It's so hard out there right now, especially for early career scientists. Publishing expectations have never been higher, and it's taking a year or more for papers to go through peer review, largely because of these delays. I know things are hard, but if you're publishing, you should be reviewing.

I love making this list every year, and I never have any trouble coming up with 50 things I think were genuinely wonderful.

A new thing that I’ve noticed in the last few weeks is review requests including something like: “In your previous review, you asked to see the revised version”, even though I never previously reviewed it (I keep my a spreadsheet of MSs I review). Anyone else seeing this tactic?!

If you take the time to read the whole Gates memo (which I did), the bulk of the content was mostly solid and encouraging. Really! It was the FRAME that was off--very off, from the first line. And when your framing is off, then how you make decisions and set priorities is off. THAT'S the problem.

BRB, going to binge four hours of Bugs that Rule the World, featuring bug enthusiast, researcher, and science communicator @the-bug-hut.bsky.social. www.pbs.org/show/bugs-th... @pbs.org

It’s hard to see how international field research continues under an 89.6% cut to NSF DEB.

Very excited to read this Paint Rock ForestGEO paper! 🌳 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Delighted to finally watch the first episode with my parents while we had Mother’s Day dessert! Bugs That Rule The World is beautiful and @the-bug-hut.bsky.social is the best ambassador for the bugs. 10/10

These trees are into getting shocked. Dipteryx oleifera towers above the rest of Panama’s rainforest — arboreal lightning rods. They’re more likely to survive ⚡ than their neighbors, giving them a competitive edge. Read more at: @nytscience.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/s...

NEW: Ten voting House Republicans have now signed on to a resolution that says Congress "should take all appropriate measures" to make sure USPS remains an independent government agency and "not subject to privatization,” including Reps. Sam Graves and Thomas Kean www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...

When lightning strikes D. oleifera trees - and apparently trees of several other taxa - it kills nearby trees that compete for resources and the woody vines that infest their crowns without causing meaningful damage to the directly struck tree. (2/5)

⚡⚡Did you know that some trees WANT to be struck by lightning?⚡⚡ Well, trees don't "want" anything, but if they did, then Dipteryx oleifera trees would want to be struck by lightning. Just published yesterday (tinyurl.com/ltbnft) and described in this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwX_... (1/5)

My latest @npr.org story: Under President Trump, the Justice Department is starting to step away from legal actions that had begun during the Biden administration to combat racial discrimination in elections — including voting rights cases in Louisiana, Texas and Georgia’s Houston County

Update: it turns out Arden was the first member of our family to notice a bluebird finally using our box!

Recharging during the first weekend of spring 🌼

I'll be presenting my work on tree growth in an everwet forest in Puerto Rico at the ForestGEO seminar next week! Mar 19, 2025 09:00 AM, EST time. Register here for the link: smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Fascism is here. Name it. This is not what we are supposed to be about. 🇺🇸

My mentor and dear friend @roxanegay.bsky.social recently joined me here at Harvard Medical School for an incredible event. We both read new work and then had a wide-ranging discussion about the creative life, politics and culture. I’m delighted to be able to share the video now:

I'm delighted to share the final #PANGEA White Paper: tropicalforestscoping.com/news-2/ (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, & Indonesian) Thank you to the 800+(!) ppl who contributed their ideas, input, time, & energy. Truly a community concept for a #NASA Terrestrial Ecology Field Campaign

Happy to contribute this review of remote sensing research in the Barro Colorado Nature Monument to the BCI 100 book! Check out the SI for a table listing all the refs, data they used, and links to available remote sensing datasets over BCNM 🛩️ dx.doi.org/10.5479/si.2...

Love our cozy backyard view on a snowy weekend ❄️

I don’t always have good news to share first thing in the morning BUT… IT’S BOOKS WE LOVE DAY!!!!! apps.npr.org/best-books/#...

Great to see this out, I love the gorgeous cover art! Check out page 706 for picture of my parents next to Big Tree (RIP Big Tree) in my ode to the mega flora of BCI 🥹🌳

The BCI book is out! Almost 100 chapters of science about Barro Colorado Island plant and ecosystem science. scholarlypress.si.edu/store/all/th... Edited by STRI colleagues Helene Muller-Landau and Joe Wright. When I get my hardcopy, I'll want to read this cover to cover (1/2)

Here’s something joyful that happened to me—I’ve had a pair of corduroy pants for a year that I love except they don’t have pockets 🙄 Today I realized that they DO have pockets, they’re just camouflaged 🥳

12 trick-or-treaters this year, up from 2 or 3 last year…happy Halloween 👻

Dear mail-in voters, If your state's return deadline is Election Day (Nov. 5), the U.S. Postal Service recommends that you mail your ballot by Tuesday (Oct. 29). Sincerely, The reporter who wrote this: www.npr.org/2024/09/20/n...

Arden’s favorite time of year, watching leaves fall 🍂😻🍁

I’ve reached 50 review requests for the year, and 17 have come since August 😱 doing what I can, sorry for the declined invites!

Enjoying slightly cooler mornings while they last! #seenonmyrun

If the economic damages of climate change are at least 6x > the cost of mitigation (and probably much more imho), why aren’t we acting like it? Because it’s not about economics: it’s about injustice. Those who hold the balance of power + wealth are not those who bear the brunt of the impacts.

Post-doc opportunity in wildfire geospatial science in my lab at Colorado State! Work on developing geospatial data products to support fuel treatment planning/monitoring in southwestern US forests. w/ @mhurteau.bsky.social, me & others. Details and apply by 03/25: jobs.colostate.edu/postings/140...

Big cuts in US research budgets were recently announced. Summary below, read www.science.org/content/arti... for more.

I will forever regret not seeing Usher’s Vegas residency when we were living in Los Angeles 😭 were those summer conferences actually important 😭😭

Haven’t left the house since Sunday bc of snow/ice but Arden is content with some good books! @roxanegay.bsky.social

There are few things more polarizing than Grape Nuts, evidently! 🥣

hello (bluesky) world / we moved to TN! excited to be starting a staff position at ORNL 😁