welcome 🧫🔬🦠😁 @seqcode.bsky.social

I think of the panels where I've been able to champion awesome science that a general panel would not have appreciated. This makes me sad. www.science.org/content/arti...

💾 Prokka 1.15.6 is released! This is the last major release of Prokka. But don't be sad, because @oschwengers.bsky.social already has an excellent replacement called Bakta you can migrate to. #bioinformatics #microbiology #genomics github.com/tseemann/pro...

Hi friends -I’ve connected w/ some local disabled parents that could really use some help w/ Xmas presents for their kids. They tried to put together an Amazon wishlist but surprise surprise it isn’t screen reader friendly. If you have the means/are willing to help, DM me and I can share their venmo

I give my grad students a week to do a fairly intense take home exam. I ask them to give it a few days so they can think clearly on all the questions. 10 hrs before I was due I said to the final class "I know someone in this room has not started the exam yet" and begged them to prioritize it & sleep

Thoughts on sample preservation without freezing for microbiome studies - seems like Zymo DNA/RNA shield is now considered superior to RNALater? 🦠

This is a 5 alarm fire - please read and share.

This year, the NSF funded 35% fewer grants in geoscience, with 25% less money. Meanwhile, the Office of the Director spent almost three times as much money as in a regular year. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Not attending AGU this year and I have no regrets. Instead will be taking Dad to look at more independent living places and hopefully relaxing a tad. Everyone enjoy New Orleans!