Starting my 29th expedition to the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica. First leg is home to Christchurch N.Z. There for 3 days (plus or minus) then head down from there. Will be posting here as much as I can. #scicomm 🧪

Found this old photo. Late 80s, Canadian High Arctic near Eureka (Ellesmere Island). I was on an ATV, and this guy just trotted behind me at the same pace no matter how I sped up or slowed down. No aggression at all. To this day I wonder - if I’d stopped, would he have just licked my face?

Great story starring my colleagues at @lsugeology.bsky.social about threats facing the Mississippi Delta. Interesting and troubling. www.pbs.org/video/disapp... #scicomm 🧪

I eat organic, avoid processed foods, and load up on veggies, - but modern medicine, treatments, drugs, and vaccines are what truly extend our lives. That other stuff gives a little booster. Science matters. Watch this short video—it nails the point. www.youtube.com/shorts/mEOeC... #scicomm 🧪

So short sighted. At a time when Russia and China are growing their ice-breaking capabilities because they get it, the U.S. is in denial of what is happening on the planet. #scicomm 🧪 www.science.org/content/arti...

Very cool. #scicomm 🧪https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/science/citizen-science-ecology-inaturalist.html?unlocked_article_code=1.aE8.3vfc.5j3FnJJNj3U8&smid=url-share

Not sure the "some good some bad" in the beginning is representative www.nytimes.com/2025/07/03/u... #scicomm 🧪

OK? #scicomm 🧪 www.alxnow.com/2025/06/24/r...

Ima going to have to up my popcorn supply for this Trump v Elon breakup flame-a-thon.

"The sprawling legislation carrying President Trump’s domestic agenda squeaked through the House with one vote to spare, but some Republicans now say they didn’t realize what they voted for." OMG! This is your job! www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/u...

#scicomm www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/u...

#scicomm www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/s...

Brutal. NSF to restrict NCR to 15% This will devastate many research universities. #scicomm www.nsf.gov/policies/doc...

"Funding for the NSF, as for all other federal agencies, is set by the US Congress. To date, the agency has received only about one-quarter of the funding that Congress appropriated to it for the current fiscal year, which ends on 30 September." #scicomm 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

A few weeks ago, I voted in the Canadian election for the first time since being in the U.S. (35 years - I never felt educated enough about Canadian politics while away to vote). Paper ballot and you hand write one name (your local MP). Simple and efficient. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/w...

This is a submarine cable. Looks expensive to have that cross oceans

A lot to worry about here. Where is Congress? This is the moment in history for the moderate Right to save science and the future of the U.S. #scicomm 🧪. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/b...

Ooooh, new Last of US. See ya

Spent this week at Institute of Aerospace medicine in Germany. They do a lot of experiments on the effects of space travel. You could get paid 15000 Euro to lie in this bed for 3 months with your head down. No getting out of bed for any reason. No pillow. Would you do it? #scicomm

Got a great tour of the European Space Agency’s new Lunar analog training facility today at Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR). Cool things that forward-looking governments fund. More info here www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

Congrats to our former fearless leader, Dr. Berry Lyons for being awarded this year's Goldthwait Polar Medal

China clearly taking the lead in space science and science in general. #scicomm 🧪 spacenews.com/china-unveil...

New study out showing Mars Dust could be problematic for astronauts. Link to the actual study in the Guardian article. #scicomm 🧪 www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Nice piece by @paul-bierman.bsky.social on the threat of climate change #scicomm 🧪 theconversation.com/the-us-milit...

Now this is getting interesting. China quickly moving into a dominant position. No doubt with the US "disturbance" China will get samples from Mars first at this point. #scicomm 🧪 spacenews.com/china-opens-...

This is an incredible map I stole from Amazing Maps on FB. Hurricanes/Cyclones don't cross the equator because of Coriolis. But why the asymmetry between the north and the south? Also, I can understand why the west side of S. America is calm (cool water), but the east is puzzling. #scicomm 🧪

Standup for Science in Baton Rouge. No official event and yet a decent number of nerds showed up. #standupforscience2025 #scicomm 🧪

Bluesky is great—smart, witty, like-minded folks—but are we just preaching to the choir? Where’s the real dialogue with the non-trolly middle-right? Are they here but invisible to me, or is there some space for genuine conversation that includes them? (And no, don’t say X. 😆) #CivilDebate #bluesky

Nevertheless, I still see million dollar homes for sale in Grand Isle, Louisiana which is right at sea level and already getting regularly inundated. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/o...

Fun! About 5 years ago my old house I still own and Airbnb in Illinois was used as a movie set for a low budget horror film. I had given up on it, but it’s finally coming out. Now I’ll know why there were chicken feathers everywhere youtu.be/KTBty_tgrEk?...

We need to get a lot better FAST at explaining the importance of well-funded basic science. Any big discovery made in the last century would have been impossible without a mountain of basic research that came before it. You can't build the penthouse without a solid foundation #scicomm 🧪

Finally some science-focussed action with enough of a lead time to organize. Let's make it a huge turnout #scicomm 🧪

I can get behind building more Ice Breakers. This has been a need for a long time. But does no one see the complete contradiction of climate change denial and saying we need ice breakers to dominate the Arctic as shipping opens up there? #SciComm 🧪 www.msn.com/en-us/news/w...

Truth.

#scicomm 🧪Just one of many areas of science and technology the U.S. will now concede leadership to China with the many proposed cuts to funding www.huffpost.com/entry/china-...

5 calls now has an app that helps with your scripts and finding phone numbers. I just called all 3 of my people and the representative said they are getting a LOT of calls, which is awesome! EVERYONE should call! This takes < 5 min of your day. #democracy

My cartoon on the questionable practise of trusting winter predictions to a groundhog when scientists’ climate predictions are called into question. Almost as questionable as my drawing of a groundhog!

Anyone who has an interest in Long Term Ecological Research and cold environments, the NSF-funded McMurdo LTER just started on Bluesky to share about our work in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of East Antarctica. Please follow @mcm-lter.bsky.social and repost if you wouldn't mind. Thanks

I've flown to Antarctica from New Zealand 28 times now for research. I've always thought we would be the only plane out there and never considered transcontinental flights. But yup, there are directs from South America to Australia that cross our path. That is a remote route.

I made this for one of my classes a few years ago. Any questions? Thanks to John Cook of Skeptical Science for the plot data on the top graph #SciComm 🧪

Just out interesting paper on trust in science. It gives me hope that the U.S. remains fairly high on the list, and puzzled that many European countries are lower down #SciComm 🧪

Fitting for the day....moving through the dark and uncertain territory....the ice at night on the NBP (NBP23-03) on our research cruise in East Antarctica. Keep moving forward everyone! 🦑🧪🇦🇶🐧🌎

Tardigrades differ! There’s an estimated 1,000 different species of tardigrades & they’re found on every continent. There are marine & terrestrial tardigrades, but they’re all technically aquatic animals. This tardigrade I filmed is Acutuncus antarcticus, a species that’s endemic to Antarctica. 🧪🦠

“It’s about understanding long-term climate stability and what sets the Earth’s climate state" — Joel Pedro on the Million Year Ice Core project @millionyearice.bsky.social in #Antarctica www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

I often wonder if Neil Armstrong's footprint is still there? Did it get trampled on during the mission, or maybe obliterated when the LEM launched from the surface? www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/t...