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We are hiring!! Asst Prof of Environmental Biology and Public Health! "...interaction between biological systems and the environment as it relates to epidemiology and/or public health." Deadline 12/31/25. Please apply here: unioncollege.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UnionC...

Researchers challenge claim of a strong Yellowstone trophic cascade after wolf reintroduction 🌎 phys.org/news/2025-10...

Super fun day sampling leaves of red maple trees in Schenectady, NY for my student’s @unioncollege.bsky.social thesis about genetic diversity of urban trees.

"How Are the Very Rich Feeling About New York’s Next Mayor?" A Dramatic Reading of The Recent New York Times Dispatch from the Hamptons. Presented by The Gilded Age's Morgan Spector.

As one can imagine, I have some thoughts. Here’s a thread no one asked for: 1. SCIENCE IN THE US IS POLITICAL. No matter how much you want to ignore that fact, it is supported by taxpayer dollars and is therefore, political by nature. 2. BUT it has had bipartisan support for decades, which…

My new @science.org editorial on the role of scientists in defending democracy is out today. As authoritarianism takes hold in the US, we must fight for the democratic principles that enable a free society and scientists have a key role. I hope you'll join us. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Hello Toronto!

So, my college is considering whether to stop pursuing NSF and NIH grants. (Faculty grants too, of course.) Because we can’t abide the DEI certification. Decision to be made quickly, after discussions.

Restoration of native saltmarshes enhances carbon sequestration & mitigates warming effects following Spartina alterniflora removal 🌊🧪 Suggests future restoration programmes should prioritise multifunctional outcomes 💭🌏 🔗 doi.org/10.1111/1365...

Springer Nature--pioneering the new world of science where facts can be made up and citations generated to support them

To put it another way, it takes the approach of actively penalizing the technologies of the 21st century and subsidizing the technologies of the 19th century. As solar, batteries, and electrification are rapidly adopted by the rest of the world, we are stepping backwards.

The US is falling behind the curve on solar power – a key energy source of the 21st century. We are losing our edge to China on the technology that we originally invented. Now Senate republicans want to take out our solar industry at the knees in their "Big Beautiful Bill":

New paper! "Why are non-native plants successful? Consistently fast economic traits and novel origin jointly explain abundance across US ecoregions" in @newphyt.bsky.social. Another great paper by my amazing collaborators. 🌎🧪 #bioinvasions nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

Wild how the Fed chair saying that *entire regions of the United States* won’t be able to get a mortgage in the next decade barely registered as a news event

What is the Human Shield Hypothesis, how do we test it and what do those tests find? New paper out in Ecology Letters today asking these questions. Thanks to @kaitlyngaynor.bsky.social and Mike Noonan for having me. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Does anyone know when we're getting our speaking slots for #ESABaltimore? The last email (a month ago) said "by the end of May". @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social

Just accepted a request to review today, as a matter of fact.

Bhattacharya : Lists all of the amazing advancements of the NIH. Then he says that the public doesn't trust the NIH... (evidence does not support this) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

My dog is a pretty effective seed disperser today!

Exclusive: Confusion over new DEI language from NSF and NIH leads Williams College to be first institution to pause accepting any grants www.science.org/content/arti...

The US National Science Foundation could lose more than half its budget https://go.nature.com/4dMdIAZ

I let my Intro Bio students vote on the topic for the last lecture of the term - Climate change, conservation, or invasive species. To my modest surprise, they picked invasive species!

If you burn down a forest, you don't miss out on lumber for just that season. You have to replant all the trees, nurture them, and wait for them to grow. The science and research budget cuts happening now are wanton, senseless arson. Recovery, if it ever happens, will take generations.

My students' take on the xkcd 'types of scientific papers'. A very cool, interesting moment of reflection on the semester together. This exercise was inspired by Cindy Kohtala's blog about the meme www.cindykohtala.fi/2021/10/14/f...

Carl Safina @csafina.bsky.social is one of my very favorite writers. Here he applies his biological knowledge to our political future. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/27/o...

I never want to hear again, in my lifetime, that the GOP is concerned about meeting the challenge of rising China in global economic & geopolitical competition.

🧪 Basic science boosts the economy: "The proposed dismantling of NSF [and NIH] raises an urgent question: do these cuts actually save money or merely delay spending until the bill gets larger? The answer is clear: these cuts will cost the economy billions."

A colleague who wants to remain anonymous chimed in to say "having run panel at NSF today, can you please tell people that we love seeing them. We love our communities alongside our science"

NSF grant terminations are disproportionately affecting underrepresented scientists. 58% of canceled grants have women PIs, despite making up only 34% of awards. 17% of canceled grants have Black PIs (versus 4% of the pool). Hispanic and disabled PIs are twice as likely to have NSF grants canceled.

~45% of US corn production is now used to make ethanol, mostly for mixing into gasoline. That's ~13% of all US crop land already used for energy production. Using some of the same land for solar panels would capture 50-100 times more energy per acre.

Where does Pope Leo stand on climate change? He believes it's time to move "from words to action" (he's right on that!) and has previously highlighted the actions the Vatican is taking to reduce its own emissions through solar panels and electric vehicles. Read more:

Why mine the deep sea when you can just mine this parking lot?

The Trump admin has taken a lot of devastating climate actions already: gutting NOAA, pulling clean energy funding. But I really can't get over this move to shutter Energy Star—a program that saves Americans $40B (yes, B) annually, with a budget of ~$50M (yes, M) www.fastcompany.com/91329624/tru...

Wait, whaaaaaat?!? 🌎🧪 www.space.com/stargazing/s...

congress should consider stopping the stupidest person who has ever lived from destroying the economy

Based on a half-century of experience in, on, & around the ocean, I can guarantee that this does *not* smell like ocean waves & #kelp. 🌊

About NSF’s new(est) bulletin - 15% indirect cost rates will kill universities. Apparently that’s the point. I am sick.

*** Academic BFD alert *** We just published a new global bird phylogeny. It synthesizes the work of thousands of researchers before us, and it will grow and improve over time. @snacktavish.bsky.social @birdsoftheworld.bsky.social www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

What's spring been like in upstate NY? Yesterday my neighbor came out and shouted to her husband, "There are LEAVES!! On the tree! REAL LEAVES!!" 🤣

Love you, Canada!!🇨🇦

Why we need a National Climate Assessment -- “For thousands of years, we humans have been making decisions based on the past: like driving down the road looking in the rear view mirror. But now, thanks entirely to human actions, we're facing a curve in the road greater than humans have ever seen.”

Why is the U.S. National Science Foundation important? Please share your stories! Use the hashtags #WithoutNSF or #WithoutScience

Happy Arbor Day! Today we are thankful for each and every tree that covers the 6-million acre Adirondack Park. Did you know that the Park contains one of the largest intact temperate-deciduous forests in the world? #adirondack #adk #adirondacks #nysapa #adkparkagency #adirondacksny

"Guns are the #1 cause of death of children, but we are going to ban food dyes."

Toxicologist here! This will improve the health of zero Americans. Current synthetic food dyes are not causing health problems, and are often times used because they are actually safer than natural food dyes. Reminder that guns are the #1 cause of death of children but we are going to ban food dyes.

New paper from Bethany Bradley (and many others incl. me): "A quantitative classification of the geography of non-native flora in the US." Besides maps of abundance, it also ID's high-risk species and ecoregions. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #Bioinvasions 🧪🌎

Unfortunately, 55 years after the first #EarthDay, these institutions are under assault by corporatist and imperial ambitions. These attacks will make it more challenging to protect vulnerable communities and ecosystems from pollution and resource exploitation.

Why was the first Earth Day in 1970? In 1969, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District recorded 65 days out of compliance with the ozone health standard, a record that still stands today. Santa Clara County was regularly blanketed in smog and breathing for many was a daily struggle.