This whole Calibri-TNR font issue is annoying. I hate Calibri, it looks awful. And I like TNR. I understand why sans serif is needed, but the govt should use something better like Helvetica or Arial. Calibri is a trash font and needs to die.

Just submitted a session proposal to @goldschmidt-confer.bsky.social. Sought to be topical but broad. Narrow session topics leave members of our community with no place to submit. #EveryoneNeedsAHome at Goldschmidt!

Mineral cup is on and my dear friend Hematite is in a close race with a crappy sodalite-group mineral, Haüyne. Please consider voting! www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r3...

We are looking for an Assistant Professor (tenure track) in the area of Soil Chemistry. Please spread the word! Application deadline is September 30. ethz.ch/en/the-eth-z...

Just received a survey from "Simon Baker, Chief Editor, Nature Index". The survey has MC questions requiring three picks. Many options are like "I do high-impact research to improve my reputation" or "High-impact research gets me more grant money". I'm out. Shows zero interest in scientific impact.

Welcome @mineralsocamerica.bsky.social to Bluesky!

The tornado in St. Louis yesterday started near my campus @washu.bsky.social. We were spared the worst, with mostly tree damage and power outages but the dormitories may have some roof damage. Semester is over, students are gone. We’ll recover quickly. But for the rest of St. Louis…

Ever wondered what the Hadean ocean looked like? 🌊🌊🌊 Come work with us on 🧪silicate weathering experiments🧪 simulating the geochemistry of the first ocean and be part of a large consortium investigating the origin of life #prelife. @ingeloes.bsky.social Apply here: www.uu.nl/en/organisat...

Any US-based folks have recommendations for best place to rent a satellite phone for international travel? A colleague is taking a course to Madagascar. They are using a network of sites operated by a local partner, and each location has phone service, but university wants them to have a sat phone.

New at @stlmag.bsky.social: City Hall insiders share their thoughts on what went wrong for Mayor Tishaura Jones this election -- and what comes next for Mayor-elect Cara Spencer www.stlmag.com/news/won-car...

Jeffries: "It was a terrible week. So what happens on Sunday? Trump says, intentionally, 'I'm serious about running for a third term.' He can't run for a third term! ... why does he say it? ... to distract from the terrible week that they've had. We're not gonna take the bait."

The President talking about a third term has proven to be an effective strategy to move on from his team releasing classified military plans to a reporter on Signal. Everyone needs to stop falling for this! Just ignore him, it is purely a distraction. Don't let him move on from tariffs and Signal.

Resubmitting former grad student's paper to ES&T (once he send me the figure files). I have the hardest time finding what sections are counted in word count. ES&T makes this hard to find. I asked Google, it's AI response thing got the right answer. I'm good with that kind of use of AI.

This has become an ongoing discussion in my university's faculty senate. Everything in this article is spot on.

This seems like something Democrats should have figured out a year ago. The economy looked great on paper, but only the top 10% were benefiting. Most democratic advisers were probably on the top 10%. www.wsj.com/economy/cons...

No longer in charge of GCA but still doing some Associate Editor work. Figure looked weird, so I opened data file. Plot was manipulated. Found other examples, also fabrication. Rejected the paper. Big reason a journal must require sharing of numerical data is to check for misconduct.

Not trying to raise unwarranted alarms, but the proposal status page for NSF in Research.gov says "Information in Proposal Status is unavailable due to an error." Similarly, the NSSC grant status page for NASA says "This search form is currently under maintenance." Something bad is likely going on.

Exited to share our new OA paper in GCA, led by my brilliant student Emily Wright: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... In this paper, we adapt methods used to study contaminants to investigate critical mineral behavior during weathering, specifically how chloride affects palladium mobilization.

Rumor: A US law passed in December is being interpreted by the Trump administration to ban foreign nationals from "sensitive countries" from being employed at US DOE labs. OK if have a green card, but not if on a visa. Apparently many Chinese, Russian, & Iranian postdocs will get laid off in April.

New one for me: First lecture of the semester and 5 minutes in I get a paper cut from the printout of my lecture notes. Bled on the back of my notes before I noticed. Shoved my hand in my pocket to stop the bleeding. Was super embarrassed!

(former) Editor Insight: The number of new papers a journal receives each month varies randomly. While I was Executive Editor of GCA, submissions in a month varied between 71 and 130. Editor workload was very difficult to predict!

Can anyone explain to me why there are so many Marnaviridae in wastewater? They allegedly only infect photosynthetic marine protists, but there are hundreds of them in wastewater. Not much light down there.

Editor Tip (For Elsevier Journals): About 5 years ago, Elsevier killed all of the journal email addresses. [email protected] now goes to "Research Support" staff that cover 4000 journals. They mess up a lot, editors get maybe 50% of intended messages. If you feel ignored, google us, then email us.

To all prospective PhD students with an interest in organic geochemistry and paleoclimate - we have three competition-funded PhDs on offer this year via our DTP (deadline 8th Jan). More details below!

Editor Tip: Journals check for text duplication (plagiarism) in manuscripts. But the software indexes theses. If you get rejected for plagiarism (or low novelty) only because you are publishing a student's thesis chapter, then complain. This is not plagiarism, just poor use of software by an editor.

We can’t control the timing of things appearing on the NSF Earth Sciences website but finally the announcement, FAQ, and full solicitations for our realignment are out! DCL: www.nsf.gov/pubs/2025/ns... FAQ: www.nsf.gov/pubs/2025/ns... All EAR programs: new.nsf.gov/geo/ear

Super excited to see a geochem starter pack!

Unexpectedly lost a furry friend to cancer today. Rest well Boomersaurus

Elsevier tonight has decided to ban authors from suggesting reviewers. I told them this is stupid. Yes, need to avoid conflicted reviewers, and editors should be cautious, but suggestions are helpful. When you send 20-30 invites to get 2 reviews, seeing names points you in the right direction.

This is a great idea. Would be a major improvement.

Just found in my files a cool early highlight from being editor of GCA: The first cover with my name on it.

Just tried out the new NASA form for a biosketch. I always thought SciENcv that NSF and DOE made me use was awful. My mind is changed, NASA's is so much more work because of so many formatting requirements. When SciENcv works (don't try it on Fridays!), it does much of this for you.

As my time as GCA editor winds down (December 31!), I'll try to share some of my observations from 6 years in the role. Today, I'll start with the best part of the job: Working with lots of brilliant Associate Editors has been awesome! I've met so many amazing geochemists from around the world.

Starting to visit this place more now that it’s growing inactivity. Saw all this stuff about starter packs, was confused but think I get it. Now I need to think of some things to post!

Please considering nominating someone for an award through the Geochemical Society. Members of the GS Board, like me, are barred for nominating anyone by COI rules. The only way we can get diverse nominees (and awardees) is if community members nominate. Info at: www.geochemsoc.org/honors/awards

Check out this Postdoc and PhD fellowship in Geobiology with Tais Dahl at the University of Copenhagan. PhD is focus is on the deep time carbon dioxide record and opportunities to come to Syracuse to work on the nano-EA. Postdoc has a focus on uranium and redox. See the links to here: geobiology.dk

Just discovered that Sharpie discontinued extra fine point markers. Fine and ultrafine are all they have now. I’m crushed.

My department recently announced the Steve Fossett postdoctoral fellowship. Two year fellowship with competitive salary and $6k per year in research funding. Applications due Feb 7. Interested applicants should contact a potential mentor. More info at: eeps.wustl.edu/news/steve-f...

Editor insight: I don’t receive papers at GCA as soon as they are submitted. Elsevier staff, I believe at an outsourced contractor in India, first process them. This used to be quick but now takes many days. I complained about the delays but have yet to see improvements.

Merry Christmas Eve from balmy St. Louis, where it was 19 C and sunny today.

Working on a proposal and needed an answer on a budget rule. Wonderful, smart program manager directed me to Section 3.11.3 of Appendix C of a document I didn’t know existed. This is why proposal writing hurts my brain.

Dealing with some administrative headaches right now:

I’m tired of a lifetime of springing forward and falling back. Can’t we just do something once and stay there? Asking for a nation.

Heading off to Pittsburgh this morning for GSA2023