"In every society fallen to authoritarianism, the state goes after the press first+ closes in on universities next. All of us who live, work,+learn within the university should think of our institution as part of the larger constitutional structure of the nation." www.chronicle.com/article/univ...

Researchers have stressed the importance of Central American forests for migratory birds, noting that 5 billion migratory birds funnel through Central America each year. But these forests are under increasing pressure from deforestation. Read more in Mongabay: https://ow.ly/ShHb50XJxQi

Not everything homegrown is better, although many things are. And then there are things that you just can’t buy at the store, such as young collards. These will cook in seconds. #garden

"Court orders IU to remove reprimands from protesters' permanent records"

New analysis: 0.25% of 2025 Bluesky posts contained citations to research...while only 0.000006% of X/Twitter posts did. In raw numbers, X still has 2x the research-based posts that Bluesky does (though they are harder to find): but it took Twitter 10 years to get there vs just 2 years for Bluesky

The struggle is worth it… a good day for America. #LetFreedomRing. www.aclusc.org/press-releas...

WRI statement on the new U.S. dietary guidelines from my colleague Raychel Santo: “The new U.S. dietary guidelines prioritize protein, part of a wider societal trend. While there are many ways to meet our protein needs, not all protein sources have the same impact on people or the planet. 1/

Really appreciate the pointer by @robertferry.bsky.social to this piece by Young-jin Choi that counters several of the threads in Fressoz's book. I particularly appreciated the points about historic determinism and its near-exclusive focus on the West.

Well worth a watch -- and follow -- as @avilewis.ca makes a strong case for social democratic changes in Canada

Teaching is a great way to keep your skills up to date. I update my course and also "upskill" to teach more recent methods being used in my field. I don't need "genAI" for that. Effort is part of what makes learning "stick."

New paper in TREE: we propose a framework to think more clearly about the scale of climate exposure of organisms—and why mismatches between climate data and biology can mislead ecological inference. www.cell.com/trends/ecolo... @ilyamaclean.bsky.social @ecophys.bsky.social @marthamunoz.bsky.social

While there is so much that is disturbing about this case study in the destruction of academic freedom, one high point is the refusal of the targeted professor to submit

Focusing on the important stuff, like naming a post office for a football coach. 🙄

Just finished this engaging—and disturbing—book. It documents how most energy “transitions” are such that older energy forms aren’t replaced, they continue to be used to support the newer forms. It proposes no clear solutions, but it’s a thought-provoking read (despite not having an index!).

This will definitely not make us “healthy again”. And it also will be more expensive than the alternatives.

If there are solutions X and Y to a problem and someone says to only do Y, rather than both X and Y, then they carry a heavy burden of proof. Particularly if they stand to personally gain by downplaying X, e.g. by attracting funding from companies or rich people who feel threatened by X.

it’s not too late to get a flu shot it’s not too late to get a covid vaccine it’s not too late to start masking, if you stopped it’s not too late to delete social media accounts that no longer serve you* it’s not too late to have a good year it’s not too late to find a small joy for today 💕

In the old days, we would seek comment on stories about climate change from experts in the field who have spent decades studying evidence of the effects of greenhouse gases and findingsolutions. That ends today. Now we'll get your uncle Rooster who you had that big argument with at Thanksgiving.

Seriously, every word of this @sifill.bsky.social piece is the analysis and inspiration we all need as we start 2026. open.substack.com/pub/sherrily...

Understandably, Canadians are still not crossing the border.

"Seriously, I don’t care how much it costs. Take every dime I have. But know this: I would level my house to the ground before I paid slightly higher property taxes to fund infrastructure that would prevent a landslide from leveling my house to the ground." #McSweeneysTop25of2025

In the U.S., forest conservation has often advanced through persistence, not big wins. Activists like Andy Mahler built trust-driven networks like Heartwood, rejecting hierarchy and extractive inevitability. His place-based, patient approach showed how protection can grow from sustained involvement.

Good thing many a university leadership team hasn't embedded OpenAI into their institutional infrastructure 🫠

A multi-day heavy lake effect snow event is expected downwind of Lakes Erie and Ontario through New Year's Day. There is increasing confidence in snow squalls causing bursts of snow & gusty winds on New Year's Eve. Visit weather.gov for the latest.

Charging on the fly via induction seems pretty far out now, but it would allow batteries in EVs to be so much smaller, making them cheaper, lighter, etc.

This from @ehayot.bsky.social and @mattseybold.bsky.social is the best, most comprehensive breakdown of the political/structural forces that first came for the humanities, and now is swallowing everything. Do not miss it. www.chronicle.com/article/the-...

Back to porch-as-fridge weather for a few days

More wildlife news: A new line of research found wolves in the Midwest + Canada not only keep deer populations in check, they also alter deer behavior in ways that help prevent car crashes. We have no wolves in NYS below the northern Adirondacks. I've hit FIVE in 30 yrs. Bring. Back. The. Wolves!

Harvesting collards from the winter garden before temperatures plummet

Dear Jon Stewart c/o @weeklyshowpodcast.bsky.social I recently watched, with great surprise and disappointment, a weeklyshowpodcast segment in which you and other "personalities," gleefully mocked and derided the relatively small subset of individuals who continue to wear a face mask in public.

Find the Barred Owl 🪶

Whatever value you think Twitter had or has in sharing your work across the internet, Bluesky is currently better than Twitter was at its peak. At least for me, with 15 years of data and roughly the same number of followers on both platforms.

Good things are still happening

And it’s not right that, while out for a hike on Dec 25, I’m wondering if there will be ticks…

Linked to these record high (relative to 1979 to 2021 climatology) 500 hPa heights across North America's mid-section. Source in alt text.

idk if it’s just me but this december isn’t decembering like it used to december

Celery and rosemary doing fine under a double layer of row cover despite a few December nights below 0 F (-18 C) 🌱

If I were a billionaire I simply wouldn’t be fighting with strangers on the internet on Christmas Eve

“Empower“ is one of those words HR people came up with to make it sound like you won something when you’re being given a bunch of shitty new work to do for the same salary

The next National Climate Assessment will be written by five climate deniers and an AI in a trench coat.

Worth noting that the student admits that she just threw the thing together in 30 minutes without reading the paper she was supposed to be responding to.

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

“Our aim is to lower tenure density so that we can hire lecturers for classes that students need in high-demand programs.”

"In a warming world, we will continue to see snow and extreme cold, but these events are becoming the exceptions rather than the rule, and that shift is reshaping our landscape and environment." + Report: climatecentral.org/climate-brie... + Webinar recording: www.youtube.com/watch?v=75S2...

December solstice hike to Yellowwood Lake and back from the house and didn’t see another person

A related issue is LLMs take the enjoyable work of discovery and learning an turn it into administrative work of verifying everything. The characteristics of the work change into something many of us tolerate more than enjoy. If I wanted to be a fact checker I would have become a fact checker.

Fox News (!!) poll showing Climate Change is a top 10 concern for voters — slightly more than illegal immigration. www.foxnews.com/politics/fox...